Introduction | Wars between nations | Civil wars
Cold War and terrorism | Keeping the peace
A new Europe? | Did you know? | Find out more

Introduction

In 1900, there had been no major European war for 30 years, but tensions between the great powers were running high. If you were alive then, you would definitely have been at risk of either being called up to fight or having your village invaded by foreign soldiers. In theory, you should have been protected by the Hague conventions (1899) that provided the rules of war. But these were usually ignored – especially in the numerous wars that were fought in the colonies.

By 2000, the horrendous world wars, with their atrocities and millions of civilian victims, appeared to be things of the past. So was the possibility of being annihilated by a nuclear war as a result of conflict between the two superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union. But, as the Bosnian war and Middle East conflicts showed, the world was still a dangerous place – and civilians were never safe.

The 20th century was an era of unprecedented conflict, with wars claiming more victims than ever before. Not only did European wars become truly global for the first time, but the new technologies of violence – from poison gas to the atom bomb – meant that it was easier to kill large numbers of people at the same time. Added to this, wars became total: they were fought with the aim not just of victory, but of annihilating the enemy. And the enemy was no longer simply defined as soldiers, but included civilians.

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