World Chronicle

A universal history is a work aiming at the presentation of a history of all of mankind as a whole, coherent unit. A universal chronicle or world chronicle typically traces history from the beginning of written information about the past up to the present. Therefore, any work classed as such purportedly attempts to embrace the events of all times and nations in so far as scientific treatment of them is possible.

Universal history in the Western tradition is commonly divided into three parts, viz. ancient, medieval, and modern time.H. M. Cottinger
Elements of universal history for higher institutes in republics and for self-instruction
Charles H. Whiting, 1884. pg
1
. The division on ancient and medieval periods is less sharp or absent in the Arabic and Asian historiographies. A synoptic view of universal history led some scholars, beginning with Karl Jaspers, to distinguish the Axial Age synchronous to "classical antiquity" of the Western tradition. Jaspers also proposed a more universal periodization—prehistory, history and planetary history. All distinguished earlier periods belong to the second period (history) which is a relatively brief transitory phase between two much longer periods.

Historiography

Rankean historical positivism

The roots of historiography in the 19th century are bound up with the concept that history written with a strong connection to the primary sources could be integrated with "the big picture", i.e. to a general, universal history. For example, Leopold von Ranke, probably the pre-eminent historian of the 19th century, founder of Rankean historical positivism, the classic mode of historiography that now stands against postmodernism, attempted to write a Universal History at the close of his career. The works of world historians Oswald Spengler and Arnold J. Toynbee are examples of attempts to integrate primary source-based history and Universal History. Spengler's work is more general; Toynbee created a theory that would allow the study of "civilizations" to proceed with integration of source-based history writing and Universal History writing. Both writers attempted to incorporate teleological theories into general presentations of the history. Toynbee found as the ''telos'' (''goal'') of universal history the emergence of a single World State.

Modernization theory

According to Francis Fukuyama, modernization theory is the "last significant Universal History" written in the 20th century. This theory draws on Marx, Weber, and Durkheim. Talcott Parsons's ''Societies. Evolutionary and Comparative Perspectives'' (1966) is a key statement of this view of world history.

Instances and description

Ancient examples

Hebrew Bible

A project of Universal history may be seen in the Hebrew Bible,
which from the point of view of its redactors in the 5th century BC presents a history of humankind from creation to the Flood,
and from there a history of the Israelites down to the present. The Seder Olam is a 2nd-century CE rabbinic interpretation of this chronology.

Greco-Roman historiography

In Greco-Roman antiquity, the first universal history was written by Ephorus (fl. 4th century BC). This work has been lost, but its influence can be seen in the ambitions of Polybius (203–120 BC) and Diodorus (fl. 1st century BC) to give comprehensive accounts of their worlds. Herodotus' ''History'' is the earliest surviving member of the Greco-Roman world-historical tradition, although under some definitions of universal history it does not qualify as universal because it reflects no attempt to describe an overall direction of history or a principle or set of principles governing or underlying it. Polybius was the first to attempt a universal history in this stricter sense of the term:

'' Metamorphoses'' by Ovid has been considered as a universal history because of its comprehensive chronology—from the creation of mankind to the death of Julius Caesar a year before the poet's birth. In Leipzig are preserved five fragments dating to the 2nd century AD and coming from a world chronicle. Its author is unknown, but was perhaps a Christian. Later, universal history provided an influential lens on the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire in such works as Eusebius's '' Ecclesiastical History'', Augustine's '' City of God'', and Orosius' ''History Against the Pagans''.

Chinese historiography

During the Han Dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) of China, Sima Qian (145–86 BC) was the first Chinese historian to attempt a universal history—from the earliest mythological origins of his civilization to his present day—in his '' Records of the Grand Historian''. Although his generation was the first in China to discover the existence of kingdoms in Central Asia and India, his work did not attempt to cover the history of these regions.

Medieval examples

Western Europe

The ''universal chronicle'' traces history from the beginning of the world up to the present and was an especially popular genre of historiography in medieval Western Europe. The universal chronicle differs from the ordinary chronicle in its much broader chronological and geographical scope, giving, in principle, a continuous account of the progress of world history from the creation of the world up to the author's own times, but in practice often narrowing down to a more limited geographical range as it approaches those times.

The ''Chronica'' of Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 275–339) is considered to be the starting point of this tradition. The second book of this work consisted of a set of concordance tables (''Chronici canones'') that for the first time synchronized the several concurrent chronologies in use with different peoples. Eusebius' chronicle became known to the Latin West through the translation by Jerome (c. 347–420).

