Beginning with the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, we trace the development of the Industrial Revolution, the dissemination of ideas and ideologies across the continent, imperialism, two world wars, and the global repercussions of the Cold War.

We raise some big questions: How do we explain European predominance and decline in the modern era? Was the nation-state inevitable? Were free markets inevitable? Were democratic systems inevitable? How did the two world wars change the international system? How did Europe’s global entanglements over the last two centuries shape its societies?

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"Call to Power!"

October 1917. Lenin's "Call to Power'" was meant to mobilize Russians to take over power from Alexander Kerenski's Provisional Government.

The Conquerors of the Bastille before the Hotel de Ville

This is an oil on canvas painting called The Conquerors of the Bastille before the Hotel de Ville by a French artist named Delaroche Hippolyte. This…