Timeline 1: Important Eras and Developments (by century)

Absolutism

1650-1750 Absolute monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch holds supreme authority and where that authority is not restricted by any written laws, legislature, or customs. These are often hereditary monarchies.

Rise of Prussia

1650-1763

Renaissance

1350-1550 The fourteenth century witnessed remarkable changes in Italian intellectual, artistic, and cultural life. Artists and writers believed that they were living in a new golden age and would later be labeled the Renaissances (derived from the French word for "rebirth" first used by historian Giorgio Vasari. Vasari believe that the glory of the classical past had been reborn and transformed after centuries of darkness. The magnificent art and new ways of thinking in the Renaissance rested on economic and political developments in the city-states of north Italy. The Renaissance was characterized by self-conscience conviction among educated Italians that were now living in a new era. This idea was also deeply connected to an interest in ancient Latin and Greek literature and philosophy. Renaissance thinkers developed new notions of human nature, new plans for education and new concepts of political rule. It can be said that humanism was one of the main clearly transformative changes in Italian society that would spur this mass intellectual change that would become famously associated this era. The Renaissance was impactful for those who were of higher class however, for those who were less fortunate it barely affected them. Wealth was a determining factor in the hierarchy of those who lived in Italy during that time. The nobles who had money in their families for generations were more respected than a wealthy merchant or commoner. The Medici family ruled the city of Florence throughout the Renaissance. They had a major influence on the growth of the Italian Renaissance through their patronage of the arts and humanism. On the flip side, the peasants during the renaissance did not receive the benefits of this intellectual revolution, and instead barely survived on food scraps. Peasants and unskilled workers did not have any job security and if they didn't satisfy their employers, their pay would be cut or they would simply be fired. Many poor people lived on farms, wore simple clothes, and ate basic food such as bread or soup made from scraps. It's fundamental to understand that while the Renaissance was important it actually didn't affect the majority of the population of Europe at that time.

Commercial Wars

1650-1763 - Period of European colonization and mercantilism which lasted from 1488 with the first European sailing around the Cape of Good Hope and ended around the time of the American Revolution in 1776

Rise of Russia

1689-1815

Exploration

1450-1600 - The so-called Age of Exploration was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century, during which European ships were traveled around the world to search for new trading routes and partners to feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe. Extensive overseas exploration emerged as a powerful factor in European culture and which was the beginning of globalization. Some innovations that made the Age of exploration possible were the compass, the astrolabe and, new ships, such as the caravel.

Early Modern Society

1500-1700 - Abraham Ortelius: Map of Europe, 1595 Early modern Europe is the period of European history between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the late 15th century to the late 18th century. Historians variously mark the beginning of the early modern period with the invention of moveable type printing in the 1450s, the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the end of the Wars of the Roses in 1487, the beginning of the High Renaissance in Italy in the 1490s, the end of the Reconquista and subsequent voyages of Christopher Columbus to the Americas in 1492, or the start of the Protestant Reformation in 1517. The precise dates of its end point also vary and are usually linked with either the start of the French Revolution in 1789 or with the more vaguely defined beginning of the Industrial Revolution in late 18th century England. Some of the more notable trends and events of the early modern period included the Reformation and the religious conflicts it provoked (including the French Wars of Religion and the Thirty Years' War), the rise of capitalism and modern nation states, widespread witch hunts and European colonization of the Americas.

Religious Wars

1520s-1650 - The European wars of religion were a series of religious wars waged in Europe in the 16th, 17th and early 18th century. The wars were fought after the Protestant Reformation's beginning in 1517, which disrupted the religious and political order in the Catholic countries of Europe. Germany, France, and the Netherlands each achieved a settlement of the religious problem by means of war, and in each case the solution contained original aspects.

Scientific Revolution

1543-1687 - The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transformed the views of society about nature. This revolution was a major change in European thought, starting in the med-1500s, in which the study of the natural world began to be characterized by careful observation and the questioning of accepted beliefs.

