How did twentieth-century historians expand history to include ordinary workers, soldiers, women, and oppressed groups?

Twentieth-century historians expanded the scope of history to include ordinary people and marginalized groups by shifting the focus away from traditional narratives of state affairs, war, and elite leadership. This transformation, often described as "history from the bottom up," was driven by several key developments:12

• The Annales School: Emerging in France, this movement replaced the study of political and diplomatic history with inquiries into demography, social structures, and the lives of ordinary people. By utilizing quantitative methods and studying mentalités (popular attitudes), historians began to document the experiences of those previously ignored.234
• Social History: This discipline expanded significantly in the 1960s, focusing on the interactions of different social groups and disenfranchised populations. It incorporated techniques from sociology and anthropology to analyze family structures, migration, and social mobility.13
• Subaltern Studies: This approach specifically sought to challenge imperialist and elite-centric narratives by highlighting the experiences of subordinated populations, including women and oppressed groups. It emphasizes the agency of these groups and often critiques the "master narratives" of traditional history.5
• Women’s History: Initially focused on "contribution history"—highlighting the achievements of illustrious women—the field evolved to examine gender as a socially constructed category and to explore the history of the family, labor, and the roots of patriarchal oppression.6
• Microhistory: By focusing on the lives of specific, often marginalized individuals, historians were able to provide deep, contextual insights into the experiences of people who would otherwise be overlooked by broader social or political histories.3

These methodological shifts allowed historians to move beyond anecdote and sentimentality, employing rigorous research to recover the voices and experiences of those who had been silenced by traditional historiography.3