Transcript for:
Overview of Human History and Civilizations

this is tokyo japan it is the most popular city in the world with over 37 million residents this is red rock in ontario canada population under 900 no matter where you live on this wondrous planet the amount of history in every metre of forest desert or ocean is unfathomable if these walls could talk if these lands could utter but a single story of what they've seen would have tales to tell for generations to come join us as we embark upon a most ambitious project the tale of world history a past which we must truly understand before setting our gaze to the future we will go back to world war one the french revolution the african kingdoms the far east ancient greece and rome with lots of other stops along the way but for now our story begins here the earth 85 million years ago we believe this is when primates diverged from the rest of their mammalian ancestors forming the family hominidae or hominids this is when we begin to see apes and orangutans the sub-family hominini includes all of these except orangutans about 8.5 million years ago the hominini would diverge from the gorolini which went on to become guerrillas 7.5 million years ago early humans and chimpanzees under the hominini branch would diverge from each other humans as we know them today evolved in different stages the auran sahil anthropus and artipificus were the first stages up to seven million years ago australopithecus would appear just four million years back some consider the paranthropus appearing 2.7 million years ago the same genus 1.8 million years ago would see the emergence of the genus homo one of the earliest species in this period was homo habilis their brains were about as small as a chimpanzees but they would begin using crude stone tools homo erguster and the famous homo erectus emerged later and possessed larger brain sizes compared to homo habilis they would create better tools and learn how to tame fire homo heidelberg entis appeared around 800 000 years ago and homo sapiens our very own species about 150 to 200 000 years back homo neanderthalensis or neanderthal diverged around 600 to 700 000 years ago from a common ancestor in homo once homo sapiens emerged they would interbreed with neanderthal though they had bigger brains and a more sturdy physique than homo sapiens they would eventually become extinct due to their lack of social cooperation archaeology can help us discover the what and when but the wise and house are often quite difficult when dealing with these far-gone time periods one theory of a driver of early human evolution is the aridity hypothesis this states that changes to more arid climate and an expansion of the savannah caused early humans to have to adapt the savannah hypothesis posits that this expansion of the savannah caused early humans to leave the treetops and become bipedal on the grasslands so what did leaving the treetops do for our ancestors walking upright on the savannah helped in various ways from being able to see further distances traveling further while expending less energy and most importantly freed up their hands in order to use tools and weapons there were physical consequences to this as well skeletal changes would occur in the legs and back changes in the pelvis caused childbirth to become more burdensome than in most other animals gestation periods would also shorten significantly to allow a baby to pass through the birth canal before its head grew too large this is also partly the reason why human babies are more helpless and need more time to develop than other mammalian species from around 3.3 million years ago when our ancestors first began using stone tools until around 12 000 years ago the paleolithic era or old stone age encompasses 99 percent of our technological pre-history early humans lived in small tribal societies hunting and foraging for food and beginning to use fire to cook and see in the dark members of the genus homo would evolve during this period leading to homo sapiens around the middle paleolithic from around 300 000 years ago we start to see primitive works of art and spiritual practices involving the dead as they were primarily nomadic humans would travel from place to place looking for new food sources this eventually over thousands of years brought us all over the world according to the out of africa theory [Music] around twelve thousand years ago though there would be a shift in human society a shift that changed everything the neolithic revolution also called the agricultural revolution saw humans begin to domesticate plants and animals and would transition from their nomadic lifestyles into once more sedentary there are numerous theories about how this occurred as well such as the hilly flanks hypothesis which states that agriculture began in the hilly flanks of the taurus and zagros mountains other theories claim that agriculture was developed to create surpluses of food in order to display power or dominance the neolithic revolution had deep effect on human society the somewhat egalitarian groupings of the past were replaced by a social hierarchy the surplus of food made possible by agriculture led to more population not everyone was needed to produce this food so many became full-time soldiers craftsmen and administrators priests and other spiritual leaders were often near the top of the hierarchy physical health suffered as well less activity was bad on its own but close proximity to animals caused pathogens to jump from species to species leading to widespread diseases neolithic humans were also plagued by vitamin deficiencies and poorer dental growth this agricultural revolution is the basis for sedentary society population growth division of labor and social stratification all of which are still visible in our current society [Music] [Music] the ancient period images of stern spartans or caesar crossing the rubicon might manifest in one's head perhaps the sandy sparkle of an egyptian desert where lie the dead homes of dead kings this period covers not only centuries but millennia from the advent of writing in ancient sumer in around 3400 bce to around the fall of the roman empire in the late 5th century ce the ancient period would bring forth the birth of all the great civilizations we are familiar with and as with any recent birth there must be a cradle which brings us here the land between the tigris and euphrates or mesopotamia the alluvial plane created by the twin rivers allowed early settlers to remain here for thousands of years the earliest known settlements on the plane date back to around 6500 bce during the eubaid period next came the europe period beginning around 4100 bce still predating the bronze age this period would see more urban centres begin to emerge and with it the sumerian civilization urbanization led to a more centralized government which needed a way to administer affairs cuneiform was thought to be the answer for this wedge-shaped impressions became the first writing system mesopotamia truly developed during the early dynastic period which began in 2900 bce urban centers evolved into city-states and trade was common but from out of the north the acadians would come around 2340 bce led by their leader sargon of akkad the semitic acadians would conquer the southern sumerian city-states forging what was arguably the first empire the world had seen akad and suma would integrate cultures but the sumerian spoken language was all but replaced in the 22nd century bce akkad fell to a tribal force of gushan's they were known for hit and run tactics and were viewed as less civilized with the empire's demise the guccians had nowhere with all to rule and vanished within less than a century and the old would rule once more [Music] around 2112 bce the neo-sumerian empire was established under a namu extending into upper mesopotamia this period is associated with a sumerian renaissance this ended when alamites from the east sacked the influential city of ur out of babylon an amorite city in the west grew another empire in 1792 bce hammurabi would rule this small expanse of land and conquer all of southern mesopotamia creating the first babylonian empire the code of hamirabi becoming his most popular legacy the empire would be short-lived as after hamirabi's death the hittites out of anatolia would sack babylon in 1595 bce this resulted in the kassai people taking control of the babylonian empire they would control the region for nearly 500 years the longest of any dynasty unlucky for them their time was up along with numerous other civilizations the bronze age collapse occurred in the 12th century bce along with attacks from the assyrians in the north and elam in the east this set up the assyrians to take control of the entire mesopotamian area in 911 bce along with persia judah and egypt this would be known as the neo-assyrian empire the furthest spanning empire the world had seen they were hardened soldiers and experts at war especially siege battering rams would be frequently used along with sapping techniques their engineers would create makeshift pontoons and bridges to cross bodies of water and even used flotation devices for their soldiers centuries later in 626 bce babylon would revolt and crown a new emperor creating the neo-babylonian empire also known as the chaldean empire within a few years after forging an alliance with the iranian medes babylon defeated the assyrians and controlled much of their territory their most famous ruler nebuchadnezzar ii would be known for the destruction of jerusalem in 587 bce and the ensuing babylonian captivity on a lighter note his hanging gardens of babylon apparently looked delightful [Music] this lasted until an unstoppable force would take over the entire near east as far as the indus valley establishing an empire in 550 bce exalted as a messiah king cyrus of the acamenid empire would free the jews from captivity and was viewed as quite tolerant this empire would be most famously known for their constant wars with the greek city-states their mausoleum of halicarnassus would become one of the seven wonders of the world [Music] reaching eight million square kilometers in area at its height under the leadership of xerxes the acamenid empire would eventually crumble almost two centuries later to a young macedonian general taking over from his murdered father philip of macedon alexander brought his unified greek and macedonian army to the rocky persian landscape and defeated darius iii last emperor of the acamenids after alexander the great's early death the persian region became the hellenistic seleucid dynasty native persians would eventually retake the region in 247 bce under the parthians which would be the third iranian empire after the medians and acamets lasting until 224 ce they would constantly clash with the romans the last persian empire the sassanids would rule from 224 until the muslim conquests in the mid 600s the sassanids would be the longest and most successful persian empire so successful in fact that the romans viewed the sassanids alone as equals their culture would also spread to rome and beyond touching western europe and eastwards towards china and india to the west of persia and mesopotamia is the levant and two kingdoms which were inextricably linked israel and judah there had already been people who identified as israelites in the region but the kingdom itself came into being in the early to mid 9th century bce judah followed not much later both would come under the curtain of the neo-assyrians who would destroy the israel capital of samaria in 722 bce in the early 500 bce after revolts in judah the neo-babylonians who now controlled the levant marched into the region leading to the destruction of jerusalem the judean capital after the babylonians fell to the acamenides jews were allowed to return to israel once the seleucids took over the hasmonean dynasty took control leading to the maccabean revolt a rebellion against the encroaching hellenistic culture under roman rule the area was known as the herodian kingdom of judah after herod the great phoenicia was a civilization that began on the coast near present-day lebanon and syria but would eventually spread because of its maritime trade across the mediterranean their greatest legacy would be phoenicians from tyre settling in northern africa establishing the city of carthage in 814 bce carthage would become the heart of the phoenician civilization after tyre fell most of the western mediterranean was under carthaginian control and would have a fierce rivalry with the roman republic leading to the punic wars after the third and final punic war in an act of domination rome obliterated carthage their territory becoming roman north africa was also home to one of the most famous ancient cultures egypt and a second cradle of civilization after upper and lower egypt unified around 3000 bce the old kingdom which began in 2686 bce saw egypt construct some of its most magnificent erections the great sphinx and giza pyramids egypt's new kingdom in 1549 bce was their most prosperous and far-reaching after the bronze age collapse egypt survived but was weakened greatly a shell of its former glory egypt would live but under the grinding chariot wheels of the neo-assyrians akamenid empire the hellenistic ptolemies and finally rome in the 1st century bce [Music] to the south we find what the egyptians would call the land of the bow nubia home to the kushites sharing much of the same culture and religion as the egyptians the kushites co-existed with their northern neighbours and would even become pharaohs themselves in the 8th century bce forming the 25th dynasty women were held in high regard in nubia the candice being their ruling queens the land of punt possibly located near present-day somalia or eritrea was a trading partner of egypt exporting african blackwood ivory perfumes and slaves to their south the kingdom of aksum located near modern-day ethiopia growing steadily from 100 ce to 940 aksum was one of the first empires to convert to christianity it was known as the home of the queen of sheba and is said to be the location of the ark of the covenant from the biblical stories in the west of africa modern-day nigeria we find the not culture these highly advanced peoples thought to have existed from 1000 bce to their disappearance in 200 ce are considered the oldest sub-saharans to have created full-size terracotta figures a certain figure contains pharonic elements which suggests the knock were linked or influenced by the egyptians the land