French kings keep several popes in the so-called

1308-1377

Babylonian Captivity in Avignon.
AP 1340
Italy revives the honor of poet laureate.

European 1347-1350
The Black Death decimates the population of Europe.

HISTORY
1434 The Medici come to power in Florence.

The sack of Constantinople occurs; the Hundred Years

1453
War ends.

Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust develop movable-type

New Monarchies, 1450s
printing in Mainz, Germany (Holy Roman Empire).
renaissance,
and the age of 1454-1494
Milan and Venice sign Peace Treaty of Lodi; peace ends when
French invade Italy in 1494.
exploration
Muscovy throws off the Tatar yoke.
1480
(1308-1527)
Portugal and Spain sign the Treaty of Tordesillas.
1494

Bartolomeu Dias reaches the Cape of Good Hope; Vasco da Gama

1487-1499 comes back from India with precious cargo.

Hernan Cortes conquers the Aztec empire in Mexico;

Research &
1519-1533
Francisco Pizarro conquers the Inca empire in and near Peru.
Education
Association
1527 The Sack of Rome occurs.
 1380-1415
AP
John Wycliffe and Jan Hus call for church reforms.

Martin Luther, a Catholic monk, posts his Ninety-five

1517
UNITED Theses on the door of the Wittenberg church.

STATES
Luther publishes four pamphlets and is excommun-
1520-1521
Icated by the pope.

HISTORY In his quest for a male heir, Henry VIII of England

1527-1534
divorces the Holy Roman Emperors aunt, Katharine,
and marries Anne Boleyn.

John Calvin publishes his Institutes of the Christian

1541
Religion in its French edition.
Reform,
Counter-Reform, 1543
Nicolas Copernicus publishes his heliocentric theory.
and the New The Council of Trent meets three times to settle issues
Sciences 1545-1563
of Catholic doctrine.

(1380-1687) Holy Roman Emperor Charles V establishes the Peace of

1555
Augsburg.

Wars of religion in France begin following the end of the long

1562-1598
Habsburg-Valois conflict.

Calvinists in the Spanish Netherlands revolt against strictness

1566-1581
of Philip II, leading to the Dutch wars of independence.
Research &
Education
Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed by Elizabeth I of England;
Association 1587-1588
the English navy destroys the Spanish Armada.
 AP
In his Letter of Majesty, Matthias, the Holy Roman
Emperor, grants religious freedom to Bohemian
Calvinist
1609 nobles.
UNITED The scientific revolution begins.

STATES 1618-1648
Thirty Years War begins.

HISTORY
1648
Treaty of Westphalia is signed.

1662-1725
Royal academies of science form throughout Europe.
Reform,
Counter-Reform, 1667
John Milton publishes Paradise Lost.
and the New
Sciences 1687
Newton publishes Principia Mathematica.

(1380-1687)

Research &
Education
Association
 Ivan IV begins successful conquest of Siberia.
1581-1583

AP The United Provinces establish the Bank of

1609
Amsterdam.
European 1611
King James Bible is published.

HISTORY 1642-1649
Civil war racks England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Revolts (frondes) by old nobles and the Parlement of

1648-1653
Paris rock France.

1640-1688
The Great Elector, Frederick William, rules Brandenburg.
Overview
of European Interregnum in England: Cromwell and his army rule the
1649-1660
Powers country. (Jews are allowed back in England, 1655.)

(1581-1748) 1652-1774
Dutch eminence in trading and trans-shipping annoys
England into three wars.

1661
Louis XIV declares his resolve for personal rule.

1683 Turks stage siege of Vienna.

1685 Louis XIV revokes the Edict of Nantes.

Research &
Education King James II threatens to return England to the papist fold,
Association
1688-1689 leading to the Glorious Revolution.
 Peter the Great becomes sole ruler of the Russias
1696
AP
(and reigns until 1725).

