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The Modern History Portal
Human history (or world history) is the narrative of humanity's past. It is understood through archaeology, anthropology, genetics, and linguistics, and since the advent of writing, from primary and secondary sources.
Humanity's written history was preceded by its prehistory, beginning with the Palaeolithic Era ("Old Stone Age"), followed by the Neolithic Era ("New Stone Age"). The Neolithic saw the Agricultural Revolution begin, between 10,000 and 5000 BCE, in the Near East's Fertile Crescent. During this period, humans began the systematic husbandry of plants and animals. As agriculture advanced, most humans transitioned from a nomadic to a settled lifestyle as farmers in permanent settlements. The relative security and increased productivity provided by farming allowed communities to expand into increasingly larger units, fostered by advances in transportation.
Whether in prehistoric or historic times, people always needed to be near reliable sources of drinking water. Settlements developed as early as 4,000 BCE in Iran, in Mesopotamia, in the Indus River valley on the Indian subcontinent, on the banks of Egypt's Nile River, and along China's rivers. As farming developed, grain agriculture became more sophisticated and prompted a division of labour to store food between growing seasons. Labour divisions led to the rise of a leisured upper class and the development of cities, which provided the foundation for civilization. The growing complexity of human societies necessitated systems of accounting and writing. Hinduism developed in the late Bronze Age on the Indian subcontinent. The Axial Age witnessed the introduction of religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Jainism. (Full article...)
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- Image 1
The 16th century (or XVIth century) begins with the Julian year 1501 (MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 (MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582).
The 16th century is regarded by historians as the century in which the rise of Western civilization and the Age of the Islamic Gunpowders occurred. The Renaissance in Italy and Europe saw the emergence of important artists, authors and scientists, and led to the foundation of important subjects which include accounting and political science. Copernicus proposed the heliocentric universe, which was met with strong resistance, and Tycho Brahe refuted the theory of celestial spheres through observational measurement of the 1572 appearance of a Milky Way supernova. These events directly challenged the long-held notion of an immutable universe supported by Ptolemy and Aristotle, and led to major revolutions in astronomy and science. Galileo Galilei became a champion of the new sciences, invented the first thermometer and made substantial contributions in the fields of physics and astronomy, becoming a major figure in the Scientific Revolution.
Spain and Portugal colonized large parts of Central and South America, followed by France and England in northern America and the lesser Antilles. The Portuguese became the masters of trade between Brazil, the coasts of Africa, their possessions in the Indies and the Moluccas in Oceania, whereas the Spanish came to dominate the greater Antilles, Mexico, Peru, and opened trade across the Pacific Ocean, linking the Americas with the Indies. English and French corsaires began to practice persistent theft of Spanish and Portuguese treasures. This era of colonialism established mercantilism as the leading school of economic thought, where the economic system was viewed as a zero-sum game in which any gain by one party required a loss by another. The mercantilist doctrine encouraged the many intra-European wars of the period and arguably fueled European expansion and imperialism throughout the world until the 19th century or early 20th century. (Full article...) - Image 2The modern history of Yemen began with the withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire. In 1839 the British set up a protective area around the southern port of Aden and in 1918 the northern Kingdom of Yemen gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. North Yemen became a republic in 1962, but it was not until 1967 that the British Empire withdrew from what became South Yemen. In 1970, the southern government adopted a communist governmental system. The two countries were formally united as the Republic of Yemen on May 22, 1990. (Full article...)
- Image 3The history of France from 1789 to 1914 (the long 19th century) extends from the French Revolution to World War I and includes:
- French Revolution (1789–1792)
- French First Republic (1792–1804)
- First French Empire (1804–1814/1815)
- Bourbon Restoration (1814/1815–1830)
- July Monarchy (1830–1848)
- Second Republic (1848–1852)
- Second Empire (1852–1870)
- Third Republic (1870-1940)
- Long Depression (1873–1890)
- Belle Époque (1871–1914)
- Image 4
The House of Bourbon (English: /ˈbʊərbən/, also UK: /ˈbɔːrbɒn/; French: [buʁbɔ̃]) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma. Spain and Luxembourg have monarchs of the House of Bourbon.
The royal Bourbons originated in 1272, when the youngest son of King Louis IX married the heiress of the lordship of Bourbon. The house continued for three centuries as a cadet branch, serving as nobles under the Direct Capetian and Valois kings.