between the sahara and the savannah the sahel is the jenny based near the niger river valley in mali the urban center one of the oldest in africa was said to have existed from 250 bce to 900 ce then possibly abandoned or relocated after the spread of islam there is evidence the indus valley civilization one of the cradles of civilization inhabited this region from as early as 3300 bce firmly establishing their hold on the valley from 2600 but would disappear and be replaced by 1700 bce the vedas were composed during the thousand-year vedic period northern india would then become 16 smaller kingdoms in 500 bce known as the mahajanapadas [Music] the nanda empire would spring out of magadha one of these kingdoms but would be dissolved by 322 bce after being overthrown by chandragupta maurya this became the foundation for the moya empire existing until 184 bce his grandson ashoka the great was instrumental in the spread of buddhism during the middle kingdoms period of india was the gupta empire which was responsible for a golden age for indian culture and sciences they would see their demise at the hands of the hunas a branch of the white house who weakened the empire enough that they relinquished hegemony of north india the yellow river valley in china this area can claim a fourth cradle of civilization and last of the old world in chinese history these people would be called the shia china's first dynasty ruling from 2070 bce until 1600 bce some scholars debate these dates and claim this year are the eretu culture which was dated back to 1900 bce the shang dynasty would follow in 1600 bce until around 1046 bce they would be china's second dynasty but the first historians agree upon afterwards they were conquered by the zhou dynasty in the west claiming legitimacy through the mandate of heaven and who would expand into the yangtze river region while this dynasty ruled longer than any other almost 800 years power would slowly become decentralized leading to the spring and autumn period which would see the show move their capital east to a safer location and become the eastern joe china would break apart into hundreds of smaller states each with a warlord ruler it didn't stay this way and seven states would take center stage and battle during the warring states period one of these states the chin would first defeat the powerless show and then crush the other six states to consolidate their territory this was the first time china had been unified and qin shihwang of the qin dynasty became the first emperor of china [Music] this emperor ruled as an emperor would commanderies were created all over china which took orders from none other than chinchi huang legalism was also firmly established and promoted while confucianism suffered using forced labor the great wall began to be built and perhaps hypocritically invasions were launched into northern vietnam concurrently after the emperor's death the han dynasty would eventually take power from 202 bce until 230 ce with a brief few years of the shin when the throne was usurped the han were one of the most prosperous dynasties and shared ideas with the west through the silk road because of the wealth accumulated in china at this time divided unevenly the peasantry would revolt in the yellow turbine rebellion in 1.84 it would fail but bring about the end of the han in 208 in 220 china would enter the three kingdoms period where the rival kingdoms of the shu and wu would be in a state of war the three kingdoms ended in the late 200s with the jinn army defeating the final kingdom after usurping the way china wouldn't be fully consolidated again until the suey dynasty in 581 [Music] according to chinese historian sima chin a chinese general named weimann who was defeated by the han founded the weimann zhou sun dynasty in gojo sun the first korean kingdom after usurping the throne in 194 bce around the turn of the century the han would conquer korea ending the gojo sun period and established four commandaries all were short-lived except for lilang which endured until 313 ce with the fall of the kingdom korea would enter a three kingdoms era of their own first running out the chinese and then warring with each other though the bekja and goguriya were the most powerful with the latter fending off chinese invasions by the sway the third kingdom sila would win out thanks to a strategic alliance with the tang dynasty of china in 676 they would then expel the tang dynasty to be sole rulers of the region vietnam was ruled by the semi-mythical hong bang dynasty for 2 000 years but the north was conquered by china in the late 200s bce it was turned into a vassal state called nanu but was eventually annexed by the han in 111 bce this would culminate in the rebellion of the trung sisters they were eventually defeated however and china would have control of northern vietnam for another thousand years imposing chinese traditions the south though was ruled by the champa and were more aligned with their indian neighbours to the west adopting more of their culture and religion [Music] in the 4th century bce the aoi peoples immigrated from mainland china and korea to japan overwhelming the neolithic hunter-gathering german peoples in the kofan period lasting from 300 to 538 ce the small state of yamato would extend their power across japan they would be in close contact with the mainland and be heavily influenced by china the americas had flourishing civilizations as well during this period north america was known for its mound builder cultures which would manipulate the ground and create what we call earthworks one of the largest was the poverty point culture from around the mid 1700s bce the woodland period would begin roughly in 1000 bce and saw more cultures like the hopewell develop these would generally be hunter-gatherer societies [Music] in mesoamerica the olmec grew to be the first true civilization dating back to around 2500 bce the mayans would soon follow around 2000 bce eventually the super tech mixtec and teotihuacan would come to prominent in the region evidence leads us to believe that mesoamerica was one of only four areas of the world to independently invent a writing system first in mesopotamia then egypt china and finally mesoamerica in south america the norte chico the first of the andean civilizations would be regarded as the first in all the americas as well developing around 3500 bce built off of fishing communities there isn't much known about this specific society or most of the andean civilizations especially in the ancient period one area we have extensive records of is europe manoan crete this civilization is acknowledged by scholars to be the oldest civilization on the continent going back to 3600 bce their urban centers would begin to develop around 2000 bce but would start to decline and would eventually be overrun by the myceneans from mainland greece the mycenaeans themselves would be victims to the infamous bronze age collapse around 1100 bce leading to the greek dark ages which saw the abandoned or destroyed palaces of the myceneans scattered about within a depopulated greece greece's archaic age would begin around 750 bce until the invasion of xerxes and the persians in 480 bce this period would see the rise of greek city-states unless power was wielded by aristocrats and oligarchs solan a statesman from athens laid the foundation for athenian democracy and sparta would adopt the spartan constitution in the wake of the failed persian invasion greece entered a classical age where the greek city-states formed an alliance called the delhi in league this is what allowed the city-state of athens to thrive and rival sparta head of the peloponnesian league leading to the peloponnesian wars though only lasting from the 400s to 300 bce the classical era would be the most familiar period of greek tradition it is regarded as the foundation of many western cultures with influences from literature theater architecture philosophy and science the end of the classical period came when philip of macedon conquered greece but was subsequently murdered his son alexander of macedon would take the mantle of the greek and macedonian army and lead it against the persians putting an end to the far-reaching acamenid empire with his untimely death in 323 bce the hellenistic age began which saw greek culture flourish within the empire alexander had forged from macedon to india this hellenistic period would last for around 300 years in 146 bce the roman republic defeated greece at the battle of corinth beginning what would be over 1 500 years of roman rule over greece with the parthians expelling the seleucids in the east only egypt under the tolemis kept the hellenistic period alive that would end as well however after the battle of actium in 31 bce and the taking of alexandria from kingdom to republic to empire rome along with greece would make up the core of classical antiquity and the romans would adopt much of greek culture the city of rome would be founded in 753 bce by the mythical romulus and remus the former going on to become the first king this was an elective monarchy in 509 bce rome switched into a more representative republic based on democracy there was a constitution and checks and balances within the governing bodies their conquest of the mediterranean was slow but after destroying carthage in the final punic war they controlled the entire region in 27 bce with augustus declaring himself emperor the republic perished leaving way for autocratic rule rome would eventually turn into a military dictatorship this led to more territory as evidenced by the span of the empire during trajan's rule but it also led to more revolts the crisis of the third century saw the palmerin empire break away in the east and the gaelic empire break away in the west though both were reconsolidated it would lead to the tetrarchy and eocletian separating the roman empire in two creating the eastern roman empire eastern emperor constantine would found the capital at constantinople and in 313 proclaimed christianity as a legitimate religion rome would be known for its advances in infrastructure constructing public baths gyms and theaters their aqueducts would be second to none the wealthy would live in large villas often in the countryside all this would soon crumble in the 400s migrations of barbarians occurred and in the latter half of the century an already crippled rome would breathe its last as europe became a land of various germanic kingdoms this would lead into a middle ages which saw europe become a stunning amalgamation of greek and roman christian and germanic culture nomadic societies and so-called barbarians were powerful in their own right the huns were thought to have originated in kazakhstan and would frequently invade europe across the danube attila the hun was the most famous of these reaching rome's doorstep but turning back the celts were a loose group of tribes residing in europe and would expand to occupy most of europe along with ireland and britain they would slowly disappear on the continent because of the germanic migrations that occurred in the second to fifth centuries but stayed on the british isles near the end of the migration period the isles would see an invasion of their own the germanic tribes of the angles from anglia the saxons from around where saxony is today in northern germany and jutes from jutland or modern day denmark would settle in britain they would take control of the south of the island and merge into the anglo-saxons calling themselves the english the word english was formed yet how do we know all this you've no doubt seen documentaries of archaeologists out for many tireless days digging up areas to uncover the mysteries of the past they have uncovered nosos on crete the minoan city regarded as the oldest in europe pompeii in italy was also discovered in a state of ghastly preservation as if to still live an undead life the pyramids of egypt or terracotta army of the chin emperor are also examples we can also use texts from credible sources of the era history wasn't a discipline in ancient times so we are lucky to have plutarch swetonius sima chien and herodotus regarded as the father of history from which to glean what we will much of their work has been lost now that we've heard these civilizations different stories it's important to go through some of their similarity the most ubiquitous one is the development of religion all of our civilizations found answers and meaning by worshiping different gods most were polytheistic and while many would be the same religion as their neighbors they would often worship a different god within the pantheon temples would be built and sacrifices including human were made as time went on certain religions became more prominent and still exist to this day hinduism around 2000 bce zoroastrianism a bit later judaism in the 500s bce with origins over 1 000 years earlier jainism in the 500s bce and buddhism in the 400 bce in china confucianism taoism and legalism would be three competing ideologies in the west alexander the great conquests would see the hellenistic world adopt much of the greek philosophical teachings of plato aristotle and socrates each civilization would also attain more tangible successes the ancient egyptians would be known for their durable ships such as the khufu ship and lighthouses their engineering skills would also translate to more magnificent constructs utilizing the ramp and lever they would go on to create a true wonder of the world in persia the canads allowed water to be transported over long distances in their dry climate in the east the indus valley civilization would perform plastic surgery cataract surgery and make advancements in math and astronomy china would as well producing the first confirmed comet sighting back in 613 bce they would also excel at herbal medicine and acupuncture in europe greece was home to numerous inventions like the gear screw and water organ many of these like in the modern age were created as a result of war such as the torsion catapult rome would boast perhaps the greatest repertoire of technologies during their height this could be due to their accumulated knowledge from the etruscans celts and greeks their roads aqueducts and dams were the most sturdy of their time these civilizations would also mimic each other when it came to war these were all sedentary societies that means they were predominantly based on agriculture agriculture meant an increase in population leading to a division of labor not everyone had to work the