Dutch Commercial Dominance

1550-1650 - In 1602 the Dutch government set out to monopolize the intercontinental spice trade, establishing the Dutch East India Company as an official colonial agency. The company was given massive financial backing and the legal power to wage war, create overseas settlements, and uphold its own jurisprudence. For over 200 years the company represented Dutch interests in Asia and dominated European trade. The company's influence was unrivaled for most of its lifespan, eclipsing the ventures of its British and Portuguese competitors. With its pioneering institutional innovations and powerful roles in global business history, the Company is often considered by many to be the forerunner of modern corporations.

Age of Crisis

1550-1650 - The crisis of the Late Middle Ages was a series of events in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that brought centuries of European prosperity and growth to a halt. Three major crises led to radical changes in all areas of society: demographic collapse, political instabilities and religious upheavals. A series of famines and plagues, beginning with the Great Famine of 1315-17 and especially the Black Death of 1347-1351, reduced the population perhaps by half or more as the Medieval Warm Period came to a close and the first century of the Little Ice Age began. It took 150 years for the European population to regain the levels of 1300.[2] Popular revolts in late-medieval Europe and civil wars between nobles within countries such as the Wars of the Roses were common—with France fighting internally nine times—and there were international conflicts between kings such as France and England in the Hundred Years' War. The unity of the Roman Catholic Church was shattered by the Western Schism. The Holy Roman Empire was also in decline; in the aftermath of the Great Interregnum (1247-1273), the Empire lost cohesion and politically the separate dynasties of the various German states became more important than their common empire.

Witchcraft Scare

1580-1680 - The witch trials in the early modern period were a series of witch hunts between the 15th and 18th centuries, when across early modern Europe, and to some extent in the European colonies in North America, there was a widespread hysteria that malevolent Satanic witches were operating as an organized threat to Christendom. Those accused of witchcraft were portrayed as being worshippers of the Devil, who engaged in sorcery at meetings known as Witches' Sabbaths. Many people were subsequently accused of being witches and were put on trial for the crime, with varying punishments being applicable in different regions and at different times.

Baroque Art

1600-1750 The Baroque is a highly ornate and often extravagant style of architecture, music, dance painting, sculpture and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th until the mid-18th century. It followed the Renaissance style and preceded the Rococo and Neoclassical styles. Overdone, elaborate ornamentation, aims to use dramatic effect, appeals to spirit through senses, naturalistic rather than ideal, emotional rather than rational

Conflict between Parliament and King in England

1603-1689 The escalating conflict between the king and Parliament resulted in what is known as the English Civil War (1642-1651). It was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists ("Cavaliers") over, principally, the manner of its government.

Age of Louis XIV

1643-1715 Louis XIV (1638-1715) was king of France from 1643 to 1715. He brought the French monarchy to its peak of absolute power and made France the dominant power in Europe. His reign is also associated with the greatest age of French culture and art. Louis XIV, France's Sun King, had the longest reign in European history (1643-1715). During this time he brought absolute monarchy to its height, established a glittering court at Versailles, and fought most of the other European countries in four wars. The early part of his reign (1643-61), while Louis was young, was dominated by the chief minister Cardinal Mazarin. In the middle period (1661-85) Louis reigned personally and innovatively, but the last years of his personal rule (1685-1715) were beset by problems.

Price Revolution

16th century - The Price Revolution, sometimes known as the Spanish Price Revolution, was a series of economic events that occurred between the second half of the 15th century and the first half of the 17th century, and most specifically to the high rate of inflation that occurred during this period across Western Europe. During the revolution, precious metals from America were extracted in bulk and traded at lower prices than crafted or agricultural products. The inflation spread to other countries in Europe and resulted in an increase of prices six folds.

