Modern history

Modern history
(the "modern period," the "modern era," "modern times") refers to the history of the period following the Middle Ages, spanning from about 1500 to the present day. In contrast, "" is history that covers events from around 1945 to the present day.

Early modern period
"" is a term used by historians to refer to the period between the  and the —roughly 1500 to 1800. The Early Modern period is characterized by the rise of science, and by increasingly rapid, civic , and the. began their rise, initially in northern s such as. The Early Modern period also saw the rise and dominance of the economic theory. As such, the Early Modern period represents the decline and eventual disappearance, in much of the European sphere, of, serfdom, and the power of the. The period includes the, the disastrous , the , European , the peak of European ing, the , and the.

Renaissance
's, meaning "rebirth," referring to the rebirth of classical culture, beginning in the 14th century and extending into the 16th, consisted of the rediscovery of the world's scientific contributions, and of the  and social rise of Europe. The Renaissance also engendered a culture of which ultimately led to  and the. Although it saw social and political upheaval and revolutions in many pursuits, the Renaissance is perhaps known best for its istic developments and the contributions of such s as  and, who inspired the term "."

European expansion
During this period, European powers came to dominate most of the world. Although the most developed regions of European classical civilization were more urbanized than any other region of the world, European civilization had undergone a lengthy period of gradual decline and collapse. During the Early Modern Period, Europe was able to regain its dominance; historians still debate the causes.

Europe's success in this period stands in contrast to other regions. For example, one of the most advanced civilizations of the Middle Ages was China. It had developed an advanced by 1000 CE. China had a free ry who were no longer subsistence farmers, and could sell their produce and actively participate in the market. According to, writing in the 18th century, China had long been one of the richest, most fertile, best cultivated, most industrious, most urbanized, and most prosperous countries in the world. It enjoyed a technological advantage and had a monopoly in production, piston bellows,  construction,, and the. However, it seemed to have long since stopped progressing. , who visited China in the 13th century, describes its cultivation, industry, and populousness almost in the same terms as travelers would in the 18th century.

One theory of Europe's rise holds that Europe's played an important role in its success. The Middle East, India and China are all ringed by mountains and oceans but, once past these outer barriers, are nearly flat. By contrast, the, , , and other mountain ranges run through Europe, and the continent is also divided by several seas. This gave Europe some degree of protection from the peril of Central Asian invaders. Before the era of firearms, these nomads were militarily superior to the agricultural states on the periphery of the Eurasian continent and, as they broke out into the plains of northern India or the valleys of China, were all but unstoppable. These invasions were often devastating. The was ended by the   in 1258. India and China were subject to periodic s, and Russia spent a couple of centuries under the yoke. Central and western Europe, logistically more distant from the Central Asian heartland, proved less vulnerable to these threats.

Geography contributed to important differences. For most of their histories, China, India, and the Middle East were each unified under a single dominant power that expanded until it reached the surrounding mountains and deserts. In 1600 the controlled almost all the Middle East, the  ruled China, and the  held sway over India. By contrast, Europe was almost always divided into a number of warring states. Pan-European empires, with the notable exception of the, tended to collapse soon after they arose. Another doubtless important geographic factor in the rise of Europe was the Mediterranean Sea, which, for millennia, had functioned as a maritime superhighway fostering the exchange of goods, people, ideas and inventions.

Nearly all the agricultural civilizations have been heavily constrained by their. Productivity remained low, and changes easily instigated   that brought about civilizations' rise and fall. By about 1500, however, there was a qualitative change in world history. advance and the generated by  gradually brought about a widening of possibilities.

Many have also argued that Europe's institutions allowed it to expand, that s and economics were stronger than elsewhere due to an ideal of  peculiar to Europe. In recent years, however, scholars such as have challenged this view. Europe's maritime expansion unsurprisingly—given the continent's geography—was largely the work of its Atlantic states: Portugal, Spain, England, France, and the Netherlands. Initially the and s were the predominant conquerors and sources of influence, and their union resulted in the, the first  on which the "". Soon the more northern English, French and Dutch began to dominate the Atlantic. In a series of wars fought in the 17th and 18th centuries, culminating with the, Britain emerged as the new world power.

Regional developments
came under the rule of the in 1501, succeeded by the  in 1736, the  in 1751, and the  in 1794. Areas to the north and east in Central Asia were held by and. The, after taking in 1453, quickly gained control of the Middle East, the , and most of North Africa.

In, this period saw a decline in many civilizations and an advancement in others. The declined after coming under the  and later the. In west Africa, the fell to the Moroccans in 1591 when they invaded with guns. The South African gave way to smaller kingdoms such as, , and. suffered from the 1531 invasion from neighbouring Muslim, and in 1769 entered the (Age of Princes) during which the Emperor became a figurehead and the country was ruled by warlords, though the royal line later would recover under Emperor. The, in the , began to decline in the 17th century, succeeded by the. Other civilizations in Africa advanced during this period. The experienced its golden age, as did the. The rose to power in what is modern day  in 1670. The also thrived during this period. European reached its zenith at this time.

