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Era 4: Age of Global War and Globalization

Course: English I + World History (Grade 9) Era span: Approximately 1900–present Studios that use this era: Studio 6 — Propaganda & Truth · Studio 7 — War & Memory · Studio 8 — Globalization

Proficiency scoring: see the official NDSBL World History Proficiency Scales (single source of truth for 1.0–4.0).

What This Era Is About

Era 4 is the most destructive and transformative century in human history. From 1900 to the present, the world experienced:

  • Two world wars that killed over 100 million people combined
  • The rise and fall of fascist empires (Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, Mussolini's Italy)
  • A Cold War between nuclear-armed superpowers that never became directly a "hot" war but shaped every other conflict on earth
  • The Holocaust — the systematic murder of six million Jews and millions of others by the Nazi regime
  • Decolonization — the disintegration of European empires across Africa and Asia
  • Civil rights movements on every continent fighting for the rights of people marginalized by race, gender, and class
  • The rise of television, nuclear energy, space travel, computers, and the internet
  • Globalization — the integration of world economies to the point where a supply chain crisis in one country affects prices on the other side of the world

This era is also the one students are still living inside. The international order, the technology, the political fault lines, and many of the ongoing conflicts of the 21st century have direct roots in the 20th century.

The essential questions running through this era: How do governments control information? Whose stories get told after a war? Does connection create inequality?

All Six Standards Applied to Era 4

WH.6_12.1 + Era 4 — Science and Technology of the 20th Century and Beyond

Full standard: Analyze historical achievements related to science and technology.

In Era 4, this means: Analyze how scientific and technological advancements caused and/or resulted from the world wars, and how technology shaped the 20th century and globalization.

Key topics: - WWI technology: the machine gun making trench warfare defensive; poison gas (chlorine, mustard gas) as a war crime; tanks; submarine warfare; the airplane as a weapons platform; barbed wire - WWII technology: nuclear weapons (Manhattan Project, Hiroshima, Nagasaki); radar; jet aircraft; V-2 rockets (precursors to space launch vehicles); penicillin and other medical advances; the entire logistics system of industrialized warfare - Cold War technology competition: Sputnik (1957) launching the space race; ARPANET (1969) as the origin of the internet; nuclear deterrence theory; ICBMs; spy satellites; the "military-industrial complex" (Eisenhower's warning) - Medical and biological advances: vaccines (polio), antibiotics, DNA discovery (1953), cancer research, genetic engineering - Globalization's technological infrastructure: container shipping (1956), standardized international trade systems, fiber optic cables under oceans, satellite communication, the internet, social media - Nuclear technology: civilian nuclear power; Chernobyl (1986); nuclear non-proliferation challenges; the ongoing existence of ~13,000 nuclear warheads globally

FPS Skill Strand: OEC Students analyze how texts structure explanations of wartime technology and innovation.

ELA connection: 9-10.R.6 — Analyze how the author's choice in structure, form, and format supports purpose. (Note: R.6 is an adjacent standard; primary active ELA standard for this studio would be specified in the studio contract.)

Learning targets: - I can analyze the causes and global effects of the world wars, including specific technological developments. - I can explain how nuclear technology changed global politics and still shapes international relations. - I can analyze how globalization's technological infrastructure has created new forms of social, cultural, and economic change.

Example inquiry angles: - "The atomic bomb ended WWII. Did it also begin a new kind of war that has never ended?" - "How did the space race produce technologies (satellites, GPS, weather forecasting) that now govern civilian life?" - "How did containerized shipping change the global economy — and which workers lost their jobs when it did?"

WH.6_12.2 + Era 4 — Religions and Ideologies of the Age of Global War

Full standard: Explain historical changes related to religions and ideologies.

In Era 4, this means: Analyze how political and social ideologies — fascism, communism, liberal democracy, nationalism, decolonization movements — shaped the 20th century and its conflicts.