Universal chronicles are sometimes organized around a central ideological theme, such as the Augustinian idea of the tension between the heavenly and the earthly state, as depicted in the City of God, which plays a major role in Otto von Freising's ''Historia de duabus civitatibus''. Augustine's thesis depicts the history of the world as universal warfare between God and the Devil. This metaphysical war is not limited by time but only by geography as it takes place on planet Earth. In this war God moves (by divine intervention/ Providence) those governments, political /ideological movements and military forces aligned (or aligned the most) with the Catholic Church (the City of God) in order to oppose by all means—including military—those governments, political/ideological movements and military forces aligned (or aligned the most) with the Devil (the City of Devil).

In other cases, any obvious theme may be lacking. Some universal chronicles bear a more or less encyclopedic character, with many digressions on non-historical subjects, as is the case with the ''Chronicon'' of Helinand of Froidmont.

Bede wrote a universal history for the 66th chapter of his ''Reckoning of Time''. Other notable universal chroniclers of the Medieval West include the '' Chronicon universale usque ad annum 741'', ''Christherre-Chronik'', Helinand of Froidmont (c. 1160—after 1229), Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636), Jans der Enikel, Matthew Paris (c. 1200-1259), Ranulf Higdon (c. 1280-1363), Rudolf von Ems, Sigebert of Gembloux (c. 1030–1112), Otto von Freising (c. 1114–1158), and Vincent of Beauvais (c. 1190-1264?).

The tradition of universal history can even be seen in the works of medieval historians whose purpose may not have been to chronicle the ancient past, but nonetheless included it in a local history of more recent times. One such example is the ''Decem Libri Historiarum'' of Gregory of Tours (d. 594), where only the first of his ten books describes creation and ancient history, while the last six books focus on events in his own lifetime and region. While this reading of Gregory is currently a widely accepted hypothesis in historical circles, the central purpose of Gregory's writing is still a topic of hot debate.

Historiography of early Islam

In the medieval Islamic world (13th century), universal history in this vein was taken up by Muslim historians such as Tarikh-i Jahangushay-i Juvaini ("The History of The World Conqueror") by Ala'iddin Ata-Malik Juvayni, Jami al-Tawarikh ("Compendium of Chronicles") by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani (now held at the University of Edinburgh) and the '' Muqaddimah'' by Ibn Khaldun.

Modern historiography

An early European project was the '' Universal History'' of George Sale and others, written in the mid-18th century.

Christian writers as late as Bossuet in his ''Discours sur l'histoire universelle'' (Speech of Universal History) are still reflecting on and continuing the Medieval tradition of universal history.
Speech of Universal History is considered by many Catholics as an actual second edition or continuation of the City of God. In this work Bossuet continues to provide an update of universal history according to Augustine's thesis of universal war between those humans that follow God and those who follow the Devil. This concept of world history guided by Divine Providence in a universal war between God and Devil is part of the official doctrine of the Catholic Church as most recently stated in the Second Vatican Council' s Gaudium et Spes document: "The Church . . . holds that in her most benign Lord and Master can be found the key, the focal point and the goal of man, as well as of all human history...all of human life, whether individual or collective, shows itself to be a dramatic struggle between good and evil, between light and darkness...The Lord is the goal of human history the focal point of the longings of history and of civilization, the center of the human race, the joy of every heart and the answer to all its yearnings."

In the 19th century, universal histories proliferated.

Philosophers such as Kant, Herder, Schiller and Hegel, and political philosophers such as Marx and Herbert Spencer, presented general theories of history that shared essential characteristics with the Biblical account: they conceived of history as a coherent whole, governed by certain basic characteristics or immutable principles. Kant who was one of the earliest thinkers to use the term ''Universal History'' described its meaning in "Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose":

Universal chronicles

Ancient

Ancient history is the study of the past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. In India, the period includes the early period of the Middle Kingdoms, and, in China, the time up to the Qin Dynasty is included.

The Bronze Age forms part of the three-age system. In this system, it follows the Neolithic Age in some areas of the world. In the 24th century BC, the Akkadian Empire was founded. The First Intermediate Period of Egypt (c. 22nd century BC) was followed by the Middle Kingdom of Egypt between the 21st to 17th centuries BC. Around the 18th century BC, the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt began. By 1600 BC, Mycenaean Greece developed, the beginning of the Shang Dynasty in China emerged and there was evidence of a fully developed Chinese writing system. Also around 1600 BC, the beginning of Hittite dominance of the Eastern Mediterranean region is seen. From the 16th to 11th centuries BC the New Kingdom of Egypt dominated the Nile Valley. Between 1550 BC and 1292 BC, the Amarna Period developed.

The Iron Age is the last principal period in the three-age system, preceded by the Bronze Age. Its date and context vary depending on the country or geographical region.
During the 13th to 12th centuries BC, the Ramesside Period occurred in Egypt. Around c. 1200 BC, the Trojan War was thought to have taken place. By c. 1180 BC, the disintegration of the Hittite Empire was underway.

