It’s been said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. This feels especially fitting in the 2020s, whose economic and political landscapes feel more like those of the 1920s. A century may be a drop in the bucket compared to the different eras, reigns, and dynasties that have risen and fallen over millennia, but those 100 years can still offer a lot to digest.
It can be hard to know where to start between the different social, political, and cultural shifts (among others) that have happened over the past century or so. But, with a little digging around, curious viewers can find these great modern history documentaries on streaming platforms, each covering different topics and events from different angles.
10 The Russian Revolution (2017)
IMDB Score: 6.5/10
- Services: Kanopy (free; requires valid library card from supported libraries)
One of the biggest world-shaking events in the modern era was the Russian Revolution, when the nation overthrew its royal family. It ended the Eastern Front in World War 1, and led to the Russian Civil War and the execution of ex-Tsar Nicholas the Second and his family. It would also lead to Russia becoming a socialist nation, and later, the USSR.
Cal Seville’s documentary The Russian Revolution goes into deeper detail. Historians and academics talk about the social and economic causes behind the revolution and the political issues that tipped the scales. It also features personal accounts from the people who lived through it, along with its repercussions that can still be felt over a hundred years later.
9 Pride
IMDB Score: 7.3/10
- Service: Hulu (free trial available)
With another Pride Month passed, some might not get what all the fuss is about. Why watch parades and buy a rainbow mug from some corporation trying to pinkwash their image? Because LGBTQ people weren’t always able to be so out and aloud. Many are still forced to keep their true selves under wraps to please small minds.
The documentary miniseries Pride covers the fight for LGBTQ rights decade by decade from the 1950s up to the 2000s (“Y2Gay”). It covers events like the ‘Lavender Scare’ and the Stonewall riots, to the ‘Culture Wars’ that rose in the 1990s and are still around today. For all the fun and games today, those rainbow mugs and parades came at a high human cost.
8 How to Survive a Plague
IMDB Score: 7.6/10
- Services: AMC+, Kanopy, Mubi, Mubi via Amazon Prime, Pluto TV, Plex, IFC Films Unlimited via AppleTV
- Free Trials Available: AMC+, Mubi, AppleTV.
- Free Services: Kanopy (requires valid library card from supported libraries), Plex, Pluto TV
Thankfully, modern times have allowed HIV+ people and those afflicted with AIDS to live a long life. It may be uncomfortable or complicated, but they can still thrive thanks to antiretroviral therapy. There may even be an AIDS vaccine on the horizon. But it took a lot of effort to get the US Government and medical community to take it seriously.
How to Survive a Plague goes over the efforts of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) and TAG (Treatment Action Group) to press them into developing safe HIV/AIDS medication ASAP. Using archive footage, and interviews with key figures like Dr Fauci and TAG founder Peter Staley, it goes in-depth on how afflicted people struggled during the AIDS epidemic’s early days.
7 The Kingmaker
IMDB Score: 7.6/10
- Services: Fubo, Showtime via AppleTV, Paramount Plus via Showtime, AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Roku
- Free Trials Available: Fubo, Paramount Plus w/ Showtime, AppleTV, Amazon Prime and Roku, Showtime via AppleTV, AppleTV
The partners of infamous dictators don’t tend to survive. Eva Braun’s life ended with Hitler’s in their Berlin bunker, and Clara Petacci’s body was hung by its heels next to Mussolini’s at a Milan gas station. But Imelda Marcos, the widow of the Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, is (as of this writing) still alive at 94 years old. After a brief exile following Ferdinand’s death in 1986, she is still a resident in the Philippines.
The Kingmaker goes over Marcos’ attempts to help her son, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr, rise through the political ranks, most notably with a deal with then-Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte. It must have worked as, in 2022, Bongbong became the Philippines’ 17th President, with Duterte’s daughter Sara as his vice-president. The documentary also interviewed former president Benigo Aquino the 3rd, the son of Corazon Aquino, the country’s first president and the woman who ousted the Marcos regime in the first place.
6 Union with David Olusoga
IMDB Score: 8/10
- Services: BBC Select via AppleTV (free trial available)
Union with David Olusoga isn’t strictly modern history, as its story starts in 1603. But its four episodes run all the way up to modern day to explain how England and Scotland became the United Kingdom of Great Britain, how Wales and Ireland got pulled in along for the ride, and how the country is anything but united.
