Chronos

Course 9 of 9 · 1970s to 2000

The End of the Millennium

The world we woke up in

How the Cold War ended and the world it left behind, from the 1970s to the turn of the millennium. The Middle East and oil, Communist China, television and popular culture, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 1990s, globalization and the internet.

7 modules · 43 lessons · a certificate of completion

See Inside the Course
The cover of The End of the Millennium, with Mylo in costume

The period

1970s to 2000, in a few lines

The last decades of the twentieth century changed the world's map of power again: oil shocks, China's opening, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the spread of television, trade and then the internet.

This course follows those changes from the 1970s to the turn of the millennium, and ends where today's world begins.

Moments that shaped it

Key events and turning points

  1. 1973

    The oil embargo

    Oil-producing Arab states cut supplies to countries that backed Israel, and prices jump around the world.

  2. 1978

    China opens up

    Deng Xiaoping begins reforms that bring markets and foreign trade into the Chinese economy.

  3. 1985

    Gorbachev takes the lead

    The new Soviet leader starts reforms that change the Soviet Union and its relations with the West.

  4. 9 November 1989

    The Berlin Wall falls

    East Germans cross freely into West Berlin, and the division of Europe begins to end.

  5. 1991

    The Soviet Union dissolves

    Fifteen new countries emerge from the end of the superpower.

  6. 1993

    The web opens to everyone

    CERN releases the World Wide Web software to the public, free of charge.

What you will discover

What the course covers

From the oil shock of the 1970s to the dawn of the internet age, the world was remade again. This course follows how the Cold War ended and what came next.

  • 1Understand the Middle East and oil, from Israel's wars to the 1973 embargo and the Iranian Revolution.
  • 2Follow Communist China from Mao to Deng Xiaoping and the reforms that opened its economy.
  • 3See how television, rock music and global stars created a shared popular culture.
  • 4Watch the Soviet Union collapse, from Gorbachev's reforms to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
  • 5Explore the 1990s: a new world order, globalization and the rise of the internet.

Who it is for

  • Readers who remember the fall of the Berlin Wall or the first years of the internet and want the full story.
  • Younger readers who know this period only from stories and want the background to today's news.
  • Students looking for one clear thread from the 1970s to the turn of the millennium.

Why it matters

  • The end of the Cold War created the world order, the borders and many of the conflicts we live with today.
  • Oil politics and the rise of China help explain the global economy and the headlines of today.
  • Globalization and the internet changed how people work, shop and talk to each other.

No prior knowledge needed. If you read the news, you already know part of this story.

Inside the course

7 modules and 43 lessons

This is the course exactly as it is in the app, module by module.

1The Middle East and Oil5 lessons
  1. Israel and Its Neighbors
  2. The Oil Embargo of 1973
  3. Stagflation and the End of the Boom
  4. The Iranian Revolution
  5. Let's Review
2China from Mao to Deng7 lessons
  1. Mao's China
  2. The Great Leap Forward
  3. The Cultural Revolution
  4. The Split with the USSR
  5. Deng Xiaoping's Reforms
  6. Tiananmen Square, 1989
  7. Let's Review
3Television and Popular Culture5 lessons
  1. The Rise of Television
  2. Rock and Roll
  3. The Beatles and the British Invasion
  4. Superstars and the Music Industry
  5. Let's Review
4The Fall of the Wall and the End of the USSR7 lessons
  1. Détente
  2. Reagan and the Last Cold War Years
  3. Gorbachev and Glasnost
  4. The Revolutions of 1989
  5. The Fall of the Berlin Wall
  6. The End of the Soviet Union
  7. Let's Review
5The 1990s: A New World Order7 lessons
  1. Post-Soviet Russia
  2. Yugoslavia Breaks Apart
  3. The European Union
  4. The Gulf War
  5. The End of Apartheid
  6. China's Economic Boom
  7. Let's Review
6A Globalized Economy6 lessons
  1. What Is Globalization?
  2. World Trade and the WTO
  3. Multinational Companies
  4. Outsourcing and Global Supply Chains
  5. Linked Financial Markets
  6. Let's Review
7The Internet and the Digital Age6 lessons
  1. From Arpanet to the World Wide Web
  2. Mobile Phones Spread
  3. Online Shopping
  4. The Dot-Com Bubble
  5. The First Social Networks
  6. Let's Review

Certificate

A certificate when you finish

Finish every module of The End of the Millennium and you can issue its certificate of completion in the app, as a PDF with your name to keep and to share. Certificates are part of the Premium plan.

Chronos

Certificate of Completion

This certifies that

Alex Morgan

has completed the course

The End of the Millennium

World history learning
An example certificate with a made-up name
Before thisThe Cold War1945 to c. 1975

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