In 1046 BC, the Zhou force, led by King Wu of Zhou, overthrows the last king of the Shang Dynasty. The Zhou Dynasty is established in China shortly thereafter. In 1000 BC, the Mannaeans Kingdom begins in Western Asia. Around the 10th to 7th centuries BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire forms in Mesopotamia. In 800 BC, the rise of Greek city-states begins. In 776 BC, the first recorded Olympic Games are held.

ImageSize = width:1000 height:445
PlotArea = width:900 height:415 left:65 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify

Colors =
id:time value:rgb(0.7,0.7,1) #
id:period value:rgb(1,0.7,0.5) #
id:age value:rgb(0.95,0.85,0.5) #
id:era value:rgb(1,0.85,0.5) #
id:eon value:rgb(1,0.85,0.7) #
id:filler value:gray(0.8) # background bar
id:black value:black

Period = from:-3000 till:400
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:500 start:-3000
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:100 start:-3000

PlotData =
align:center textcolor:black fontsize:10 mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(0,-5)

bar:Time color:period
from: -3000 till: -1200 text: Bronze Age
from: -1200 till: 400 text: Iron Age
bar:Mideast color:era
from: -3000 till: -550 text: Mesopotamia
from: -550 till: -322 shift:(0,-10) text: Achaemenid
from: -322 till: -247 shift:(0,0) text: Seleucid
from: -247 till: 224 shift:(0,-10) text:Parthian
from: 224 till: 400 text: Sassanid
bar:Africa color:age
from: -3000 till: -800 text: Ancient Egypt
from: -800 till: 350 text: Kingdom of Kush
from: 350 till: 400 text:Axumite Empire
bar:Med/Europe color:era
from: -3000 till: -1200 text:Archaic
from: -1200 till: -650 text: Phoenicia
from: -650 till: -146 text: Ancient Greece
from: -146 till: 400 text: Ancient Rome
bar:Indus color:age
from: -3000 till: -1200 text:Indus Valley
from: -1200 till: -180 text: Iron Age India
from: -180 till: 1 text: Indo-Greeks
from: 1 till: 400 text: Middle kingdoms
bar:China color:era
from: -3000 till: -2000 text: Sovereigns and Emperors
from: -2000 till: -200 text:Ancient China
from: -200 till: 400 text:Imperial China
bar:N.Americas color:age
from: -3000 till: -1500 text:Archaic
from: -1500 till: 400 text:Classic
bar:C.Americas color:era
from: -3000 till: -1500 text:Archaic
from: -1500 till: 250 text:Formative
from: 250 till: 400 text:Classic
bar:S.Americas color:age
from: -3000 till: -1900 text:Archaic
from: -1900 till: 200 text:Preclassic
from: 200 till: 400 text:Classic

:''Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details''

Middle

The post-classical era, also known as the Middle Ages, is a historical period following the Iron Age, fully underway by the 5th century and lasting to the 15th century, and preceding the early Modern Era. The medieval + (middle + age); See Middle and Age. history is the middle period, or the middle age, in a three-period division of history: Classic, Medieval, and Modern. The precise dates of the beginning, culmination, and end of the medieval history are more or less arbitrarily assumed according to the point of view adopted. Any hard and fast line drawn to designate either the beginning or close of the period in question is arbitrary. The widest limits given, viz., the irruption of the Visigoths over the boundaries of the Roman Empire, for the beginning, and the Middle Ages of the 16th century, for the close, may be taken as inclusively sufficient, and embrace, beyond dispute, every movement or phase of history that can be claimed as properly belonging to the medieval history.

In Europe, the period saw the large-scale European Migration and fall of the Western Roman Empire. In South Asia, the middle kingdoms of India were the classical period of the region. The "Medieval" period on the Indian subcontinent lasts for some 1,500 years, and ends in the 13th century. During the late medieval history, several Islamic empires were established in the Indian subcontinent. In East Asia, the Mid-Imperial China age begins with the reunification of China and ends with China was conquered by the Mongol Empire. The Golden Horde invaded North and West Asia and parts of eastern Europe in the 13th century and established and maintained their khanate until the end of the medieval history.

The Early medieval history saw the continuation of trends set up in ancient history (and, for Europe, late Antiquity). The period is usually considered to open with those migrations of the German Tribes which led to the destruction of the Roman Empire in the West in 375, when the Huns fell upon the Gothic tribes north of the Black Sea and forced the Visigoths over the boundaries of the Roman Empire on the lower Danube. A later date, however, is sometimes assumed, viz., when Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustulus, the last of the Roman Emperors of the West, in 476. Depopulation, deurbanization, and increased barbarian invasion were seen across the Old World. North Africa and the Middle East, once part of the Eastern Roman Empire, became Islamic. Later in European history, the establishment of the feudal system allowed a return to systemic agriculture. There was sustained urbanization in northern and western Europe.

