Shaping the Modern World: Key Historical Milestones

Humanism (15th and 16th Centuries)

The philosophy which introduced modern times by shifting from the Church-centered preoccupation of the Middle Ages to focus on the needs and aspirations of the individual. Instead of worrying about the afterlife, people concentrated on the here and now.

Johannes Gutenberg (1450)

He was the German goldsmith who developed movable type and the printing press. Printing led to a communications revolution and encouraged individualistic thinking and initiative, which became the cornerstone of today’s capitalist system.

Martin Luther (1520)

The German friar whose attempts to reform the Church led to the Protestant Reformation. His work resulted in a century of religious warfare, a permanent split within the faith, and the end of the universal Western Church.

Ignatius Loyola (1550)

The Spanish general who founded the Jesuit Order, whose purpose was to combat the Protestant Reformation, to reform the Catholic Church, and to spread Roman Catholicism.

Cortez and Pizarro (1550)

The Spanish conquerors who overwhelmed the Inca and Aztec Empires in the Western Hemisphere by using horses, steel, and guns. They established the first of the great European empires, which controlled the world until World War I.

Mercantilism (17th and 18th Centuries)

Mercantilism was the economic system by which European nations justified overseas empires and regulated trade and commerce to increase national wealth.

Peace of Westphalia (1640)

Concluded the Thirty Years' War between Protestants and Catholics. It brought religious peace, the end of the religious wars, and the emergence of the modern European state system.

Louis XIV (1700)

The Sun King of France, who centralized political power around himself. His rule marked the height of power for absolute monarchy.

Copernicus (1540)

The Polish astronomer and mathematician who set into motion the idea that the Earth revolved around the Sun. His heliocentric ideas laid the groundwork for the scientific method.

Scientific Method

The way of thinking which replaced medieval scholasticism and its emphasis on religious deduction. This methodology is based on induction (observation), experimentation, and deduction to arrive at a greater truth.

Glorious Revolution (1689)

Led to the overthrow of King James II and the supremacy of Parliament, establishing a constitutional monarchy in England.

John Locke (1700)

The political theorist whose ideas justified revolution because political sovereignty rested in the consent of the people, not in the divine right of kings. He held that all people have certain natural rights: life, liberty, and property.

U.S. Constitution (1787)

“We the People” begins the document which resulted from the American colonies' independence from British rule. It established a new republican, non-monarchical form of government, and was the first written set of government rules.

Third Estate (1789)

The commoners of France who, in 1789, formed the National Assembly and launched the French Revolution. They overthrew the monarchy, established the Republic, and passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, declaring the principles of fraternity, equality, and liberty.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)

This declaration guaranteed basic freedoms and rights. Spread by the French Revolution, these rights became the standard for the Western world.

Reign of Terror (1792-1793)

Represented the most radical phase of the French Revolution. Dominated by the Jacobins, who represented the lower classes, they defended their revolution by executing the King and nobles and exporting revolutionary ideals abroad through the force of the first popular citizens' army.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1799-1815)

Was a general and Emperor of France. His conquests expanded French power to its greatest extent, but his defeat ended France’s European dominance. The Napoleonic Code forms the basis for many modern legal systems.

Concert of Europe

The loose system of national alliances which prevented the dominance of Europe by one single power after the fall of Napoleon in 1815.

James Watt (1769)

Was the inventor of the steam engine. This invention transformed transportation with steamships and railways, and significantly propelled the Industrial Revolution.

Capitalism

The economic system of risk-taking entrepreneurs, dominated by the company, which replaced feudal manorialism. This system, based on profit and economic growth, created two new social classes: owners and workers.

Socialism

The socio-economic philosophy which sought to make industrialization more humane. It represented a communal and cooperative alternative to profit-oriented capitalism.

Unionism

Combinations of workers banding together to win better wages and working conditions. Initially illegal, the main weapon of unions was the strike.