It was a year to be confounded, shocked, humbled.

Donald J. Trump won the American presidency, defying polls, mockery and fear to defeat Hillary Clinton. Britons jolted their country and the world by voting to leave the European Union. Syria’s agony played out before a largely indifferent world, its children staring into the camera with eyes wide in terror, blood flecking their clothing.

The president of the Philippines unleashed a merciless war on drugs, boasting of killing drug dealers himself when he was a mayor, and many of his citizens cheered him on. Climate change created a new class of refugees, even as climate-change skeptics were nominated to key United States cabinet posts.

And talk about shocking: The Chicago Cubs won the World Series after a drought of 108 years.

It was a year so unexpected, so tumultuous, that the fight has just begun over which narrative might possibly explain it. For some, it was the comeuppance of the elites and the rebellion of the forgotten white working class. Or it was the triumph of resentment, rage and racism. Or payback for identity politics. Or perhaps it was a rallying cry for identity politics.

One lesson was clear: Economic and cultural upheavals have consequences. Free trade and globalization, many economists argue, are inexorable forces. But in the United States as in Europe, the exodus of high-paying manufacturing jobs has taken a political as well as an economic toll. Chancellor Angela Merkel lifted many hearts and outraged others when she opened Germany’s doors to desperate refugees. But as in Britain, France and Italy, there was a backlash from those who conflated Muslim refugees with terrorism, and migrants with economic competition. After terrorist attacks from Paris to Nice, Berlin to Brussels, a frightened world is further barring its doors.

Was there ever such an American election? The spectacle that was the Trump campaign riveted the world. The images are indelible: Mr. Trump in silhouette drawing thousands to ecstatic rallies where he pledged to bring back jobs, but also of crowds spewing hate.

Hillary Clinton raced to make history as the first female president, allowing herself a brief moment of exultation, arms thrown wide. Then the surprise of her narrow defeat: Women pasted “I Voted” stickers on Susan B. Anthony’s grave, while soon after, President Obama welcomed President-elect Trump to the White House.

Violence struck in Orlando, with gay revelers attacked at the Pulse nightclub, and in Dallas and Baton Rouge, where the targets were law enforcement officers. Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were gunned down by the police. Rape, as ever a tool of war, was deployed by the Islamic State against Yazidi sex slaves. Mexican women, sexually assaulted by the police, broke their silence.

Meanwhile, Zika continued to ravage its victims. Cholera was the latest of the scourges visited on Haiti. Empty shelves and emaciated mental patients showed the worsening toll of Venezuela’s failing economy.

It was a year in desperate need of grace notes. The first-time Olympians Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez and the rest of the American gymnastics team entranced the world at the Olympic Games in Brazil. Vienna waltzes soared at the New York City Ballet. And then there was Zarifeh Shalabi, elected prom queen in Fontana, Calif., with her crown atop her hijab.

So much to absorb. Yet if 2016 was a world turned upside down, as the cast of the Broadway hit “Hamilton” sings of the American Revolution, just wait until next year.

— SUSAN CHIRA