The senior line of the House of Bourbon became extinct in the male line in 1527 with the death of Charles III, Duke of Bourbon. This made the junior Bourbon-Vendôme branch the genealogically senior branch of the House of Bourbon. In 1589, at the death of Henry III of France, the House of Valois became extinct in the male line. Under the Salic law, the head of the house of Bourbon, as the senior representative of the senior-surviving branch of the Capetian dynasty, became King of France as Henry IV. Bourbon monarchs then united to France the small kingdom of Navarre, which Henry's father had acquired by marriage in 1555, ruling both until the 1792 overthrow of the monarchy during the French Revolution. Restored briefly in 1814 and definitively in 1815 after the fall of the First French Empire, the senior line of the Bourbons was finally overthrown in the July Revolution of 1830. A cadet Bourbon branch, the House of Orléans, then ruled for 18 years (1830–1848), until it too was overthrown. (Full article...) - Image 5
The Years of Lead (Italian: Anni di piombo) is a term used for a period of social and political turmoil in Italy that lasted from the late 1960s until the late 1980s, marked by a wave of both far-left and far-right incidents of political terrorism.
The Years of Lead are often considered to have begun with the 1968 movement in Italy and the Hot Autumn strikes starting in 1969; the death of the policeman Antonio Annarumma in November 1969; the Piazza Fontana bombing in December of that year, which killed 17 and was perpetrated by right-wing terrorists in Milan; and the subsequent death that same month of leftist anarchist worker Giuseppe Pinelli while in police custody under suspicion of a crime he did not commit. A far-left group, the Red Brigades, eventually became the most notorious terrorist organization associated with the period; in 1978, they kidnapped and assassinated former Prime minister Aldo Moro. Another major crime associated with the Italian Years of lead was the 1980 bombing of the Bologna railway station, which killed 85 people and was perpetrated by the far-right, neo-fascist terrorist group known as the Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari. The terrorist organizations were gradually disbanded and their members arrested, though sporadic political violence continued in Italy until the late 1980s. (Full article...) - Image 6In the history of contemporary Spain, the death of caudillo Francisco Franco on 20 November 1975 marked the beginning of the Spanish transition to democracy, the establishment of the parliamentary monarchy and the subsequent accession of King Juan Carlos I to the throne. In 1978, the current Spanish Constitution of 1978 was signed and the status of Spain's autonomous entities (autonomías) was defined. (Full article...)
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The modern history of Syria begins with the termination of Ottoman control of Syria by French forces and the establishment of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration during World War I. The short-lived Arab Kingdom of Syria emerged in 1920, which was however soon committed under the French Mandate, which produced the short-lived autonomous State of Aleppo, State of Damascus (later State of Syria (1924–30)), Alawite State and Jabal al-Druze (state); the autonomies were transformed into the Mandatory Syrian Republic in 1930. Syrian Republic gained independence in April 1946. The Republic took part in the Arab-Israeli War and remained in a state of political instability during the 1950s and 1960s.
The 8 March 1963 coup resulted in the installation of the National Council for the Revolutionary Command (NCRC), a group of military and civilian officials who assumed control of all executive and legislative authority. The takeover was engineered by members of the Ba'ath Party led by Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar. He was overthrown in early 1966 by Marxist-Leninist military dissidents of the party led by General Salah Jadid. Since the Arab Spring of 2011, Bashar al-Assad's government has been involved in the ongoing Syrian civil war. (Full article...) - Image 8A History of the Modern World is a work initially published by the distinguished American historian at Princeton and Yale universities Robert Roswell Palmer in 1950. The work has since been extended by Joel Colton (from its second edition, 1956) and Lloyd S. Kramer (from its ninth edition, 2001), and currently (as of October 2017) counts thirteen editions. First published in 1950, translated into six languages, is used in more than 1,000 colleges and universities as well as many high school advanced placement courses.
The second edition (1956), comprises two volumes, 20 main chapters and 110 sub-chapters. The author focuses on World History from a European perspective, and the newer editions also exists under the title "A History of Europe in the Modern World". (Full article...) - Image 9
The Fifth Republic (French: Cinquième République) is France's current republican system of government. It was established 4 October 1958 by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the Fourth Republic, replacing the former parliamentary republic with a semi-presidential (or dual-executive) system that split powers between a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government. De Gaulle, who was the first French president elected under the Fifth Republic in December 1958, believed in a strong head of state, which he described as embodying l'esprit de la nation ("the spirit of the nation").
The Fifth Republic is France's third-longest-lasting political regime, after the hereditary and feudal monarchies of the Ancien Régime (Late Middle Ages – 1792) and the parliamentary Third Republic (1870–1940). The Fifth Republic will overtake the Third Republic as the second-longest-lasting regime and the longest-lasting French republic on 11 August 2028 if it remains in place. (Full article...) - Image 10The Modern history of Saudi Arabia begins with the unification of Saudi Arabia in a single kingdom in 1932. (Full article...)
