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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