During the High medieval history in Europe, Christian-oriented art and architecture flourished and Crusades were mounted to recapture the Holy Land from Muslim control. The influence of the emerging states in Europe was tempered by the ideal of an international Christendom. The codes of chivalry and courtly love set rules for proper European behavior, while the European Scholastic philosophers attempted to reconcile Christian faith and reason.

During the Late medieval history in Europe, the centuries of prosperity and growth came to a halt.
The close of the medieval history is also variously fixed; some make it coincide with the rise of Humanism and the Renaissance in Italy, in the 14th century; with the Fall of Constantinople, in 1453; with the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492; or, again, with the great religious schism of the 16th century. A series of famines and plagues, such as the medieval Great Famine and the Black Death, reduced the population around half before the calamities in the late medieval history. Along with depopulation came social unrest and endemic warfare. Western Europe experienced serious peasant risings: the Jacquerie, the Peasants' Revolt, and the Hundred Years' War. To add to the many problems of the period, the unity of the Catholic Church was shattered by the Western Schism. Collectively the events are a crisis of the Late medieval history.

ImageSize = width:1000 height:500
PlotArea = width:900 height:470 left:65 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify

Colors =
id:time value:rgb(0.7,0.7,1) #
id:period value:rgb(1,0.7,0.5) #
id:span value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.5) #
id:age value:rgb(0.95,0.85,0.5) #
id:era value:rgb(1,0.85,0.5) #
id:eon value:rgb(1,0.85,0.7) #
id:filler value:gray(0.8) # background bar
id:black value:black

Period = from:400 till:1500
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:100 start:400
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:10 start:400

PlotData =
align:center textcolor:black fontsize:10 mark:(line, black) width:15 shift:(0,-3)