1701
The English parliament passes the Act of Settlement.

European France and Spain wage the War of the Spanish

1701-1713
HISTORY
Succession against much of the rest of Europe.

The Act of Union unites England and Scotland into

1707
one Britain.

The Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt end the War of

1713-1714
Spanish Succession.
Overview
of European Great Northern War pits Sweden against an alliance of
1700-1721
Powers Denmark, Saxony, Poland, and Russia.

(1581-1748) Foreign princes agree to Holy Roman Emperor Charles VIs

1713-1740
Pragmatic Sanction.

Frederick II of Prussia invades the Austrian province of Silesia,

1740-1748
leading to the War of the Austrian Succession.

Research &
Education
Association
 1576
Jean Bodin publishes Six Books of the Commonwealth.

AP 1610-1643
Cardinal Richelieu (following the lead of the Duke of
Sully) institutes the intendant system.

European 1620 Francis Bacon publishes his New Organon.

HISTORY 1637 Ren Descartes publishes Discourse on Method.

1659
France and Spain sign the Treaty of Pyrenees.

John Locke publishes treatises on government and on

1690
tabula rasa.
Absolutism,
Constitutionalism, 1727
Johann Sebastian Bach composes the Saint Matthew Passion.
and
Voltaire publishes Letters on the English.
1733
Enlightenment
1748
Baron de Montesquieu publishes The Spirit of the Laws.
(1576-1781)
1751-1762
Denis Diderot and collaborators publish the massive Encyclopedia.

England and France fight the Seven Years (or French and Indian)
1754-1763 War.

France and Austria ally with one another, forming the Diplomatic
Research & 1756
Education
Revolution.
Association
1761 Rousseaus two major publications
 Warring nations sign the Treaties of Hubertusburg
1763
AP
and Paris.

Adam Smith publishes the Wealth of Nations.

1776
European The American colonies rebel.

HISTORY
1769-1778
Newcomen-Watt steam engine is invented,
improved upon, and financed for markets.

Richard Arkwrights spinning frame, James

1769-1793 Hargreavess spinning jenny, Edward Cartwrights
power loom, and Eli Whitneys cotton gin mechanize
the production of cotton threads and fabrics.
Absolutism,
Constitutionalism, Joseph II issues the Edict of Toleration in Habsburg
1781
and crown lands.
Enlightenment
(1576-1781)

Research &
Education
Association
 Louis XV suspends refractory parlements and initiates
1770-1774
judicial reform.

AP
1781
Jacques Necker issues his Comte Rendu for the king

European
in 100,000 copies.

The king calls an Assembly of Notables to advise on

HISTORY 1787-1788
the financial crisis.

The Estates-General meets but is hamstrung by

1789
voting procedures.

1789
June National Assembly is formed and recognized by king.
Revolution
and the July 14, 1789
French workers and tradesmen storm the Bastille.
New European
Order The Great Fear sweeps the countryside, leading to the

Summer 1789 Night of Renunciation (August 4); the National Assembly
(1789-1815) issues the Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen.

The National Assembly confiscates church lands and issues

1789-1790
the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

1791 The royal family flees; German princes issue the Declaration of
Pillnitz.
Research &
Education
September The National Convention makes France a republic. French forces
Association
1792 defeat German and Austrian troops at the battle of Valmy.
 Revolution at war! France declares war on Austria and
1792-1793
AP
invades the Austrian Netherlands and Rhineland.

1793-1794
France is seized by the Reign of Terror!

European The five-manDirectory becomes theexecutive office

1795-1799
HISTORY of the government, after the fall of Robespierre.

1796-1799
Revolutionary armies invade Italy, Holland, Egypt.

William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge

1798
publish Lyrical Ballads.

Revolution November 9,
Napoleon joins other conspirators and stages the coup
and the 1799 of 18 Brumaire.
New European
1801
Napoleon and the church come to terms in the Concordat.
Order
1804
Napoleon institutes reforms.
(1789-1815)
1805-1807
France wages the Napoleonic Wars.

