The period after the Second World War would see a time of rebuilding across Europe. Western society would remain conservative after the disastrous consequences of the changes in the 1920s and 1930s. Using many of the technological advances made during the war people would go on to invent the things that the 20th Century will be remembered for. Culture in the 50s moved on as television boomed in popularity and the film industry started exploring new areas such as science-fiction and horror. With the invention of the electric guitar popular music moved from traditional bebop and jazz and moved into blues and rock and roll, artists such as Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley lead the way as music looked to rebel against the conservative culture of the time.
The 1960s were the time when younger people looked to break away from the culture established by their parents and the decade has since become known as the Swinging Sixties. Drug use among young people hit an all-time high. The social revolution that formed out of the sixties was a reaction against the US involvement in Vietnam, the Cold War and widespread anti-war sentiments. The social changes during this time would eventually lead to more equality for women, black people and homosexuals. The time was not without its political problems however, with America’s continued war in Vietnam proving unpopular along with the assassination of Martin Luther King and President John F Kennedy.
The 1960s saw significant strides made in technology, building on those of the previous two decades. In 1961 Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut, became the first man to orbit the Earth in a spacecraft. Just eight years later the American crew of Apollo 11 were the first people to land on the moon. Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the satellite, and the first man to walk on an object other than Earth. Early computers started to take shape and the first programming languages were written.
Over the following decades social change would not be as radical but continue to be evolutionary in nature. The heavy drug using culture would cross over into the 1970s but would eventually die down after many campaigns to warn about the health effects of sustained drug abuse. The 1970s saw great leaps forward in physics theory with Stephen Hawking publishing a number of theories on black holes. Many probes including the Voyager spacecraft were sent to the outer reaches of the solar system during the 70s as our understanding of space grew.
The 80s and 90s would see the collapse of communism in Europe with the break-up of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. East and West Germany would return to a united Germany and many new countries were created in the Eastern bloc. Some were formed in bloody conflicts and others, such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia, were formed peacefully.
The 1990s were characterised by the rise of the Internet and power of computers and communication technology. Bill Gates, the head of Microsoft, would become the richest man in the world during the 90s on the back of the success of his company’s operating system, Windows, which was installed on the vast majority of the world’s computers. His dream of a PC on every desk was realised during this decade and Internet access would increase exponentially over the decade as more and more houses connected to the web. The mobile phone was another one of the major cultural changes during the decade. Although invented in the 1980s, the mobile phone reached practical sizes and prices during the 90s, ending at almost 100% market penetration in developed countries at the turn of the century.
At the end of the twentieth century fears of a global computer crash at the turnover to the year 2000 proved to be falsely held and no problems were encountered. Population of humans had reached 6.1 billion and global warming and environmental damage would go on to be a major concern in the 21st Century after a hundred years of heavy industry began to take its toll.
The major world-changing event of the early 21st Century occurred on the 11th of September 2001 when Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four civilian aircraft and crashed them into the World Trade Centre in New York, the Pentagon in Washington DC and the last into a field in Pennsylvania. The attacks destroyed the World Trade Centre and caused almost three thousand deaths.
The USA were quick to respond, declaring a war on terror and would subsequently invade Afghanistan and Iraq, hoping to remove Al-Qaeda and its leaders. They still have not captured Al-Qaeda’s leader, Osama Bin Laden, but they were successful in removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. Hussein was later sentenced to death by the Iraqi government and executed on December 30th 2006. The decade has been marred by further Muslim extremist attacks against countries in the West that they see as oppressing their freedoms. Bombs were detonated in Madrid in 2004 and in London in 2005.
Against the backdrop of the war on terror technological advances made substantial advances. Personal computer development and the Internet continued to make great progress with broadband access available across much of the civilised world. Space exploration and scientific discovery would continue. Despite the setback after the disintegration on reentry of Space Shuttle Columbia NASA carried on with its space program. In 2008 the Phoenix Lander touched down on Mars much further North than any other probe and was tasked with finding signs of water on the Red Planet. Also in 2008 the Large Hadron Collider was switched on at CERN in Switzerland with the hope of discovering the secrets behind the Big Bang.
There have been an unusually large number of natural disasters in the early 21st Century with 310,000 people dying in the tsunami caused by an Indian Ocean earthquake. There were also many deaths from Hurricane Katrina and powerful earthquakes in Peru, Kashmir and China. With global warming, terrorism and over-population beginning to cause problems at the start of the century humanity must find ways to alleviate these problems as the world population is set to hit nine billion by 2050.