By episode 4, the documentary covers the Irish Famine, and how Ireland gained independence (bar Northern Ireland) in the early 1900s. It discusses how Scotland came close to doing the same in 2014 and may succeed if they get another chance.
5 13th
IMDB Score: 8.2/10
- Service: Netflix
Winning two Emmys, a BAFTA, and more, 13th goes over the exceptions to the US Constitution’s 13th Amendment. Added in 1865, it abolished slavery and involuntary servitude throughout the nation, except as a punishment for convicted criminals. As a result, instead of freeing the slaves, it found other ways to enslave people.
From Jim Crow and disenfranchisement to racial profiling and the War on Drugs, 13th goes over how the system has found ways to incarcerate POC, particularly black people, and exploit them for the prison-industrial complex. Since its 2016 release, 8 US states have enacted a total ban on slavery and involuntary servitude. However, 16 still enforce it within their own state legislature as well as the Constitution.
4 The Act of Killing
IMDB Score: 8.2/10
- Services: Netflix, Peacock, Hoopla, Fandor via Amazon Prime, MZ Choice via Amazon Prime, Plex, Topic via AppleTV
- Free Trials Available: MZ Choice, Fandor, AppleTV
Under the cover of maintaining security, General Suharto ousted President Sukarno of Indonesia, and formed the nation’s New Order. They would last until 1998, but they committed their worst atrocity at the start of their reign in 1965. This year-long killing campaign targeted communists, communist sympathizers, trade unionists, women’s rights activists, and Chinese and Abangan residents.
The Act of Killing follows Anwar Congo and Herman Koto, former members of one of the death squads, who explains why he joined in the killings and how he did them, taking inspiration from Hollywood movies. Few of the killers feel remorse for what they did, and many of them never faced any repercussions for it, aside from a guilty conscience.
3 World War II In Colour
IMDB Score: 8.7/10
- Services: Discovery Plus, Discovery Plus via Amazon Prime
- Free Trial Available: Discovery Plus
For the sake of simplicity, this list considers modern history as being from 1900 to today, which means it will inevitably go over World War II. The History Channel practically lived on producing documentaries on the conflict before they fell into the hole of reality TV. As such, it can be hard to track down a solid place to start, as there are a lot of choices out there.
But if the topic had a gateway drug, World War II In Colour would fit the bill. By combining original and colorized footage, the 13-episode series gives a good overview of the war’s different fronts. It covers the lesser-known North African and Italian campaigns, as well as the more famous D-Day Landings and Hitler’s failed invasion of Russia. It’s not the most in-depth documentary series, but it has plenty to intrigue casual and die-hard viewers alike.
2 Shoah
IMDB Score: 8.7/10
- Services: AMC+, IFC Films Unlimited via AppleTV
- Free Trials Available: AMC+ and Apple TV
Shoah is a hard documentary to get through, and not just because of its subject. Made over 11 years, it’s a 9-hour-long documentary that covers the Holocaust. It interviews survivors of the Chelmo, Treblinka, and Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps, and the perpetrators behind its carnage.
It goes into how people were led to their deaths and what the then-surviving inmates had to do to survive. Rudolf Vrba managed to escape and reveal the horror to the world from his refuge in Slovakia. Szymon Srebnik would have died with the other Chelmo inmates if he hadn’t survived a shot to the head. It’s a stark reminder of how horrible humanity can be if prejudices get stirred up.
1 The Vietnam War (2017)
IMDB Score: 9.1/10
- Free Services: Hoopla (requires valid library card from supported libraries), Pluto TV
Name a period in American history, and chances are Ken Burns has produced a documentary based on it. His miniseries The Civil War became one of the most acclaimed documentaries on the topic, and his Prohibition docuseries had an all-star cast of narrators.
His ten-episode miniseries, The Vietnam War, is one of the strongest entries in his oeuvre. It covers the war from beginning to end via interviews with soldiers from both sides of the conflict, activists against the war, and the journalists and generals who oversaw it. That’s not to mention detailed documents and archival footage of the war that goes into its battles, brutality, and atrocities.
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