Protestant and Catholic Reformations

16th century - The Protestant Reformation was a major 16th century European movement aimed initially at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Its religious aspects were supplemented by ambitious political rulers who wanted to extend their power and control at the expense of the Church. The Reformation essentially boiled down to a new religious and political challenge to papal authority promoted by Martin Luther, King Henry VIII and others, which would lead to the Thirty Years War and the Counter-Reformation. This was a religious revolution that took place in the Western church and its greatest leaders undoubtedly were Martin Luther and John Calvin. Martin Luther, was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk, and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. Luther came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. By the time of the sixteenth century a wide array of people had strong grievances with the current church and were calling for reform which explains why Martin Luther's radical ideas were met with acceptance instead of resistance. "Luther advocated a simpler personal religion based on faith, a return to the spirit of the early church, the centrality of the Scriptures in the liturgy and in Christian life and the abolition of elaborate ceremonies."John Calvin was a French Protestant reformer and was best known for his doctrine of predestination and his theocratic view of the state. Calvin made a powerful impact on the fundamental doctrines of Protestantism, and is widely credited as the most important figure in the second generation of the Protestant Reformation. Having far-reaching political, economic, and social effects, the Reformation became the basis for the founding of Protestantism, one of the three major branches of Christianity.

Rococo Art

1720-1760 - Rococo style developed first in the decorative arts and interior design, and its influence later spread to architecture, sculpture, theater design, painting, and music. Rococo style is characterized by elaborate ornamentation, asymmetrical values, pastel color palette, and curved or serpentine lines. Rococo, less commonly roccoco, or "Late Baroque", is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colors, sculpted molding, and trompe l'oeil frescoes to create the illusions of surprise, motion and drama.

Industrial Revolution

1750-1850 - The Industrial Revolution began in the 18th century, when agricultural societies became more industrialized and urban. The transcontinental railroad, the cotton gin, electricity and other inventions permanently changed society. The pressure to produce more goods for a growing market and to reduce the labor costs of manufacturing was directly related to the first decisive breakthrough of the Industrial Revolution: the creation of the world's first machine-powered factories in the British cotton textile industry. The crucial innovation in Britain was the introduction of machine power into the factory and the organization of labor around the functioning of highly productive machines. Cotton textiles had first been imported into Britain from India by the East India Company as a rare and delicate luxury for the upper classes. After many experiments, over a generation, a gifted carpenter, and jack-of-all trades, James Hargreaves invented his cotton-spinning jenny in 1765. Hargreaves's spinning jenny was a simple inexpensive, hand powered- spinning machine. Arkwright's water frame employed a different principle, as it had the capacity of several hundred spindles and demanded much more power than a single operator. The water frame required large specialized mills to take advantage of the rushing currents. These revolutionary developments in the textile industry allowed British manufactures to compete successfully in international markets in both fine and coarse cotton thread. Despite the significant increases in productivity the working conditions in the early cotton factories were atrocious. However, the creation of the world's first machine-powered factories in the British cotton textile industry in the 1770s and 1780s, which grew out of the putting out system of cottage production, was a major historical development. By 1831, the largely mechanized cotton textile industry accounted for fully 22 percent of the country's entire industrial production. Both symbolically and substantially, the big new cotton mills marked the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Britain.

Age of Revolutions

1789-1848 - The French Revolution itself was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France and its colonies that began in 1789. Spurred by a depressed economy and falling tax receipts, Louis XVI's minister of finance revived old proposals to impose a general tax on all landed property but before they did they needed approval from the Estates General. However, before they could do so, they needed approval from the Estates General, it was called into the session in 1789 for the first time since 1614. Critics demanded for a single assembly dominated by the third estate. And so, the Estates General was a legislative body with representatives from the three orders or estates, of society: the clergy, nobility, and everyone else. The petitions for change drafted by the assemblies showed a surprising degree of consensus about the key issues confronting the realm. In his famous pamphlet, What is the Third Estate?, Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes argued that the nobility was a tiny, over-privileged minority that the third estate should constituted the true strength of the French nation. On June 17, the third estate voted to call itself the National Assembly and on June 20, the delegates moved to a large indoor tennis court where they swore the famous Tennis Court Oath, pledging "not to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established". These tensions in France fueled revolutionary ideals and efforts during the French Revolution. While the French Revolution was a complex conflict with numerous triggers and causes, the American Revolution set the stage for an effective uprising that the French had observed firsthand. When American colonists won independence from Great Britain in the Revolutionary War, the French, who participated in the war themselves, were both close allies and key participants. Several years after the revolt in America, French reformists faced political, social and economic hardships that mirrored the colonists' struggles. Although the French and American people had several distinct and differing motives for revolting against their ruling governments, some similar causes led to both revolutions. Both the Americans and French dealt with a taxation system they found discrimination and unfair. Additionally, France's involvement in the American Revolution, along with extravagant spending practices by King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette, left the country on the verge of bankruptcy. At this time, people were living in poverty to the point where they couldn't buy bread and starved. Some peasants could hope that they would grow enough grain to cover the money owed to their landlords and the government and provide food for their family. The urban poor— who, if not unemployed, worked primarily in factories and shops—were dependent on the affordability and availability of pre-baked bread. In the summer of 1787, a four-pound loaf, two of which were required daily to feed a family of four, cost eight sous. Due in large part to poor weather and low crop yields, by February 1789 the price had nearly doubled to fifteen sous. The inflation of price became too much for the common person. While colonists revolted against the British monarchy, the French aimed to reform the absolute rule of Louis XVI. Like the American colonists, the French felt that there were unequal rights. Specific rights were only granted to certain segments of society, namely the elite and aristocrats. The same ideologies that sparked the American Revolution may have influenced the French. Though there were clear differences between the motives for each revolt and how the two wars were fought, the war in America partly paved the way for France's uprising. The Americans provided a working model of revolutionary success that wasn't lost on the French.