During the 1920s the American economy increased in strength and the European economy remained stable up until the crash of 1929. In what has become known as The Great Depression many people suddenly found their savings worthless, leading to a disillusionment with capitalism and a rise to prominence of fascism. In 1933 Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany at the head of his Nazi party.
Hitler began to rearm Germany, and remilitarised the Rhineland in 1936, breaking the Treaty of Versailles. With Hitler’s anti-semetic policies and aggressive re-armament of Germany war was inevitable. On 1st September 1939 Germany invaded Poland and Britain and France both declared war on Germany and its allies.
The Second World War would prove to be even more lethal and long-lived than the first war. A global conflict in every sense of the word the war would see an unprecedented number of casualties and would change the world forever.
The Germans took Poland while its government fled to London, and then in May 1940 Germany invaded Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Germany was extremely successful in its early expansions and soon also took Denmark and Norway. Within four weeks of their assault Germany had taken France and on 14th of June 1940 Paris was occupied. Soon after Hitler would launch an offensive against Britain, attempting to gain air superiority in order to clear way for an aquatic invasion from France. In what has become known as the Battle of Britain the RAF successfully repelled the German attacks and claimed aerial superiority over England, ending German hopes of invading.
Turning his attention away from Britain, Hitler looked to invade the communist Soviet Union. After a delay in Yugoslavia and Greece after the Italian’s defeat Germany assaulted the Soviet Union with the largest army ever known to man. Over three million Germans took part in the invasion, laying siege to Leningrad and getting to within 15 miles of Moscow. The Germans would have to stop for the Russian Winter however, and by Spring 1942 an entire division were trapped in Stalingrad, eventually leading to their surrender. Hitler had seen what should have been a sure victory turn into a defeat. Russian casualties were astronomical, they lost around 27 million people, about half of the total casualties in the war.
As Germany were getting frozen out of the Soviet Union Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, which drew the United States into the war. The Americans, allied with the British and the Soviets would continue to push the German forces back.
On 6th June 1944 the Allies launched an attack onto the beaches of Normandy. The German thought that the Allies would attack Calais and were unprepared for an invasion on the beaches. At a great cost of human life the beach invasion was successful and the Allies were able to push into France. By 1945 the German army was pushed back by the Soviets from the East and the Americans and British from the West. Once the Soviets reached Berlin Hitler committed suicide and seven days later the Germans surrendered, ending the war in Europe. The USA would end the war with the use of nuclear weapons against Japan in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
After the war the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the two dominant super-powers, with much of Europe in ruin after the bombing of the war. Many top-ranking German officers were convicted of war crimes, including those committed in the holocaust. During the war the Germans placed millions of Jews and other minorities in concentration camps, starving and eventually murdering them in one of the worst events in human history.
After the use of nuclear weapons by the USA at the end of the war America and the Soviet Union would enter the Cold War, a period of deep mistrust, propaganda, espionage and an arms race in which both countries would be on the brink of war but where fighting never actually broke out. It is thought that the only reason that stopped a war from happening is that a nuclear war would lead to mutually assured destruction and so it was in each country’s best interests not to launch missiles. The Cold War would last right up until 1991. After the failure of the League of Nations in preventing World War 2, the United Nations was formed in 1945. The organisation still continues today with nearly every country a participating member.
The next decades are characterised by a growth of technology and industry and the increased Americanisation of the West.
The 20th Century was a period that saw more scientific discoveries and inventions than any other period in time. The century started with steam-powered ships being the height of technology and ended with a constant human presence in space, moon landings and a world-wide network of computers and global distribution of information. The world has never shrunk so much as during the 20th Century, the Internet would give instant communication to anywhere on Earth and civilian aircraft gave people unprecedented levels of transport. With the mass production of the automobile humans gained a high level of personal mobility and had truly made the switch from relying on animals and nature to relying on machines and industry.
While Europe and much of the world would end the 20th Century at peace the first half of the century was scarred by two world wars. The rise of Japan, China and the United States as new economic powers would cause tension among the more traditional European super powers at the start of the century. With the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in 1914 a number of international alliances and conflicts were ignited and within months almost all of Europe was at war. Dubbed at the time The Great War, World War 1 would see Britain, Russia and France fight Germany and Austria-Hungary, with the United States joining Britain and her allies later in the conflict.
