Salem Press

Great Events from History: The 20th Century

Great Events from History: The 20th Century
Publisher's Note

Great Events from History: The 20th Century, 1971-2000, is the tenth installment in Salem Press's ongoing Great Events from History series, which was initiated in 2004 with the two-volume Great Events from History: The Ancient World, Prehistory-476, followed by The Middle Ages, 477-1453 (2 vols., Fall 2004), The Renaissance & Early Modern Era, 1454-1600 (2 vols., 2005), The 17th Century, 1601-1700 (2 vols., Fall 2005), The 18th Century, 1701-1800 (2 vols., 2006), The 19th Century, 1801-1900 (4 vols., Fall 2006), Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Events (2 vols., 2007), The 20th Century, 1901-1940 (6 vols., 2007), and The 20th Century, 1941-1970 (6 vols., 2008). Together, the volumes in this series contain more than 5,000 essays covering the milestones of world history.

Expanded Coverage
The new content in the current installment, The 20th Century, 1971-2000, constitutes more than one-third of the set: To the 704 original essays we have added 379 completely new essays--commissioned especially for the new series and appearing here for the first time--for a total of 1,083 essays. Bibliographies for all the old essays have been expanded and updated, and all essays are cross-referenced internally. A section containing maps of world regions in the late twentieth century is included, plus numerous sidebars: lists, maps, portions of primary source documents, illustrations, and finding aids in the form of keyword, geographic, categorized, personage, and subject indexes.

Scope of Coverage
The late twentieth century receives worldwide coverage with the priority of meeting the needs of history students at the high school and undergraduate levels. Public librarians will also find the set, and the series as a whole, invaluable as a reference tool for students and general readers at all academic and interest levels. The events covered include the curriculum-oriented geopolitical events of the era--from the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War in 1973 and crucial nuclear arms limitation agreements between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1970's to the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 and struggles to establish peace among the nations of the Middle East. Essays also address important social and cultural developments in daily life: major literary movements, significant developments in the arts and motion pictures, trends in world population and immigration, and landmark social legislation. Among the many broad subjects that receive extensive coverage are Europe's ethnic conflicts and changing political divisions, the anti-apartheid movement, the growing environmentalist movement, the communications revolution that arose from advances in computer science, and the interconnectedness of the world's nations through the emerging global economy.

The late twentieth century was also a time of significant advances in science and technology. Space probes explored comets and the outer planets, and scientists of many nations cooperated to build and staff the International Space Station. Personal computers were born and quickly grew to change the way people all over the world work, play, and communicate. With the rise of the Internet, information of all kinds became available at the click of a button. In addition, advances in biotechnology during this period were groundbreaking, producing the first genetically engineered vaccine, the first genetically engineered food, a map of the human genome, and the first successfully cloned mammal.

By category, the contents of the set include events that fall into one or more of the following areas (many essays are counted under more than one category): Agriculture (20), Animals and endangered species (23), Anthropology (8), Archaeology (7), Architecture (13), Arts (17), Astronomy (34), Banking and finance (21), Biology (18), Business and labor (65), Chemistry (8), Civil rights and liberties (67), Cold War (11), Colonialism and occupation (9), Communications and media (27), Computers and computer science (34), Crime and scandal (37), Dance (6), Diplomacy and international relations (123), Disasters (51), Earth science (7), Economics (28), Education (11), Energy (22), Engineering (13), Environmental issues (155), Expansion and land acquisition (5), Fashion and design (3), Genetics (19), Government and politics (177), Health and medicine (63), Human rights (69), Humanitarianism and philanthropy (3), Immigration, emigration, and relocation (13), Independence movements (13), Indigenous peoples' rights (32), Inventions (25), Laws, acts, and legal history (131), Literature (17), Manufacturing and industry (19), Marketing and advertising (17), Mathematics (2), Military history (12), Monuments (1), Motion pictures and video (23), Music (24), Natural resources (11), Organizations and institutions (53), Philosophy (3), Photography (2), Physics (17), Prehistory and early cultures and civilizations (3), Psychology and psychiatry (7), Publishing and journalism (34), Radio and television (31), Religion, theology, and ethics (27), Science and technology (151), Social issues and reform (48), Spaceflight and aviation (46), Sports (26), Terrorism, atrocities, and war crimes (68), Theater (18), Trade and commerce (85), Transportation (15), Travel and recreation (9), United Nations (38), Urban planning (4), Vietnam War (4), Wars, uprisings, and civil unrest (87), Women's issues (34), and World War II (3).

