The Prehistoric era in human history reflects the period between the appearance of humans on the planet (roughly 2.5 million years ago) and 600 B.C. (Before Christ) or 1200 B.C., depending on the region. It indicates the period on Earth in which there was human activity, but little to no records of human history. This era is also known as the Foundational era, as many foundations of human civilization occurred during this span of time.

The Stone Age

(2.5 million B.C. to 3000 B.C.) - documents the human migration from Africa and first use of tools by Neanderthals, Denisovans and early humans.

The Bronze Age

(3000 B.C. to 1300 B.C.) - humans settle in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and ancient Egypt; invention of the wheel and metalworking.

The Iron Age

(1300 B.C. to 600 B.C.) - formation of planned cities, introduction of ironworks, steel, and writing systems.

Paleolithic

Our species, Homo sapiens, first appeared about 200,000 years ago during the Paleolithic period. Paleolithic means Old Stone Age, because in that time, we had just begun to use stones as weapons and tools. Because of that, Paleolithic stone works are somewhat awkward and bulky. We know more than that about the Paleolithic period though. For one thing, we were the first and perhaps only species who could speak, and we developed that ability in the Paleolithic. Along with more efficient communication, we began burying the dead, tinkering with organized sound (that is, making music), and painting and carving objects. Throughout the period, the stone tools gradually became more sophisticated. The Paleolithic period finally ended when the Ice Age (a period of colder global temperatures and glacial expansion) did, around 10,000 B.C.E. That means that for the first 190,000 years of our existence, food was a rather scarce commodity. Humans were forced to move from place to place, exhausting all the food before moving on. About 14,000 years ago, Earth entered a warming period. Many of the large Ice Age animals went extinct and glaciers melted at the end of the last Ice Age.

Mesolithic

The Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age, was very different from the Paleolithic. Because the glaciers were gone, the northern and southern regions suddenly had a bountiful food supply. Forested regions were for the first time being cut down in small numbers. Flint was worked into small tools, which were used for many different things. Fishing tackle and stone adzes have been found and could have been used for fishing and shaping wood. Canoes and bows have also been dated to this time period. With food more plentiful and the development of better tools and weapons to hunt and make use of animals, it's not surprising that the human population blossomed. With animals and environments more diverse than they had been for thousands of years, it also seems only natural that cultures that were more and more different from each other developed during this time period.

Neolithic

When we realized that we could plant seeds and they would grow into something edible, we moved into the Neolithic, or New Stone Age. In Mesopotamia and along the Nile, Indus, and Yangtze river valleys, this happened around 8,000 B.C.E., though some parts of the world only started farming around 4000 B.C.E. In some places, like the deserts of Eurasia or the plains of North America, we wouldn't start farming until only recently, if at all. When farming was used in any area, there was no longer a need to move every few weeks or months and settlements became permanent, and consequently grew larger. It wasn't too long before writing was introduced too, though the time of its invention varied from area to area. In old world, in the major river valleys, it appeared as early as 3,600 B.C.E. The tribes on their borders were writing by 3,200 B.C.E. In the Americas, the first writing only goes back to about 500 B.C.E or so.

---

---

The Bronze Age refers to a time when bronze was the primary metal used to create tools and weapons. It occurred between the Stone Age and the Iron Age. This time period occurred between 3500 and 1200 B.C.E. It can be divided into three subsequent time periods:
· Early Bronze Age (3500-2000 B.C.E.)
· Middle Bronze Age (2000-1600 B.C.E.)
· Late Bronze Age (1600-1200 B.C.E.)
During this time, civilization was developing in modern areas of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. As varying groups of people discovered metals and metallurgy, the science of forging metal, the Bronze Age occurred at different times. The development of bronze in this region first occurred in Mesopotamia. Sumerians, who inhabited southern Mesopotamia, discovered bronze could be created by adding tin to copper. The resulting metal was more durable than copper. It was also sharper. These two qualities made the alloy very popular and useful in weaponry. The metal was also used to create tools and household items. The Bronze Age also saw the development of writing systems, pyramids, and ziggurats (large, raised structures used for religious purposes).

Humans may have started smelting copper as early as 6,000 B.C. in the Fertile Crescent, a region often called “the cradle of civilization” and a historical area of the Middle East where agriculture and the world’s first cities emerged. Ancient Sumer may have been the first civilization to start adding tin to copper to make bronze. Bronze was harder and more durable than copper, which made bronze a better metal for tools and weapons. Archaeological evidence suggests the transition from copper to bronze took place around 3300 B.C. The invention of bronze brought an end to the Stone Age, the prehistoric period dominated by the use of stone tools and weaponry. Different human societies entered the Bronze Age at different times. Civilizations in Greece began working with bronze before 3000 B.C., while the British Isles and China entered the Bronze Age much later—around 1900 B.C. and 1600 B.C., respectively. The Bronze Age was marked by the rise of states or kingdoms—large-scale societies joined under a central government by a powerful ruler. Bronze Age states interacted with each other through trade, warfare, migration and the spread of ideas. Prominent Bronze Age kingdoms included Sumer and Babylonia in Mesopotamia and Athens in Ancient Greece. The Bronze Age ended around 1200 B.C. when humans began to forge an even stronger metal: iron.

Sumer:
By the fourth millennium BCE, Sumerians had established roughly a dozen city-states throughout ancient Mesopotamia, including Eridu and Uruk in what is now southern Iraq. Sumerians called themselves the Sag-giga, the “black-headed ones.” They were among the first to use bronze. They also pioneered the use of levees and canals for irrigation. Sumerians invented cuneiform script, one of the earliest forms of writing and built large stepped pyramid temples called ziggurats. Sumerians celebrated art and literature. The 3,000-line poem “Epic of Gilgamesh” follows the adventures of a Sumerian king as he battles a forest monster and quests after the secrets of eternal life.

Babylonia:
Babylonia rose to prominence in the Bronze Age around 1900 B.C., in present-day Iraq. Its capital, the city of Babylon, was first occupied by people known as the Amorites. The Amorite King Hammurabi created one of the world’s earliest and most-complete written legal codes. The Code of Hammurabi helped Babylon surpass the Sumerian City of Ur as the region’s most powerful city.

Assyria:
Assyria was a major political and military power in ancient Mesopotamia. At its peak, the Assyrian Empire stretched from modern-day Iraq in the east to Turkey in the west and Egypt in the south. The Assyrians frequently warred against the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt and the Hittite Empire of Turkey. Assyria is named after its original capital, the ancient city of Assur, situated on the west bank of the Tigris River in modern-day Iraq.

In China, Bronze Age civilizations centered around the Yellow River during the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 B.C) and Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 B.C.). Chariots, weapons and vessels were fashioned in bronze using piece-mold casting as opposed to the lost-wax method used in other Bronze Age cultures. This meant a model had to be made of the desired object, and then covered in a clay mold. The clay mold would then be cut into sections that were re-fired to create a single mold.

