# Modern history

**Modern history** is the history of the world beginning after the Middle Ages. Generally the term "modern history" refers to the history of the world since the advent of the Age of Reason (the Age of Enlightenment) in the 17th and 18th centuries and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

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| Modern Chronology |
| * Modern (Europe, 18th century – 20th century)
	+ Industrial Revolution (Europe 18th and 19th centuries)
	+ Napoleonic era, 1799–1815
	+ Victorian era (United Kingdom, 1837–1901)
	+ Edwardian period (United Kingdom, 1901–1910)
	+ Meiji period (Japan, 1868–1912)
	+ World War I (Earth, 1914–1918)
	+ Interwar period (Earth, 1918–1939\*)
	+ World War II (Earth, 1939\*–1945)
	+ Cold War (Soviet Union and United States, as well as Earth, 1945–1989)
	+ Post-communist period (Russia, after 1991)
 |

1. The Early Modern Times lasted from the end of the 15th century to the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th century, circa 1450/92 to 1750/92.
2. Modern Times are the period from Enlightenment and the 18th century until today.
3. Modernity, based on Modernism, explores the changes of society due to the industrialisation.
4. Postmodernity and Postindustrialism are theories to apply the art movement term of *postmodernism* (below) to social and cultural history, or to refer to the rise of the service sector during the late 20th century when industry was no longer predominant; the prefix "post-" implies a reaction to modernity and in that sense does not cover all contemporary history.

The modern period has been a time of many advances in science, politics, warfare, technology, and globalization. During this time, the European powers began expanding their political, economic, and cultural influences to the rest of the world.

## Late 15th to early 18th century

This period is also called the early modern period. This time was a time where the Europeans found the New world and began colonizing it. It also saw trade with China and other Eastern Asian cultures.

* Discovery of America (1492): Age of Discovery.
* Gutenberg's moveable type printing press (1450s): Information Age and newspapers.

Within the early modern period, some events shaped the world immensely:

* Martin Luther challenges the Church on 31 October 1517 with the 95 Theses: Reformation.
* Fall of the Spanish Armada on 8 August 1588 enabled the Rise of the British Empire
* Thirty Years' War 1618–1648 in Central Europe decimated the population by up to 20%.
* The treaties of the Peace of Westphalia are signed in 1648, which ended several wars in Europe and established the beginning of sovereign states.
* *Treaty of Utrecht* marked the change from Spanish to British naval supremacy.
* Louis XIV, "roi soleil".

## Industrial Revolution

This period saw advances in industrial technology. Industries were beginning to make clothes, armaments, and other useful tools people need. This industrial revolution began the modern world as we know it.

* Inventions of the Steam engine (1764) and Spinning jenny (1769), one of the peak events influencing Romanticism.
* Rejection of monarchy and absolutism: Declaration of Independence by the British Colonies in America, then USA, 1776, influencing the French Revolution of 1789.

## Napoleonic era

The **Napoleonic era** is a period in the History of France and Europe. It is also known as the fourth stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislative Assembly, and the third being the Directory. The Napoleonic era begins roughly with Napoleon's coup d'état, overthrowing the Directory. It ends at the Hundred Days and his defeat by the alliance of several nations at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

## 19th century

The 19th Century is a time in history from the 1800s to the 1900s.

During this century, the Spanish, Portuguese, Ottoman, Holy Roman and Mughal empires start to die.

Following the Napoleonic Wars, the British Empire became the world's leading power, controlling one quarter of the world's population and one third of the land area by 1900. It helped trade, battled piracy, and stopped the Atlantic slave trade. This period is known as Pax Britannica because there are no war between powerful countries. This time also sees the first lightbulb, cars, railways, airplanes, printing press and other inventions.

## 20th century

The 20th century was a time in which advancements in technology and medicine changed peoples way of life. Some advancements were in space exploration, nuclear technology, genetics, and the beginning of the information age.

This was also a time of the two world wars (World War I, World War II), the outbreak of Spanish Influenza, the Cold War, and the decolonisation of many parts of the world.

## Related pages

* Fin de siècle

## Other websites

* China and Europe