1904: South Africa, initially colonized by the Dutch, is ruled by the British Commonwealth. The British Navy is the preeminent maritime power, and the mass colonization of Africa and other colonies could not have been achieved without it. Native peoples are persecuted and discriminated against, and kept in poverty while colonizers exploited the land's natural resources.

Late 1990s:South Africa is now a republic, free from the colonial influence of England. Apartheid, the legal discrimination against the African people, is now illegal and native groups are achieving opportunity and equal rights under the law.

1904: Realism is a popular literary style, reflecting changing American and European concerns in the twentieth century. Short stories gain widespread popularity as a literary genre.

1990s: Short stories remain popular, and American and European literature are rich with fine examples of the short fiction genre. With the advent of the twenty-first...