History offers few moments as revealing as the opening chapters of a century. The first quarter of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries stands as parallel studies in contradiction, periods marked simultaneously by extraordinary innovation and profound instability. Like two mirrors facing each other across time, these eras reflect the enduring struggle between humanity’s highest ambitions and its recurring failures.

The beginnings of centuries are often remembered as moments of promise, yet they are just as frequently shaped by turmoil. The early decades of both centuries unfolded as contrasting yet curiously similar eras defined by rapid progress, political upheaval, and societies forced to renegotiate power, identity, and survival. In examining these two periods side by side, history reveals not a straight path forward, but a recurring pattern of hope shadowed by consequence. As 2025 draws to a close, humanity arrives at a rare historical milestone. When we place the first 25 years of the 21st century (2000-2025) beside those of the 20th century (1900-1925), striking parallels emerge: political upheaval, social transformation, technological leaps, and crises that reshaped global consciousness.

Both periods began with optimism fuelled by innovation, and both were quickly tempered by conflict, inequality, and global shocks. Together, they reveal a sobering truth: progress is never linear, and modernity always arrives with consequences.

Political Earthquakes: Power Challenged and Reimagined: The early 20th century was defined by the collapse of empires and the birth of new political orders. The Russian Revolution of 1905 signalled the first crack in autocratic rule, followed by the 1917 Russian Revolution, which replaced monarchy with Bolshevik communism and eventually led to the formation of the Soviet Union in 1922. Meanwhile, the Chinese Revolution of 1911 ended centuries of imperial rule, establishing the Republic of China. These events reflected a global rejection of absolute authority.

Furthermore, World War I became the defining political catastrophe of that era, which redrew borders, destroyed empires, and culminated in the Treaty of Versailles. I........

© Daily Times