bar:Timeframe color:era
from: 476 till: 1000 text:Early period
from: 1000 till: 1300 text: High period
from: 1300 till: 1450 text: Late period
bar:Timeframe color:filler
from: 400 till:476 shift:(0,-7) text:( Iron Age)
from: 400 till:476 shift:(0,4) text: Ancient
from: 1450 till: 1500 shift:(2,4) text:Modern
from: 1450 till: 1500 shift:(2,-7) text: (Early)
bar:Europe color:filler
from: 400 till:476 text:Antiquity
from: 1400 till: 1500 text: Renaissance
bar:Europe color:age
from: 476 till: 700 text: Migration
from: 700 till:950 shift:(0,4) text: Feudalism
from: 700 till:950 shift:(0,-7) text:( Manorialism)
from: 950 till: 1100 text: Urbanization
from: 1100 till: 1240 text: Crusades
from: 1240 till: 1250 text: Mongols
from: 1250 till: 1400 text: Crisis
bar:N.Europe color:age
from: 400 till: 700 text: Germanic Iron
from: 700 till: 1100 shift:(0,4) text: Vikings
from: 700 till: 1100 shift:(0,-7) text:( Norsemen)
from: 1100 till: 1400 shift:(0,4) text: Christianization
from: 1100 till: 1400 shift:(4,-7) text:( Northern Crusades)
from: 1400 till: 1500 text:Kalmar Union
bar:E.Europe color:filler
from: 400 till: 500 shift:(15,4) text:Hunnic Empire
from: 400 till: 500 shift:(0,-7) text: Sarmatians
bar:E.Europe color:age
from: 500 till: 700 text: Migration
from: 700 till: 864 text: Rus' Khaganate
from: 864 till: 1237 text: Kievan Rus'
from: 1237 till: 1240 shift:(0,4) text: Mongols
from: 1240 till: 1283 shift:(0,-7) text: Sarai (Mongol)
from: 1283 till: 1400 text:Lithuania
from: 1400 till: 1500 text: Moscow
bar:C.Europe color:filler
from: 400 till: 475 shift:(15,0) text: Germanic Wars
bar:C.Europe color:age
from: 475 till: 751 text: Francia
from: 751 till: 888 text:Carolingians
from: 888 till: 962 text: E. Francia
from: 962 till: 1500 text: Holy Roman Empire
bar:Apennine color:filler
from: 400 till: 568 text: Roman Empire
bar:Apennine color:age
from: 568 till: 774 text:Lombard kingdom
from: 774 till: 962 text:Carolingians
from: 962 till: 1500 text: Holy Roman Empire
bar:British.Isle color:filler
from: 400 till: 500 text:Sub-Roman
bar:British.Isle color:age
from: 500 till: 927 shift:(0,4) text:Anglo-Saxon England
from: 500 till: 927 shift:(0,-7) text:( Heptarchy)
from: 927 till: 1500 text: Kingdom of England
bar:Iberia color:age
from: 400 till: 711 text: Visigothic Kingdom
from: 711 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text: Al-Andalus
from: 711 till: 756 shift:(0,-7) text: Muslim conquests
from: 756 till: 1031 shift:(0,-7) text: Córdoba Caliphate
from: 1031 till: 1500 shift:(0,-7) text: Reconquista
bar:Balkans color:age
from: 400 till: 700 text: Byzantine Empire
from: 700 till: 1000 shift:(0,4) text: 1st Bulgarian Empire
from: 700 till: 1000 shift:(0,-7) text: Byzantine Empire
from: 1000 till: 1200 text: Byzantine Empire
from: 1200 till: 1340 shift:(0,4) text: 2nd Bulg. Empire
from: 1200 till: 1340 shift:(0,-7) text: Byzantine Empire
from: 1340 till: 1389 text: Serbia
from: 1389 till: 1500 text:Ottomans
bar:M.East color:filler
from: 400 till: 622 text:Sassanid Empire
bar:M.East color:age
from: 622 till: 750 text: Muslim conquests
from: 750 till: 1050 text:Abbasids
from: 1050 till: 1171 text:Fatimids
from: 1171 till: 1250 text: Ayyubids
from: 1250 till: 1500 text:Mamluks
bar:India color:age
from: 400 till: 1250 text: Indian Middle kingdoms
from: 1250 till: 1500 text: Islamic empires
bar:C.Asia color:filler
from: 400 till: 632 shift:(0,4) text: Scythians
from: 400 till: 632 shift:(0,-7) text: Hephthalites
bar:C.Asia color:age
from: 632 till: 800 text: Muslim conquests
from: 800 till: 1000 text: Samanids
from: 1000 till: 1200 text: Khwārazm-Shāh
from: 1200 till: 1250 text: Mongols
from: 1250 till: 1500 shift:(0,-7) text: Chagatai Khanate(Mongol)
from: 1250 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text:Golden Horde(Mongol)
bar:China color:age
from: 400 till: 585 shift:(0,4) text: Six Dynasties
from: 400 till: 585 shift:(0,-7) text:( Early Imperial China)
from: 1368 till: 1500 text:Great Ming
from: 585 till: 618 text: Sui
from: 618 till: 907 text:Tang
from: 907 till: 960 text: 5 Dynasties, 10 Kingdoms
from: 960 till: 1275 text: Song
from: 1275 till: 1368 text: Yuan(Mongol)
bar:Japan color:age
from: 400 till: 710 shift:(0,4) text:Yamato
from: 400 till: 538 shift:(0,-4) text:Kofun
from: 538 till: 710 shift:(0,-4) text:Asuka
from: 710 till: 794 text: Nara
from: 794 till: 1185 text: Heian
from: 1185 till: 1333 text:Kamakura
from: 1333 till: 1336 text: Kenmu
from: 1336 till: 1500 text: Muromachi
bar:N.Americas color:age
from: 400 till: 650 text:Classic
from: 650 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text: Pre-Columbian
from: 650 till: 1000 shift:(0,-4) text:Woodland period
from: 1000 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:Mississippian culture
bar:C.Americas color:age
from: 400 till: 1500 shift:(-28,3) text: Mesoamerica
from: 400 till: 900 shift:(0,-4) text:Classic
from: 900 till: 1200 shift:(0,-4) text:Early Postclassic
from: 1200 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:Late Postclassic
bar:S.Americas color:age
from: 400 till: 1500 text:Classic

Modern

Modern history describes the historical period after the Middle history. Modern history can be further broken down into the '' early modern period'' and the ''late modern period'' after the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. ''Contemporary history'' describes the span of historic events that are immediately relevant to the present time. The Great Divergence refers to the period of time in which the process by which the Western Europe and the parts of the New World overcame pre-modern growth constraints and emerged during the 19th century as the powerful and wealthy world civilization of the time, eclipsing Qing China, Mughal India, Tokugawa Japan, and the Ottoman Empire.

The modern era began approximately in the 16th century. Many major events caused Europe to change around the start of the 16th century, starting with the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the fall of Muslim Spain and the discovery of the Americas in 1492, and Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation in 1517. In England the modern period is often dated to the start of the Tudor period with the victory of Henry VII over Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Early modern European history is usually seen to span from around the start of the 15th century, through the Age of Reason and the Age of Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries, until the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century.