The scope of this set is equally broad geographically, with essays on events associated with these modern countries and world regions: Afghanistan (5), Africa (69), Albania (1), Algeria (2), Angola (1), Antarctica (2), Argentina (4), Armenia (3), Australia/New Zealand (7), Austria (4), Azerbaijan (1), Bahrain (1), Balkans (15), Baltic States (3), Bangladesh (3), Belarus (1), Belgium (4), Belize (1), Benin (2), Bolivia (2), Bosnia and Herzegovina (4), Botswana (1), Brazil (7), Burkina Faso (1), Burma (3), Burundi (3), Cambodia (4), Cameroon (2), Canada (25), Cape Verde (1), Central African Republic (2), Central America (10), Central Asia (17), Chad (1), Chile (7), China (19), Colombia (3), Congo, Democratic Republic of the (4), Congo, Republic of the (1), Costa Rica (1), Côte d'Ivoire (2), Croatia (4), Cuba (1), Cyprus (1), Czech Republic (4), Denmark (1), East Asia (47), East Timor (3), Ecuador (2), Egypt (4), El Salvador (3), England (42), Eritrea (2), Estonia (2), Ethiopia (8), Europe (211), Finland (3), France (29), Gabon (1), Georgia (1), Germany (13), Ghana (3), Greece (4), Grenada (1), Guatemala (4), Guinea (2), Guinea-Bissau (2), Guyana (1), Haiti (3), Honduras (1), Hong Kong (5), Hungary (1), Iceland (1), India (11), Indonesia (2), Iran (8), Iraq (8), Ireland (1), Ireland, Northern (7), Israel (7), Italy (15), Jamaica (3), Japan (20), Kazakhstan (11), Kenya (6), Koreas (5), Kuwait (4), Kyrgyzstan (1), Laos (1), Latvia (1), Lebanon (5), Liberia (1), Lithuania (2), Luxembourg (1), Macedonia (2), Madagascar (1), Malawi (3), Malaysia (3), Mali (2), Melanesia (1), Mexico (8), Middle East (40), Moldavia (1), Mongolia (1), Morocco (1), Mozambique (6), Namibia (1), Netherlands (6), Nicaragua (3), Niger (8), North America (635), Norway (11), Oceania (6), Pakistan (6), Panama (2), Paraguay (3), Peru (2), Philippines (4), Poland (6), Polynesia (5), Portugal (4), Puerto Rico (1), Qatar (1), Romania (1), Russia (21), Rwanda (4), São Tomé and Príncipe (1), Saudi Arabia (4), Scotland (3), Senegal (3), Serbia and Montenegro (4), Slovakia (3), Slovenia (3), Somalia (3), South Africa (9), South America (29), South Asia (25), Southeast Asia (22), Soviet Union (32), Spain (10), Sri Lanka (3), Sudan (5), Sweden (10), Switzerland (20), Syria (2), Tanzania (4), Tibet (1), Togo (2), Trinidad and Tobago (2), Uganda (5), Ukraine (2), United Kingdom (49), United States (609), Uruguay (1), Uzbekistan (2), Vatican City (2), Vietnam (5), West Indies (11), World (8), Yemen (2), Yugoslavia (6), Zambia (4), and Zimbabwe (3).

Essay Length and Format
The essays range in length from approximately 1,500 to 2,500 words (3-5 pages) and adhere to a uniform format. The ready-reference top matter of every essay prominently displays the following information:

the most precise date (or date range) of the event

the common name of the event

a summary paragraph that identifies the event and encapsulates
its significance

where appropriate, any also-known-as name for the event

the locale, or where the event occurred, including both late
twentieth century and, as relevant, modern place-names

the categories, or the type of event covered, from Arts to
Government and Politics to Military History to Transportation

Key Figures, a list of the major people involved in the event,
with birth and death dates, brief descriptors, and regnal dates or terms
of office where applicable

The text of each essay is divided into these sections:

Summary of Event, devoted to a chronological description of the
facts of the event

Significance, assessing the event's historical impact

Further Reading, an annotated list of sources for further study

See also cross-references to other essays within this Great
Events set

Special Features
A section of historical maps appears in the front matter of each volume, displaying world regions in the late twentieth century to assist readers in placing the events' locales. Accompanying the individual essays are an additional 80 maps; 240 quotations from primary source documents, lists, and time lines; and more than 500 photographs and other illustrations: battles, buildings, people, spacecraft, and other iconic images of the period.

Because the set is ordered chronologically, a Keyword List of Contents appears in the front matter to each volume that lists all essays alphabetically, permuted by all keywords in the essays' titles, to assist readers in locating events by name.

In addition, several research aids appear as appendixes at the end of Volume 6:

The Bibliography cites major sources on the period.

Electronic Resources provides URLs and descriptions of Web sites
and other online resources devoted to period studies.

The Chronological List of Entries organizes the contents
chronologically in one place for ease of reference.

Four indexes round out the set:

The Geographical Index lists essays by regions and countries.

The Category Index lists essays by types of event, such as
Agriculture, Architecture, and Arts.

The Personages Index includes major personages discussed throughout.

The Subject Index includes persons, concepts, terms, battles,
works of literature, inventions, organizations, artworks, musical
compositions, and many other topics of discussion.

Usage Notes
The worldwide scope of Great Events from History often results in the inclusion of names and words that must be transliterated from languages that do not use the Roman alphabet, and in some cases more than one system of transliteration exists. In many cases, transliterated words in this set follow the American Library Association and Library of Congress (ALA-LC) transliteration format for that language. However, if another form of a name or word is judged to be more familiar to the general audience, it is used instead. Pinyin transliterations are used for Chinese topics, with Wade-Giles variants provided for major names and dynasties; in a few cases, common names that are not Pinyin are used. Sanskrit and other South Asian names generally follow the ALA-LC transliteration rules, although more familiar forms of names are used when deemed appropriate for general readers.

Titles of books and other literature appear, upon first mention in each essay, with their full publication and translation data as known: an indication of the first date of publication or appearance, followed by the English title in translation and its first date of appearance in English. If no translation has been published in English, and if the context of the discussion does not make the meaning of the title obvious, a "literal translation" appears in roman type.

In the listing of Key Figures and in parenthetical material within the text, "r." stands for "reigned," "b." for "born," "d." for "died," and "fl." for "flourished." Wherever date ranges, such as "1823-1877," appear appended to names with none of these designators, readers may assume that they signify birth and death dates or, where the contexts indicate, terms of office not considered "reigns."

The Contributors
Salem Press would like to extend its appreciation to all who have been involved in the development and production of this work. Special thanks go to Professor Robert F. Gorman at Texas State, who developed the contents list and coverage notes for contributing writers to ensure the set's relevance to the high school and undergraduate curricula. The essays were written and signed by 595 historians, political scientists, and scholars of regional studies as well as independent scholars. Without their expert contributions, a project of this nature would not be possible. A full list of their names and affiliations appears in the front matter of this volume.