The First World War was characterised by the use of 20th Century technology and 19th Century tactics. Much of the war was fought in trenches with neither side able to make any significant advantages. Often the only method of making an advance was to go over the top, this method would lead to an incredible amount of casualties, even leading to a French mutiny in 1917. Many of the generals would not know how to deal with tanks, machine guns and the deadly gasses used. Troops returning from the war would often suffer from shell shock and post-traumatic stress disorders. The Great War would also see large advances in communication technology and aircraft, both vital for their respective war efforts.
In 1918, a year after the USA joined the war, Germany surrendered and ended the conflict. In the aftermath of World War 1 Germany were forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles and accept responsibility for the war. They were forced to pay large reparations, much of the German population was left disillusioned after the war, angry at being blamed and upset at being declared defeated when they did not think they had lost. Much of this feeling would carry over into the 1930s and give rise to fascism and later naziism. After the war the Austro-Hungarian empire was broken up and the new nations of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia were created along with the League of Nations, designed to stop future world wars from happening.
With the human body fully developed and farming and culture slowly spreading across the planet civilisation could begin. Civilisation began when people stopped leading nomadic lives and started to live in permanent settlements.
As farming techniques improved and became more efficient people would no longer have to spend all their time gathering food. This would leave time over for other pursuits and some member of the early civilisations would go on to other occupations such as priests and artisans. The division of labour would lead to social hierarchies forming as well as a larger range of activities. This would eventually lead to significant scientific and cultural discoveries and inventions. Once human intelligence could really be utilised then the path to the modern day seems inevitable.
The first civilisations proper are thought to have arisen around 3000 BC in Sumer and Egypt with the development of formal writing. Chinese states also began appearing and many other civilisations were founded with numerous wars fought for the next two thousand years. The main strength of early human civilisations was military, a state would often expand its borders through its armies and man power. As a result of the militaristic nature of early civilisations ancient history can be told as a series of wars and empires’ peaks and declines.
Around 800 BC the Greeks founded their famous civilisation. Many important philosophical and technological discoveries were made during this time. In 776 BC the first Olympic games were held and continue to be held every four years to the present day. The Greek civilisation would continue to last for hundreds of years and would eventually be conquered by Philip of Macedon in 338 BC.
As the Greek civilisation was rising another was forming not far away. In 750 BC Rome was founded in Italy. Over the next seven hundred years the Roman empire would stretch over much of Europe and become one of the most successful empires in history, with a significant legacy. Due to its immense size the Roman empire would have a huge impact on Western culture and language, even to this day. The Empire initially started as a republic but would grow extremely large at the turn of the millennium. At its peak in 117 AD the Empire was ruled by Trajan and controlled around 5,900,00 kilometres squared of land. Rome would eventually fall in 476 AD, the point which signals the start of the Middle Ages.
During the Middle Ages Christianity and Islam began to spread and Europe was in a constant state of flux as wars were fought and countries invaded. The Vikings were extremely active during the first thousand years AD, invading England in 865. Two hundred years later England would again be conquered in the famous Battle of Hastings in 1066. The Normans would rule the country for centuries and produce the first ever national census when they wrote the Doomsday Book in 1086.
In 1206 Genghis Khan united the Mongols and set off creating one of the largest empires in history. Even after his death in 1227 the Mongols continued to gain land, invading Russia, Poland, Hungary and Bagdad. The next two hundred years would be characterised by war and conquest as countries tried to expand their borders.
The period of time that is thought to separate the Middle Ages from the Modern Era is known as the Renaissance. Meaning reborn, the Renaissance would see a huge leap forward in arts, education, politics and social thinking. It lasted from the 14th to the 17th century and began in Italy. Men such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michalangelo would inspire much of the new thinking during the period. The Renaissance has been seen as an attempt by scholars to gain a greater understanding of the world around them. This is also evident in art as painters started to try and paint much more realistically than before, developing techniques that would accurately show lighting and depth. The Renaissance would also see the introduction of the scientific method, where discoveries would be made based on results and observations. These methods put forward by Galileo and Copernicus would form the foundation for many discoveries in astronomy, physics, biology and medicine.