farms this led to a professional class of fighters and military specialists the days of the tribesmen early morning hunting and late evening skirmishing were no more division of labour also meant more people were able to pursue the arts from greece to persia to china to the americas we find evidence of pottery sculpture and even music this music however would not last the end of the ancient period had come what we would see would be poultry tribes with the power to collapse empires the western roman empire fell in 476 and china would fall to the five barbarians or woohoo fracturing into the 16 kingdoms period and the gupta empire in india would have their golden age cut short by the hun invasions with a roar of despair under the horse hooves of galloping nomads and barbarians the ancient world dies or perhaps it's just in need of a long long rest or perhaps if we knew where to look it never went anywhere [Music] after grave calamity the world slumbers the old world's most powerful empires have fallen or are perhaps unluckily in the process of a long and arduous death the far east sees china fragmented and india's gupta empire a golden age has come to an untimely end the persian empire the dominant force in the middle east and central asia for centuries is about to change forever in europe barbarian tribes inherited the earth from the fallen roman empire rome's successor to the east was strong but internal conflicts and attacks from all sides saw the byzantine empire fail to make it out of the post-classical era [Music] ancient sub-saharan africa saw the bantu migration change the demographics of the continent urban settlements were also built in west africa but seemingly abandoned and in the east the kingdoms of aksum and nubia would grow to become substantial powers north africa was home to the egyptians and carthaginians medieval africa would be a whole new game north africa changed first as the islamic expansion birthed out of the arabian peninsula expanded in record time by the mid 600s a caliphate was established over the sahara an islamic influence would shift southwards this would leave sub-saharan africa split between christian islamic and traditional animist belief systems though christianity was on the continent centuries longer in ethiopia islam became prominent in both the east and west mainly due to trade in west africa islamic traders would have an influence on those who lived in the sudan and niger river valley the trans-sahara trade route was one of the most extensive in medieval times and helped west africa develop rich islamic empires the first major one was the ghana empire lasting around 800 years and saw the creation of numerous urban centers the introduction of the camel into west africa made trade easier and more regular the ghana empire would become a vassal state and replaced with the mali empire in the early 1200s the kings of this empire were called mansa the most famous being mansa musa who is thought to be one of the richest men to have ever lived this was all thanks to the tran saran trade timbuktu was an important city in this empire the mali empire would eventually fall and the song high would become the hegemonic power in the region while not originally a muslim empire the songhai would blend african animist beliefs with islam they surpassed the mali empire in terms of wealth area and power but would fall to gunpowder technology from morocco in the late 1500s in the east the swahili coast was a group of port cities on the eastern coast of africa originally bantu the swahilis which translates to people of the coast in arabic would operate in the indian ocean trade and would exchange various luxury items like porcelain silk and slaves in africa's south there were traditional african societies which would also participate in this trade such as the city of great zimbabwe known for its impressive walls apart from the emergence of islam africa would remain relatively stable and autonomous during its medieval period as europeans fought futile wars amongst themselves and the middle east the stories we hear about the european middle ages are often romanticized most written much later tales of sword and sorcery often take place in medieval settings even in real places such as england but the middle ages in europe which is usually separated into three parts was much more mundane [Music] the early middle ages occurs after the fall of rome in reality the beginning of this new age saw the same trends we saw earlier rome hadn't been a factor for decades and we see continued de-urbanization and a decline of population in general trade decreased and barbarian migrations continued most notably the viking expansion from the north and the maggias from the east even though this period was later termed the dark ages it was not devoid of culture or advancements culture was quite complex as there would be a mix of barbarian roman and christian traditions eastern europe would see the byzantine empire successes to the roman tradition lose territory to the emerging rashidun and you made islamic caliphates the code of justinian written during this period would be used later on as an inspiration for legal codes of european states the loose confederation of the kievan rus would be christianized by the eastern orthodox church and are regarded as the foundations of the russian state the byzantine empire would reach its peak during the macedonian renaissance of the 9th to 11th centuries as they attempted to organize their knowledge compiling books and manuals of military and governmental affairs and encyclopedias in the west year 800 the frankish king charlemagne would found the carolingian empire what was to be a christian revival of the roman empire it would soon become divided after his death eventually developing into different states [Music] the high middle ages known as a fairly stable time in the medieval period saw population starkly increase a new advancement in agriculture and technology this can be attributed to a slight warming in the north atlantic leading to the medieval warm period this increased crops leading to a boom in trey society at this time was structured in a feudal and minority system feudalism is a complex subject on its own but in simple terms it's the political relationship between a king and his vassals these vassals are generally nobles and the king grants them land in exchange for military service offered by their knights menorialism deals with the relationship between the noble and those who tend to this land called villains or serfs they were allowed to live on the land but had to provide labor for the knights and nobles often in the form of producing goods from the farms two of the most prominent events of the high middle ages are the conquest of england in which the normans from continental europe defeated and took over anglo-saxon england and the crusades which saw armies of christian soldiers march to the middle east to liberate jerusalem this would lessen the idea of the nation-state for the time being as europeans felt connected due to religion literature was filled with stories of chivalry and courtly love these are concepts we tend to associate with the middle ages scholasticism was a philosophy that would dominate the high middle ages and even later until the renaissance it was a way to learn using the methods of the ancient classical era philosophers mixed with christian theology originating from the monastic tradition this method of learning would be more open to reason and learning both would eventually fall out of favor in the early modern era [Music] near the end of this period architecture changed as well beautiful gothic buildings would be constructed a contrast to the classical romanesque architecture that was prevalent in the early middle ages the late middle ages brought an end to the prosperous high middle ages up to half the population of europe perished in what we now call the crisis of the late middle ages following the medieval warm period the same regions were plunged into a little ice age leading to agricultural crisis the great famine was the first of a series of plagues that ravaged most of europe but the small continent would come into contact with death itself in the mid 1300s brought in from the east the black death made starvation from famines looked like an easy death killing up to one third of the population the black death is regarded as the most fatal pandemic in human history the rise in famines plagues and instability also led to numerous revolts there were peasant revolts in both england and france but there was still no solace the end of this period would see england battle france for the throne of both kingdoms in the hundred years war the effects of this grim period of depopulation caused people to question the church and their faith these were major factors that would lead into europe's next period the middle east out of the ancient period we see the continuation of a great rivalry the eastern roman empire successes to rome and the sassanian empire the latest and last iteration of the old persian empires the byzantine sassanian war fought in the early 600s would be devastating to both empires little did they know a new power would emerge the rolling sands of arabia this is the home of the bedouins arab tribes who originally lived in the arabian peninsula united under a single mantle by muhammad in medina the nomadic bedouins and those who succeeded their profit would expand into the middle east and north africa taking huge chunks of land from the byzantine and persian empires the initial expansion resulted in the rashidun caliphate and then the umaid caliphate the arab byzantine wars saw islamic expansion into eastern roman land but they couldn't take the capital constantinople itself in part due to the roman use of greek fire the muslim army would succeed in conquering persia though leading to the end of the century's old empire with most of the region unified the islamic caliphates were positioned at the center of the old world and at the crossroads of trade islamic traders would be able to travel to different areas introducing others to their faith this also was a boon economically as well traders and explorers would bring back knowledge and inventions to the muslim world and mixed with the sources from places they had conquered like egypt they would experience a golden age arab dominance in the region lasted for almost 500 years but in the 11th century turkic nomads from central asia called the seljuk turks would migrate south in a series of invasions they captured persia the mesopotamian region and parts of the levant and saudi arabia [Music] their treatment of christian pilgrims to the region they now controlled and of the christian communities already living therein led to a series of invasions from europe to secure the holy land the first crusade saw the europeans retake jerusalem and establish the kingdom of jerusalem in 1099 it would last for almost 100 years when it was retaken by saladin in the 1200s the middle east would be beset by other invasions out of central asia another even more ruthless peoples would invade the middle east sacking baghdad and reaching the egyptian border these mongols were treated soon after but the discord caused the seljuk turks to be deposed the emerging turco mongol peoples in the late 1300s sought to more invade the region soon after by the end of the period it was the ottomans another turkic people who would be in control of western asia [Music] in south asia the medieval period is roughly defined as starting from the end of the gupta empire in the 500s in the south the chola dynasty ruled by tamils would control the thalassacracy spanning sri lanka the maldives and other islands buddhism had been important in india but would begin to disappear after invasions from the turkic islamic nomads that would begin in the 1100s they succeeded and would found the delhi sultanate in 1206 the beginning of centuries of muslim rule in india this would last until the 1500s when a stronger islamic power would dominate the region continuing muslim rule asia would prosper during this period trade from south asia and china would pass through the strait of malacca a preeminent trading channel most of the region was under heavy influence from south asia only north vietnam had closer ties to the chinese in the 900s a chinese town commandery in vietnam declared independence later becoming divert or great viet but this region would still be heavily under chinese influence south vietnam was home to the champa kingdom and was governed by hindus associating more with their neighbors to the west north vietnam would eventually annex this area because of the trade in south asia and east asia along with the spread of culture the southeast benefited greatly empires would rise like the khmer empire in cambodia the khmer capital angkor thom was regarded as one of the largest cities in the world at the time the city could lay claim to over 100 hospitals in burma present-day myanmar the empire of pagan would emerge using war elephants for their military might indonesia would be home to the shriver jaya a malay thalisarcracy which became quite a powerful empire from their control of the sunder strait a crucial trading route in between the islands of java and sumatra and the strait of malacca it was during this period we believe indonesian sailors traveled across the indian ocean settling in madagascar off the coast of africa changes on the continent mainly due to the mongol invasions had consequences for these southeast empires the cambodian khmer empire would be replaced with the siamese ayutthaya kingdom and indonesia's srivijaya was taken over by the majapahit a hindu empire from java and later on by the malacca sultanate just to the north the chinese would benefit from increased trade and became the foremost power in the region and arguably the whole continent japan and korea would voluntarily adopt chinese culture they brought in aspects of confucianism buddhism and centralized government and bureaucracy the short-lived but important sway dynasty patched up and unified china again and the subsequent tongue and song dynasties took china to its greatest height scene until that time they would become the world's top economy at that point three times larger than all of europe during the eleven hundreds the first recorded chemical formula for gunpowder was also created here along with gunpowder weapons like the fire lance during the tang dynasty china became increasingly involved in foreign affairs they