Early modern age

The modern era includes the early period, called the early modern period, which lasted from c. 1500 to around c. 1800 (most often 1815). Particular facets of early modernity include:
* The Renaissance
* The Reformation and Counter Reformation.
* The Age of Discovery
* Rise of capitalism

The early period ended in a time of political and economic change as a result of mechanization in society, the American Revolution, the first French Revolution; other factors included the redrawing of the map of Europe by the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna and the peace established by Second Treaty of Paris which ended the Napoleonic Wars.

ImageSize = width:1000 height:505
PlotArea = width:900 height:470 left:65 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify
Colors =
id:time value:rgb(0.7,0.7,1) #
id:period value:rgb(1,0.7,0.5) #
id:age value:rgb(0.95,0.85,0.5) #
id:era value:rgb(1,0.85,0.5) #
id:eon value:rgb(1,0.85,0.7) #
id:filler value:gray(0.8) # background bar
id:black value:black

Period = from:1450 till:1850
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:100 start:1450
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:10 start:1450

PlotData =
align:center textcolor:black fontsize:10 mark:(line,black) width:11 shift:(0,-5)

bar:Timeframe color:era
from:1500 till:1800 text:Early modern period
bar:Timeframe color:filler
from:1450 till:1500 text: Late Middle Ages
from:1800 till:1850 text: Modern age

bar:N.Europe color:age
from: 1450 till: 1523 text:Kalmar Union
from: 1523 till: 1814 shift:(0,3) text:Denmark–Norway
from: 1523 till: 1814 shift:(0,-8) text:Sweden
bar:N.Europe color:filler
from: 1814 till: 1850 shift:(0,3) text: Denmark
from: 1814 till: 1850 shift:(0,-8) text: Sweden-Norway
bar:Spain color:age
from: 1492 till: 1850 shift:(0,3) text: Spanish Empire
from: 1492 till: 1700 text: Spanish Renaissance
from: 1700 till: 1814 text:Spanish Enlightenment
bar:Spain color:filler
from: 1450 till: 1492 text: Reconquista
from: 1814 till: 1850 text: Nationalism
bar:British.Isle color:age
from: 1450 till: 1770 shift:(0,4) text: Early modern Britain
from: 1450 till: 1770 shift:(-75,-8) text: Kingdom of England
from: 1770 till: 1801 text: Britain
bar:British.Isle color:filler
bar:British.Isle color:filler
from: 1801 till: 1850 shift:(0,4) text: Industrial Revolution
from: 1801 till: 1850 shift:(0,-8) text: United Kingdom
bar:France color:age
from: 1610 till: 1850 text:Ancien Régime
from: 1492 till: 1610 text: French Renaissance
from: 1450 till: 1789 shift:(0,4) text: Kingdom of France
bar:France color:filler
from: 1450 till: 1492 text: Late Middle Ages
from: 1789 till: 1792 shift:(0,4) text: French Revolution
from: 1789 till: 1850 shift:(9,-8) text:Modern France
bar:E.Europe color:age
from: 1450 till: 1547 text: Moscow
from: 1547 till: 1721 text: Tsardom of Russia
from: 1721 till: 1850 text: Russian Empire
bar:C.Europe color:age
from: 1450 till: 1806 shift:(-75,4) text: Holy Roman Empire
from: 1450 till: 1522 text:German Renaissance
from: 1522 till: 1618 shift:(0,-8) text: Reformation
from: 1618 till: 1648 text: Thirty Years War
from: 1648 till: 1815 text: Kleinstaaterei
from: 1806 till: 1815 shift:(0,4) text:Rhine Confederation
bar:C.Europe color:filler
from: 1815 till: 1850 shift:(-3,-8) text: German Confederation
bar:Italy color:age
from: 1450 till: 1559 shift:(-25,4) text: Renaissance
from: 1559 till: 1648 shift:(0,-8) text:Counter-Reformation
from: 1648 till: 1814 text: Foreign domination
bar:Italy color:filler
from: 1814 till: 1850 text:Italian unification
bar:Balkans color:age
from: 1450 till: 1850 shift:(0,3) text: Ottoman Empire
from: 1450 till: 1683 text: Ottoman growth
from: 1683 till: 1827 text: Ottoman stagnation
bar:Balkans color:filler
from: 1827 till: 1850 text: Ottoman decline
bar:M.East color:filler
from: 1450 till: 1517 text:Mamluks
bar:M.East color:age
from: 1517 till: 1850 shift:(0,6) text: Egypt Eyalet
from: 1517 till: 1850 shift:(0,-8) text:Ottoman Syria
bar:C.Asia color:age
from: 1450 till: 1687 text: Chagatai Khanate
from: 1687 till: 1756 text: Zunghar Khanate
from: 1756 till: 1850 text: Russian Empire
bar:C.Asia color:filler
from: 1450 till: 1502 text: Golden Horde
bar:China color:age
from: 1450 till: 1644 text: Ming Dynasty
from: 1644 till: 1850 text: Qing Dynasty
bar:Japan color:age
from: 1450 till: 1570 shift:(-75,4) text: Muromachi
from: 1467 till: 1570 shift:(0,-8) text: Sengoku
from: 1570 till: 1603 text: Azuchi–Momoyama
from: 1603 till: 1850 text:Edo period (Tokugawa)
bar:Korea color:age
from: 1450 till: 1850 text: Joseon Dynasty
bar:India color:age
from: 1450 till: 1526 text: Islamic empires
from: 1526 till: 1850 text: Mughal Empire
from: 1757 till: 1850 text:Company Raj
bar:N.America color:age
from: 1450 till: 1534 text: Mississippian
from: 1534 till: 1600 text: New France
from: 1600 till: 1770 text:British America
from: 1770 till: 1850 shift:(0,4) text: British Canada
from: 1770 till: 1850 shift:(0,-8) text: United States
bar:C.America color:age
from: 1521 till: 1535 shift:(33,-3) text: Spanish Conquest
from: 1535 till: 1821 text:New Spain
bar:C.America color:filler
from: 1450 till: 1521 text:Late Postclassic
from: 1821 till: 1850 text: Mexico
bar:S.America color:filler
from: 1450 till: 1500 text:Classic
bar:S.America color:age
from: 1500 till: 1815 text:Colonial Brazil
from: 1815 till: 1823 shift:(-6,5) text: United Brazil
bar:S.America color:filler
from: 1823 till: 1850 shift:(9,-4) text: Brazil