In, the gave way in 1644 to the , the last Chinese imperial dynasty, which would rule until 1912. experienced its (1568–1603), followed by the  (1603–1868). The  (1392–1910) ruled throughout this period, successfully repelling 16th- and 17th-century invasions from Japan and China. Japan and China were significantly affected during this period by expanded maritime trade with Europe, particularly the Portuguese in Japan. During the Edo period, Japan would pursue isolationist policies, to eliminate foreign influences.

On the, the and the  would give way, beginning in the 16th century, to the. Starting in the northwest, the Mughal Empire would by the late 17th century come to rule the entire subcontinent, except for the southernmost Indian provinces, which would remain independent. Against the Muslim Mughal Empire, the Hindu was founded on the west coast in 1674, gradually gaining territory—a majority of present-day India—from the Mughals over several decades, particularly in the  (1681–1701). The Maratha Empire would in 1818 fall under the control of the British, with all former Maratha and Mughal authority devolving in 1858 to the.

In 1511 the Portuguese overthrew the in present-day Malaysia and Indonesian. The Portuguese held this important trading territory (and the valuable associated navigational strait) until overthrown by the Dutch in 1641. The, centred on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, became the dominant trading power in the region. expanded with the Dutch in the, the Portuguese in , and the Spanish in the. Into the 19th century, European expansion would affect the whole of Southeast Asia, with the British in and  and the French in. Only would successfully resist colonization.

The Pacific islands of would also be affected by European contact, starting with the circumnavigational voyage of, who landed on the  and other islands in 1521. Also notable were the voyages (1642–44) of to present-day,  and nearby islands, and the voyages (1768–1779) of Captain , who made the first recorded European contact with. Britain would found its first colony on Australia in 1788.

In the, the vigorously colonized the newly discovered continents, largely displacing the , and destroying the advanced civilizations of the  and the. Spain, Portugal, Britain, and France all made extensive territorial claims, and undertook large-scale settlement, including the importation of large numbers of African. Portugal claimed. Spain claimed the rest of, , and southern. Britain colonized the east coast of North America, and France colonized the central region of North America. Russia made incursions onto the northwest coast of North America, with a first colony in present-day in 1784, and the outpost of  in present-day  in 1812. In 1762, in the midst of the, France secretly ceded most of its North American claims to Spain in the. Thirteen of the British colonies declared independence as the in 1776, ratified by the  in 1783, ending the. won France’s claims back from Spain in the in 1800, but sold them to the United States in 1803 as the.

In, was crowned in 1547 as the first  of Russia, and by annexing the Turkic khanates in the east, transformed Russia into a regional power. The countries of western Europe, while expanding prodigiously through technological advancement and colonial conquest, competed with each other economically and militarily in a state of almost constant. Often the wars had a, either Catholic versus Protestant, or (primarily in eastern Europe) Christian versus Muslim. Wars of particular note include the, the , the , and the. Napoleon came to power in France in 1799, an event foreshadowing the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century.

1750–1914
The changed humanity's understanding of the world and led to the, a major transformation of the world's economies. The in the 17th century had had little immediate effect on industrial ; only in the second half of the 18th century did scientific advances begin to be applied substantially to practical. The Industrial Revolution began in and used new modes of production—the, , and —to manufacture a wide array of goods faster and using less labour than previously required. The also led to the beginnings of modern  in the late-18th century  and s.  and  would grow to have a profound effect on world events and on.

After Europeans had achieved influence and control over the Americas, activities turned to the lands of Asia and Oceania. In the 19th century the European states had social and technological advantage over Eastern lands. Britain gained control of the Indian subcontinent, Egypt and the ; the ; while the Dutch cemented their control over the. The British also colonized Australia, New Zealand and South Africa with large numbers of British colonists emigrating to these colonies. Russia colonized large pre-agricultural areas of Siberia. In the late 19th century, the European powers. Within Europe, economic and military challenges created a system of s, and ethno-linguistic groupings began to identify themselves as distinctive nations with aspirations for cultural and political autonomy. This would become important to peoples across the world in the 20th century.

During the, the world economy became reliant on as a fuel, as new methods of , such as  and s, effectively shrank the world. Meanwhile, industrial and  damage, present since the discovery of fire and the beginning of civilization, accelerated drastically.

The advantages that Europe had developed by the mid-18th century were two: an culture, and the wealth generated by the Atlantic trade (including the ). By the late 16th century, from the Americas accounted for the Spanish empire's wealth. The profits of the and of  plantations amounted to 5% of the  at the time of the. While some historians conclude that, in 1750, in the most developed regions of China was still on a par with that of Europe's Atlantic economy, other historians like  hold that the per-capita productivity of western Europe had by the late  surpassed that of all other regions.

1914–1945
The 20th century opened with Europe at an apex of wealth and power, and with much of the world under its direct control or its indirect domination. Much of the rest of the world was influenced by heavily Europeanized nations: the United States and Japan. As the century unfolded, however, the global system dominated by rival powers was subjected to severe strains, and ultimately seemed to yield to a more fluid structure of independent nations organized on Western models.

