The progress made in the 20th century is staggering. Advances in science, medicine and technology alone have brought incalculable benefits to human beings. But the darker side is that the 20th century was also the most violent period in human history. Two world wars, Stalin's massacres, Hitler's Holocaust and many other similar events killed hundreds of millions of people and inflicted extreme suffering on hundreds of millions more, making this a period that will be remembered forever. The century had a trend towards the improvement of weapons. It was only in the 20th century that weapons became common in warfare and on the streets. The 20th century brought automatic firearms, missiles and nuclear warheads. There are countries with stockpiles of weapons so powerful that they could destroy the world at the push of a button. Propaganda helped increase war production by falsely tricking the public into believing they were supporting the right thing. During Stalin's reign, Stalin did not kill so many millions of Russians because of some innate evil in his nature but because he had to eliminate those who refused to do so. voluntarily surrender property and wealth to the State. Therefore, the people who supported industrialization are equally responsible for the deaths of those millions because they failed to understand that such violence would be the end result. Hitler quickly transformed Germany into a totalitarian dictatorship in which all social and economic societies were with the Nazi Party. . Until the start of World War II the terror was relatively small compared to the murder, incarceration, and harassment of Jews, homosexuals, and even the mentally ill of World War II. After the start of World War II, the assassination and extermination...... middle of paper ......forcing people to do the morally correct thing when they do not find that their best interests usually produces a violent response. In the 20th century, the nations of the world elected leaders who promised that, once governed, they would build a great society based on equality, on peace, for the common good. What we got was a cycle of violence, death and destruction. The killings continue as we move into the 21st century. One of the most important concerns we should be concerned about is the availability of nuclear weapons. The potential for a true nuclear holocaust is real and looms large over the human race. It is simply unrealistic to think that humans will not use such power for evil purposes, but it could happen. We must do everything we can to bring peace to our violent world and make our world and our lives a safer, happier and better place.