The next couple of hundred years were characterised by discoveries of new lands and the development of science and technology along with the arts. In 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas, initially mistaking the land for East-Asia when he named the local people Indians. The discovery of this new continent by Europeans would see quick colonisation and the eventual extermination of much of the native people. Inca, Aztec and Mayan civilisations were wiped out by European diseases brought over by the Spanish and Portuguese.
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and would go on to influence the English language like no one before or since, with his plays still studied almost five hundred years after they were written. In the century after Europeans would set out to colonise North America with English Puritans and the Dutch leading the way, founding New York and towns in New England. In China the Ming Dynasty was overthrown and replaced by the Manchu Dynasty. Oliver Cromwell rose to power in England in 1653 and London burnt down in the great fire of 1666. In 1687 Isaac Newton published his theories on the concept of gravity as scientific thinking continued to move forward.
The late 1700s saw the American War of Independence and the start of the Industrial Revolution in Britain. In 1789 George Washington became the first president of the USA and the French Revolution started. The 1800s would see the continuation of the Industrial Revolution, leading to many significant discoveries and the accelerated development of transport and urban areas. In 1859 Charles Darwin published his book, On the Origin of the Species, the first text that would seriously question religion. Light bulbs and steam power saw introduction in this time, as well as the ability to harness electricity. In 1885 the car was invented and in 1903 the first aeroplane was flown by the Wright brothers.
Civilisation had come a long way but the advances made in the industrial revolution were just the beginning. The 20th century would see the most significant discoveries made by mankind as well as some of the most important advances. In just 66 years humans would go from the first powered flight to landing on the Moon. However, the time would also see the deployment of this technology in some of the bloodiest battles ever seen.
Primates are thought to have evolved alongside other placental mammals after the K-T extinction event. They would continue to divide into numerous species over the next several million years.
Around 30 million years ago monkeys had prehensile tails and eyes on the front of their head. Most are thought to have lived in Africa with some migrating to South America, possibly on a raft of vegetation. Five million years later primates would split into apes and monkeys, apes being notable for a lack of a tail.
These early primates spent a great deal of time living in trees, giving rise to hands and fingers to help grip onto the branches. It is thought that this lifestyle also lead to sight being the dominant sense in primates as opposed to smell as in other mammals. It is easy to see that better eyesight would have given a significant advantage when swinging through the trees. Shoulders in apes had a great deal of freedom of movement, as well as other adaptations such as wrists, a wide flat ribcage and shoulder blades on the back. Around seven million years ago the descendants of humans split from those of chimpanzees.
After a further four and a half million years of evolution the first species of the Homo family appeared, Homo habilis. Alongside homo habilis lived homo erectus, which would go on to evolve into homo sapiens. Around 700,000 years ago the last common ancestor of homo sapiens and the neanderthals was alive. The two species would remain separate but lived alongside each other for thousands of years until the neanderthals became extinct.
With the arrival of homo sapiens 250,000 years ago the planet would undergo extensive changes. The key factor that allowed humans to go on and dominate in the manner that they have is due to the large brain and greater mental capacity than other animals. Humans would discover the use of tools and language, therefore reaching a level of communication and cooperation far beyond other apes. The hands that had evolved to climb in trees would prove invaluable in creating tools and later art and writing. The use of tools would allow humans to hunt for meat as well as fish, and language and arts would lead to complex social groups eventually culminating in civilisation. Early tools were made from flint and stone, but later development would see tools made from bones and fragments of antlers.
At around 40-50,000 years ago humans would undergo rapid changes known as The Great Leap Forward. During this time finely made tools, fishing, trading, jewelry, art, music, games and burial of the dead were all developed. This time would also see the expansion of the human population out of Africa and into Europe, Asia and Australia. 12,000 years ago at the end of the most recent Ice Age humans had colonised much of the planet. As the ice receded human populations would continue to grow.
The next key to human development was the arrival of agriculture. While arising at different times in different areas it is thought to have first started around 10,000 years ago in the Middle East. By 2700 BCE agriculture had spread to India, Egypt, China and Mesoamerica. Irrigation, growth of crops and domestication of animals gave humans an early control over their surroundings. Religion also started appearing during this time.
With the advent of agriculture humans could start to move away from their typical nomadic lifestyles. Previously organised into loose tribes the new technology would encourage larger groups to gather and for permanent settlements to start. This would eventually lead to the first civilisations and the start of modern times.