Key topics: - Fascism: Italy (Mussolini), Germany (Hitler/Nazism), Spain (Franco); key features: ultranationalism, one-party dictatorship, racial hierarchy, violent suppression of opposition; fascism as a response to both communism and liberal democracy's perceived failures - Communism: Marx's theory as ideology; Soviet Union (Lenin, Stalin) as implementation; Mao's China; Cuban Revolution; how communist theory and Soviet practice diverged; the appeal of communism to colonized peoples as anti-imperialist ideology - Liberal democracy: the ideology of the Allied powers in WWII; human rights, elections, rule of law, free markets; the Allies' own contradictions (Jim Crow in America, colonialism in Britain and France) - Nationalism and decolonization: the idea that each ethnic group should have its own state; how nationalism simultaneously drove WWI (European ethnic rivalries) and decolonization (African and Asian independence movements); Gandhi's nonviolent resistance; Patrice Lumumba, Ho Chi Minh, Kwame Nkrumah - The Cold War as ideological conflict: capitalism vs. communism as global organizing frameworks; proxy wars (Korea, Vietnam, Angola, Nicaragua) as contests between the ideologies; McCarthyism in America as domestic ideological panic - Religious movements in the 20th century: the Iranian Revolution (1979) as Islamic governance replacing secular monarchy; religious nationalism in Israel/Palestine; evangelical Christianity's political rise in America

FPS Skill Strand: Argumentation Students write arguments evaluating the role of ideology in 20th-century conflicts.

ELA connection: 9-10.W.4 — Argumentative writing: evaluate whether a specific ideology improved or harmed people's lives.

Learning targets: - I can explain the core features of fascism and communism and analyze how each political system affected people's lives. - I can analyze how political and social ideologies shaped the major conflicts of the 20th century. - I can explain how cultural, social, and economic changes were influenced by globalization.

Example inquiry angles: - "How did fascism emerge from democratic societies — and what does that tell us about democracy's vulnerabilities?" - "Was communism's appeal in the 20th century about economic justice or about anti-colonialism? (Does the distinction matter?)" - "How did the Cold War shape countries that were neither the U.S. nor the Soviet Union?"

WH.6_12.3 + Era 4 — Political Systems and Their Effects on People

Full standard: Analyze the effects of different political systems on people.

In Era 4, this means: Analyze how political systems of the 20th century — totalitarianism, liberal democracy, Cold War client states, post-colonial governments — affected ordinary people's lives, rights, and freedoms.

Key topics: - Totalitarianism: total control of all aspects of society by the state; Nazi Germany and the Holocaust; Stalin's Soviet Union (gulags, forced collectivization, purges); Mao's China (Cultural Revolution); what makes totalitarianism different from mere authoritarianism - The Holocaust: the systematic, state-sponsored murder of six million Jews; also Roma, disabled people, gay people, political opponents; how it was organized bureaucratically; why ordinary people participated; the Nuremberg Trials and accountability - The atomic bomb: the decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the debate over whether it was justified; the post-war nuclear arms race; the concept of "mutually assured destruction" (MAD) as deterrence - Post-WWII political order: the United Nations (1945); the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); the Nuremberg Principles establishing individual criminal accountability for war crimes; NATO and the Warsaw Pact - Cold War proxy states: South Korea/North Korea; South Vietnam/North Vietnam; Cuba; Angola; Nicaragua — ordinary people in these countries lived (and died) in conflicts shaped by superpower competition - Post-colonial political instability: many post-colonial states had borders drawn by European colonizers cutting across ethnic and cultural groups; civil wars, coups, and political instability in Africa and Asia in part traceable to colonial border decisions

FPS Skill Strand: Argumentation Students debate the Atomic Bomb and post-WWII political ideologies.

ELA connection: 9-10.C.6 — Engage in respectful discussions or debates.

Learning targets: - I can explain how totalitarian systems controlled people's lives in the 20th century. - I can analyze how political decisions (the atomic bomb, Cold War proxy wars) affected ordinary people. - I can participate in a structured debate about a contested political decision, using evidence from primary and secondary sources.

Example inquiry angles: - "Was dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki a justified military decision or a war crime? (Argue with evidence — primary sources exist from both the American government and Japanese survivors.)" - "How did the Cold War create political conditions in countries across the world that still shape their politics today?" - "The Holocaust was carried out by ordinary people following orders. What does that fact tell us about how political systems can normalize violence?"

WH.6_12.4 + Era 4 — Social, Cultural, and Economic Development

Full standard: Analyze the influence of social, cultural, and economic development on individuals.

In Era 4, this means: Explain the social, cultural, and economic effects of the world wars and globalization on individuals — what changed in people's daily lives as a result of 20th-century upheaval.