Greece became a major hub of activity on the Mediterranean during the Bronze Age. The Bronze Age in Greece started with the Cycladic civilization, an early Bronze Age culture that arose southeast of the Greek mainland on the Cyclades Islands in the Aegean Sea around 3200 B.C. A few hundred years later, the Minoan civilization emerged on the island of Crete. The Minoans are considered the first advanced civilization in Europe. The Minoans were traders who exported timber, olive oil, wine and dye to nearby Egypt, Syria, Cyprus and the Greek mainland. They imported metals and other raw materials, including copper, tin, ivory and precious stones. Around 1600 B.C., the Mycenaean civilization rose on the Greek mainland, and their culture flourished during the late Bronze Age. Major Mycenaean power centers included Mycenae, Thebes, Sparta and Athens. Many Greek myths are tied to Mycenae. In Greek mythology, the city of Mycenae was founded by Perseus, the Greek hero who beheaded Medusa. The Mycenaean king Agamemnon invaded Troy during the Trojan War of Homer’s “Iliad,” though there are no historical records of a Mycenaean king of that name.

The Bronze Age ended abruptly around 1200 B.C. in the Middle East, North Africa and Mediterranean Europe. Historians don’t know for sure what caused the Bronze Age collapse, but many believe the transition was sudden, violent and culturally disruptive. Major Bronze Age civilizations, including Mycenaean Greece, the Hittite Empire in Turkey and Ancient Egypt fell within a short period of time. Ancient cities were abandoned, trade routes were lost and literacy declined throughout the region. Scholars believe a combination of natural catastrophes may have brought down several Bronze Age empires. Archaeological evidence suggests a succession of severe droughts in the eastern Mediterranean region over a 150-year period from 1250 to 1100 B.C. likely figured prominently in the collapse. Earthquakes, famine, sociopolitical unrest and invasion by nomadic tribes may also have played a role.

---

---

The Iron Age began around 1200 B.C. in the Mediterranean region and Near East with the collapse of several prominent Bronze Age civilizations, including the Mycenaean civilization in Greece and the Hittite Empire in Turkey. Ancient cities including Troy and Gaza were destroyed, trade routes were lost and literacy declined throughout the region. The cause for the collapse of these Bronze Age kingdoms remains unclear. Archaeological evidence suggests a succession of severe droughts in the eastern Mediterranean region over a 150-year period from 1250 to 1100 B.C. likely figured prominently in the collapse. Earthquakes, famine, sociopolitical unrest and invasion by nomadic tribes may also have played a role. Some experts believe that a disruption in trade routes may have caused shortages of the copper or tin used to make bronze around this time. Metal smiths, as a result, may have turned to iron as an alternative. Many scholars place the end of the Iron Age in at around 550 B.C., when Herodotus, “The Father of History,” began writing “The Histories,” though the end date varies by region. In Scandinavia, it ended closer to A.D. 800 with the rise of the Vikings. In Western and Central Europe, the end of the Iron Age is typically identified as coinciding with the Roman conquest during the first century BC.

Greece had become a major hub of activity and culture on the Mediterranean during the late Bronze Age. The Mycenaean civilization was rich in material wealth from trade. Mycenaeans built large palaces and a society with strict class hierarchy. But around 1200 B.C. Mycenaean Greece collapsed. Greece entered a period of turmoil sometimes called the Greek Dark Ages. Archaeologists believe there may have been a period of famine in which Greece’s population dropped dramatically during this time. Major cities (with the exception of Athens) were abandoned. As urban societies splintered, people moved toward smaller, more pastoral groups focused on raising livestock. Mycenaean Greece had been a literate society, but the Greeks of the early Iron Age left no written record, leading some scholars to believe they were illiterate. Few artifacts or ruins remain from the period, which lasted roughly 300 years. By the late Iron Age, the Greek economy had recovered and Greece had entered its “classical” period. Classical Greece was an era of cultural achievements including the Parthenon, Greek drama and philosophers including Socrates. The classical period also brought political reform and introduced the world to a new system of government known as demokratia, or “rule by the people.”

During the Iron Age in the Near East, nomadic pastoralists who raised sheep, goats and cattle on the Iranian plateau began to develop a state that would become known as Persia. The Persians established their empire at a time after humans had learned to make steel. Steel weapons were sharper and stronger than earlier bronze or stone weapons. The ancient Persians also fought on horseback. They may have been the first civilization to develop an armored cavalry in which horses and riders were completely covered in steel armor. The First Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great around 550 B.C., became one of the largest empires in history, stretching from the Balkans of Eastern Europe to the Indus Valley in India.

Life in Iron Age Europe was primarily rural and agricultural. Iron tools made farming easier. Celts lived across most of Europe during the Iron Age. The Celts were a collection of tribes with origins in central Europe. They lived in small communities or clans and shared a similar language, religious beliefs, traditions and culture. It’s believed that Celtic culture started to evolve as early as 1200 B.C. The Celts migrated throughout Western Europe—including Britain, Ireland, France and Spain. Their legacy remains prominent in Ireland and Great Britain, where traces of their language and culture are still prominent today. People throughout much of Celtic Europe lived in hill forts during the Iron Age. Walls and ditches surrounded the forts, and warriors defended hill forts against attacks by rival clans. Inside the hill forts, families lived in simple, round houses made of mud and wood with thatched roofs. They grew crops and kept livestock, including goats, sheep, pigs, cows and geese.

The Iron Age followed the Bronze Age, and it was during this time that we saw the rise of major empires such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and Greeks. The Iron Age was a period of time when people began to use iron to make tools and weapons. It lasted from about 1200 BC to 550 BC. Iron became an important technological development, particularly in warfare. Iron weapons were stronger and sharper than bronze, and they allowed for a more effective military. This period of time also saw the development of new forms of transportation, such as the chariot. As the Iron Age and Bronze Age transitioned, a lot of changes took place around the world. With the collapse of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age, there was a change in agriculture which even led to many wars and invasions. The farming tools made from iron made agriculture easier and allowed farmers to use tougher soil and grow more crops. Iron became an important part of factories and machinery and powered the onset of the industrial revolution.

The Classical era, also known as Classical antiquity, began roughly around 600 B.C. in most of the world. It marked the beginning of a philosophical period in world history as well as the first recorded sources of human history. Politically, the Classical era saw the rise – and fall – of most world empires.

Ancient Greece

(600 B.C. to A.D. 600) - foundation of democracy, philosophy, mathematics, drama, and poetry.

Ancient Rome

(753 B.C. to A.D. 476) - political power that developed the legal system, irrigation, architecture, city roads, and Christianity.

Persian Empire

(550 B.C. to 330 B.C.) - Middle Eastern empire that practiced Zoroastrianism before Islam and fell to Alexander the Great in 330 B.C.

Byzantine Empire

(A.D. 285 to A.D. 1453) - Mediterranean culture that incorporated practices and beliefs from ancient Greece and Rome; the only major power not to fall until after the Renaissance.