wanted to secure more of the silk road so expanded westwards encroaching into central asia they would come into conflict with the abbasids the third islamic caliphate to succeed the prophet mohammed who halted this expansion chinese prisoners from this battle are said to have brought paper-making technology to the arab world the on luchan rebellion also hit the tongue hard bringing about the death of perhaps millions the tongue would fall in 907 leading to a civil war known as the five dynasties and ten kingdoms period it wouldn't last long and the song dynasty would form in 960 and consolidate china by 9.79 they differed from the tongue in that they would particularize in maritime trade this caused china's population to gather more southward towards trading ports with ships reaching arabia india and the neighboring regions to the south china's economy continued to expand deeply devoted to their economy the song began using machines to produce products with coal as a power source these advances in the 11th and 12th centuries are regarded as an industrial revolution because of their focus on the economy their military grew weaker leaving them open to invasions to the north by the churchian ancestors to the manchu by the 13th century china was divided once again with the north fragmented and the song to the south civil war broke out between the rival states leaving china a prime target for the mongols eventually being annexed by the nomadic hordes by 1279 the yuan dynasty under the mongols had control of china and korea japan would be able to escape this fate however with the mongols in control they made china more open to the west the famous venetian explorer marco polo would visit detailing his travels on the silk road soon after less than 100 years since its founding the yuan dynasty was deposed in a series of revolts known as the red turban rebellion in their place the ming dynasty took power in 1368 they would be the last ethnically han chinese dynasty early on the yongla emperor constructed a naval fleet and sent them on expeditions to the west under the guidance of admiral jinghei after this brief period though the ming would isolate themselves from the west for hundreds of years korea and japan continue to have links with china although not as much as earlier in the period the korean emperor xijong the great created hangul or the korean alphabet in 1443 replacing chinese characters and creating a unique and intuitive writing system japan had just gone through the he and period during its classical era where it tried to distance itself from chinese culture medieval japan took things to an all-new level the kamakura period followed the heen and saw the establishment of the first shogun minamoto no urotomo in 1192 japanese samurai would become common during this time of japanese feudalism and decentralization the kamakura period would fall in 1333 as the shogunate was destroyed an imperial rule restored under emperor godigo [Music] seemingly not yet the time for an imperial restoration this period would only last three years before the establishment of the miromachi or ashikaga shogunate the muramachi period was first marked by division by those who still supported the emperor this led to the warring states period also called sengoku a near century of constant civil war and social unrest in 1573 the miromachi shogunate would end when ashikaga yoshioki the last shogun was driven out of kyoto by oda nobunaga a powerful dimeo feudal lord and head of the oda clan [Music] while the early post-classical period was dominated by the rapid expansion and conquests of the arabs from the arabian peninsula the latter half of the period was dominated by nomadic invasions from central asia the most famous and powerful of these were the mongols the beginnings of the empire were humble in the steps of mongolia tribes were united to form a more powerful entity genghis khan was declared ruler of this confederation in 1206 creating an empire that extended from central europe to the sea of japan southwards into south asia and eastwards into the levant and arabia the mongol empire would have control of almost 18 percent of the planet's total land area only second to the infamous british empire that would form centuries later the mongol hegemony in eurasia would bring about what historians call pax mongolica a period of stability where trade was regulated along with exchanges of ideas and technology from the west and east after genghis khan's death there was some dispute over who his successor would be kublai khan one of genghis khan's grandchildren would end up being next in line although he was not recognized by the whole tribe by kublai's death in 1294 the empire was fragmented into four separate carnates the golden horde in the north west which would become turkicized the shagatai khanate in the west which also became turkicized the ilkonate in the southwest and the yuan dynasty which ruled over china founded by kublai khan prior to his death while the mongol empire demonstrated the interconnectedness of the old world by their running of the silk road the trading route had always served to keep major powers within distance this wasn't always a blessing just as trading goods passed along the route from city to city so two did diseases often deadly it's thought the plague of justinian entered europe via the silk road a major outbreak of the disease killed off a quarter of the mediterranean population a theory also states that the mongols were behind the bubonic plague entering europe they would catapult diseased corpses into enemy towns in crimea during sieges those who fled the town specifically traders would head to constantinople or italy bringing the disease with them old world science often has a bad reputation when it comes to the post-classical period thought as being one thousand years of dark ages between the scientific advancements of classical antiquity and the renaissance but most of if not all of these regions advance significantly africa gave rise to the kingdoms of the west and swahili coast each benefiting from two separate trading routes the islamic world experienced a golden age during this time with knowledge from the east and from western sources in the areas they conquered europeans also brought back much of this knowledge during the crusades which gave them access to more classical sources europe also experienced various periods of different renaissance during the middle ages the east would highly modernize under the chinese as well making the post-classical period one of great progress despite the seemingly constant setbacks the ancient period saw just the beginning of minglings between these different empires but the post-classical period saw the beginnings of globalization for both its enrichment and detriment there was one part of the earth though that remained untouched by the old world [Music] the land is cold and barren vikings settled on this snowy expanse of land in the north by around 980 the presence of walruses made this settlement lucrative for the ivory trade in the 1200s other expanding peoples would come in from the west we aren't certain how these people who the norwegian vikings called scrailing interacted with them but by the 1400s because of the little ice age the vikings abandoned their settlements heading back east these settlements were on greenland and those people initially called scrailings were the thule people the ancestors to the inuit this is lanzo meadows another viking settlement this time in newfoundland canada they would call this finland because of the presence of grapevines used to make wine this colony set up around year one thousand would only last for around twenty years due to constant conflict with the be off that native tribe [Music] with but a slight touch of fingertips the old world and new world would remain divided for another 500 years but what transpired on this continent north america the hopewell culture from the ancient period was slowly replaced with the mississippian culture in the midwest and eastern united states around year 800 until european contact they used rivers as the main mode of trade and would be known for their mound structures monk's mound is the largest pyramid north of mesoamerica its base is larger than the pyramid of the sun in mexico and about the same size as the great pyramid of giza it is located in cahokia illinois the most significant city for the mississippian culture population boomed there after the 11th century but the city would be mysteriously abandoned by 1350. to the west were the anasazi they would construct buildings in the charcoal canyon in new mexico it's thought that each house could house up to 600 residents in colorado anasazi would build dwellings into cliffsides they are still well preserved today further south mesoamerica was still experiencing a classical age the teotihuacan would start out the period at its peak with 125 000 residents it was considered the sixth largest city in the world at that point the pyramid of the sun was the third largest pyramid on earth and was oriented to astronomical events extreme weather events in 535 and 536 which caused sporadic extreme cooling could have caused the decline of this civilization perhaps leading to widespread rebellion the maya civilization one of the most advanced in the region occupied the yucatan and guatemala in various city-states originally influenced by the teotihuacan of mexico they would build their own complex network of trade systems two city-states tikal and kalakmal would have a rivalry spanning centuries chichen itza was one of the most significant cities often the economic center mayans were complex in other areas as well having developed a writing system independently along with the concept of zero second only to the mesopotamians the mayans might have also created the 365-day calendar before any of afro-eurasia during the 9th century many of these city-states were abandoned most likely due to drought marking the end of mesoamerica's classical age their post-classical period from the year 900 saw the mayans still in existence but not the power they had once been not much is known about the toltecs but they supposedly formed an empire in mesoamerica based on wise and kind-hearted rulers civil war was said to have broken out in 947 after the death of a controversial priest king who suggested an enter human sacrifice centuries later in the 1300s bands of religious radicals would raid areas of lower mexico claiming to be the rightful successors to the taltech empire their number swelled as did their territory known as the aztecs these bands of militaristic raiders and priests would use human sacrifice as a means of coercion and terror they employed more advanced agriculture techniques such as chinampas irrigation and terrace agriculture to support their growing population in the 1400s the aztec centre of tenochtitlan allied with the tess coco and tlacapan to form the powerful triple alliance also known as the aztec empire this empire would take over the majority of mesoamerica making most city-states tributaries by the mid-1400s the empire would fight the flower wars intermittent ritual wars fought with other city-states the most famous being clashkarla this would occur until the 1500s when the aztec empire would be forever changed in south america the andean region which produced the most advanced american civilizations from the ancient period continued to thrive in the post-classical era most of the regions east of the andes were primarily inhabited by seminomatic tribes although the amazon river basin shows evidence of complex culture the andean civilizations were generally advanced and developed independently from mesoamerican cultures while they didn't have a writing system they could rely on knotted strings called kipu to send messages or communicate over long distances these long distances would be dominated by llamas who were the main transporters of goods in the americas as they didn't have access to the horse or wheel [Music] during the first part of this post-classical period two andean empires dominated the region in northern peru was the empire and to the south also occupying parts of bolivia was the tiwanaku empire having roughly the same military power they would engage in a type of cold war coexisting but ready for action with minor skirmishes in proxy areas both empires would begin to decline around the seven and eight hundreds because of changes to the environment the fourteen hundreds saw the rise of the largest empire in all the americas these quechua speaking peoples out of the cusco region would conquer and build upon the previous andean culture in the area under the guidance of sappa inca these warriors expanded into present-day ecuador and chile it was soon known as the inca empire these inca were known for their use of abacuses in mathematics and their pyramid-like structures like machu picchu their road system was also regarded as one of the best in the world at this point an ocean away from the inca lies oceania it is divided into these four sub-regions the first people to migrate to australasia and melanesia had migrated over from africa as far back as 50 000 years ago migrations from southeast asia are typically responsible for the populations of polynesia and micronesia and took place thousands of years later they would build cities like nan madol and muar which would become the capital of the chitonga empire gaining power in 950 the tongan empire would reach its peak beginning in the 1200s and led expeditions to spread their influence all throughout the south pacific islands they were adept sailors and used stick charts to help them with navigation polynesians were the first to discover new zealand easter island and hawaii these were areas previously untouched by humans once settled on these different islands the polynesians would begin to adopt different cultures from one another in new zealand this would give rise to the maori peoples originating from east polynesia because of the island environments new species entering the ecology was rare and once the polynesians arrived it led to mass extinctions including the mower which was often hunted on easter island the presence of polynesians destroyed the native ecology by hunting and the construction of their large stone statues this resulted in their own population disappearing over time the 29th of may 1453 the ottoman empire lay siege to the city of constantinople the eastern roman empire's defenses had always been state of the art alas state of the