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In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relatively short, yet featured many significant social, political, and economic changes throughout the world. Petroleum-based energy production and associated mechanisation led to the prosperous Roaring Twenties, a time of both social mobility and economic mobility for the middle class. Automobiles, electric lighting, radio, and more became common among populations in the developed world. The indulgences of the era subsequently were followed by the Great Depression, an unprecedented worldwide economic downturn that severely damaged many of the world's largest economies.
Politically, the era coincided with the rise of communism, starting in Russia with the October Revolution and Russian Civil War, at the end of World War I, and ended with the rise of fascism, particularly in Germany and in Italy. China was in the midst of half-a-century of instability and the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China. The empires of Britain, France and others faced challenges as imperialism was increasingly viewed negatively in Europe, and independence movements emerged in many colonies; for example the south of Ireland became independent after much fighting.
The Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, and German Empires were dismantled, with the Ottoman and German colonies redistributed among the Allies, chiefly Britain and France. The western parts of the Russian Empire, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland became independent nations in their own right, and Bessarabia (now Moldova and parts of Ukraine) chose to reunify with Romania. (Full article...) - Image 12In its modern history, Tunisia is a sovereign republic, officially called the Republic of Tunisia. Tunisia has over ten million citizens, almost all of Arab-Berber descent. The Mediterranean Sea is to the north and east, Libya to the southeast, and Algeria to the west. Tunis is the capital and the largest city (over 800,000); it is located near the ancient site of the city of Carthage.
Its first modern leader, President Habib Bourguiba brought to the office hard-won political experience, after many decades of service in the leadership of the independence movement. As the major figure of the Neo-Destour Party, he was instrumental in obtaining full independence for Tunisia in 1956. He dominated the government until his removal in 1987. During his years in office, his accomplishments included: a law reform, economic policies which detoured briefly in a socialist direction, a moderate but steady improvement in standard of living, and a foreign policy which retained an independent approach while maintaining trade and economic connections to the west.
Ben Ali became President of the Republic in 1987, and kept power until he was forced to leave in 2011. His economic policies emphasized a market orientation. His attempt at reapproachment with Islamist groups did not meet expectations. The ruling party was reorganized. Under his leadership Tunisia's economy continued to perform at a pace which yielded a moderate but overall steady rate of growth. (Full article...) - Image 13Italian Fascism (Italian: fascismo italiano), also known as Classical Fascism or simply Fascism, is the original fascist ideology as developed in Italy by Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini. The ideology is associated with a series of two political parties led by Benito Mussolini: the National Fascist Party (PNF), which ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, and the Republican Fascist Party that ruled the Italian Social Republic from 1943 to 1945. Italian Fascism is also associated with the post-war Italian Social Movement and subsequent Italian neo-fascist movements.
Italian Fascism was rooted in Italian nationalism, national syndicalism, revolutionary nationalism and the desire to restore and expand Italian territories, which Italian Fascists deemed necessary for a nation to assert its superiority and strength and to avoid succumbing to decay. Italian Fascists also claimed that modern Italy was the heir to ancient Rome and its legacy, and historically supported the creation of an imperial Italy to provide spazio vitale ("living space") for colonization by Italian settlers and to establish control over the Mediterranean Sea.
Italian Fascism promoted a corporatist economic system whereby employer and employee syndicates are linked together in associations to collectively represent the nation's economic producers and work alongside the state to set national economic policy. This economic system intended to resolve class conflict through collaboration between the classes. (Full article...) - Image 14From the 1680s to 1789, Germany comprised many small territories which were parts of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Prussia finally emerged as dominant. Meanwhile, the states developed a classical culture that found its greatest expression in the Enlightenment, with world class leaders such as philosophers Leibniz and Kant, writers such as Goethe and Schiller, and musicians Bach and Beethoven. (Full article...)
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- Image 1World powers and empires in 1914, just before the First World War.(from 20th century)
(The Austro-Hungarian flag should be shown instead of the Austrian Empire's one) Image 2Atomic bombings: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, 1945 (from Human history)
Image 3Maya observatory, Chichen Itza, Mexico (from Human history)
Image 4Gutenberg Bible, ca. 1450, produced using movable type (from Human history)
Image 5St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. (from Human history)
Image 6Battle during 1281 Mongol invasion of Japan (from Human history)
Image 7World distribution of wealth and population in 2000. (from Contemporary history)
Image 8Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia, founded 670 CE (from Human history)
Image 9Map of territorial changes in Europe after World War I (as of 1923). (from 20th century)
Image 10Martin Luther King Jr., an African American civil rights leader (Washington, August 1963) (from 20th century)
Image 11The MOSFET (MOS transistor) is central to the Digital Revolution, and the most widely manufactured device in history. It was invented by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs in November 1959. (from 20th century)
Image 12Notre-Dame de Paris in Paris, France: is among the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of Christendom. (from Human history)
Image 13The Buddha (from Human history)
Image 14Oil field in California, 1938.