The Classical period is an expression that describes the period in the history of ancient Greece in which its culture reached its peak, has developed literature, philosophy, art forms, and political institutions that would later inspire Rome, and through it Western civilization. It is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, which begins roughly with the earliest-recorded Greek poetry of Homer (eighth-seventh century B.C.E.), and continues through the rise of Christianity and the fall of the Western Roman Empire (fifth century C.E.), ending in the dissolution of classical culture with the close of Late Antiquity (300—600 AD), or the similar and better known periodization of history, the Early Middle Ages (500-1100 C.E.).
The Classical Period was a time of great change in the world. The focus of life was changing from the country to the city, many new machines were invented, people began to believe that they should be able to make life choices for themselves and that ideas, thoughts and education were important. The American and French Revolutions both took place during this period. The Church and the monarchies (Kings and Queens) both lost power and a new group of people - the middle class - began to enjoy music and art.
The most important composers of the Classical Period were Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven (in his early years).
During the Classical Period, which is known as the Age of Enlightenment in world history, schools and Universities were established, the first encyclopedias and dictionaries were published. The piano was invented and became popular. The first concert halls were also built in the Classical Period. The art and music of this time period reflect these new and exciting ideas.

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is the period in Greek history lasting for close to a millennium, until the rise of Christianity. It is considered by most historians to be the foundational culture of Western civilization. Greek culture was a powerful influence in the Roman Empire, which carried a version of it to many parts of Europe.
The civilization of the ancient Greeks has been immensely influential on the language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, science, art and architecture of the modern world, fueling the Renaissance in Western Europe and again resurgent during various neo-classical revivals in eighteenth– and nineteenth–century Europe and The Americas.
"Ancient Greece" is the term used to describe the Greek-speaking world in ancient times. It refers not only to the geographical peninsula of modern Greece, but also to areas of Hellenic culture that were settled in ancient times by Greeks: Cyprus and the Aegean islands, the Aegean coast of Anatolia (then known as Ionia), Sicily and southern Italy (known as Magna Graecia), and the scattered Greek settlements on the coasts of Colchis, Illyria, Thrace, Egypt, Cyrenaica, southern Gaul, east and northeast of the Iberian peninsula, Iberia and Taurica.

The Hellenistic period of Greek history was the period between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.E. and the annexation of the Greek peninsula and islands by Rome in 146 B.C.E. Although the establishment of Roman rule did not break the continuity of Hellenistic society and culture, which remained essentially unchanged until the advent of Christianity, it did mark the end of Greek political independence.

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of the city-state of Rome, founded in the Italian Peninsula circa the ninth century B.C.E.. During its 12-century existence, the Roman civilization shifted from a monarchy to an oligarchic republic to a vast empire. It came to dominate Western Europe and the entire area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea through conquest and assimilation. However, a number of factors led to the eventual decline of the Roman Empire. The western half of the empire, including Hispania, Gaul, and Italy, eventually broke into independent kingdoms in the fifth century; the eastern empire, governed from Constantinople, is referred to as the Byzantine Empire after AD 476, the traditional date for the "fall of Rome" and subsequent onset of the Middle Ages.

Roman civilization is often grouped into "classical antiquity" with ancient Greece, a civilization that inspired much of the culture of ancient Rome. Ancient Rome contributed greatly to the development of law, war, art, literature, architecture, and language in the Western world, and its history continues to have a major influence on the world today. Ancient Rome was republican and even when an imperial system developed the institutions of the republic were preserved. The "city state" or "polis" which had been the main political organization among the Greeks then yielded to empire with strong central authority, which tended to be more authoritarian. Religion, too, was given more prominence in terms of official patronage and a demand for conformity. The Greeks had taken religion seriously—indeed Socrates was tried for corrupting the youth with his ambivalent attitude towards the Gods—but they never took their religion too seriously because they knew that their myths were painted human emotions and human conflicts onto a divine canvas. Thus, Euripides could satirize the deities without censure. At its deepest core, Greek civilization was profoundly humanist, valuing free enquiry into the cause of events, the meaning and purpose of life, with humanity at the center of the moral universe.

Persian Empire

The Persian Empire is the name given to a series of dynasties centered in modern-day Iran that spanned several centuries—from the sixth century B.C. to the 20th century A.D. The first Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great around 550 B.C., became one of the largest empires in history, stretching from Europe’s Balkan Peninsula in the West to India’s Indus Valley in the East. This Iron Age dynasty, sometimes called the Achaemenid Empire, was a global hub of culture, religion, science, art and technology for more than 200 years before it fell to the invading armies of Alexander the Great.

The Persian Empire stretched from Europe’s Balkan Peninsula—in parts of what is present day Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine—to the Indus River Valley in northwest India and south to Egypt.
The Persians were the first people to establish regular routes of communication between three continents—Africa, Asia and Europe. They built many new roads and developed the world’s first postal service.

The ancient Persians of the Achaemenid Empire created art in many forms, including metalwork, rock carvings, weaving and architecture. As the Persian Empire expanded to encompass other artistic centers of early civilization, a new style was formed with influences from these sources. Early Persian art included large, carved rock reliefs cut into cliffs, such as those found at Naqsh-e Rustam, an ancient cemetery filled with the tombs of Achaemenid kings. The elaborate rock murals depict equestrian scenes and battle victories. Ancient Persians were also known for their metalwork. In the 1870s, smugglers discovered gold and silver artifacts among ruins near the Oxus River in present-day Tajikistan. The artifacts included a small golden chariot, coins and bracelets decorated in a griffon motif. (The griffon is a mythical creature with the wings and head of an eagle and the body of a lion, and a symbol of the Persian capital of Persepolis.) British diplomats and members of the military serving in Pakistan brought roughly 180 of these gold and silver pieces—known as the Oxus Treasure—to London where they are now housed at the British Museum. The history of carpet weaving in Persia dates back to the nomadic tribes. The ancient Greeks prized the artistry of these hand-woven rugs—famous for their elaborate design and bright colors. Today, most Persian rugs are made of wool, silk and cotton.

The Persian Empire entered a period of decline after a failed invasion of Greece by Xerxes I in 480 BC. The costly defense of Persia’s lands depleted the empire’s funds, leading to heavier taxation among Persia’s subjects. The Achaemenid dynasty finally fell to the invading armies of Alexander the Great of Macedon in 330 B.C. Subsequent rulers sought to restore the Persian Empire to its Achaemenian boundaries, though the empire never quite regained the enormous size it had achieved under Cyrus the Great.

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was a vast and powerful civilization with origins that can be traced to A.D. 330, when the Roman emperor Constantine I dedicated a “New Rome” on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium. Though the western half of the Roman Empire crumbled and fell in A.D. 476, the eastern half survived for 1,000 more years, spawning a rich tradition of art, literature and learning and serving as a military buffer between Europe and Asia. The Byzantine Empire finally fell in 1453, after an Ottoman army stormed Constantinople during the reign of Constantine XI.