Rise of Nationalism

1790s-1914 - Nationalism is an intense form of patriotism or loyalty to one's country. Nationalists exaggerate the value or importance of their homeland, placing its interests over and above those of other countries. Nationalism was a prominent force in early 20th century Europe and a significant cause of World War I. Many Europeans - particularly citizens of the so-called Great Powers, Britain, France and Germany - were convinced their nation occupied a position of cultural, economic and military supremacy. Politicians, diplomats and royals contributed to this mindset with inflammatory remarks and rhetoric. Nationalist sentiment was also prevalent in press reporting and popular culture. The pages of many newspapers were filled with nationalist rhetoric and provocative stories, such as rumours about rival nations and their evil intentions. Nationalist ideas could also be found in literature, music, theatre and art. The outcomes of nationalism were inflated confidence in one's nation, government and military power. In matters of foreign affairs or global competition, many were convinced that their country was fair, righteous and without fault or blame. In contrast, nationalists demonized rival nations, caricaturing them as aggressive, scheming, deceitful, backward or uncivilized. Nationalist press reports convinced many readers the interests of their country were being threatened by the plotting, scheming and hungry imperialism of its rivals. Nationalist and militarist rhetoric assured them that if war did erupt, their nation would emerge as the victor. Along with its dangerous brothers imperialism and militarism, nationalism fuelled a continental delusion that contributed to the growing mood for war.

Feminism

1790s-1980s Feminism is a range of political movements, ideologies, and social movements that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the genders. The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or simply feminism) refers to a series of political campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment, and sexual violence, all of which fall under the label of feminism and the feminist movement. The movement's priorities vary among nations and communities.

Commercial Revolution

17th and 18th centuries - The expansion of trade and changes in business practices. Joint-stock markets was invented. Muscovy Company monopolized trade routes to Russia. The Dutch East India Company controlled routes to Spice Islands. Colonies have raw materials to Europe while the Europeans produced products out of raw materials. Mercantilism was created ( balance of trade).

Rise of Liberalism

1830s-1870s - Liberalism is interpreted, from its rise in the Reformation to the present day, as the social philosophy whereby the middle class has sought to insure its own political and economic dominance. Liberalism started to spread rapidly especially after the French Revolution. As an ideology and in practice liberalism became the preeminent reform movement in Europe during the 19th century. The 19th century saw liberal governments established in nations across Europe, South America and North America. Throughout Europe and in the Western Hemisphere, liberalism inspired nationalistic aspirations to the creation of unified, independent, constitutional states with their own parliaments and the rule of law.

Realism and Materialism

1850-1870s - Realism was an artistic movement that began in France in the 1840s, after the 1848 Revolution. Realists rejected Romanticism, which had dominated French literature and art since the late 18th century. Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds that matter is the fundamental substance in nature, and that all things, including mental aspects and consciousness, are results of material interactions.