Key topics: - WWI's homefront: women entering the workforce in large numbers for the first time in industrial economies; war bonds and propaganda; the Spanish flu (1918) killing more people than the war - WWII homefront: rationing, scrap drives, women in factories (Rosie the Riveter); Japanese American internment (Executive Order 9066); the Double V campaign (African Americans fighting fascism abroad and racism at home) - Post-WWII economic boom: the GI Bill and its unequal application (Black veterans largely excluded); suburbanization; the Baby Boom; television reshaping culture; consumer society - Decolonization's social effects: the partition of India (1947) and mass violence between Hindus and Muslims; the Algerian War; apartheid in South Africa; how national independence didn't always mean social liberation - Civil rights movements: the global wave — American civil rights (1950s–1970s), anti-apartheid South Africa, feminism, LGBTQ rights, indigenous rights movements; what connects them and what's specific to each - Globalization and inequality: free trade agreements (NAFTA, WTO); manufacturing leaving wealthy countries for lower-wage countries; call centers in India; cheap goods in Walmart made in Chinese factories; who benefits from globalization and who is displaced by it - Media and culture: Hollywood as global culture; the Beatles and rock music crossing national borders; hip-hop as a global form; the internet collapsing geographic distance in culture

FPS Skill Strand: Interpretation & Analysis Students explain the effects of globalization on societies and individuals.

ELA connection: 9-10.W.3 — Explanatory writing: explain how social, cultural, and economic changes were influenced by globalization.

Learning targets: - I can explain how the world wars changed the social and economic structures of societies. - I can analyze how globalization has created both opportunity and inequality for individuals. - I can explain how political and social ideologies shaped the 20th century in terms of how they affected ordinary people's lives.

Example inquiry angles: - "How did WWII change the role of women in the workforce — and what happened when the war ended?" - "Globalization has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in developing countries while eliminating manufacturing jobs in wealthy countries. Is that a good trade-off — and who gets to decide?" - "How does the American civil rights movement connect to decolonization movements in Africa and Asia? What did these movements learn from each other?"

WH.6_12.5 + Era 4 — Causes and Effects Using Primary and Secondary Sources

Full standard: Analyze causes and effects of global events using primary and/or secondary sources.

In Era 4, this means: Use primary and secondary sources to investigate the causes and consequences of major 20th-century global events — WWI, WWII, the Cold War, decolonization.

Key events + source analysis: - WWI causes: primary sources — the July Crisis letters (Kaiser Wilhelm, Tsar Nicholas II); the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia; contrast with secondary source historians on whether WWI was accidental, inevitable, or chosen - WWII and the Holocaust: primary sources — the Wannsee Conference minutes (the bureaucratic planning of genocide); survivor testimony (Elie Wiesel, Primo Levi); compare to U.S. government documents on knowledge of the Holocaust before D-Day - Dropping the bomb: Truman's decision documents vs. Stimson's justification memo vs. Japanese government communications vs. Hiroshima survivor testimony; each source tells a different part of the story - Cold War: NSC-68 (the 1950 policy paper defining U.S. Cold War strategy) vs. Soviet documents declassified after 1991; how the Cold War looked from the Soviet side - Decolonization: Gandhi's writings and speeches vs. British colonial government documents; compare the same events as seen from the colonizers and the colonized

FPS Skill Strand: OEC + Interpretation & Analysis Students analyze multiple accounts of global conflicts to evaluate causes and consequences.

ELA connection: 9-10.R.9b — Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different media, including determining which details are emphasized or omitted.

Learning targets: - I can use primary and secondary sources to interpret and apply important information about a major global event. - I can compare accounts of the same event from different perspectives and explain what each one reveals. - I can analyze cause-and-effect relationships using evidence from multiple source types.

Example inquiry angles: - "The Wannsee Conference minutes are a bureaucratic document planning genocide. What does reading it as a primary source tell us that a textbook description cannot?" - "How do WWI look different through German sources than through British and French sources — and whose version is in your history textbook?" - "Hiroshima survivors describe the bomb differently from U.S. government documents. What does each source need to omit to make its narrative work?"

WH.6_12.6 + Era 4 — Past to Present

Full standard: Explain how past events connect to the present.

In Era 4, this means: Explain how historical changes from the world wars, the Cold War, and globalization affect the present day — politically, economically, culturally, and geopolitically.

