At 11am on the 11th November 1918 a truce came into effect between Germany and the Entente forces. This was supposed to be the war that 'ends all wars'. Yet by 1919 there were still between 20 and 30 wars being waged around the globe. According to Col Lionel Crook from the SA Legion there were 18500 military casualties from South Africa in this war. The 1884 Berlin Conference was an attempt to divide up Africa among the respective colonial and imperial powers. By the start of the 20th Century the entire world had been divided up among them. Tensions rose as further expansion meant the direct and open conflict with a rival colonial power. African soldiers and support staff from South Africa received no medals nor any recognition for their participation in World War 1. There were 83000 Africans and 2000 Coloureds who served in the World war 1 on the side of the Entente forces. The SS Mendi was sunk in 1917 with a loss of 600 SA soldiers and support staff. The end of World war 1 spurred on the anti-colonial struggles and the fight for independence from colonial rule intensified. The 11th November is commemorated each year in memory of all who lost their lives in this and subsequent wars. There were 11023 SA casualties in World War 2. This time, although some African soldiers received medals and were supposed to be retained in the army, African and Coloured soldiers were again badly treated. Most were discharged from the army with only a 2 pounds payment, a khaki uniform and in some cases a bicycle as well, with a small additional sum based on the length of service. During the war when there was heavy fighting in Libya , SA soldiers and stretcher bearers were also killed. They were buried together. The SA Military Command rejected this and had the bodies dug up and so the White and Black soldiers were re-buried separately. Stretcher bearer Lucas Majozi was awarded the 'Distinguished Conduct Medal' while Job Masego was awarded a Military medal for courageous and meritorious conduct.

In the aftermath of World War 2 Germany was partitioned into East and West Germany. The East was placed under the control of the Soviet Union while West Germany was under the control of the USA and its allies. The capital city of West Germany, Berlin, was in the heart of the East. As a result of several East Germans attempting to flee into West Berlin, the East German regime, on the 13th August 1961, started to build a wire fence around the entire West Berlin. This grew into the 45 km Berlin wall and came to symbolise the cold war divide between capitalist and communist forces. The existence of the wall did not stop attempts by East Germans to reach West Berlin. There were many attempts and estimates are that almost 200 people were killed trying to cross over the wall between the period of its construction to the period when it was torn down. The election of Gorbachev as head of the Soviet Union in 1988 reflected a growing crisis in the Soviet bloc. He called for 'Perestroika' restructuring, as well as 'Glasnost', openness and reflection. Many of the acts of the previous Soviet regimes, post 1924, were repudiated. The beginnings of free political debate in the Soviet Union gathered momentum until its regime was overthrown by a mass uprising. In October 1989 many of the East Germans began forcing their way across the Berlin wall. The East German regime was forced to open the border on the 9th Nov 1989. In the hours and days that followed, crowds from both East and West Germany physically broke down the Berlin wall. Germany was re-unified the next year. In 1968 the youth in former West Germany began questioning their parents about their role in the creation of Nazism. By 2019 East German youth are questioning their parents about the process of re-unification. After 1989 about 8500 companies in the East were either privatised or liquidated. Most of the housing stock in East Germany is controlled by Westerners. East Germany has the highest unemployment and under-employment rates, from 25% to 50% higher than the average in the country. Only 7% of the top 500 German companies are in the East. There is declining population size, with 4 funerals for every live birth, in the East. On the other hand, productivity in the east has risen from about 50% of the average for the country to just over 80%. There is also an extensive social support network. There is a rise of an 'Eastern' identity, with over 50% of hate crimes against immigrants occurring in the East, despite it only having 20% of the population. Many of the youth from the East had migrated over to the West but currently the currently East-West migration is about neutral. The political implications of the fall of the Soviet bloc has reverberated around the world. In South Africa Joe Slovo penned 'Has Socialism failed' , which opened up a period of Glasnost in the ranks of the liberation movements. It formed the backdrop for the start of political negotiations in South Africa. Joe Slovo also penned 'Negotiations: What room for compromise?'. This was hotly debated with many contributions coming from Pallo Jordan, Blade Nzimande, Harry Gwala, Raymond Suttner, Jeremy Cronin, the ANC Youth League and the ANC NEC. These were contained in the special issue of the African Communist: 'Riding into the Sunset?'. Alternative views on the debate included the views of Neville Alexander in his selected works, 'Some are more equal'. Baruch Hirson also critiqued the position of Slovo.