art for a period long dead using gunpowder technologies after a 53 day siege the ottomans under 21 year old sultan mehmed ii would capture constantinople putting an end to 1500 years of the roman empire while nomadic tribes dominated the post-classical period that era would end giving way to a new age of gunpowder the byzantines delhi sultanate and songhai had already felt its lethal touch but these were just the first of many the modern era was here [Music] afro-eurasia had become as connected as it ever was during this time but as europe became further cut off from the east due to the decline of the silk road they would try to find alternative ways to reach it for trade and this would set into motion what could never be undone [Music] and nothing would ever be the same after centuries of nomadic domination the world is about to bend to a new master the three islamic gunpowder empires the ottoman turks the safavids in iran and the mughals in the indian subcontinent control western central and south asia because of their new technologies [Music] in europe a deeply tired continent emerges from the middle ages with new realizations and new ambitions during the post-classical period africa and the americas produced some of the most advanced and successful societies on the planet but not even they could prepare for what was to come east asia would begin to pursue isolationism from the west near the end of the last period in china the ming inherited the song's advanced technical knowledge but while the chinese went through a period of industrialization they would not go through a scientific revolution meaning there was nothing to counter or challenge traditional belief systems this could be responsible for what caused them to falter as arguably the world's leading civilization while having invented gunpowder it wasn't the chinese but the europeans who invented the match lock creating the classic firearms that were so useful in warfare early on the mean would see large-scale urbanization cities like nanjing and beijing would swell in population and see the rise of private industries more silk products were produced along with cotton and paper smaller markets would focus more on food production before the ming's isolation they would actually have a very profitable trade system with the portuguese spanish and dutch this gave them access to silver which they needed to back their paper money which crashed by the mid 1400s suffering from hyperinflation once the ming became isolationist silver would still find its way onto the mainland this abundance of silver from the spanish helped the chinese economy survive in the late 1500s japan would invade joseon korea in what would be known as the imjin war china sent an army to protect korea and themselves and were ultimately the victors but this left them stretched thin to make matters worse the little ice age that affected the north atlantic also affected ming china specifically their food sources trading partners cut off exchanges and chinese crops began to fail along with other natural disasters and widespread disease outbreaks the ming were deemed to have lost the mandate of heaven and rebels would begin to stir in a peasant uprising li ji cheng would succeed in overthrowing the ming at beijing with the chongjin emperor committing suicide prince dorgan who would form the next dynasty though allied with a former mean general wusangwy and took beijing themselves forcing rebel lee jichen to flee the city and establish the qing dynasty this dynasty wouldn't be ethnically han like the ming but manchu these manchus were descended from the churchian who invaded from the north during the song dynasty last period establishing the dynasty in 1644 they would go on to be the most popular state in the world and the fourth largest empire in history they would administer chinese affairs with a traditional confucian style and left most of the ethnic minorities to their own devices this dynasty would survive this period but fall in 1912 in japan the sengoku period of civil war continued the powerful odor nobunaga had just opposed the last of the ashikaga shogunate and went on a warpath to unify the country in 1582 his dreams would almost escape him but he lost something arguably just as valuable betrayed by one of his generals nobunaga was forced to commit suicide or seppuku at the hanoji temple his successor tayotomi hideyoshi took over the mission and succeeded ending the strifefield sengoku period he was the one who set into motion the japanese invasion of korea which ultimately failed after his death in 1598 and with the tayotomi's credibility now in question after the failed invasion tokugawa iiyasu would challenge his son tayotomi hiduri this came to a head in 1600 at the battle of sekigahara where tokugawa was victorious and was proclaimed shogun of the new tokigawa shogunate in 1603 this marked the beginning of the edo period which saw the shogun rule from the edo castle in the capital of edo former name of tokyo it was a feudal system like the other shogunits with a strict hierarchy previously established by tayotomi hideyoshi the feudal lords of the tokugawa clan ruled with their warrior class of samurai underneath a similar system to europe farmers and artisans were ranked below them the tokugawa would close off the island country from foreigners with its sokoku policy which also kept commoners from leaving literacy rates rose during this time although this could be attributed to other factors in the smaller areas of japan the daimyo feudal lords would often also train in the fighting arts and be samurai by the same token samurai could also be the proper lords of their region daimyo would forge alliances by exchanging relatives and daimyo families would stay near edo castle to ensure loyalty because of the strict hierarchical system there would often be dissatisfaction and conflict but interestingly enough not in the way one would expect instead of peasant uprisings it was the samurai and daimios who were cut short with fixed tax rates and rising inflation taxes collected by landowners would be worth less and less leading to angry nobles and angry samurai the system would still be maintained though and the edo period would last for over 200 years in 1392 the middle of the post-classical period in korea yi songia established the joseon dynasty and the capital was eventually moved to seoul king c john the great the fourth king of this dynasty was responsible for replacing chinese characters to create the korean alphabet the japanese invasions of korea would occur in the late 1500s but how exactly did they fail the answer was this man admiral yee soon shin he headed a fearsome korean navy consisting of oddly shaped ships they would be completely enclosed in metallic armor with spikes on top to prevent boarding with a dragon's head poking out the front these ships would resemble a type of turtle these turtle ships called kobuksen in korean were also fearsome offensive weapons capable of firing at least five different types of cannon combined with the panics and warships they would win a stunning 16 out of 16 battles utterly destroying the entire japanese navy in 1597 at the battle of chile cho yang after a bit of trickery the entire korean fleet was destroyed by the japanese korea would have the last laugh as the few remaining turtle ships were revived and altered a combined force of ming chinese and korean warships put an end to the japanese advance at nooyang ending the war in the 1600s korea was once again invaded this time from the churchian who would soon change their identity to manchu the same peoples who would form the qing dynasty in china korean king in joe surrendered in 1637 and was forced to send concubines and noble women to the ching prince dorgan after the constant invasions jose and korea experienced almost 200 years of peace internal problems are what caused the dynasty to decline in the late 1800s but the joseon would remain stable during most of the early modern period the delhi sultanate early 16th century this sultanate would have control of the indian subcontinent for over 300 years ibrahim lovey of the afghan lodi dynasty would be the last of these rulers an invading army under babur a descendant of both timur and genghis khan would kill the last lobi sultan at the battle of panipat and establish the mughal empire one of the islamic gunpowder empires the mughals adopted much of the persian culture and would become one of the richest and productive regions in the world their gdp surpassed the entirety of europe during the early modern period and it was valued at around a quarter of the gdp of the entire planet during the mughal classic period the empire was highly centralized with advances in the arts and architecture with the death of emperor aurangzeb the empire would stagnate but still survive for another 150 years after losing hegemony to a mobile group of warriors these hindu murata were located to the south west and would expand under their peshwas or prime ministers this ended when the afghan empire backed by the mughals halted their expansion but they succeeded in taking over most of the indian subcontinent they would later be divided into a confederacy of maratha states near the end of the early modern period colonial powers practiced new imperialism a phase which saw europeans after their earlier colonial pursuits in the western hemisphere attempt to colonize and exploit africa and the east india was no exception in 1757 at the battle of plasi the nawab of bengal part of the mughal empire surrendered his territory to the british east india company the british would soon be given the divani or ability to collect revenue and established a capital at calcutta next on their list was a more formidable force the maratha the anglo-murata wars were a series of three wars fought between the hindu empire and the british while the maratha succeeded in the first the british dominated the last two ending up with both mughal and maratha territory as the dutch east india company was also a fierce competitor for territory in southeast asia the british had to negotiate treaties in order to assign possessions after rebellion and turmoil the british dissolved their east india company preferring to administer the region themselves this was known as the british raj colonial rule would continue to spread in southeast asia with only thailand or siam avoiding the same fate as its mainland neighbours off the coast in indonesia the powerful hindu empire of the majapahit lay at a crucial point in the spice route which connected indian and chinese ports though their influence spread to surrounding islands the majapahit would fall before the mid 1500s after the emergence of numerous malay sultanates the portuguese would conquer the melaka sultanate by 1511 taking control over the strategic strait of malacca in the middle east the crossroads of the old world tensions remained west asia had a new king the ottomans after their conquest of constantinople the ottoman empire entered its classical age a period of expansion and pursuit of power they expanded into north africa capturing egypt in 1517 and establishing the regency of algiers ottoman tunis and the ailet of tripolitana morocco remained an independent berber state in the latter part of this period ottoman land in north africa the middle east and the balkans would experience what historians call paxo tamana a period of economic prosperity and stability not unlike the pax mongolica of the previous era there would be conflict though with a new enemy to the east safavid persia founded around 1501 this empire was the first native persian empire since the fall of the sassanids in the 600s being shia they would be under constant threat from the sunni ottomans nonetheless the safavid would spread their version of islam into various parts of the middle east the safavids grew to be a major power because of trade europeans especially england and the netherlands were quite fond of persian rugs along with their silks and other textiles they would grow weaker and fall in 1736 but their legacy lived on in the strengthening and spread of twelve shia islam central asia where some nomads still rule turkic uzbek confederacies occupied this area united by muhammad shaibani khan from the steps he came at the helm of various tribes like the kipchaks naaman and other turkic tribes closer to india the pashtuns or afghans came to prominence under the hatake dynasty in the mid-1600s they launched invasions both to the east in india and the west in iran the pashtungajis or warriors of the faith would form the aforementioned lovi dynasty of the delhi sultanate the final dynasty before its collapse to the mughals in the west they would also invade the safavid empire handing it a devastating blow at the battle of gulnabad a blow the empire wouldn't recover from the afghans would later form the afghan empire or durrani empire in the 1700s which halted the hindu morata expansion man is the measure of all things this idea attributed to protagoras one of the ancient greek sophists would be at the center of the humanist movement in europe birthed out of italy still during the late middle ages humanism manifested itself in the renaissance which would later spread all across the continent bringing europe into the modern age using man or human as the basis of what we can know and learn they began to use inductive reasoning and physical observation in the sciences arts and literature blossomed as well linear perspective began appearing in paintings and images were more lifelike and natural often depicting ordinary people in majestic light literature began to use more common language and with the emergence of the printing press became more available to more people warfare also changed dramatically though gunpowder was invented in the east once they possessed the technology it was the europeans who created the most effective firearms able to pierce even the finest of armor the classic burdensome nightwear fell out of fashion with cannon also utilizing this gunpowder castles would be rendered nearly useless as the walls had difficulty with standing the potent weapon renaissance ideals eventually opened the door for more scientific advancements influenced by the works of al-urdhi a syrian astronomer from the islamic golden age nicholas copernicus would help to replace the faulty geocentric model of the solar system which claimed the sun and all planets moved around the earth with the heliocentric model in which the earth and all other planets