This transformation was catalysed by wars of unparalleled scope and devastation. destroyed many of Europe's empires and monarchies, and weakened Britain and France. In its aftermath, powerful ideologies arose. The of 1917 created the first  state, while the 1920s and 1930s saw   dictatorships gain control in Italy, Germany, Spain and elsewhere.

Ongoing national rivalries, exacerbated by the economic turmoil of the, helped precipitate. The s of Europe and Japan pursued an ultimately doomed course of , in the course of which  orchestrated the murder of six million  in  and of millions of , , and other , while  murdered millions of. An earlier, model of  had been provided by 's mass murder of. The World War II defeat of the opened the way for the advance of  into, , , , , China, , and.

1945–2000
When ended in 1945, the  was founded in the hope of preventing future wars, as the  had been formed following. The war had left two countries, the United States and the Soviet Union, with principal power to influence international affairs. Each was suspicious of the other and feared a global spread of the other's, respectively and, political-economic model. This led to the, a forty-five-year stand-off and between the United States and its allies, on one hand, and the Soviet Union and its allies on the other. With the development of s during World War II, and with their subsequent proliferation, all of humanity were put at risk of between the two superpowers, as demonstrated by, most prominently the October 1962. Such war, the superpowers instead waged s in non-nuclear-armed countries.

In China, implemented  and  reforms as part of the  (1958–62), leading to the  (1959–61) of tens of millions of people.

The Cold War ended in 1991, when the, in part due to inability to compete economically with the United States and western Europe. However, the United States likewise began to show signs of slippage in its geopolitical influence, even as its, now less inhibited by the claims of the , increasingly sought private advantage to the prejudice of the public.

In the early postwar decades, the colonies in Asia and Africa of the Belgian, British, Dutch, French, and other west European empires won their formal independence. But the newly independent countries faced challenges in the form of, sociopolitical disarray, poverty, illiteracy, and s.

Most Western European and Central European countries gradually formed a political and economic community, the, which expanded eastward to include former. The European Union's effectiveness was handicapped by the immaturity of its common economic and political institutions, somewhat comparable to the inadequacy of United States institutions under the  prior to the adoption of the  that came into force in 1789. Asian, African, and South American countries followed suit and began taking tentative steps toward forming their own respective.

Cold War preparations to deter or to fight a third world war accelerated advances in that, though conceptualized before World War II, had been implemented for that war's exigencies, such as, ry, and. In the decades after World War II, these advances led to jet travel, s with innumerable applications including s (GPS), and the —inventions that have revolutionized the movement of people, ideas, and information.

However, not all scientific and technological advances in the second half of the 20th century required an initial military impetus. That period also saw ground-breaking developments such as the discovery of the structure of, the consequent sequencing of the , the worldwide , the discovery of , manned and unmanned and of previously inaccessible parts of , and foundational discoveries in  phenomena ranging from the smallest entities  to the greatest entity.

The century saw many emerge or become more serious or more widely recognized, including, , , ,  and , , deadly s of  diseases, ,  eruptions, , s, and the dwindling of s (particularly s) worldwide.

21st century
The 21st century has been marked by growing and integration, with consequent increased risk to interlinked economies, as exemplified by the  of the late 2000s and early 2010s; and by the expansion of communications with s and the, which have caused fundamental  changes in  business, politics, and individuals' personal lives, including the advent of  platforms such as.

The early 21st century saw escalating intra- and international strife in the Near East and Afghanistan, stimulated by vast economic disparities, by dissatisfaction with governments dominated by Western interests, by inter-ethnic and inter-sectarian feuds, and by the longest war in the history of the United States, the proximate cause for which was 's provocative of 's. The, a revolutionary wave of uprisings in North Africa and the Near East in the early 2010's, produced power vacuums that led to a resurgence of authoritarianism and the advent of reactionary groups like the.

U.S. military involvements in the Near East and Afghanistan, along with a and resultant, have drained U.S. economic resources at a time when the U.S. and other Western countries are experiencing mounting socioeconomic dislocations aggravated by the  of work and the. Meanwhile, ancient and populous Asian civilizations, namely and especially, have been emerging from centuries of relative scientific, technological, and economic dormancy to become potential economic and political rivals for Western powers.

Worldwide for  has risen due to growing populations and industrialization, especially in India, China, and Brazil. The increased demand is contributing to increased and. That, and a need for safe, reliable energy supplies independent of politically volatile regions, has spurred the development of sources of, chiefly  and , in place of the "fissile-fossil complex" of  and -based energy. In recognition of the posed by, in December 2015 195 countries signed the , though in 2017 President  announced his withdrawal of the United States from the Agreement. International tensions were heightened in connection with the efforts of some to induce  to give up its, and to prevent  from developing nuclear weapons.

In May 2019 a  released a  stating that, due to human activities excessively focused on, a million of 's  and  are at imminent risk of , which will wreak havoc with the planet's  and capacity to feed the world's.