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Shifting Power After 1900 CE

Driving Question: What internal and external factors contributed to the transformation of states after 1900 CE?

Over the long nineteenth century, the greatest determinants of a state’s power were its abilities to industrialize and to acquire colonies. The control of that power usually fell into the hands of the elite, who benefitted from the labor of the working class to accumulate resources in support of the state. In the early 1900s, this started to change as workers began to challenge the ruling classes in states across the world.

Learning Objectives

  1. Explain how internal and external factors contributed to change in various states after 1900.
  2. Explain the causes and consequences of historical events that occurred during World War I, such as the Russian Revolution.
  3. Use the historical reasoning process of comparison to assess the similarities and differences between the Russian Revolution and another political revolution.

Vocab Terms:

  • authoritarianism
  • communism
  • democracy
  • nationalization
  • rationing
  • redistribution
  • socialism
STEP 1

Opener: Shifting Power After 1900

What do you already know about some of the main ideas of this lesson? Enlist your prior knowledge in this brain dump.

STEP 2

Global Shifts in Power

Explore how political power shifted before, during, and after the world wars, from traditional monarchies, aristocracies and other wealthy elites to new ideologies like socialism and fascism.

STEP 3

Comparison: Mexican and Russian Revolutions

STEP 4

The Mexican Revolution

The story of the Mexican Revolution could be told many ways. As both a political and a social revolution, it had the potential to create great change.

STEP 5

The Power of One: Russian Revolution

World War I devastated Russia, and led to political unrest, mass casualties, and economic collapse. Amid strikes and protests, the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, seized power, but the country’s struggles continued.

STEP 6

Closer: Shifting Power After 1900