The term “Byzantine” derives from Byzantium, an ancient Greek colony founded by a man named Byzas. Located on the European side of the Bosporus (the strait linking the Black Sea to the Mediterranean), the site of Byzantium was ideally located to serve as a transit and trade point between Europe and Asia. In A.D. 330, Roman Emperor Constantine I chose Byzantium as the site of a “New Rome” with an eponymous capital city, Constantinople. Five years earlier, at the Council of Nicaea, Constantine had established Christianity — once an obscure Jewish sect — as Rome’s official religion. The citizens of Constantinople and the rest of the Eastern Roman Empire identified strongly as Romans and Christians, though many of them spoke Greek and not Latin. Though Constantine ruled over a unified Roman Empire, this unity proved illusory after his death in 337. In 364, Emperor Valentinian I again divided the empire into western and eastern sections, putting himself in power in the west and his brother Valens in the east. The fate of the two regions diverged greatly over the next several centuries. In the west, constant attacks from German invaders such as the Visigoths broke the struggling empire down piece by piece until Italy was the only territory left under Roman control. In 476, the barbarian Odoacer overthrew the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus, and after many centuries, the once-mighty empire of Rome had fallen.

The eastern half of the Roman Empire proved less vulnerable to external attack, thanks in part to its geographic location. With Constantinople located on a strait, it was extremely difficult to breach the capital’s defenses; in addition, the eastern empire had a much smaller common frontier with Europe. It also benefited greatly from a stronger administrative center and internal political stability, as well as great wealth compared with other states of the early medieval period. The eastern emperors were able to exert more control over the empire’s economic resources and more effectively muster sufficient manpower to combat invasion.
As a result of these advantages, the Eastern Roman Empire, variously known as the Byzantine Empire or Byzantium, was able to survive for centuries after the fall of Rome. Though Byzantium was ruled by Roman law and Roman political institutions, and its official language was Latin, Greek was also widely spoken, and students received education in Greek history, literature and culture.

The end of the 11th century saw the beginning of the Crusades, the series of holy wars waged by European Christians against Muslims in the Near East from 1095 to 1291. With the Seijuk Turks of central Asia bearing down on Constantinople, Emperor Alexius I turned to the West for help, resulting in the declaration of “holy war” by Pope Urban II at Clermont, France, that began the First Crusade. As armies from France, Germany and Italy poured into Byzantium, Alexius tried to force their leaders to swear an oath of loyalty to him in order to guarantee that land regained from the Turks would be restored to his empire. After Western and Byzantine forces recaptured Nicaea in Asia Minor from the Turks, Alexius and his army retreated, drawing accusations of betrayal from the Crusaders. During the subsequent Crusades, animosity continued to build between Byzantium and the West, culminating in the conquest and looting of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. The Latin regime established in Constantinople existed on shaky ground due to the open hostility of the city’s population and its lack of money. Many refugees from Constantinople fled to Nicaea, site of a Byzantine government-in-exile that would retake the capital and overthrow Latin rule in 1261.

On May 29, 1453, after an Ottoman army stormed Constantinople, Mehmed triumphantly entered the Hagia Sophia, which would soon be converted to the city’s leading mosque. The fall of Constantinople marked the end of a glorious era for the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Constantine XI died in battle that day, and the Byzantine Empire collapsed, ushering in the long reign of the Ottoman Empire.

In the centuries leading up to the final Ottoman conquest in 1453, the culture of the Byzantine Empire–including literature, art, architecture, law and theology–flourished even as the empire itself faltered. Byzantine culture would exert a great influence on the Western intellectual tradition, as scholars of the Renaissance sought help from Byzantine scholars in translating Greek pagan and Christian writings. Long after its end, Byzantine culture and civilization continued to exercise an influence on countries that practiced its Eastern Orthodox religion, including Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece, among others.

The Middle Ages is also known as the Medieval or Post-Classical era. Historians refer to the early part of this period as the Dark Ages due to the loss of recorded history after the fall of the Roman Empire in A.D. 476.

Early Middle Ages

(A.D. 476 to A.D. 1000) - also known as Late Antiquity; this period shows most powers rebuilding after the collapse of the Roman Empire and the beginning of Islam in the Middle East.

High Middle Ages

(A.D. 1000 to A.D. 1250) - 250-year period that saw the height of the Catholic church’s power in the Crusades.

Late Middle Ages

(A.D. 1250 to A.D. 1450) - a period that saw the Black Plague, the beginning of European exploration and the invention of the printing press.

The Middle Ages form the middle period in a traditional division of European history into three "epochs": the classical civilization of antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the modern era. The period of the Middle Ages is usually dated from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the fifteenth century. People use the phrase “Middle Ages” to describe Europe between the fall of Rome in 476 CE and the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th century. The phrase “Middle Ages” tells us more about the Renaissance that followed it than it does about the era itself. Starting around the 14th century, European thinkers, writers and artists began to look back and celebrate the art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. Accordingly, they dismissed the period after the fall of Rome as a “Middle” or even “Dark” age in which no scientific accomplishments had been made, no great art produced, no great leaders born.
The Middle Ages span roughly 1,000 years, ending between 1400 and 1450. In Spain, however, 1492 is considered the end of their medieval period and the beginning of the modern era. The period was one of human expansion, centralization and great political upheaval and violence, resulting in the foundation of many modern European countries. It was also dominated by a surge in Christianity leading to the building of great cathedrals, clearing of large tracts of land by peasants, settling of new towns and villages, and building of great castles by local nobility.

Early Middle Ages

The end of the eighth century found the former western Roman empire an overwhelmingly rural and decentralized region that had lost its privileged position as the centre of a great power. Between the fifth and eighth centuries, new peoples and powerful individuals filled the political void left by Roman centralized government. Elite families from both Roman aristocracy and barbarian nobility established regional hegemonies within the former boundaries of the Empire, creating weak kingdoms like that of the Ostrogoths in Italy, the Visigoths in Spain and Portugal, the Franks and Burgundians in Gaul and western Germany, and Saxons in England. The social effects of the fracture of the Roman state were manifold. Cities and merchants lost the economic benefits of safe conditions for trade and manufacture, and intellectual development suffered from the loss of a unified cultural and educational milieu of far-ranging connections. The breakdown of Roman society was often dramatic. As it became unsafe to travel or carry goods over any distance, there was a collapse in trade and manufacture for export. The major industries that depended on long-distance trade, such as large-scale pottery manufacture, vanished almost overnight in places like Britain. The Muslim conquests of the seventh and eighth centuries, which included the Persian Empire, Roman Syria, Roman Egypt, Roman North Africa, Visigothic Spain and Portugal, and other parts of the Mediterranean, including Sicily and southern Italy, increased localization by halting much of what remained of seaborne commerce. Thus, whereas sites like Tintagel in Cornwall had managed to obtain supplies of Mediterranean luxury goods well into the sixth century, this connection was now lost. The patchwork of petty rulers was incapable of supporting the depth of civic infrastructure required to maintain libraries, public baths, arenas and major educational institutions. Any new building was on a far smaller scale than before. Roman landholders beyond the confines of city walls were also vulnerable to extreme changes, and they could not simply pack up their land and move elsewhere. Some were dispossessed and fled to Byzantine regions, others quickly pledged their allegiances to their new rulers. In areas like Spain and Italy, this often meant little more than acknowledging a new overlord, while Roman forms of law and religion could be maintained. In other areas where there was a greater weight of population movement, it might be necessary to adopt new modes of dress, language and custom. The Catholic Church was the major unifying cultural influence, preserving Latin learning and the art of writing, and maintaining a centralized administration through its network of bishops. Some regions that had previously been Catholic were occupied by Arian Christians, which raised debates over orthodoxy. Clovis I of the Franks is a well-known example of a barbarian king who chose Catholic orthodoxy over Arianism. His conversion marked a turning point for the Frankish tribes of Gaul. Bishops were central to Middle Age society due to the literacy they possessed. As a result, they often played a significant role in shaping good government. However beyond the core areas of Western Europe there remained many peoples with little or no contact with Christianity or with classical Roman culture. Martial societies such as the Avars and the Vikings were still capable of causing major disruption to the newly emerging societies of Western Europe.