move around the sun this is widely regarded as the beginnings of the scientific revolution this continued for the majority of the early modern period with the creation or advancement of numerous scientific fields like biology geology and physics they would surpass or replace much of the classical era sciences aristotelian physics being a prime example many of these ideas directly challenged the church catholicism wasn't only threatened by science but by other variants of christianity in the late middle ages yang huss a christian reformer in bohemia was executed for heresy his followers known as hussites began spreading this version of christianity and feeling threatened the catholic church would engage in a series of crusades against the hussites while the wars would simply end in compromise they were significant as they were the first european war fort where gunpowder was a factor hussite soldiers were able to dispatch far larger numbers of the holy roman emperor's crusaders christianity in europe would also be greatly challenged by foreign empires after their victory at constantinople the ottomans expanded into eastern europe where they laid siege to belgrade john hunyadi of the kingdom of hungary who had been fighting the turks for decades masterminded a counter-attack on the ottoman camp though outnumbered the eastern europeans would drive back the turkish army wounding mehmed ii in the process seen as a pivotal moment in christian history hunyadi's victory kept the ottomans from expanding throughout europe in the late 1400s the spanish crown established the tribunal of the holy cross of the inquisition this saw the church prosecute catholics for heresy and other acts deemed against the faith this included sorcery and witchcraft as well as judaizing and blasphemy this spanish inquisition would last all the way until the 19th century the electorate of saxony nestled within the holy roman empire in 1508 the university at wittenberg would accept an augustinian monk as professor of philosophy he then became a preacher at the local church in 1517 on the 31st of october this monk martin luther posted a critique of the pope and church on the church's bulletin board these would become known as the 95 theses and were mainly critical of the practice of selling indulgences and the catholic view of purgatory debates soon became commonplace leading to those protesting the church and the protestant reformation different protestant denominations emerged from this including the lutherans after martin luther calvinists and presbyterians in england it yielded the english reformation which saw the rise of anglicanism in 1521 at the diet of forms holy roman emperor charles v declared luther a heretic but occupied with affairs in eastern europe left it up to the german nobles to deal with luther if they saw fit in 1530 charles ordered all protestants to revert to catholicism leading to the protestants banding together in the schmalkaldic league a military alliance of lutheran princes in 1555 the treaty of oxburgh was signed by charles and the league which gave local rulers the choice between either lutheranism or catholicism for their state the catholic church wasn't about to take challenges to its power lightly the council of trent was called in reaction to this protestant reformation sparking a counter affirmation and catholic revival seminaries were founded for the training of new priests and new religious orders like the jesuits and capuchins helped to fight the corruption in the church and strengthen its reputation new spiritual movements would begin in the major catholic bastions like the spanish mystics and french school of spirituality in italy and malta there was the roman inquisition eastern europe ivan iv the grand prince of moscow has dreams of grandeur declaring himself caesar or tsar ivan the terrible went on a campaign to unify the various turkic carnates and rust principalities in the region he nearly doubled the area of this new large sardum of russia a multi-ethnic state spanning two continents the atlantic ocean the early modern period saw this expanse of water become much more crowded in western europe the age of discovery teamed with european seafarers traveling to find gold silver and spices as their previous route via the silk road were now controlled by the ottomans europe's position on the globe enabled it to take to maritime expansion more easily than most other regions the dominant economic ideology at this time was mercantilism this school of thought dictated for an economy to maximize its exports and minimize imports it wasn't a free market economy and it led to massive government intervention often with militaristic and imperialist motives in order to achieve their goals this economic model was part of the commercial revolution which saw the european economy expand european states began to compete with one another not militarily but economically on top of simple commerce there would be a stark increase in other financial endeavors like insurance banking and investments in the search for precious metals and spices the portuguese would have a maritime breakthrough the carrick and caravel were state-of-the-art ship designs which made travelling on the ravaging waters of the atlantic possible theories state that the portuguese and spanish of the iberia peninsula were the first to begin this new age of discovery because they were in desperate need of gold and bullion due to their recent war with the islamic settlements in spain during the wreck and kista more traffic on the highways of the ocean led to more bandits from the mid 1600s to the mid-1700s the golden age of piracy would reign this period began with anglo-french buccaneers based in the caribbean attacking nearby spanish colonies later on the pirate round a route across the atlantic and around the tip of africa was a popular method of attacking both muslim and british east india targets in the indian ocean later still after the war of spanish succession many privateers and sailors now unemployed would take up piracy they couldn't let those maritime skills go to waste now could they back in europe after the disastrous 30 years war which killed up to 8 million people the church was less of a unifying force and residents would associate more with their state this allowed monarchs to claw for more claims to absolute power there would be a decrease in feudalism from the previous period as all power was now centralized in the monarch who claimed legitimacy from a higher power the nobles would have less control and taxes would sharply increase as well one of these absolute monarchs was louis xiv or the sun king he shepherded france through three major wars one of which was the war of spanish succession where european powers banded together to stop a unification of the french and spanish crown under one bourbon king as it would upset the balance of power on the continent the king's ambitions died as france and spain lost the war to the english and united provinces of the netherlands this treaty of utrecht from the early 1700s marks the end of spanish naval dominance with the british the new hegemonic maritime power in england the english civil war saw the royalists who supported the king battled the parliamentarians who supported parliament the parliamentarians were victorious and charles the first was executed his son charles ii exiled the british isles were then united under oliver cromwell in the 1660s the english restoration saw the return of charles ii to the throne in 1688 in what would be known as the glorious revolution king james was deposed by his daughter mary and her husband william of orange leader of the dutch republic soon after it was resolved that england would be a constitutional monarchy africa the songhai last of the great west african empires fell to moroccan forces from the north in the east the ethiopian empire was alive run by the house of solomon who claimed descent from the old axomite empire and king solomon going through various phases of invasions centralization and decentralization the ethiopian empire today ethiopia and eritrea would remain intact until 1974 one of only two african countries to escape colonization further south parts of the swahili coast came under portuguese subjugation but would eventually be taken over by the omani a sultanate and maritime empire across the atlantic christopher columbus enters a fantastical paradise to europe it would be a new land to pursue their economic interests the first land claimed was that of latin america so named because it was spain and portugal's to plunder the treaty of tordesillas divided this land then named iberoamerica between the two iberian powers portugal named its territory brazil after the brazil wood which produced eyes using gunpowder spain had a simple time subverting the natives within its territories those two powerful like the aztecs they would use subterfuge in their quest for precious metals they would establish vice royalties like new spain and force native peoples to work to extract resources their territory spanned all central and south america the portuguese already had lucrative settlements overseas around africa and southeast asia with links to both china and india so their territory in brazil wasn't as important there was a dearth of precious metals there as well so portugal instead began producing sugarcane because of the intense labor of working these plantations portugal brought over slave labor from west africa kick-starting the atlantic slave trade after seeing how lucrative the new world could be morality notwithstanding the other western european powers with access to the ocean england france and the netherlands sought territory in the americas as well some caribbean islands were taken from the spanish but more importantly north america itself was ripe for conquest the british began colonization in virginia in 1607 and continued until 1733 with georgia the dutch settled further north in new netherlands what would become new york france colonized even further north in eastern canada found in quebec city in 1608 and eventually created new france in the mid 1700s the seven years war regarded as the first truly global war would have consequential effects for the colonies resulting in france seeding new france to great britain along with louisiana and all territory west of the mississippi to the spanish the war took a financial toll on britain despite all its territorial taxes were increased on the 13 colonies in lower british north america leading to rebellion in 1775. they would declare independence from britain in 1776 and after a tired british army failed in quelling the insurrection the crown finally accepted and recognized america's independence with the treaty of paris in 1783 to the north the colonies of canada remained loyal to the crown most of the foremost figures from the thirteen colonies were heavily influenced by enlightenment ideals beginning in the mid sixteen hundreds the age of rationalism emerged which differed from renaissance philosophy this period saw isaac newton write his principia and french philosopher rene descartes famous for his quote i think therefore i am thinkers around this time tended to be deists but secular preferring the church to stay divided from governmental affairs while the scientific revolution was one of the sciences the enlightenment was an intellectual revolution of philosophy where reason was king not a fallible monarch or mystic being in the heavens this wasn't confined to science but affected religion economics politics literature and art the american revolution wasn't the only battle spurred by enlightenment ideals liberty equality and fraternity rampant inequality ran through france soon so did blood with the abolishment of the aung saying regime revolutionaries took control of france and king louis the 16th and marie antoinette met their demise in 1793 terror then reigned this french revolution lasted 10 long years and out of its spent ashes rose the man who would bring a continent to its knee the man who would be emperor welcome to the longest century ever [Music] throughout much of history most advancement or innovation came in the form of ideas or religious ideology the steam engine changed all that sparking a revolution that is still felt to this day using pressure created from steam this invention was able to pump out water from coal mines enabling them to go much deeper this industrial revolution began in europe in the late 1700s but would go well into the 1800s spurring another era of advancement this time called the technological revolution which seeped into the 20th century lewis paul was the first credited with developing roller spinning which was the basis for spinning cotton in cotton mills while the steam engine had existed prior it was james watt and matthew bolton who made the improvements to it that truly caused widespread change later on during the technological revolution the electrical petroleum and steel industries took off there were massive advancements in transportation with the first airplanes and automobiles this is when thomas edison would develop a number of devices and is said to have created the first industrial research laboratory nikola tesla also made a number of contributions to the fields of electricity and magnetism around this time the industrial revolution wasn't just a revolution of industry but of society as a whole and is thought of as being only second in importance to the neolithic revolution which saw hunter-gatherer societies begin to practice agriculture and become sedentary with more machines being used more factories were built to house them and society shifted from manual labor to using these machines for manufacturing the steam engine fueled by coal was used to power most of these machines like in the textile industry which was one of the first to implement this technology over time machines were used to create more of themselves leading to exponential economic growth they would need it after napoleon rising to prominence during the french revolution the ambitious napoleon bonaparte now emperor of the french empire after the short-lived first republic led france to a series of victories against a coalition of european powers during the early 1800s replacing the spanish monarch with his own brother england though was to be the french's closest rival the battle of trafalgar saw the british and coalition forces victorious in a major naval engagement after over a decade of conflict napoleon was ultimately defeated at the battle