Unification and Nation-Building

1850-1875 - National Unification: In the 19th century, the unifications of Italy and Germany altered the entire framework of European diplomacy. European political structure proved unable to incorporate successfully the emergence of these two new powers, leading to the most destructive wars in history in the 20th century. The Unification of Italy - Many Italian nationalists preferred the creation of a united republic, which would require a takeover of the Papal States. Following the COngress of Vienna, the resurgence of Italian nationalism was fueled by two republican advocates: Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi, the charismatic leader of the Red Shirts. Both represented the spirit of romantic nationalism. However much of the practical work for Italian unity was accomplished by a bookish and wly moderate, Camillo Benso di Cavour. Since the 16th century, foreign powers dominated politics in Italy, however the nationalism of the French Revolution and the policies of Napoleon revived dreams of a united ITaly. The new Italian kingdom represented the "passion of Mazzini, the audacity of Garibaldi, and the cunning of Cavour." Though united, Italy experienced significant problems - opposition by the papacy to the new Italian state, economic underdevelopment,a corrupt political system known as trasformismo (the bribing of political opponents) and the wide cultural economic differences between northern and southern Italy. The Unification of Germany: On January 18, 1871, Germany became a nation for the first time in history after a nationalistic war against France masterminded by the "Iron Chancellor" Otto von Bismarck.Though Bismarck helped engineer a federal constitution that respected the tradition of other German states and allowed elements of democracy, power was still exercised in an authoritarian fashion. Government ministers reported to the Kaiser, not the Reichstag, and Bismarck effectively concentrated key positions in his own hands which allowed him to exploit democratic mechanism to ensure his domination of policy. This new German empire immediately upset the balance of power in Europe. It's economic and military potential threatened to dwarf its neighbors.

Imperialism

1850-1914 - Imperialism is policy or ideology of extending a nation's rule over foreign nations, often by military force or by gaining political and economic control of other areas. The term "Imperialism" was coined in the sixteenth century, reflecting the imperial policies of Spain, Portugal, Britain, France, and the Netherlands into Africa and the Americas. What was called the Scramble for Africa saw the European powers literally divide a whole continent up among themselves, with no regard for the rights of its indigenous peoples. The Europeans were convinced that they were racially superior to the Africans and that their colonization of Africa would ultimately benefit Africans, who would be educated and "civilized."

Modern Ideas and Science

1850-1920s - The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena: new advances in science and technology. Modern science is defined as. an attitude of observation and experimentation quite often with the inclusion of mathematics to explain those observations. Modernism, in general, includes the activities and creations of those who felt the traditional forms of art, architecture, literature, religious faith, philosophy, social organization, activities of daily life, and sciences, were becoming ill-fitted to their tasks and outdated in the new economic, social, and political environment of an emerging fully industrialized world.

Second Industrial Revolution

1850s-1914 - The Second Industrial Revolution, also known as the Technological Revolution, was a phase of rapid industrialization between late 19th century and early 20th century. This revolution witnessed the expansion of electricity, petroleum and steel. The main causes of the second industrial revolution were due to: natural resources, abundant labor supply, strong government policy, new sources of power, railroads and American inventors and inventions.

Modern Art

1870-1920 "Modern Art" means works produced during the approximate period 1870-1970. This "Modern era" followed a long period of domination by Renaissance-inspired academic art, promoted by the network of European Academies of Fine Art. And is itself followed by "Contemporary Art" (1970 onwards), the more avant-garde of which is also called "Postmodern Art". The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of experimentation. What we call "Modern Art" lasted for an entire century and involved dozens of different art movements, embracing almost everything from pure abstraction to hyperrealism; from anti-art schools like Dada and Fluxus to classical painting and sculpture; from Art Nouveau to Bauhaus and Pop Art. So great was the diversity that it is difficult to think of any unifying characteristic which defines the era. But if there is anything that separates modern artists from both the earlier traditionalists and later postmodernists, it is their belief that art mattered. To them, art had real value. By contrast, their precedessors simply assumed it had value. After all they had lived in an era governed by Christian value systems and had simply "followed the rules." And those who came after the Modern period (1970 onwards), the so-called "postmodernists", largely rejected the idea that art (or life) has any intrinsic value.