Late modern age

As a result of the Industrial Revolutions and the earlier political revolutions, the worldviews of Modernism emerged. The industrialization of many nations was initiated with the industrialization of Britain. Particular facets of the late modernity period include:
* Increasing role of science and technology
* Mass literacy and proliferation of mass media
* Spread of social movements
* Institution of representative democracy
* Individualism
* Industrialization
* Urbanization

Other important events in the development of the Late modern period include:
* The Revolutions of 1848
* The Russian Revolution
* The First World War and the Second World War

ImageSize = width:1000 height:505
PlotArea = width:900 height:470 left:65 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify

Colors =
id:time value:rgb(0.7,0.7,1) #
id:period value:rgb(1,0.7,0.5) #
id:span value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.5) #
id:age value:rgb(0.95,0.85,0.5) #
id:era value:rgb(1,0.85,0.5) #
id:eon value:rgb(1,0.85,0.7) #
id:filler value:gray(0.8) # background bar
id:black value:black

Period = from:1850 till:2013
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:25 start:1850
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:5 start:1850

PlotData =
align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark:(line, black) width:11 shift:(0,-3)

bar:Timeframe color:age
from:1850 till:1945 shift:(-100,4) text: Modern Age
from:1850 till:1945 shift:(0,-6) text: Late Modern Period
from:1945 till:2013 text: Contemporary Period

bar:Themes color:age
from:1850 till: 1860 shift:(0,4) text: Industrial Revolution
from:1860 till: 1914 shift:(0,4) text: 2nd Industrial Revolution
from:1860 till: 1914 shift:(20, -10) text: Long Depression
from:1914 till: 1918 shift:(0,4) text: World War I
from:1918 till: 1939 shift:(0,-7) text:Interwar
from:1939 till: 1945 shift:(0,4) text: World War II
from:1945 till: 2013 shift:(10,5) text: Atomic Age
from:1945 till: 2013 shift:(10,-5) text: ( Information Age)

bar:Germany color:age
from:1990 till:2013 text: Germany
from:1945 till:1990 text: Post-War Germany
from:1933 till:1945 shift:(0,5) text: Nazi Germany
from:1919 till:1933 shift:(0,-7) text: Weimar Republic
from:1870 till:1919 text: German Empire
from:1850 till:1870 text: German Confederation

bar:Italy color:age
from: 1850 till: 1865 text:Italian unification
from: 1865 till: 1946 shift:(-30,0) text:Italian Monarchy
from: 1922 till: 1943 text:Fascist Italy
from: 1946 till: 2013 text: Italian Republic

bar:France color:age
from:1940 till:1944 shift:(0,-6) text: Vichy France
from:1944 till:1958 shift:(0,4) text: 4th Republic
from:1958 till:2013 shift:(0,-5) text: 5th Republic
from: 1850 till:1852 shift:(0,5) text: 2nd Republic
from: 1852 till:1870 shift:(0,-5) text: 2nd Empire
from: 1870 till: 1940 shift:(-55,-5) text: 3rd Republic
from: 1870 till: 1914 shift:(-50,5) text:Belle Époque
from: 1870 till: 1940 shift:(-55,-5) text: 3rd Republic

