Summary English Literature- Context in the 20th Century (A Level)

KEY EVENTS IN THE 20TH CENTURY

Useful context for English Literature in the 20th and 21st Centuries

●​ Start of 20th Century
○​ New reforms in relation to voting / social issues / etc
○​ The Liberals are in government
●​ 1912
○​ Titanic sinks
●​ 1914
○​ World War One begins
●​ 1917
○​ February Revolution (Fall of Tsar Nicholas and the Romanovs in
Russia)
○​ October Revolution (Rise of Lenin and the Bolsheviks in Russia)
●​ 1918
○​ World War One ends
●​ 1919
○​ Treaty of Versailles
●​ 1921/1922
○​ Formation of the Irish Free State
○​ Ongoing Irish republicanism
○​ Formation of Northern Ireland
●​ 1929
○​ Wall Street Crash
○​ Global depression (The Great Depression)
●​ 1931
○​ Statute of Westminster
○​ More power to dominions in the Commonwealth
●​ 1933
○​ Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor in Germany
○​ Start of the rise of the Nazis in Germany and wider Europe
●​ 1936
○​ Abdication crisis with the British royal family
●​ 1939
○​ Start of World War Two
○​ The United Kingdom enters World War Two
●​ 1940
○​ Battle of Britain
■​ Part of World War Two
○​ Start of the London Blitz
●​ 1941
○​ The USA joins World War Two
○​ Pearl Harbour attacks