Agricultural Revolution

18th century - The unprecedented increase in agricultural production in Britain due to increases in labor and land productivity between the mid-17th and late 19th centuries. Agricultural output grew faster than the population over the century to 1770 and thereafter productivity remained among the highest in the world. About eighty percent of people of western Europe drew their livelihoods from agriculture. New developments in agricultural technology and methods gradually brought an end to the famines in western Europe. From the Middle Ages on, much of Europe was strongly dependent on the open field system. The problem which had been continually causing climatic conditions produced poor or disastrous harvests ever eight or nine years, cyclically. There were many elements combined in this spansive production growth, however the key elements was the new ways of rotating crops, that allowed farmers to forego the unproductive famine period altogether and maintain their land in continuous cultivation. The secret was found in the way that they learned to eliminate the fallow lay by deliberately alternating grain and crops which allowed nutrients to return to the soil. Advocates of improvement argued that innovating agriculturalists needed to enclose and consolidate their scattered previous ways into compact, fenced in fields. This movement would become known as enclosure, and says that we should fence in fields in order to farm more effectively , at the expense of the poor peasants who relied on common fields for farming and pastures.

Rise of the Middle Class

18th century - With the industrialization, the British middle class grew larger and more influential as the number of financiers, factory owners and capitalist farmers increased. The upper class still possessed the land and titles, but the industrial middle class had the money. During the whole of the 18th century, the landed aristocracy, which largely controlled Parliament, firmly resisted any attempts by the middle class to gain power. But wealth was to bring political influence, and the new capitalists worked hard to eliminate government interference in business and to ensure a climate favourable for continued industrial expansion. The new industrialists developed not only a new style of business, but also a new lifestyle. Some of them imitated aristocracy by buying country estates and taking up such sports as hunting and horse racing. At the time of the Industrial Revolution, however, the middle class valued leisure only when it promoted work skills and family life, and criticized aristocracy for idleness and gambling. Many of the middle class were relatively well educated. Many people in the middle class paid considerable attention to religion, believing it to be a good way to instill morality. They generally considered hard work the key to a good life and to social success. They criticized poor people for not working hard enough and were reluctant to help the poor on the grounds that it encouraged bad habits among the needy.

Enlightenment

18th century - a European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. It emphasized reason, individualism, skepticism, and science. The name Enlightenment refers to the light of knowledge that supposedly replaces the darkness of superstition and ignorance. Enlightenment thinkers believed that science and reason could improve people's lives. It was heavily influenced by 17th-century philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, and Newton, and its prominent exponents include Kant, Goethe, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Adam Smith.

World Wars

1914-1945 - World War I in many ways stemmed out of the tensions created by Bismarck in his path to power. He wanted to ensure an easy path to power, so he built a number of overlapping alliances that would eventually crumble. He brokered neutrality with Austria-Hungary and Russia, but Russia--swayed by France, which opposed Bismarck--broke with Germany. Britain joined France in the early 1900s, creating two powerful blocs. Germany, unhappy with France's strength, attempted to strain French-British relations through a series of aggressive power moves; however, all this accomplished was to make Britain see Germany as more of a threat, and to rile up nationalists on all sides. Thus, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand alone was really just the final excuse needed for the rising tensions in Europe to boil over. The conclusion of World War I essentially directly set up World War II--the division of land, the reparations Germany was determined to owe, and the deeply fragile German government all contributed to continually-rising tensions in Europe. Furthermore, the idea of "total war" as pioneered in World War I fostered a strong sense of nationalism in many of the countries involved, creating a Europe that would be far more able to move to war than the one of the past. WWI also solidly placed the United States at the head of the global trading market, a position it hadn't occupied before. The economic shock of the war effort meant that post-WWI, formerly powerful nations needed to recuperate and pay off massive war debts, with many finding such a task virtually impossible. Thus, the US was able to take the lead in the global economy, and US banks stepped into the middle of Europe's war debts, making the global economy not just headed by the US but in many ways deeply dependent on it. World War II was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. The Second World War stands as the most destructive conflict in history, killing an estimated 60 million people. It involved the nations of six continents and decisively altered Europe's position in the world. Never before had the line between soldier and civilian been so blurred, with civilians and entire ethnic groups targeted for extermination. Total war's effects extend beyond the death toll and material destruction. The Second World War required an an even higher level of mobilization and sacrifice among civilians as Many governments centralized production, instituted rationing programs, and called on all citizens to contribute to the war effort in some way. It resulted in the extension of the Soviet Union's power to nations of eastern Europe, enabled a communist movement to eventually achieve power in China, and marked the decisive shift of power in the world away from the states of western Europe and toward the United States and the Soviet Union. The combined manpower and economic potential of the Allied powers exercises a decisive influence on the course of the war. In addition, strategic errors by the Axis powers as well as the unification of numerous groups opposed to the brutal rule of the Nazis eventually works in the Allies' favor. Europeans of occupied nations faced stark choices - to collaborate or resist. A major reason for Nazi success militarily and with genocide involved the active cooperation or apathetic acceptance of many in occupied lands. By 1945, much of Europe lay in ruins; some cities such as Warsaw experienced complete devastation. The Second World War represents the lowest point of European civilizations. These results would manifest in subsequent years: Widespread destruction of infrastructure, 30 Europe's hold on its colonies nearly broken, Traditional values questioned in postwar Europe, economic activity brought to a standstill, conditions laid for the cold war.

