Transcript WesternCiv
Brief History of Western
Civilization
World Lit II
Classical Age: Ancient Greece
1200BC-300BC:
from Kings, to
Democracies, to Emperors
The Height:
Alexander the Great
(336BC-323BC):
Founding of Alexandria and
burning of Persepolis
Campaign as far as India
Rules as a divine, absolute
monarch
Classical Age – the Roman
Empire
500 BC – 500AD:
from Kings, to
Republics, to
Emperors
The Height: Emperor
Trajan (53AD-117AD)
From Brittania to
Aegyptus
Christianized under
Emperor Constantine the
Great (272-337AD)
Map of the Roman Empire at
the Death of the Justinian I
The Middle Ages: Fall of the Roman Empire,
Rise of the Roman Catholic Church
500AD-1500AD
Roman Empire split between East
(Byzantine Greek Orthodox) and West
(Roman Catholic) beginning 500 AD,
officially by 1100 AD.
Western part mostly divided into little
Christianized kingdoms, with
allegiance to Roman Catholic Church.
(Exception: Spain conquered by
Muslim Moors through Africa, around
800 AD).
1st crusade (ordered by Pope Urban)
to take back Holy Land from the
Muslims, 1095 AD.
800-early 1490’s: Muslim rule of
Spain; ends with the “Reconquista”,
which also supported Christopher
Columbus’ exploration to the New
World.
Renaissance and Reformation
1500s AD-1600s AD
Rediscovering
Ancient Greek and
Roman science
Rising Protestantism,
weakening of Roman
Church.
Rising “democratic”
principles.
Enlightenment, Romanticism,
and Empire: 1600-1800s
Increased exploration
leads to nationalism,
colonialism, and
capitalism.
Rise of technology,
science, individualism,
“progress.”
Revolutions leading to
more “democratic” forms of
government – examples:
French republic, British
constitutional monarch
The British Empire:
Early 1700s-Early1900s
Map of Europe: 1797
Map of Europe: 1900
Modernism & Post-Modernism:
The 20th & early 21st Centuries
Things Fall Apart & Then
Come Together
World War I 1914-1918
World War II 1939-1945
Official end of Empire
(1945-1970):
independence, postcolonialism & its
aftermath
Cold War 1945-1991
Globalization & World
Markets
9/11/2001 & aftermath