of waterloo in 1815 and exiled permanently while the bourbons were restored in spain at the end of the napoleonic wars at the congress of vienna nations attempted to restore the balance of power within europe with an emphasis on maintaining peace and order but also the status quo so as not to undermine their own monarchies [Music] europe was still full of monarchies during this period each with different amounts of ruling power in 1721 russia was declared an empire by peter the great he defeated sweden in the great northern war taking back lost land and acquiring new territory becoming one of europe's main players peter wood found the city of saint petersburg which became a window to europe his reforms later modernized russia along the lines of the western powers later on catherine ii or catherine the great extended russia's territory over the poland lithuania commonwealth dissolving the state they would push eastward claiming asian territories up until the pacific known as siberia and even beyond into north america in present-day alaska though russia was invaded by napoleon in 1812 they would repel the invasion and come out the victor serfdom was abolished in the mid-1800s resulting in some 30 million peasants freed from the old system industrialization came to the russian empire in the 1870s and with it a market economy leading to income inequality many of the world's other great empires were damaged some beyond repair the ottomans once a significant power in west asia lost much of their territory in a series of revolutions to the east the mughals succumbed to the hindu murata forces which in turn fell to the british europeans still controlled many oceanic islands as well the british had colonies on australia at the end of last period and added new zealand and fiji later the french had french polynesia and new caledonia while the germans colonised samoa a new guinea the united states would expand westwards and take hawaii in the mid-1800s japan would be visited by the black ships of commodore matthew perry perry is credited for opening up the severely isolationist japanese to western ideas and technology around 10 years later the tokugawa shogunate would be dissolved with daimyo seeding their land to emperor meiji in what is known as the meiji restoration with japan becoming a proper empire after such isolation the access to new ideas helped japan modernize rapidly compared to its chinese and russian neighbors [Music] periods of decolonization would begin in spain's colonies in the americas from 1808 until 1829 the spanish-american wars of independence saw all of spain's territories in the americas become autonomous only cuba and puerto rico remained in spain's grasp the portuguese never divided up their territories like the spanish did which is why brazil is now such a large state this made rebellion much easier and brazil would declare its independent in 1822 forming the empire of brazil [Music] after napoleon's defeat britain was undoubtedly the world's most powerful empire from 1837 until 1901 the victorian era so named because of queen victoria of the united kingdom saw britain prosper education increased with the help of industrialization and profits from exploitation abroad put them at the forefront after napoleon the british had no true rival in the entire world their foreign policy was called splendid isolationism so called because they needed no permanent alliances to benefit themselves this period of pax britannica saw the british rule the oceans acting as arbiters worldwide having abolished the slave trade in 1807 and slavery within its domains in 1833 the british would police the ongoing barbary slave trade still happening in north africa they would even control the economies of countries that remained independent like qing china much of their ability to administer such far-reaching areas was due to the steamship which used the prefix ss for quick transport and the telegraph for long distance communication napoleon's defeat was the start of instability in france during the 1800s the bourbons relatives of the dead french monarchs were restored in france marking a shift toward conservatism placing the catholic church into french politics in 1830 the july revolution ended the bourbon dynasty for good replacing it with the july monarchy a liberal constitutional monarchy the industrial revolution mixed with enlightenment ideals from the last century led to numerous reform movements across europe liberalism and ideas challenging the monarch became more widespread originating in france the revolutions of 1848 were a series of rebellions and political upheaval which spread across europe most were eventually quelled but in france the monarchy was deposed giving way to the second republic this only lasted until 1852 when napoleon's nephew napoleon iii president of this republic ended it establishing the second french empire france would be on the march once again but was defeated during the franco-prussian war putting an end to the second empire and the bonaparte's imperial dreams also lorraine was ceded to pressure in the loss this is when the german states headed by prussia unified into a single nation state this german empire would later be known as the second riot after the holy roman empire the first rai which was dissolved in the early 1800s with the empire dead once again france would revert to a republican government becoming the third republic this would last for 70 years and would be the longest government since the ancient regime italy went through political change of its own known as the resortimento the italian city-states were gradually unified into a single state the process starting after the napoleonic wars the vast majority were consolidated by the 1870s with the advent of new medicine and technologies africa's precious interior became accessible to the europeans and they wasted no time in taking advantage the so-called scramble for africa began with the berlin conference in the 1880s african territories were divided up amongst the europeans so as to avoid conflict with one another it was stipulated that control over territories gave the colonial power access to the resources within as well without fear of another powers interference this also meant that protection of natives was mandated along with their welfare this unfortunately is not at all how it played out conditions deteriorated severely for africans during the colonial period by the 1910s the british would control area from the north to south while the french controlled area from the west to east germany italy spain and portugal also possessed colonies across the continent belgian king leopold ii had the congo a region in which he was responsible for sickening atrocities by 1914 only liberia settled by freed american slaves and ethiopia remained independent over in japan western intervention continued to help japan to modernize during the meiji era the hayao busho war office was replaced with the war department and naval department while the samurai class drifted more into obscurity able-bodied japanese were forced to join the first and second reserves for three and two years respectively it was met with resistance from the daimyos and peasants the emperor was driven to modernize the military in the french model france would help to train japanese soldiers and by the late 1800s japan was one of the world's great powers taking from the imperialists they trained under the japanese and their modernized military were victorious in the first sino-japanese war against the qing annexing korea taiwan and the shandong province once emperor meiji died emperor taisho took the throne granting democratic rights to all japanese males in the 1800s america was still not a major player on the world stage the infant country still had growing problems within the antebellum period beginning in the early 1800s in the american south saw the country divided over the expansion of slavery this division became official when the southern states seceded from the union to form the confederate states of america leading to the civil war led by jefferson davis this confederacy opposed abraham lincoln's union of northern states seeking to unite america again lincoln and his generals also desired to do away with confederate nationalism and all forms of slavery in the south the confederacy's area was too large to defend with the forces they could muster so they were often outmaneuvered like at the siege of vicksburg only general robert e lee could fend off the union soldiers but eventually general's ulysses s grant and william t sherman kept pressure on the south until the enemy soldiers were starved leading to a southern surrender with the emancipation proclamation slaves were freed from their physical shackles although societal ones continued to be a burden the reconstruction era began after the end of the war in 1865 which dealt with the ramifications of the war and lasted until around 1877. beginning around the same time parts of america were in the process of reaping the rewards from industrialization wealth inequality increased sharply and the upper classes owning these means of production flaunted their wealth giving this period the name of a gilded age during the technological revolution towns and cities in the northeast would be built around factories owned by these robber barons factories would make their owners fabulously wealthy often at the expense of their workers jd rockefeller was widely criticized for using aggressive or immoral tactics with his company standard oil which absorbed most of the competition with advances in transportation and communication businesses profited the most and corporations became normalized because of the growing power of big business government passed the sherman antitrust act in 1890 the source of all anti-monopoly laws in america the courts declared that standard oils monopoly be broken up in 1911. it survived as 34 separate entities all with a different board of directors [Music] because of the sub-optimal working conditions and worker exploitation that came hand in hand with industrialization certain ideologies manifested themselves case in point the communist manifesto published in england just before the revolutions of 1848 the manifesto written by german philosophers karl marx and frederick engels described history as a class struggle marx also outlined the five phases in europe's development going into the beginnings of the next period we would also see the sciences advance with the emergence of quantum physics darwinism based on adaptation and natural selection also became more accepted unfortunately some used this theory as a means to divide and place different people in hierarchies dependent on race health or intelligence this attitude of survival of the fittest was known as social darwinism as we enter the 20th century these ideologies would fully come into light the century begins with many of the same themes as the last this is why many historians consider the early 1900s as part of a period beginning around 1789 making it the long 19th century in 1901 britain's colonies on the island of australia which had formed into six different self-governing colonies new south wales queensland south australia tasmania victoria and western australia joined together to form the commonwealth of australia to their north the qing dynasty wasn't as stable failed education reforms and civil unrest like the boxer rebellion and fallout from the opium wars and unequal treaties placed the qing in a precarious position they needed to modernize and liberalize their archaic system of government but numerous conservative ching in the court were opposed this led reformists to take action the qing china's final dynasty would fall in 1911 in the shinhai revolution this marked the end of the old imperial system which dated back to the chin in the 200 bce in 1912 the republic of china was established under sun yatsen the first provisional president this wouldn't last though as yuan shikai who had control of china's most powerful military force the baiyang army had been promised the position to prevent conflict sun yatsen stepped down and yuan shikai was sworn in as the second provisional president the japanese were new to the world stage and while they tested their imperial metal and one against their closest neighbors in china they would be challenged by a foe to the north the russian empire now spanning from europe to the pacific was eager for access to warm water ports on the ocean seeking regions in korea and manchuria they would go to war with the japanese in the russo-japanese war fortune was with the new empire of japan as they handed russian forces defeat after defeat a surprising result for all observers across the globe while the war cemented japan as a mainstay as a new world power it caused embarrassment and dissatisfaction in russia's tsarist regime a year later the russian revolution of 1905 would take place this wave of civil unrest included terrorism peasant rebellion worker strikes and even military mutinies in response the state duma of the russian empire was established making russia a constitutional monarchy after centuries of constitutional monarchy of their own england entered its edwardian age under king edward vii after the death of queen victoria this would begin in 1901 the second boer war broke out soon after in south africa splitting parliament into pro-war and anti-war factions the pro-war conservatives became unpopular resulting in a landslide victory for the liberals in 1906 although they still couldn't get their pro-working-class agenda passed known as the people's budget as the house of lords was still largely conservative it was during this time that the united kingdom entered a loose alliance with france and russia known as the triple-ant based on previous alliances the main idea was to flank germany and provide a counter to the triple alliance a more tightly knit alliance between germany austria-hungary and italy the rise of nationalism throughout this long 19th century and of europe's recent period of industrialization left them unafraid of conflict the balkans were often fought over by many different empires in 1912 to 1913 the balkan league comprising greece montenegro bulgaria and serbia took back much of the balkan area from the ottomans during this time austria-hungary was competing with russia and serbia for balkan territory as well the catalyst to conflict was when serbian gavrilo princip fired the two shots that would spark untold mayhem archduke franz ferdinand of