section_path: 20th century
section_name: 20th century
paragraph_text: 20th century
  
  While earlier centuries also saw significant developments, the 20th century was distinguished by the unprecedented pace and global scale of economic, technological, and cultural changes.
  
  Still, advancing technology and medicine have had a great impact even in the Global South. Large-scale industry and more centralized media made brutal dictatorships possible on an unprecedented scale in the middle of the century, leading to wars that were also unprecedented. However, the increased communications contributed to democratization.
  
  Technological developments included the development of airplanes and space exploration, nuclear technology, advancement in genetics, and the dawning of the Information Age.
  
  Major political developments included the Israeli – Palestinian conflict, two world wars, and the Cold War. It also saw the former British Empire lose most of its remaining political power over Commonwealth countries, most notably by the dividing of the British crown into several sovereignties by the Statute of Westminster, the patriation of constitutions by the Canada Act 1982, and the Australia Act 1986, as well as the independence of countries like India, Pakistan, South Africa, and Ireland.