Top 10 Most Powerful Countries of the 20th Century

The most powerful countries of the 20th century are based on military strength, defense capability, nuclear weapons, economic power, and more.

1. United States of America

   

   Well, it's definitely this or the Soviet. I choose America. They beat the Soviet in the first nuke, first to space, and more importantly, RIP Soviet 1919-1991. Although yes, the Soviet had more military men at the time, America had better tech. The Soviet had more nukes, but it wouldn't matter because we would all be dead before all the nukes go off.

   The USA became the bread and butter for the world during and after World War II. We produced the best products, inventions, etc., and catapulted the world into modern civilization. Hip hip hooray for the USA!

2. Soviet Union

   

   The USSR and the USA did not have much of a difference in power. In fact, the USSR possessed a larger and more advanced tank fleet than the USA, while the USA had a bit of an upper hand in air force. The Soviets and the Americans both had more or less the same number of nukes, and their military technology rivaled each other. The only reason the USSR is ranked below the USA is because the USSR had a very weak economy while the USA was thriving with very high population morale.

   Very powerful, but couldn't beat the US. Now, I'm not saying that Russia has a garbage military. They have one of the best in the world. The US wasn't in much of World War II but did really well in the Korean War, even though it was Russia, China, and North Korea versus South Korea and the United Nations.

3. United Kingdom

   

   Two words: British Empire. The British Empire covered 75% of the world's land mass and was known as 'The empire on which the sun never sets'.

4. Germany

   

   Although Nazism is pretty much no more and Hitler is dead, Nazi Germany had great power, and Hitler's army was able to invade and take over so many countries. No wonder they are seen as one of the most powerful countries in the 20th century. Just imagine a group of Panzer tanks charging at you.

   Germany was praised for having a strong military unlike any before them. They lost World War I but came back with an army far greater than anything like them before.

5. China

   

   China has the most people and just look, they have the most malls, propelled guns, more everything.

6. France

   

7. India

   

8. Japan

   

9. Canada

   

10. Italy

    
The Newcomers
11. ?

    Thailand

    
12. ?

    Norway

    
The Contenders

13. Australia

    

14. Israel

    

15. South Korea

    

    Korea was strong, is still strong, and will be one of the strongest countries in the world. You cannot deny it!

16. Yugoslavia

    

    One of the most interesting of the countries during the Cold War was Yugoslavia. While it was a Communist state under Josip Broz Tito, it remained famously neutral and independent from the Soviets' Eastern European bloc. Yugoslavia even managed to collect support and protection from both the USA and the USSR, which was not easy at the time. It's unfortunate that the country split up shortly after Tito died. I wonder how this country would work if it decided to become part of the EU.

17. Russia

    

18. Vietnam

    

    They managed to defeat France and America, just saying.

19. Iran

    

20. Turkey

    

21. Poland

    

22. North Korea

    

23. Mexico

    

24. Serbia

    

25. Philippines

    

26. Netherlands

    

27. Nepal