austria was assassinated and the stage was set for a war europe had not yet seen the july crisis occurring right after the assassination saw a series of escalating decisions made by european powers which officially began the great war the triple antarct became the allied powers and after 1917 included japan and the united states the triple alliance modified slightly and consisted of the german empire austro-hungarian empire and the ottoman empire becoming the central powers most fighting occurred on the western front with trench warfare the norm a vast area of no man's land separated enemy trenches leading to sacrificial charges and waste of life resulting in many stalemates on the eastern front trench warfare wasn't as common for the first time war was fought from the air as well it's estimated over 9 million lost their lives on the battlefield and many more indirectly through food shortages and genocide most notably of armenians worse still more people would die shortly after the war as an influenza outbreak was easily spread in overcrowded barracks and hospitals it soon spread around the globe as soldiers returned to their countries causing a worldwide pandemic the end of the war saw the allied powers victorious and the end of the german austro-hungarian and ottoman empires the ottoman territory was carved up and partitioned by the winning side creating several new nations in west asia the newly created league of nations a predecessor to the united nations granted syria and lebanon to the french and palestine and mesopotamia to the british the arabian peninsula eventually became saudi arabia and yemen a fourth empire also fell during the war in 1917 a series of revolutions in russia resulted in the abdication of the last tsar nicholas ii and the establishment of a provisional government late in 1917 the october revolution saw the red guard an army of peasants and workers take control of petrograd present-day saint petersburg under the bolsheviks this socialist uprising would change russia forever civil war soon broke out between the bolshevik red army and the anti-soviet white army or the whites nationalist groups like the ukrainian green army and anarchist groups also engaged in the war after around five years of war the bolsheviks squashed all opposition and controlled russia all the way to the pacific coast in 1922 the ussr or union of soviet socialist republics was established the success estate to the russian empire while vladimir lenin would perish from natural causes he was succeeded by joseph stalin a man who would become one of the most controversial of the 20th century [Music] in china yuan chikai's government attempted to reinstate a new empire once again but after his death it devolved into a warlord era in which china was ruled over by different warlords in a period of decentralization former leader sen would collaborate with some southern warlords in order to take back power and reunify china soon after chiang kai-shek who replaced sun yetsen as leader of the kmt went on a northern expedition to take back the country from the bay young government and the various warlords he then turned on the ccp establishing his anti-communist regime at nanjing in 1927 this would mark the beginning of china's nanjing period which was one of power and consolidation for the kmt there was social progress and the economy was generally positive civil war would start as the nationalist kmt fought the communist ccp who most likely would have met their demise if not for a massive distraction in 1937 the interwar period saw much of the globe's superpower steeped in other struggles as europe attempted to recover from the carnage this wasn't the case for north america which started out the period on top of the world known as the roaring twenties or jazz age this was a period of economic prosperity and social cultural and artistic wealth flapper girls became prominent an art deco ruled the art scene normalcy returned to politics with the election of warren g harding signifying a comfortable stability associated with the time before world war one this mixed with the normalization of new technologies like the radio automobile and movies gave the period a sense of modernity europe would spend these years rebuilding and coming to terms with the immense human cost associated with the war in turkey the turkish national movement was established in response to the allies occupation of istanbul the turkish war of independence would last from 1919 to 1923 and saw the turks succeed in forming their own republic of turkey a success estate to the ottoman empire which was internationally recognized that same year the capital was moved from istanbul to ankara up north with the german empire now dissolved the weimar republic ruled but with an array of economic problems germany experienced intense hyperinflation in 1923 followed by the beer hall putch a failed coup d'etat led by a certain nazi leader with germany unable to pay off their war debt the americans invested heavily into europe to keep the economy from failing this eventually led to prosperity for much of europe as well and the back end of the decade would be called the golden twenties this would all dramatically change in 1929 seemingly as a counterweight to the economic success of the 20s the wall street crash of 1929 plunged the world into a great depression it remained the largest and most important economic depression of the 20th century everything would plummet during this time international trade and salaries dropped by over two-thirds construction stopped in many countries and those that relied on farming suffered as well as crop prices also dropped two thirds the depression was the catalyst for high amounts of political polarization some countries introduced new welfare programs and expanded the social safety net while others turned towards nationalist or imperialist ideologies while the league of nations was meant to keep a balance of power and ensure stability they were less effective as the united states wasn't a member this caused other more authoritarian powers to undermine the league making it irrelevant the show of weakness might have pushed italy and its fascist leader benito mussolini to ally with the like-minded germans their leader the man who led the failed beer hall put back in 1923 also noticed the weakness of the league and other european powers this emboldened him to breach the treaty of versailles from world war one and re-militarized germany after japan captured manchuria in 1931 they established a puppet state called manchukuo with qing emperor puyi as ruler the last emperor of china losing manchuria was a huge blow to chiang kai-shek and the kmt this helped the communist party to spread their influence through mass organization and land and tax reforms favoring the peasant class apart from the civil war china also had to deal with the threat of japan the empire would invade again in 1937 beginning the second sino-japanese war causing an uneasy truce between the kmt and ccp the nanking massacre which saw japan commit mass murder and other atrocities to the chinese people was condemned worldwide tensions also rose between japan and the united states when the empire bombed a u.s gunboat and standard all tankers located in china this was known as the panay incident after the japanese occupied french indochina embargoes were placed on japan starved for war materials the japanese had to search for allies they would find them and share in the imperialist dream drang knack austin the drive to the east an emboldened germany would kickstart the most devastating war the world had ever seen with its drive east into poland the uk and france both declared war on germany soon after but the russians held back initially because of a secret non-aggression agreement with germany called the mulatto of ribbon-trot pact eastern europe was to be divided between both powers once the uk entered the war the british commonwealth territories of the british empire all joined as well following a lull in fighting the germans would turn their attention westwards to france in seemingly no time at all the third french republic who were also attacked by italy surrendered the germans would then attempt to conquer britain but this proved a failure in 1941 the germans would make an even more fatal mistake and attack the soviets the harsh weather and sheer number of soviet soldiers made that conquest impossible as well and after the soviets then joined the allies the germans would have to fight a war on two fronts december 7th 1941 the japanese would bomb pearl harbor an american naval base in hawaii this brought the united states into the war on the side of the allies china would also join mainly fighting the japanese with guerilla-like tactics by 1942 the western theatre had the british commonwealth the united states and soviet union fighting germany and italy and in the pacific theater the commonwealth china and united states were fighting the japanese the uk soviet union china and u.s were known as the big four nations that played the greatest roles in the war although propaganda afterwards would tend to downplay or overstate certain countries roles in 1943 italy surrendered and germany would surrender in 1945. after the controversial usage of atomic weapons by the americans the japanese would surrender a few months later marking the end of the second world war after the war europe was devastated and power shifted from western europe to the soviets and americans the two new superpowers alliances were formed around these new spheres of influence with nato the north atlantic treaty organization in the west as a response to the eastern bloc's warsaw pact in china the civil war between the kmt and ccp flared up again after the japanese defeat with the kmt evacuating to taiwan and the communist party under chairman mao zedong establishing the people's republic of china in 1949 with help from their soviet neighbours to the north with the americans becoming the number one power in the west it brought with it what historians call pax americana a period of peace and stability for western nations the technological and economic gains in this half of the 20th century developed more than the entirety of human histories combined surpassing even the great advances brought on by the industrial revolution this exponential growth led to increased lifespans for most nations residents along with the development of numerous technologies undreamed of in the early part of the century behind this progression though was the looming threat of nuclear war the united states and soviet union were embroiled in what was dubbed the cold war as neither nation fought the other directly germany was split by the berlin wall a grim division of the western and soviet realms nations around the world were coerced to join either sphere of influence leading to intervention by the united states or the soviet union this resulted in widespread espionage propaganda and proxy wars proxy conflicts like the korean afghan and vietnam wars occurred because neither the americans nor soviets could attack each other directly due to their increasing nuclear arsenal the national security policy of mutually assured destruction was the basis for these proxy conflicts as a direct attack would cause nuclear war surely destroying both sides so the stalemate carried on in china chairman mao adopted marxist leninist ideals older chinese ideologies like legalism were denounced in 1960 the sino-soviet split saw china and the ussr go their own way each interpreting and implementing leninist ideology differently beginning in 1966 the cultural revolution would do away with much of china's past purging many parts of its long history in 1972 china would begin to have closer relations to the united states and soon after dungeon would implement economic reforms which opened up china to the west during this period numerous countries in latin america would elect left-wing leaders threatening the smaller but more powerful upper classes during operation condor the united states assassinated many of these leaders placing more right-wing anti-communist military dictators in power the wonders of space wouldn't even escape this earthly competition during this new age the united states and soviets engaged in the space race to garner a reputation as the true superpower starting in 1957 the space age began with sputnik the earth's first artificial satellite being launched by the soviets the vostok program also sent the first human into space yuri gagarin the united states would ultimately impress the entire world though with the apollo program which put the first man on the moon the event was reportedly watched by half a billion people africans would also take back their land in mass independence movements but many of these countries would still struggle after generations of colonialism in the late 1980s the cold war began to subside under american president ronald reagan the united states entered diplomatic relations with soviet leader mikhail gorbachev who introduced the perestroika and glasnost reforms the soviet union then collapsed in 1991 leaving the united states as the sole world superpower so that's the new super nintendo entertainment system what about it they say it has 16-bit technology whatever that means the 1990s was an era of stability while the information age began in the mid 20th century the 90s would see the average westerner benefit from massive technological advancements granting them access to computers and the internet developed nations would begin a process of de-industrialization moving towards information technology while outsourcing industrial jobs to current developing nations on september the 11th enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country the 21st century began with the war on terror and brought with it a feeling of a new age the feeling of never being able to go back as the old saying goes history never repeats itself but it often rhymes it's easy to forget we are still the same tribal beings who roamed this earth yantago and while we all have our own unique experiences we are all connected enough that they become strikingly similar the future can hold untold triumphs or disasters beyond repair so are we destined for a thrilling senses shattering cyberpunk-like dystopia an arid post-apocalyptic deserts cape ruled by different city-states or are we destined for an earthly utopia where we can work together to set our sights on the stars sorry we can't help this is a history channel after all