Key facts

  • World War I 1914–1918 — Killed approximately 17 million people (military + civilian); wounded 20 million more — Toppled four empires
  • Treaty of Versailles 1919 — Signed 28 June 1919; ended WWI but planted seeds of WWII
  • World War II 1939–1945 — Deadliest conflict in human history — estimated 70–85 million deaths (~3% of 1940 world population)
  • United Nations Founded 1945 — Established on 24 October 1945 with 51 founding member states (UN Day is 24 October)
  • Cold War c. 1947–1991 - Geopolitical, ideological, and military rivalry between USA-led Western bloc (capitalism/NATO, 1949) and USSR-led Eastern bloc…

Key Points at a Glance

  1. 1

    World War I 1914–1918

    • Killed approximately 17 million people (military + civilian); wounded 20 million more
    • Toppled four empires — Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and German
    • Triggered by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914
  2. 2

    Treaty of Versailles 1919

    • Signed 28 June 1919; ended WWI but planted seeds of WWII
    • Imposed "war guilt" clause (Article 231) and reparations of 132 billion gold marks
    • Germany lost 13% territory; army reduced to 100,000; all overseas colonies stripped
    • Germans called it the Diktat (dictated peace)
  3. 3

    World War II 1939–1945

    • Deadliest conflict in human history — estimated 70–85 million deaths (~3% of 1940 world population)
    • 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust
    • Ended with atomic bombing of Hiroshima (6 Aug 1945) and Nagasaki (9 Aug 1945)
    • Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945
  4. 4

    United Nations Founded 1945

    • Established on 24 October 1945 with 51 founding member states (UN Day is 24 October)
    • Predecessor League of Nations (formed 1920 under Treaty of Versailles) failed to prevent WWII
    • League failed because the US never joined and it lacked enforcement powers
  5. 5

    Cold War c. 1947–1991

    • Geopolitical, ideological, and military rivalry between USA-led Western bloc (capitalism/NATO, 1949) and USSR-led Eastern bloc (communism/Warsaw Pact, 1955)
    • Term "Cold War" coined by journalist Walter Lippmann (popularised by Bernard Baruch) in 1947
    • Never escalated into direct military clash between superpowers
  6. 6

    Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan 1947

    • Truman Doctrine (March 1947): US pledged support to countries threatened by communist takeover; first applied to Greece and Turkey
    • Marshall Plan (June 1947): Provided $13 billion in economic aid to rebuild Western European economies devastated by WWII
  7. 7

    Cuban Missile Crisis October 1962

    • Cold War's most dangerous moment — world came closest to nuclear war
    • USSR installed nuclear missiles in Cuba; President Kennedy ordered a naval blockade
    • Soviet ships turned back; Khrushchev agreed to remove missiles in exchange for a US pledge not to invade Cuba
    • Secret removal of US missiles from Turkey also agreed
  8. 8

    Non-Aligned Movement NAM

    • Co-founded by Jawaharlal Nehru (India), Josip Broz Tito (Yugoslavia), and Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt) at the Bandung Conference (April 1955)
    • Represented newly independent nations' refusal to align with either Cold War bloc
    • First formal NAM Summit held in Belgrade in 1961 with 25 member states
  9. 9

    Cold War Proxy Wars

    • Korean War (1950–53): Peninsula divided at 38th Parallel
    • Vietnam War (1955–75): US eventually withdrew; communist North Vietnam reunified the country
    • Afghanistan (1979–89): USSR invasion; US-backed Mujahideen bled Soviet forces
    • Angola Civil War and other African/Latin American conflicts where USSR and US backed rival factions
  10. 10

    Space Race 1957–1969

    • USSR launched Sputnik-1 (first artificial satellite) on 4 October 1957
    • USSR sent Yuri Gagarin (first human in space) on 12 April 1961
    • USA responded with Apollo 11 landing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon on 20 July 1969
    • Declared US technological supremacy
  11. 11

    Détente — Easing of Cold War Tensions 1970s

    • SALT I Treaty (1972) limited strategic nuclear arms
    • Nixon's visit to China (1972) opened Sino-US rapprochement
    • Helsinki Accords (1975) recognised post-WWII European borders
    • Détente collapsed after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979)
  12. 12

    End of the Cold War 1989–1991

    • Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989 — most iconic symbol of Cold War division
    • USSR formally dissolved on 25 December 1991 when Mikhail Gorbachev resigned
    • Soviet flag replaced by Russian flag; 15 new independent states emerged from the former Soviet Union
  13. 13

    Women's Role in WWI and WWII (PYQ 2023)

    • WWI: Women replaced men in factories and farms; UK had 800,000 women in war industries by 1918
    • WWII: "Rosie the Riveter" in the US symbolised women in defence manufacturing
    • War contributions accelerated suffrage — UK gave women 30+ the vote in 1918, equal voting in 1928; France in 1944
  14. 14

    Gorbachev's Reforms — Glasnost and Perestroika

    • Glasnost (openness): Press freedom, release of political prisoners, announced from 1985–87
    • Perestroika (restructuring): Market-oriented economic reforms
    • Reforms unintentionally triggered centrifugal forces leading to USSR's dissolution
    • Gorbachev also withdrew Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989
  15. 15

    Cold War's Global Legacy

    • Nuclear arms race produced over 70,000 warheads at its 1986 peak
    • SEATO (1954), CENTO (1955) formed as US-led alliance networks
    • Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT, 1968) created global nuclear framework
    • Decolonisation accelerated by Cold War dynamics; UN Security Council P5 veto reflects post-WWII power balance

Introduction and Context

Topic 21 explains how the two world wars and the Cold War transformed the international system from European imperial rivalry into a nuclear, bipolar, and then post-Soviet world order.

Topic 21 spans one of the most consequential half-centuries in world history (1914–1991): from the "war to end all wars" through a second, even deadlier conflict, to four decades of bipolar superpower rivalry. These events reshaped the political map of the world, gave birth to the United Nations, unleashed nuclear weapons, triggered decolonisation, and created the binary ideological contest — capitalism vs. communism — that structured international relations until 1991.

Why This Topic Matters for RPSC

  • World Wars and the Cold War appear under Part C (World History) of Paper I's History unit
  • The 2023 paper directly asked about women's role in World Wars (5 marks); the 2026 paper is likely to test Cold War blocs, proxy wars, or the UN's creation
  • Understanding WWI → Versailles → rise of fascism → WWII → Cold War as a single continuous causal chain is essential for 10-mark analytical questions

Syllabus Scope

This topic covers:

  • Causes and consequences of WWI and WWII
  • Cold War origins, blocs, and key crises
  • Proxy wars and arms race
  • Détente and Cold War end

It overlaps with Topic 20 (Nazism/Fascism as WWII cause) and Topic 19 (Russian Revolution as Cold War precondition).

PREDICTED Predicted RAS Questions

Based on PYQ trends and 2026 syllabus analysis

1 5M Discuss the role of women in World War I and World War II. 5 marks · 50 words

Model Answer

WWI mobilised 800,000 British women in factories, transport, and nursing — directly replacing men at the front. WWII expanded this globally: the USSR deployed 800,000+ women as frontline soldiers ("Night Witches" bomber squadrons); the USA's "Rosie the Riveter" symbolised women in defence manufacturing. War service accelerated women's suffrage — Britain granted the vote in 1918, France in 1944, transforming gender roles permanently.

~50 words • 5 marks