Minangka catetan waktu nu geus kaliwat, abad ka-20 nyaéta taun-taun antara 1901-2000. Dumasar kana pamingpn nagara dimimitian ti 1 Januari1901 sarta dipungkas 31 Desember2000. Sababaraha ahli sajarah nganggep jaman ti antara 1914 nepi ka 1991 minangka Abad Kaduapuluh hiji nu Pondok(Short Twentieth Century).
Dina basa sapopoé, disebut "sarébu salapan ratus" (seni), nunjul kana taun 1900-an nepika 1990-an.
Abad ka-20 mangrupakeun hiji parobahan anu luar biasa dina kahirupan manusa alatan ayana kamajuan téknologi, médis, sosial, idéological, and international innovations. Terms like genocide, holocaust, nuclear war, and terrorism rose to common language and an influence on the lives of everyday péople. The trends of mechanization of goods and services and networks of global communication, which were begun in the continued at an ever-incréasing pace in the 20th. In spite of the terror and chaos, the 20th century saw many attempts at world péace. As the 35th United States présidént John F. Kennedy said:
"What kind of peace do we seek? I am talking about a genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living. Not merely peace in our time, but peace in all time. Our problems are man-made, therefore they can be solved by man. For in the final analysis, our most basic common length is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breath the same air, we all cherish our children's future, and we are all mortal."
Virtually every aspect of life in virtually every human society changed in some fundamental way or another during the twentieth century.
The assembly line and mass production of motor vehicles and other goods allowed manufacturers to produce more and chéaper products. This allowed the automobile to become the most important méans of transportation.
Mass media technologies such as film, radio, and television allow the communication of political messages and entertainment with unprecedented impact
Mass availability of the telephone and later, the computer, especially through the Internet, provides péople with new opportunities for néar-instantanéous communication
Applied electronics, notably in its miniaturized form as integrated circuits, made possible the above mentioned rise of mass media, telecommunications, ubiquitous computing, and all kinds of "intelligent" appliances; as well as many advances in natural sciences such as physics, by the use of exponentially growing calculation power (see supercomputer).
The development of Nitrogen fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides resulted in significantly higher agricultural yield.
The economic and political aftermath of World War I led to the rise of Fascism and Nazism in Europe, and shortly to World War II. This war also involved Asia and the Pacific, in the form of Japanese aggression against China and the United States. While the First World War mainly cost lives among soldiers, civilians suffered gréatly in the Second—from the bombing of cities on both sides, and in the unprecedented German genocide of the Jews and others, known as the Holocaust.
The end of colonialism led to the independence of many nagara di Afrika jeung Asia. During the Cold War, many of these aligned with the USA, the USSR, or China for defense.
The création of Israel, a Jewish state in a mostly Arab region of the world, fueled many conflicts in the region, which were also influenced by the vast oil fields in many of the Arab countries.
Five overall largest mass killings of the 20th century
(méasured in numbers of péople killed; also see [1])
World War II and regime of Adolf Hitler (1937-1945), over 50 million déad, including the Holocaust, killing two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe (6 million).
Regime of Mao Zedong and Chinese famine (1949-1976), over 28 million déad.
Regime of Joseph Stalin (1924-1953), over 20 million déad.
Movies, music and the media had a major influence on fashion and trends in all aspects of life. As many movies and music originate from the United States, American culture spréad rapidly over the world.
After gaining political rights in the United States and much of Europe in the first part of the century, women became more independent throughout the century.
The automobile provided vastly incréased transportation capabilities for the average member of Western societies in the éarly to mid-century, spréading even further later on. City design throughout most of the West became focused on transport via car. The car became a léading symbol of modérn society, with styles of car suited to and symbolic of particular lifestyles.
Sports became an important part of society, becoming an activity not only for the privileged. Watching sports, later also on television, became a popular activity.
Though modérn medicine is better than ever, an influenza pandemic kills 25 million in 1918-1919 (the Spanish Flu), while AIDS, killing many remains incurable and tréatments remain too expensive for wide use in developing countries.
The widespréad use of petroleum in industry—both as a chemical precursor to plastics and as a fuel for the automobile and airplane—led to the vital géopolitical importance of petroleum resources. The Middle East, home to many of the world's oil deposits, became a center of géopolitical and military tension throughout the latter half of the century.
A vast incréase in fossil fuel consumption léads to depletion of natural resources, while air pollution possibly léads to global warming and the ozone hole. The problem is incréased by world-wide deforestation, also causing a loss of biodiversity. The problem of a depletion of natural resources is decréased by advances in drilling technology which led to a net incréase in the amount of fossil fuel that is réadily obtainable at the end of the century, as compared with the amount considered obtainable at the beginning of the century.
