Modern era
During this time, the European powers and later their colonies, strengthened its political, economic, and cultural colonization of the rest of the world.
The modern era is closely associated with the development of individualism, capitalism, urbanization, and a belief in the positive possibilities of technological and political progress.
The brutal wars and other conflicts of this era, many of which come from the effects of rapid change, and the connected loss of strength of traditional religious and ethical norms, have led to many reactions against modern development.
1500 is an approximate starting period for the modern era because many major events caused the Western world to change around that time: from the fall of Constantinople (1453), Gutenberg's moveable type printing press (1450s), completion of the Reconquista (1492) and Christopher Columbus's voyage to the Americas (also 1492), to the Reformation begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses (1517).
[4] Nipperdey (2022) pointed to its widespread usage by American historians around 1900 already, adding: 'In the interwar years the term permeated all areas of professional activity from textbooks and graduate school seminars to conferences, research articles, and job descriptions.
The European Renaissance (about 1420–1630) is an important transition period beginning between the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times, which started in Italy.
The concept of modernity interprets the general meaning of these events and seeks explanations for major developments.
The Industrial Revolution was the major technological, socioeconomic, and cultural change in late 18th and early 19th century that began in Britain and spread throughout the world.
It began with the mechanisation of the textile industries and the development of iron-making techniques, and trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of canals, improved roads, and then railways.
[15] The effects spread throughout Western Europe and North America during the 19th century, eventually affecting the majority of the world.
The impact of this change on society was enormous and is often compared to the Neolithic Revolution, when mankind developed agriculture and gave up its nomadic lifestyle.
[25] Electricity, steel, and petroleum fuelled a Second Industrial Revolution which enabled Germany, Japan, and the United States to become great powers that raced to create empires of their own.
[26] However, Russia and China failed to keep pace with the other world powers, which led to massive social unrest in both empires.
[35] It also saw the former British Empire lose most of its remaining political power over Commonwealth countries, most notably by the dividing of the British crown into several sovereignties by the Statute of Westminster,[36] the patriation of constitutions by the Canada Act 1982,[37] and the Australia Act 1986,[38] as well as the independence of countries like India, Pakistan, South Africa, and Ireland.
The war caused the disintegration of four empires – the Austro-Hungarian, German, Ottoman, and Russian ones – as well as radical change in the European and Middle Eastern maps.
More than 9 million soldiers died on the various battlefields, and nearly that many more in the participating countries' home fronts on account of food shortages and genocide committed under the cover of various civil wars and internal conflicts.
The unsanitary conditions engendered by the war, severe overcrowding in barracks, wartime propaganda interfering with public health warnings, and migration of so many soldiers around the world helped the outbreak become a pandemic.
It included the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and the rise of communism in Russia and fascism in Italy and Germany.
Pursuant to a then-secret provision of its non-aggression Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union joined Germany on 17 September 1939, to conquer Poland and divide Eastern Europe.
[42] The Allies were initially made up of Poland, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, as well as British Commonwealth countries which were controlled directly by the UK, such as the Indian Empire.
On 27 September, Germany, Italy, and Japan signed a mutual defense agreement, the Tripartite Pact, and were known as the Axis Powers.
Nine months later, on 22 June 1941, Germany launched a massive invasion of the Soviet Union, which prompted it to join the Allies.
[44] On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, bringing it too into the war on the side of the Allies.
[47] These four countries were considered the "Four Policemen" or "Four Sheriffs" of the Allies and were the primary victors of World War II.
[51] The Holocaust (which roughly means "burnt whole") was the deliberate and systematic murder of millions of Jews and other "unwanted" groups during World War II by the Nazi regime in Germany.
There was a shift in power from Western Europe and the British Empire to the two new superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union.
[61] Developing countries faced many challenges, including the scale of the task to be surmounted, rapidly growing populations, and the need to protect the environment, along with the associated costs.
Dictators such as Kim Jong-il in North Korea continued to lead their nations toward the development of nuclear weapons.