High Middle Ages

The High Middle Ages were characterized by the urbanization of Europe, military expansion, and an intellectual revival that historians identify between the 11th century and the end of the 13th. This revival was aided by the cessation of invasions by Scandinavians and Hungarians, as well as the assertion of power by castellans to fill the power vacuum left by the Carolingian decline. The High Middle Ages saw an explosion in population. This population flowed into towns, sought conquests abroad, or cleared land for cultivation. The cities of antiquity had been clustered around the Mediterranean. By 1200 the growing urban areas were in the centre of the continent, connected by roads or rivers. By the end of this period Paris might have had as many as 200,000 inhabitants. In central and northern Italy and in Flanders the rise of towns that were self-governing to some degree within their territories stimulated the economy and created an environment for new types of religious and trade associations. Trading cities on the shores of the Baltic entered into agreements known as the Hanseatic League, and Italian city-states such as Venice, Genoa, and Pisa expanded their trade throughout the Mediterranean. This period marks a formative one in the history of the western state as we know it, for kings in France, England, and Spain consolidated their power during this time period, setting up lasting institutions to help them govern. The Papacy, which had long since created an ideology of independence from the secular kings, first asserted its claims to temporal authority over the entire Christian world. The entity that historians call the Papal Monarchy reached its apogee in the early 13th century under the pontificate of Innocent III. Northern Crusades and the advance of Christian kingdoms and military orders into previously pagan regions in the Baltic and Finnic northeast brought the forced assimilation of numerous native peoples to the European entity. With the brief exception of the Mongol invasions, major barbarian incursions ceased.

Late Middle Ages

The Late Middle Ages was a period initiated by calamities and upheavals. During this time, agriculture was affected by a climate change that has been documented by climate historians, and was felt by contemporaries in the form of periodic famines, including the Great Famine of 1315-1317. The Black Death, a bacterial disease introduced from Southeast Asia by travelers arriving in Europe via the Silk Road, that spread among the malnourished populace like wildfire, killed as much as a third of the population in the mid-fourteenth century, in some regions the toll was as high as one half of the population. Towns were especially hard-hit because of the crowded conditions. Large areas of land were left sparsely inhabited, and in some places fields were left unworked. As a consequence of the sudden decline in available laborers, the price of wages rose as landlords sought to entice workers to their fields. Workers also felt that they had a right to greater earnings, and popular uprisings broke out across Europe. This period of stress, paradoxically, witnessed creative social, economic, and technological responses that laid the groundwork for further great changes in the Early Modern Period. It was also a period when the Catholic Church was increasingly divided against itself. During the time of the Western Schism, the Church was led by as many as three popes at one time. The divisiveness of the Church undermined papal authority, and allowed the formation of national churches. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 had a great effect upon the European economy and intellectual life.

---

---

The Catholic Church in the Middle Ages

After the fall of Rome, no single state or government united the people who lived on the European continent. Instead, the Catholic Church became the most powerful institution of the medieval period. Kings, queens and other leaders derived much of their power from their alliances with and protection of the Church. In 800 CE, for example, Pope Leo III named the Frankish king Charlemagne the “Emperor of the Romans”–the first since that empire’s fall more than 300 years before. Over time, Charlemagne’s realm became the Holy Roman Empire, one of several political entities in Europe whose interests tended to align with those of the Church. Ordinary people across Europe had to “tithe” 10 percent of their earnings each year to the Church; at the same time, the Church was mostly exempt from taxation. These policies helped it to amass a great deal of money and power.

The Middle Ages: The Rise of Islam

Meanwhile, the Islamic world was growing larger and more powerful. After the prophet Muhammad’s death in 632 CE, Muslim armies conquered large parts of the Middle East, uniting them under the rule of a single caliph. At its height, the medieval Islamic world was more than three times bigger than all of Christendom. Under the caliphs, great cities such as Cairo, Baghdad and Damascus fostered a vibrant intellectual and cultural life. Poets, scientists and philosophers wrote thousands of books (on paper, a Chinese invention that had made its way into the Islamic world by the 8th century). Scholars translated Greek, Iranian and Indian texts into Arabic. Inventors devised technologies like the pinhole camera, soap, windmills, surgical instruments, and an early flying machine. And religious scholars and mystics translated, interpreted and taught the Quran and other scriptural texts to people across the Middle East.

The Crusades

Toward the end of the 11th century, the Catholic Church began to authorize military expeditions, or Crusades, to expel Muslim “infidels” from the Holy Land. Crusaders, who wore red crosses on their coats to advertise their status, believed that their service would guarantee the remission of their sins and ensure that they could spend all eternity in Heaven. (They also received more worldly rewards, such as papal protection of their property and forgiveness of some kinds of loan payments.) The Crusades began in 1095, when Pope Urban summoned a Christian army to fight its way to Jerusalem, and continued on and off until the end of the 15th century. In 1099, Christian armies captured Jerusalem from Muslim control, and groups of pilgrims from across Western Europe started visiting the Holy Land. Many of them, however, were robbed and killed as they crossed through Muslim-controlled territories during their journey. Around 1118, a French knight named Hugues de Payens created a military order along with eight relatives and acquaintances that became the Knights Templar, and they won the eventual support of the pope and a reputation for being fearsome fighters. The Fall of Acre in 1291 marked the destruction of the last remaining Crusader refuge in the Holy Land, and Pope Clement V dissolved the Knights Templar in 1312. No one “won” the Crusades; in fact, many thousands of people from both sides lost their lives. They did make ordinary Catholics across Christendom feel like they had a common purpose, and they inspired waves of religious enthusiasm among people who might otherwise have felt alienated from the official Church. They also exposed Crusaders to Islamic literature, science and technology–exposure that would have a lasting effect on European intellectual life.