1806-1811
Napoleon imposes the Continental Blockade on all his conquests
and satellite states.

1808/1812 Napoleon commits his greatest military blunders.

Research &
Education
Association Congress of Vienna meets.
1814-1815

1815 The Congress of Vienna redraws Europe.

AP The congress system, instituted at Vienna, controls

1815-1822
European
international relations in Europe.

HISTORY 1818-1834
Prussia pioneers in formation of toll-free trade union.

1821-1827
The Greeks successfully wage wars of independence.

1825
Decembrist Revolt in Russia fails.

Reaction
In England, George Stephenson inaugurates the worlds
and More 1829
first rail line.
Revolutions Parliament in England declares Catholic emancipation.

(1815-1849)
Conservatives (Tories) in English parliament enact Corn
1815-1846 Laws to protect grain prices and landowners.

From Paris, revolution spreads to Belgium, Germanies,

1830
and Poland.

1832 English parliament enacts the Great Reform Bill.

Research &
Education
Association
1840s The Hungry Forties give birth to new ideas on socialism.
 Revolution sweeps Europeagain!

AP


1848



Congresses and parliaments crop up all over.
During the June Days, workers in Paris revolt when

European government closes the ateliers.

HISTORY 1848
Fall
Reactionary forces regain power in key countries.

The new Austrian emperor sends troops to rewin

Prague, north Italy, and other territories; French
1848-1849
troops save the pope; Russian troops crush the
Hungarian revolt; Prussian troops crush revolts in
Saxony, Baden, and Hesse, among others.
Reaction
and More
1850
Reaction back! The era of realpolitik begins.
Revolutions
(1815-1849)

Research &
Education
Association
 Louis Napoleon stages a coup dtat on December 2, 1851.

AP 1851
Crystal Palace is built to house industrial exhibitions.

European Europe becomes embroiled in the Crimean War.

1853-1856

HISTORY 1858-1870
France and Piedmont plan Italian unification.

Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species, which

1859
delineates his well-founded theory of natural selection.

1860-1862
Legislation to upgrade the army fails in Prussia.
Liberalism,
Nationalism, 1861
Tsar Alexander II emancipates the Russian serfs.
And Imperialism
1866
The German Civil War erupts.
(1850-1913)
A second Reform Bill extends suffrage in Britain; Germany and
1867 Austria extend suffrage as well.

1870-1871 Franco-Prussia War occurs.

1871 Paris Commune comes to powerbriefly.

Research & Europe and United States suffer through worldwide economic
Education 1873-1896 depression.
Association
 1877-1878
Russo-Turkish War leads to Congress of Berlin.

AP Bismarck institutes antisocialist laws and social

1878-1890
European
insurance legislation.

HISTORY
Jules Ferry secularizes French education.
1880s
European powers scramble for colonies in Africa!

1881
Alexander II is assassinated by radical populists.

1894-1906
The Dreyfus Affair rocks France.
Liberalism,
Nationalism, 1896
Theodor Herzl publishes Judenstaat.
And Imperialism
1898
Russian Social Democratic Party (RSPD) is formed.
(1850-1913)
1898-1904
Britain and France affect rapprochement in colonial affairs.

1900 Science marks major milestones!

1905 Russian Revolution occurs.

1909 Budget of 1909 sparks parliamentary crisis.

Research &
Education
Association 1911-1913 Literary advances explore social taboos.
 Kaiser Wilhelm II dismisses Otto von Bismarck as
1890
chancellor of Germany.

AP 1894
France and Russia form an alliance.

European
1904-1907 The Triple Entente emerges.

HISTORY

Young Turks revolt, Austria feuds with Russia,
and the Balkan wars occur.
1908-1913
Austria thwarts Serbias land and sea claims.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary is

June 28, 1914
assassinated by a Serbian nationalist.

Two July-August
Conflict between Austria and Serbia escalates into
World Wars 1914 World War I.