Totalitarianism

1920s-1945 - Totalitarianism is a political concept of a mode of government that prohibits opposition parties, restricts individual opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high degree of control over public and private life. It is regarded as the most extreme and complete form of authoritarianism. Totalitarianism is a form of rule in which the government attempts to maintain 'total' control over society, including all aspects of the public and private lives of its citizens. It became a popular subject following World War II and during the peak years of the Cold War.

Cold War

1945-1991 - The Soviet Union and the United States began to quarrel as soon as the threat of Germany disappeared and hostility between the Eastern and Western superpowers was a logical outgrowth of military developments, wartime agreements, and long-standing differences. The Americans and British had made military victory their highest priority and avoided discussion of Stalin's war aims and shape of the eventual peace settlement. The United States and Britain did not try to take advantage of the Soviet Union's position in 1942, because they feared that bargaining would encourage Stalin to consider making separate peace with Hitler (focused on unconditional surrender). The conference that Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill held in the Iranian capital of Teheran in November 1943 proved of crucial importance in determining events; the Big Three had reaffirmed determination to crush Germany and searched for military strategy. Churchill fearing military dangers of a direct attack, argued that American and British forces should follow up their Italian campaign with an indirect attack on Germany through the Balkans but Roosevelt agreed with Stalin that an American-British frontal assault through France would be better (Roosevelt decides to appease Stalin). This meant that the Soviet and the American-British armies would come together in defeated Germany along a north-south line and that only Soviet troops would liberate eastern Europe (basic shape of postwar Europe was emerging already).

Romanticism

First half of 19th century - Romanticism dominated literature, music, and the arts in the first half of the 19th century. Romantics reacted to the Enlightenment's emphasis on reason and science, instead stressing the following: emotions, intuition, nature, nationalism, religious, and the unique individual. Romanticism, attitude or intellectual orientation that characterized many works of literature, painting, music, architecture, criticism, and historiography in Western civilization over a period from the late 18th to the mid-19th century. Romanticism can be seen as a rejection of the precepts of order, calm, harmony, balance, idealization, and rationality that typified Classicism in general and late 18th-century Neoclassicism in particular. It was also to some extent a reaction against the Enlightenment and against 18th-century rationalism and physical materialism in general. Romanticism emphasized the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental.

Rise of Modern Society

Second half of 19th century - Modern society, or modernity, is defined as people living together in the current time. The Western experience of industrialization was the model for world industrialization. To become modern was to become something like Western industrial society. Industrialism, at least within our experience of it for more than 200 years, never reaches a point of equilibrium or a level plateau. By its very principle of operation, it ceaselessly innovates and changes. Having largely eliminated the agricultural workforce, it moves on manufacturing employment by creating new automated technology that increases manufacturing productivity while displacing workers.