The Middle Ages: Art and Architecture

Another way to show devotion to the Church was to build grand cathedrals and other ecclesiastical structures such as monasteries. Cathedrals were the largest buildings in medieval Europe, and they could be found at the center of towns and cities across the continent. Between the 10th and 13th centuries, most European cathedrals were built in the Romanesque style. Romanesque cathedrals are solid and substantial: They have rounded masonry arches and barrel vaults supporting the roof, thick stone walls and few windows. (Examples of Romanesque architecture include the Porto Cathedral in Portugal and the Speyer Cathedral in present-day Germany.) Around 1200, church builders began to embrace a new architectural style, known as the Gothic. Gothic structures, such as the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis in France and the rebuilt Canterbury Cathedral in England, have huge stained-glass windows, pointed vaults and pointed arches (a technology perfected in in the Islamic world), and spires and flying buttresses. In contrast to heavy Romanesque buildings, Gothic architecture seems to be almost weightless. Medieval religious art took other forms as well. Frescoes and mosaics decorated church interiors, and artists painted devotional images of the Virgin Mary, Jesus and the saints. Also, before the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, even books were works of art. Craftsmen in monasteries (and later in universities) created illuminated manuscripts: handmade sacred and secular books with colored illustrations, gold and silver lettering and other adornments. Convents were one of the few places women could receive a higher education, and nuns wrote, translated, and illuminated manuscripts as well. In the 12th century, urban booksellers began to market smaller illuminated manuscripts, like books of hours, psalters and other prayer books, to wealthy individuals.
Chivalry and courtly love were celebrated in stories and songs spread by troubadours.

The Black Death

Between 1347 and 1350, a mysterious disease known as the " Black Death " (the bubonic plague) killed some 20 million people in Europe—30 percent of the continent’s population. It was especially deadly in cities, where it was impossible to prevent the transmission of the disease from one person to another. The plague started in Europe in October 1347, when 12 ships from the Black Sea docked at the Sicilian port of Messina. Most sailors aboard the ships were dead, and those who were alive were covered in black boils that oozed blood and pus. Symptoms of the Black Death included fever, chills, vomiting, diarrhea, terrible aches and pains – and then death. Victims could go to bed feeling healthy and be dead by morning. The plague killed cows, pigs, goats, chickens and even sheep, leading to a wool shortage in Europe. Understandably terrified about the mysterious disease, some people of the Middle Ages believed the plague was a divine punishment for sin. To obtain forgiveness, some people became “flagellants,” traveling Europe to put on public displays of penance that could include whipping and beating one another. Others turned on their neighbors, purging people they believed to be heretics. Thousands of Jews were murdered between 1348 and 1349, while others fled to less populated areas of Eastern Europe.

The Middle Ages: Economics and Society

In medieval Europe, rural life was governed by a system scholars call “feudalism.” In a feudal society, the king granted large pieces of land called fiefs to noblemen and bishops. Landless peasants known as serfs did most of the work on the fiefs: They planted and harvested crops and gave most of the produce to the landowner. In exchange for their labor, they were allowed to live on the land. They were also promised protection in case of enemy invasion. During the 11th century, however, feudal life began to change. Agricultural innovations such as the heavy plow and three-field crop rotation made farming more efficient and productive, so fewer farm workers were needed–but thanks to the expanded and improved food supply, the population grew. As a result, more and more people were drawn to towns and cities. Meanwhile, the Crusades had expanded trade routes to the East and given Europeans a taste for imported goods such as wine, olive oil and luxurious textiles. As the commercial economy developed, port cities in particular thrived. By 1300, there were some 15 cities in Europe with a population of more than 50,000. In these cities, a new era was born: the Renaissance. The Renaissance was a time of great intellectual and economic change, but it was not a complete “rebirth”: It had its roots in the world of the Middle Ages.

The Early Modern Era, which immediately followed the Middle Ages, saw a resurgence of the values and philosophies from the Classical era. In this era, they lived: Leonardo da Vinci, William Shakespeare, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Christopher Columbus... The European Renaissance, or “rebirth”, occurred during this period, as well as the discovery and colonization of the Americas and the Age of Enlightenment.

Renaissance Humanism

(A.D. 1400 to A.D. 1500) - break from medieval scholasticism that incorporated Classical thought into Early Modern ideas.

Protestant Reformation

(A.D. 1517 to A.D. 1648) - religious movement in which Lutheranism (started by Martin Luther) broke with the Catholic church and redefined Christianity.

The European Renaissance

(A.D. 1450 to A.D. 1600) - known as a cultural “rebirth” in art, music, literature, society, and philosophy.

The Enlightenment

(A.D. 1650 to A.D. 1800) - an intellectual movement that is also called the Age of Reason; saw the re-examination of politics, economics and science before giving way to Romanticism in the 19th century.

The term "Early Modern" designates the historical period of globalization, during which sustained interaction between different regions of the world occurred as a result of exploration or conquest and colonization. Transfers and exchanges of ideas, arts, technologies, and human populations between those regions are an important object of study: material and visual culture, performance, languages and literatures, systems of belief, and narratives of the past can all be viewed from diverse vantage points.
The Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages. Generally described as taking place from the 14th century to the 17th century, the Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art. Some of the greatest thinkers, authors, statesmen, scientists and artists in human history thrived during this era, while global exploration opened up new lands and cultures to European commerce. The Renaissance is credited with bridging the gap between the Middle Ages and modern-day civilization.

During the Middle Ages, a period that took place between the fall of ancient Rome in 476 A.D. and the beginning of the 14th century, Europeans made few advances in science and art.
Also known as the “Dark Ages,” the era is often branded as a time of war, ignorance, famine and pandemics such as the Black Death.

Humanism

During the 14th century, a cultural movement called humanism began to gain momentum in Italy. Among its many principles, humanism promoted the idea that man was the center of his own universe, and people should embrace human achievements in education, classical arts, literature and science.
In 1450, the invention of the Gutenberg printing press allowed for improved communication throughout Europe and for ideas to spread more quickly. As a result of this advance in communication, little-known texts from early humanist authors such as those by Francesco Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio, which promoted the renewal of traditional Greek and Roman culture and values, were printed and distributed to the masses.

Medici Family

The Renaissance started in Florence, Italy, a place with a rich cultural history where wealthy citizens could afford to support budding artists. Members of the powerful Medici family, which ruled Florence for more than 60 years, were famous backers of the movement.
Great Italian writers, artists, politicians and others declared that they were participating in an intellectual and artistic revolution that would be much different from what they experienced during the Dark Ages.
The movement first expanded to other Italian city-states, such as Venice, Milan, Bologna, Ferrara and Rome. Then, during the 15th century, Renaissance ideas spread from Italy to France and then throughout western and northern Europe.
Although other European countries experienced their Renaissance later than Italy, the impacts were still revolutionary.

---

Art, architecture and science were closely linked during the Renaissance. In fact, it was a unique time when these fields of study fused together seamlessly.
For instance, artists like da Vinci incorporated scientific principles, such as anatomy into their work, so they could recreate the human body with extraordinary precision. Architects such as Filippo Brunelleschi studied mathematics to accurately engineer and design immense buildings with expansive domes. Scientific discoveries led to major shifts in thinking: Galileo and Descartes presented a new view of astronomy and mathematics, while Copernicus proposed that the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of the solar system.
Renaissance art was characterized by realism and naturalism. Artists strived to depict people and objects in a true-to-life way.

