The volume describes the events of the period when the colonial power of the Western powers in the East reached its climax and the collapse of colonial empires began. After the general characteristics of the analyzed stage, theoretical chapters follow, which consider the historical phenomena that had the greatest impact on the course of evolution of the East in the 20th century: "World War I and the East," "Revolutionary Russia and the East," "World Economic Crisis and the Countries of the East," "World War II and the East," etc. The chapters on individual countries show the specifics of the development of each of them. Bibliography, maps, indexes of names, place names, terms and ethnonyms are given.