The first modern oil well was drilled in 1848 by Russian engineer F.N. Semyonov, on the Apsheron Peninsula north-east of Baku. (from 20th century)Image 15Empires of the world in 1898 (from Human history)
Image 161570 world map, showing Europeans' discoveries (from Human history)
Image 17Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man (c. 1490), Renaissance Italy (from Human history)
Image 18Moai, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) (from Human history)
Image 19Albert Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics. (from 20th century)
Image 20Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt (from Human history)
Image 21The Empire State Building is an iconic building of the 1930s. (from 20th century)
Image 22A prisoner being tortured in the Abu Ghraib prison (from Contemporary history)
Image 23Persepolis, Achaemenid Empire, 6th century BCE (from Human history)
Image 24Watt's steam engine powered the Industrial Revolution. (from Human history)
Image 25China urbanized rapidly in the 21st century (Shanghai pictured). (from Human history)
Image 26Pillar erected by India's Maurya Emperor Ashoka (from Human history)
Image 27A stamp commemorating Alexander Fleming. His discovery of penicillin had changed the world of modern medicine by introducing the age of antibiotics. (from 20th century)
Image 28Ukraine, early days of the 1941 Nazi invasion. The Soviet Union lost around 27 million people between 1941 and 1945, almost half of all World War II deaths. (from 20th century)
Image 29Civilians (here, Mỹ Lai, Vietnam, 1968) suffered greatly in 20th-century wars. (from Human history)
Image 30Machu Picchu, Inca Empire, Peru (from Human history)
Image 31A brass "Benin Bronze" from Nigeria (from Human history)
Image 32Monumental Cuneiform inscription, Sumer, Mesopotamia, 26th century BCE (from Human history)
Image 33The Blue Marble, Earth as seen from Apollo 17 in December 1972. The photograph was taken by LMP Harrison Schmitt. The second half of the 20th century saw humanity's first space exploration. (from 20th century)
Image 34Ralph Baer's Magnavox Odyssey, the first video game console, released in 1972. (from 20th century)
Image 35Obelisk of Axum, Ethiopia (from Human history)
Image 36I and the Village, 1911, by Marc Chagall, a modern painter. (from 20th century)
Image 37Chennakesava Temple, Belur, India (from Human history)
Image 38Cave painting, Lascaux, France, c. 15,000 BCE (from Human history)
Image 39Taj Mahal, Mughal Empire, India (from Human history)
Image 40Ming dynasty section, Great Wall of China (from Human history)
Image 41Map of the British Empire (as of 1910). At its height, it was the largest empire in history. (from 20th century)
Image 42Charlie Chaplin in his 1921 film The Kid, with Jackie Coogan. (from 20th century)
Image 43American Buzz Aldrin during the first moonwalk in 1969. The relatively young aerospace engineering industries rapidly grew in the 66 years after the Wright brothers' first flight. (from 20th century)
Image 44Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia, early 12th century (from Human history)
Image 45World War I trench warfare (from Human history)
Image 46Norman Borlaug, father of the Green Revolution, is often credited with saving over a billion people worldwide from starvation. (from 20th century)
Image 47A Visualization of the various routes through a portion of the Internet. Partial map of the Internet based in 2005. (from Contemporary history)
Image 48World population, 10,000 BCE – 2,000 CE (vertical population scale is logarithmic) (from Human history)
Image 49Crusader Krak des Chevaliers, Syria (from Human history)
Image 50Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), Turkey (from Human history)
Image 51Hong Kong, under British administration from 1842 to 1997, is one of the original four Asian tigers. (from 20th century)
Image 52University of Timbuktu, Mali (from Human history)
Image 53The World Trade Center on fire and the Statue of Liberty. (from Contemporary history)
Image 54The Pantheon in Rome, Italy, originally a Roman temple, now a Catholic church (from Human history)
Image 55The first airplane, the Wright Flyer, flew, 1903. (from Human history)
Image 56The pioneer of computer science, Alan Turing (from 20th century)
Image 57Countries by real GDP growth rate in 2014. (Countries in brown were in recession.) (from Contemporary history)
Image 58First flight of the Wright Flyer, December 17, 1903, Orville piloting, Wilbur running at wingtip. (from 20th century)
Image 59U.S. Army troops in Kunar province (from Contemporary history)
Image 60Last Moon landing: Apollo 17 (1972) (from Human history)
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