---

Renaissance Religion

Humanism encouraged Europeans to question the role of the Roman Catholic church during the Renaissance. As more people learned how to read, write and interpret ideas, they began to closely examine and critique religion as they knew it.
Also, the printing press allowed for texts, including the Bible, to be easily reproduced and widely read by the people, themselves, for the first time.
In the 16th century, Martin Luther, a German monk, led the Protestant Reformation – a revolutionary movement that caused a split in the Catholic church. Luther questioned many of the practices of the church and whether they aligned with the teachings of the Bible.
As a result, a new form of Christianity, known as Protestantism, was created.

End of the Renaissance

Scholars believe the demise of the Renaissance was the result of several compounding factors. By the end of the 15th century, numerous wars had plagued the Italian peninsula. Spanish, French and German invaders battling for Italian territories caused disruption and instability in the region. Also, changing trade routes led to a period of economic decline and limited the amount of money that wealthy contributors could spend on the arts. Later, in a movement known as the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic church censored artists and writers in response to the Protestant Reformation. Many Renaissance thinkers feared being too bold, which stifled creativity. Furthermore, in 1545, the Council of Trent established the Roman Inquisition, which made humanism and any views that challenged the Catholic church an act of heresy punishable by death.
By the early 17th century, the Renaissance movement had died out, giving way to the Age of Enlightenment.

The Enlightenment

European politics, philosophy, science and communications were radically reoriented during the course of the “long 18th century” (1685-1815) as part of a movement referred to by its participants as the Age of Reason, or simply the Enlightenment. Enlightenment thinkers in Britain, in France and throughout Europe questioned traditional authority and embraced the notion that humanity could be improved through rational change.
The Enlightenment produced numerous books, essays, inventions, scientific discoveries, laws, wars and revolutions. The American and French Revolutions were directly inspired by Enlightenment ideals and respectively marked the peak of its influence and the beginning of its decline. The Enlightenment ultimately gave way to 19th-century Romanticism.

⚬ The Early Enlightenment: 1685-1730
⚬ The High Enlightenment: 1730-1780
⚬ The Late Enlightenment and Beyond: 1780-1815

The influences of both the Renaissance and the Enlightenment led to a technological boom in the Modern era, also known as the Late Modern era. The world of politics was rocked by wars, revolution and the end of the monarchy in many countries. The Modern era is truly a cumulation of millions of years of human development.

First Industrial Revolution

(A.D. 1760 to A.D. 1840) - beginning of the modern era that saw several technological innovations, including the invention of the cotton gin, the increase of city factories and mills and the completion of the Erie Canal.

Revolutionary Period

(A.D. 1764 to A.D. 1848) - period of revolutions around the world, including the American Revolution, French Revolution, Spanish-American Wars for Independence, Italian Revolutions, Greek War of Independence, and the Spring of Nations.

Age of Imperialism

(A.D. 1800 to A.D. 1914) - century of time in which France, Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United States colonized in other nations around the world.

Victorian Era

(A.D. 1837 to A.D. 1901) - reign of Queen Victoria I that saw increased urbanization, the American Civil War and the end of African slavery.

Second Industrial Revolution

(A.D. 1869 to A.D. 1914 ) - often referred to as the Technological Revolution; period in which the light bulb, the telephone, the airplane, and the Model T automobile were invented.

World War I

(A.D. 1914 to A.D. 1918) - worldwide conflict centered in Europe; also known as the Great War.

Great Depression

(A.D. 1929 to A.D. 1939) - extended period of worldwide economic hardship that started with the stock market crash in 1929.

World War II

(A.D. 1939 to A.D. 1945) - wartime period that began with Germany’s invasion of Poland and ends with the surrender of Japan, the last standing Axis power.

Contemporary Period

(A.D. 1945 to current) - also known as the Information Age; the period in which technological advances define social, economic and political life.

The Modern Era, also known as the Modern Age or Modern Period, was a historical time period that spanned the years 1500 to 1945. The Modern Era occurred following the Middle Ages and can be further divided into two time periods: the Early Modern Period and the Late Modern Period. The Early Modern Period occurred from 1500 to 1800 and included the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment. The Late Modern era was primarily focused on key historical events that happened in the 19th and 20th centuries, concluding with the end of World War II in 1945. The Modern Age represents a period when major advancements were achieved in all aspects of life, resulting in a transformation from the old world to the modern world.
The transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern Era marked a profound shift in various aspects of human civilization, including science, politics, culture, and economics. The end of the Middle Ages was characterized by a series of events and changes that paved the way for the Modern Era. These included the Renaissance, a period of renewed interest in classical learning and values, and the Age of Discovery, which saw explorers from Europe traverse the globe, leading to a new understanding of the world’s geography and the establishment of new trade routes.

Characteristics of the Modern Era

The Modern Era is marked by a number of defining characteristics that set it apart from previous periods in history. These include the rise of nation-states, the growth of science and technology, the spread of democracy and human rights, and the development of global trade and communication.

One of the most significant developments of the Modern Era was the Enlightenment. This intellectual and philosophical movement, which emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries, emphasized reason, analysis, and individualism over traditional doctrine. The Enlightenment had a profound impact on many aspects of society, including politics, science, and culture. It led to the development of modern democratic governments and the scientific method, and it challenged traditional religious beliefs.

Another key characteristic of the Modern Era is the rise of modernism. This cultural movement, which began in the late 19th century, rejected traditional forms and embraced new, experimental techniques in art, literature, and architecture. Modernism reflected the rapid changes in society and technology during the Modern Era, and it continues to influence contemporary culture and thought.

Timeline of the Modern Era

The Modern Era is marked by a series of significant events that have shaped the course of human history.

From 1500 to 1945, the world witnessed a number of transformative events. The Renaissance, the Age of Discovery, the Industrial Revolution, and the two World Wars all took place during this period. These events brought about significant changes in society, politics, and technology, setting the stage for the world as we know it today.

The post-war history and the modern era from 1945 to 1979 was a period of reconstruction, decolonization, and the beginning of the Cold War. This era saw the establishment of the United Nations, the rise of the United States and the Soviet Union as superpowers, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It was also a time of significant social and cultural change, with the Civil Rights Movement, the feminist movement, and the counterculture of the 1960s.

The modern era from 1980 to the present has been marked by the end of the Cold War, the rise of globalization, and the advent of the digital age. This period has seen the fall of the Berlin Wall, the spread of the internet, and the increasing importance of climate change and sustainability.
Changes in art, literature, and fashion have reflected the evolving societal values and technological advancements of the time. The rise of modernism and postmodernism, the development of new literary genres, and the evolution of fashion trends have all been part of this cultural transformation.

---

The Industrial Revolution

Beginning in the late 1600s through to the 1750s, empires and international trade expanded, leading to more interactions between societies. Philosophers began to question tradition, systems of government, and individualism over community values; this shift in thinking is known as the Enlightenment.
Enlightenment thinkers promoted four basic principles:
1. a natural order to the world
2. the power of human reason
3. the natural rights of individuals, such as self-government
4. the progressive improvement of society
These ideas challenged the roles of church leaders and the centralized power of the monarchy, sowing the seeds of revolution around the world.