(1914-1945) 1914-1916
War rages on the western and eastern fronts.

Germans engage in submarine warfare; the United States

1915-1917
enters the war.

1916 Combatants attempt to break stalemates on all fronts.
March-November
Revolutions take Russia out of war.
1917
Research &
March 1918 Russia and Germany agree to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
Education
Association
November 11,1918 Truce ends Word War I.
 Paris Peace Conference crafts the Treaty of Versailles.
1919-1923

AP
1919-1920



Communist regimes arise in the West, but are
short lived.

European 1920s
Democracies struggle in the Westand the East.

HISTORY
Fascists take over the Italian government.
1922

German chancellor Gustav Stresemann implements

1922-1925
new foreign policy.

France occupies the Ruhr.

1923
Two
1923-1924
Mussolini consolidates power over Italy.
World Wars
November 9,
Beer-Hall Putsch occurs.
(1914-1945) 1924

Britain reinstitutes the gold standard, but then abandons
1925-1931 it again.

1929 Mussolini and the pope agree to the Lateran Accords.

1929-1932 World is rocked by the Great Depression.

The governments of Heinrich Brning, Franz von Papen, and

Research & Kurt von Schleicher fail to revive economy or solve parliamen-
Education 1930-1933 tary deadlock between Far Left (Communists) and Far Right
Association
(Nazis).
 1933-1934
Hitler sidelines domestic opposition.

AP 1935-1938
Hitler neutralizes foreign opponents.

European 1935-1939
Hitler escalates war against German Jews.

HISTORY
1935-1936
Mussolini attacks Ethiopia.

1936-1939
Fascists take over Spain.

Hitler takes the rump of the Czech state, Danzig,

March 1939
and the Polish Corridor.

Two 1939
Aug.-Sept. Hitler prepares for war; World War II begins.

World Wars 1940

War resumes on northern and western fronts.

(1914-1945) 1941 Germany antagonizes two new enemies.

1942-1945 Hitler implements his Final Solution.

late 1942 Allies begin to turn back the fascist tide.

1943 Wartime conferences commence.

Britain and Soviet Union meet in the Moscow ministerial

1944
Research & conference.
Education
Association 1945 The Allies meet at Yalta and Potsdam.
 The Cold War starts in Germany.
1945

AP France establishes the Fourth Republic.

1945-1946

1945
European
The Labour Party wins in Britain.

Christian Democrats rise to powerand stay

HISTORY
1945

on
therethroughout the Continent.

European countries divest themselves of their

1945-1999
overseas colonies.

Communist threat sparks crisis over Greece and

Cold War, Turkey.
1947
Unification, The Truman administration implements the Marshall Plan
and the as the economic arm to its political-military doctrine.
Decolonized 1948-1949
Currency crisis in the German zones leads to the Berlin airlift.
World
1949 The two Germanies are established.
(1945-2001)
1950 Six countries form the European Coal and Steel Community.

1949-1953 The Soviet Union acquires atomic weapons.

1954-1955 West Germany remilitarizes.

Research & Unrest occurs in Poland, Hungary, and the Suez Canal zone.
Education 1956
Association Nikita Khrushchev delivers his secret speech at the Twentieth
Party Congress.
 Treaty of Rome establishes the European Economic
Community (EEC).
AP 1957
The Soviets launch the Sputnik satellite.

European The Soviet government forbids author Boris Pasternak

1958
from attending the Nobel awards ceremony.
HISTORY A series of crises tip the Cold War toward the brink of
1960-1962
nuclear war.

In Berlin, Paris, and elsewhere, radicalized university

student riot.
Cold War, 1968
Unification, Prague Spring occurs.

and the 1973

The Common Market expands by three new members.
Decolonized
1975 Thirty-five nations sign the Helsinki Accords.
World
1982-1985 The EEC expands to twelve nations.
(1945-2001)
1992-1993 The Maastricht Treaty creates the European Union (EU).

Research &
Education
Association