Key connections: - WWII → international order today: the United Nations, NATO, the World Bank, the IMF — all created in the post-WWII period and still governing international relations - The Holocaust → "never again": the Genocide Convention (1948); the International Criminal Court; the concept of humanitarian intervention; ongoing debates about whether the world has kept its promise - Cold War → current geopolitics: the U.S.-Russia relationship; NATO expansion and its role in the Russia-Ukraine war; China's rise as a competing superpower; proxy conflicts in the Middle East with roots in Cold War alignments - Decolonization → contemporary inequality: the wealth gap between formerly colonized and colonizing nations; political instability in sub-Saharan Africa; the global South's relationship to the global North - Globalization → supply chains and COVID-19: the pandemic revealed how fragile integrated global supply chains are; masks manufactured in China; vaccines distributed unequally across wealthy and poor nations - 20th-century civil rights → present movements: Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, indigenous land rights movements all trace philosophical and strategic lineages to 20th-century civil rights organizing

FPS Skill Strand: Argumentation Students present evidence-based explanations of how global events shape the modern world.

ELA connection: 9-10.C.1 — Construct and deliver formal and informal presentations incorporating multimedia.

Learning targets: - I can identify a specific 20th-century event and trace its direct effects on present-day politics, economics, or culture. - I can present a past-to-present connection to an audience using appropriate format and multimedia. - I can respond to questions about my analysis, including challenges to my argument.

Example inquiry angles: - "How did the post-WWII international order shape the response to the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022?" - "How does the history of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East (Cold War alliances, oil interests, support for authoritarian governments) explain the conflicts of the 21st century?" - "How is the debt Haiti was forced to pay France for its own independence still affecting Haitian poverty today?"

Key Vocabulary for Era 4

Term Definition
totalitarianism A political system in which the state controls all aspects of public and private life; used to describe Nazi Germany, Stalinist USSR, and Mao's China
fascism An extreme right-wing nationalist ideology combining a totalitarian government, racial hierarchy, and violent suppression of opposition
communism A political and economic ideology advocating for collective ownership of the means of production; in practice, led to one-party states (USSR, China, Cuba)
Cold War The political, military, and ideological confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union from ~1947–1991; "cold" because it never became direct military conflict between the two superpowers
proxy war A conflict in which two powers support opposing sides without fighting each other directly (Korea, Vietnam, Angola)
decolonization The process by which formerly colonized territories in Africa and Asia gained independence, primarily in the 1940s–1970s
Holocaust The systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators during WWII
Manhattan Project The U.S. government research program (1942–1945) that developed the first nuclear weapons
deterrence The military strategy of preventing attack by threatening devastating retaliation; "mutually assured destruction" (MAD) as the Cold War nuclear deterrence logic
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1949); a military alliance of Western democratic nations; mutual defense agreement
globalization The increasing integration and interdependence of national economies, cultures, and politics through trade, communication, and technology
United Nations The intergovernmental organization founded in 1945 to maintain international peace and security and promote human rights
apartheid The system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination enforced by the South African government from 1948–1994
propaganda Information — especially of a biased or misleading nature — used to promote a political cause or point of view

Skinnies for Era 4

Reading Library — Era 4 Texts

CrashCourse Episodes — Era 4

  • WWI, WWII, Cold War, Decolonization, Globalization episodes — coming soon

ELA crosswalk standards most used in Era 4: - R.8 — Literary elements (Night, 1984 — character, symbolism, setting under totalitarianism) - R.9 — Informational/argumentative analysis (MLK Letter, political propaganda, Cold War documents) - W.4 — Argument writing (was dropping the atomic bomb justified? is propaganda ever legitimate?) - W.3 — Explanatory writing (explain causes of WWI; explain how propaganda shaped public opinion) - IR.1–5 — Research bundle (active every studio)

Why This Is Relevant Today?

The entire international order students live in was built in Era 4: the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, NATO, the Geneva Conventions, nuclear deterrence. Those institutions are now being tested in ways they haven't faced since their founding — by great-power competition, by weapons that move faster than diplomacy, by countries withdrawing from international agreements, by genocides that the UN Security Council can't respond to because permanent members have veto power. The Holocaust's "never again" pledge has been tested repeatedly since 1945 — in Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur, and ongoing — and the international community's responses (or failures) are still being argued. The question Era 4 raises — what do we build after catastrophe to make sure it doesn't happen again? — is exactly the question students will face as the post-WWII order strains under 21st-century pressures. See WH-05: The Cost of War and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Reading Library.

Era 4: Age of Global War and Globalization — SDA Commons Wiki See also: WH Standards Overview · Era 3 — Revolutions · Primary Sources