Changes also happened in technology. The Industrial Revolution caused the creation of commodities to skyrocket, setting the stage for drastic changes in the worldwide economy, international relations, and politics.
Industrialization had its roots in agricultural improvements, preindustrial societies and economics, and the growth of technology.

· The Agricultural Revolution: The Industrial Revolution first has its roots in the agricultural improvements of the early 1700s. Crop rotation and the invention of the seed drill led to increased productivity and, thus, more revenue and more food for a growing population.
· Preindustrial Societies: As agricultural products became more available, it put a strain on the preindustrial economy and society creating a need for the development of machinery to produce more textiles more efficiently.
· Growth of Technology: By the mid-1700s, technology began to match agricultural output. The invention of the spinning jenny, water frame, interchangeable parts, the cotton gin, and the organization of factories created an environment for rapid industrial growth.

The Industrial Revolution began in earnest in Great Britain but soon spread worldwide.
The Industrial Revolution brought about significant economic, political, and social changes:
- It made goods cheaper and more accessible to more people.
- The expanding need for labor in urban areas created a migration from rural to urban cities and migrations from agricultural countries to industrialized nations.
- Global interconnectedness of trade and commerce and inequalities grew due to industrialization.
- Nations that adapted to mechanization early needed more raw materials to feed production and more labor to fill the fields and factories.
- Industrialized nations began to exploit overseas natural resources and started the second wave of imperialism and colonization.

Origins of Nationalism

Nationalism became a unifying force. Ethnic, cultural, and societal similarities of small communities within large multicultural empires threatened the empires' stability as these communities mixed with the philosophies of self-government, republicanism, democracy, and natural rights. Revolution and unification soon spread worldwide.
Some of the major revolutions and unifications of the period include:
· American Revolution (the 1760s to 1783)
· French Revolution (1789 to 1799)
· Haitian Revolution (1791 to 1804)
· Serbian Revolution (1804 to 1835)
· Latin American Wars of Independence (1808 to 1833)
· Greek War of Independence (1821 to 1832)
· Unification of Italy (1861)
· Unification of Germany (1871)

Global Conflict 1900-1950

The twentieth century was a time of significant social and political change, which resulted in tension and division within and between nations. People and states challenged the existing political and social orders. At the same time, new technologies and advancements both improved our understanding of the universe and enabled two world wars to wreak havoc across the globe.

Long-established states, such as the Ottoman Empire that had long influenced international politics and economics, dissolved. New political experiments began, such as communism in Russia, China, and other nations. The enduring power of nationalism and traditional rivalries, combined with economic instability, soon embroiled most of Europe, the United States, Japan, and China in the First World War.

World War I

These shifting global powers created escalating tensions that erupted into conflict.
· European empires in Africa and Asia competed for raw materials.
· An intricate series of alliances committed European nations to come to the defense of others.
· An increase in nationalism and militarism led to an arms race between Germany, France, Britain, and Russia.
The immediate cause of World War I was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Hungary by Gavrilo Princip of the Serbian nationalist group The Black Hand on June 28, 1914. This assassination caused Austria-Hungary to invade and declare war on Serbia, triggering the domino effect of defensive alliances across Europe.

Militarism: Militarism is a belief that a state should have, and use, a well-funded and prepared military. Combined with nationalism, this made nations more prepared to undertake military action.
Alliances: Many European nations formed alliances to protect each other if one was attacked.
Imperialism: The alliance system was also created to combat the European imperial powers' global domination.
Nationalism: Small communities of common ethnicity grew a strong sense of national identity, causing civil unrest in many of the large established empires. These groups such as Serbians within the Austria-Hungarian empire sought independence, which inspired violent action, such as Gavrilo Princip assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary.

World War II

Not long after the aftermath of World War I, the world found itself in an economic crisis resulting in the Great Depression of the 1930s and on a path that would lead to the outbreak of World War II.
Rise of Nazism in Germany: After WWI, the monarchy of Germany was replaced with the Weimar Republic, which struggled due to economic issues. Adolf Hitler emerged as the leader of the Nazi party.
The Axis Powers: Hitler created alliances with other Fascist-leaning nations. In 1936 the Rome-Berlin Axis was created between Germany and Italy, and an alliance with Japan soon followed.
Appeasement: Many of the European nations were still recovering from the aftermath of World War I so attempted to avoid military intervention - making compromises to appease Hitler.
Conflict over Poland: The policy of appeasement ended as Hitler turned to invade Poland. As preparations for invasion were being made, Britain and France declared their defense of Poland.

Germany was not the only instigator of World War II. Starting in 1931, Japan colonized portions of the Chinese mainland and Korea. By 1937, Japan controlled much of Manchuria and Korea. Tensions escalated into armed conflict with China in 1937, beginning World War II in Asia two years before Hitler invaded Poland.

The Global Cold War 1945-1990

After WWII ended, a global ideological conflict emerged between the two remaining world powers, the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union - this is known as the Cold War. The cost of war and the aftermath of World War II motivated the United States and the Soviet Union to avoid direct military conflict. The Cold War between the superpowers played out in propaganda, covert operations, and a military arms race.
The Cold War: The period of political and military hostility that existed between the Soviet Union and its allies and the US-led Western powers from 1945 to 1990.
Capitalism: The economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.
Communism: The political and economic theory and system in which all property, trade, and industry is publicly owned or controlled by the state, and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

The deadliest result of the Cold War occurred outside the lands of the two superpowers. Instead, each nation armed opposing sides in the capitalist versus communist conflicts worldwide, transforming minor civil conflicts into more significant events.
Allied occupation of Germany: After World War II, the Allies divided Germany under western and Soviet control resulting in the Berlin Blockade, the economic disparity between the two sides of Germany, and the construction and fall of the Berlin Wall.
Shifting Alliances: The Cold War brought about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a means for western nations to defend themselves against the Soviets. The Warsaw Pact was the Soviet response to NATO, creating the “communist bloc.”
Proxy Wars: As mentioned above, the U.S. and Russia did not directly engage in military action but did take part in military actions in other nations to combat the spread of capitalism or communism.
The Anti-Nuclear Movement: the nuclear arms race sparked social and political action to stop the spread, production, and influence of nuclear weapons in the global arms race.

Decolonization and Globalization 1945 - Present

In the twentieth century, nationalist groups and leaders challenged colonial rule through land reform, political negotiation, and armed conflict. Empires became politically unacceptable, and European powers struggled to hold onto their colonies. Notions of freedom fostered by World War II rhetoric and Cold War propaganda helped speed up decolonization.
Decolonization: The process of a state or nation withdrawing political and economic control from a former colony, leaving it independent.
Significant Decolonization Movements:
- India and Pakistan from Great Britain (1946)
- Ghana from Great Britain (1957)
- Algeria from France (1962)
- Vietnam from France in 1954
- Egypt from Britain (1952)
- Nigeria from Britain (1960)
- The creation of Israel in 1947

Developing and understanding how the modern world came to be is essential to understanding current cultural, political, and social trends. Modern World History focuses on the cultures and histories of the nations and civilizations from all over the world that have influenced modern society.