411 REFERENCE · Wikibooks
European History/A Brief Outline of European History
Reference material by Wikibooks contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
Introduction
The purpose of this page is to give you a brief outline of the key events and happenings covered throughout this book. Events that are specifically outlined in the text are linked to the proper place to allow you to quickly research them. Broader events and occurrences are not linked to specific sections since they are general conclusions that should be reached by having a background in European history that would come from reading the text.
This segment of the wikibook would serve as an excellent review or study guide for students enrolled in Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate European History courses, as well as students enrolled in introductory European History courses at the collegiate level. Readers could use this page to ensure that they know all of the major occurrences of each era, and can then review specific areas in which they may be weak by simply clicking the link.
1400s, Age of Renaissance
Feudalism and Serfdom
Aristocracy is the dominant class
Invention of Printing Press: 1450
Italy dominant in trade and culture
HRE/Austria dominant politically/militarily
Growth of town life from manors
Renaissance: 1350-1550
Da Vinci
Michelangelo
Petrarch and Boccacio, Italian Humanists
Diaz and da Gama, Portuguese Explorers
Problems with Catholic Church
Great Schism
Simony and Nepotism
Corruption of Clergy
Sale of Indulgences
Plague
Humanism
Rise of New Monarchies
Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain
Henry VII of England
Charles XI of France
Southern vs. Northern Humanism - Northern had more education, science, Christianity; Southern had Civic Humanism, advocating involvement in politics, Greco-Roman secular thought
Early Heretics: Jan Huss and Wycliffe
Spain's 1492 Reconquista: pushed out Jews and Muslims under Ferdinand and Isabella
1500s, Age of Reformation
Protestant Reformation 1517
Austria slowly loses dominance to Spain
Age of Exploration, Spain, Portugal and other European Powers
New Monarchs prominent
Church of England becomes Anglican under Henry VIII
Martin Luther and Lutheranism
Charles V of HRE/Austria
Philip II of Spain
Counter-Reformation and Council of Trent
Spanish Armada 1588
Dutch vs. Spanish Philip II vs. William of Orange, or "William the Silent"
French Civil War: Valois vs. Guise vs. Bourbon - leads to Bourbon line in France
Edict of Nantes 1598
Peace of Augsburg ends Shmalkaldic War - princes can choose between Lutheranism and Catholicism
Elizabeth and "Bloody" Mary Tudor
Decline of Italy
Calvinism, Zwingli
1600s, Age of Religious Wars and Absolutism
Thirty Years' War, 1618–1648
English Civil War, 1642–1649
Age of Science
Age of Absolutism, epitomized by Louis XIV, "Sun King"
Stuart Dynasty in England, starting with James I and resulting in Glorious Revolution
Peter the Great of Russia
Rise of Prussia
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Peace of Westphalia, 1648 - ends Thirty Years' War
Oliver Cromwell's reign in England
Cardinal Richelieu with Louis XIII
End of Counter-Reformation
Baroque Art
Charles II, War of Spanish Succession result in end of Spanish rule by Hapsburg dynasty
Strongest Nation: France
English and Dutch on the Rise
1700s, Age of Enlightenment
Enlightened Despotism
Catherine the Great
Joseph II
Frederick the Great
War of Spanish Succession, ending in Peace of Utrecht, 1701–1713
War of Austrian Succession, 1740–1748
Diplomatic Revolution - Austria befriends France, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette subsequently marry, 1748–1756
French Revolution, 1789–1799
Enlightenment Philosophes: Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu
Start of Industrial Revolution in Britain, 1758
1800s, Age of Revolutions
Britain emerges as dominant nation
Napoleon Bonaparte's Consulate and Directory
French Bourbon Restoration
Rise of Nationalism
French Revolution of 1830, as a result of the July Ordinances and ending with the July Monarchy of Louis Philippe
1848 Revolution in France results in President Louis Napoleon Bonaparte and Emperor Napoleon III
1848 Revolutions Across Europe suppressed by the Old Regime and the Congress System
Rise of New Ideologies such as capitalism, republicanism, liberalism, conservatism, socialism, communism and anarchism.
Rise of Realpolitik
Italian and German Unification
Revolt of the Paris Commune
Darwin's Theory of Evolution
Rise of Imperialism
Russia Struggling to Westernize
Crimean War
Victorian Age
1900s, The Modern Era
United States and Soviet Union compete for supremacy
Modern Art
World War I pits the Triple Entente against the Triple Alliance
Russian Revolution
Victory in Europe Day occurs, as the armistice is signed at eleven o'clock on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918
The Treaty of Versailles is signed
Weimar Republic is undermined by a general feeling among German citizens that they were "stabbed in the back"
Rise of Pacifism and Isolation in the 1920s
Challenges to Democracy in the 1930s people eating bats and covud 19 in 199000s
Fascism in Germany and Italy
Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939
World War II
Yalta and Potsdam Conferences
Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union
Modern Britain with Attlee, Thatcher, Major and Blair
French Fifth Republic occurs under President Charles DeGaulle, followed by Mitterand and Chirac
Post-War Germany is divided and in 1990 reunited
The European Union develops into a powerful organization
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