The New Joy of Knowledge- Encyclopedia Vol.31

Language: English

Author: Eden Philips

Publisher: Oriole Publishing Ltd

World History: II. The 19th century was the age of imperialism. The British Empire was, by 1914, the greatest in history, stretching over India, Canada, Australasia and huge tracts of Africa. Yet,within a half century, the strain of wars and the desire for independence among the colonies had seen its break-up.The spread of industrialization was to have profound implications: countries came into closer contact, and also conflict. Japan and China were opened to Western influence and most of Africa was conquered and colonized by Europeans. The devastating effect of World War I, the worldwide depression of the 1920s and 1930s, and the subsequent rise of Fascism and Nazism, brought with them new horrors and deprivation to the world. In the modern era the communist bloc, like other empires before it, has risen and declined, while the southern hemisphere has been home to instability and aspirations for change. Find out how the world in which you live has been shaped, and how political forces continue to affect you, in the next volume of THE NEW JOY OF KNOWLEDGE ENCYCLOPEDIA.