bar:British.Isle color:age
from: 1850 till: 1922 shift:(-75,6) text: British Empire
from: 1850 till: 1922 shift:(-75,-4) text: ( Victorian era)
from: 1850 till: 1922 shift:(35,-13) text: Great Britain and Ireland
from: 1901 till: 1914 shift:(0,5) text: Edwardian era
from: 1914 till: 1918 shift:(0,-10) text: WWI Defense
from: 1918 till: 1939 shift:(0,10) text: UK Depression
from:1939 till:1945 text: WWII Defense
from: 1918 till: 2013 shift:(10,-13) text: Great Britain and Northern Ireland
from: 1945 till: 2013 shift:(-50,3) text: Postwar Britain
from: 1945 till: 2013 shift:(75,3) text:United Kingdom & Ireland

bar:Iberia color:age
from: 1975 till: 2013 text: Spain
from: 1850 till: 1873 shift:(0,-5) text: Nationalism
from:1931 till:1939 shift:(0,5) text: 2nd Republic
from:1936 till:1939 shift:(0,-7) text: Civil War
from:1874 till:1931 shift:(0,-7) text:Restoration
from:1873 till:1874 shift:(0,-5) text: 1st Republic
from:1850 till:1873 shift:(-15,7) text:Spanish Kingdom
from:1936 till:1975 shift:(0,-5) text: Francoist Spain

bar:Brazil color:age
from:1850 till:1889 text: Empire of Brazil
from:1889 till:1930 text: 1st Republic
from:1930 till:1946 text: Vargas Era
from:1946 till:1964 shift:(0,4) text: 2nd Republic
from:1964 till:1985 shift:(0,-10) text:Military dictatorship
from:1985 till:2013 text: Brazil

bar:M.East color:age
from:1850 till: 1918 text: Ottoman Empire's Dissolution
from:1918 till: 1922 shift:(0,1) text:Partition
from:1922 till: 1945 shift:(0,-10) text:French Mandate
from:1922 till: 1945 shift:(0,10) text: Mandatory Palestine
from:1945 till: 1990 text: Arab–Israeli conflict
from:1990 till: 2013 shift:(0,-5)text: Middle East
from:2010 till: 2013 shift:(-10,5) text: Arab Spring

bar:India color:age
from: 1850 till: 1858 shift:(5,6) text:Company rule
from: 1858 till: 1947 text: British Raj
from: 1947 till: 1947 shift:(0,6) text:Partition
from: 1947 till: 1950 shift:(25,-5) text: Dominion of India
from: 1947 till: 1956 shift:(25,-15) text: Dominion of Pakistan
from: 1950 till: 2013 shift:(50,-5) text: Non-Aligned India
from: 1956 till: 2013 shift:(50,-15) text: Islamic Pakistan

bar:Africa color:age
from: 1850 till: 1860 shift:(30,5) text: European exploration
from: 1860 till: 1950 shift:(-55,-5) text:Scramble for Africa
from: 1860 till: 1950 shift:(0,5) text: Colonisation
from: 1950 till: 1960 text: Decolonization
from: 1960 till: 2013 text:Post-colonial Africa

bar:China color:age
from:1850 till:1912 text: Qing Dynasty
from:1912 till:1949 shift:(0,5) text: Chinese Republic
from:1912 till:1949 shift:(0,-5) text: (Nanjing period)
from:1912 till:1949 shift:(75,-5) text: Civil War
from:1949 till:2013 text: People's Republic

bar:Japan color:age
from:1850 till:1868 text: Edo
from:1868 till:1912 text: Meiji
from:1868 till:1945 shift:(0,8) text: Imperial Japan
from:1928 till:1945 shift:(10,0) text: Shōwa
from:1912 till:1928 shift:(-10,-4) text: Taishō
from:1945 till:2013 shift:(-40,0) text: Postwar Japan
from:1989 till:2013 text: Heisei

bar:Russian color:age
from:1850 till:1917 shift:(-30,5) text: Russian Empire
from:1850 till:1855 shift:(20,5) text:Tsarist Russia
from:1855 till:1892 shift:(0,-5) text: Reforms and reactionaries
from:1892 till:1917 shift:(0,-5) text: Russian Imperialism
from:1917 till:1991 shift:(0,5) text: Soviet Union
from:1917 till:1927 shift:(0,5) text: Revolution
from:1927 till:1953 shift:(0,-5) text: Stalin
from:1953 till:1964 shift:(0,-5) text: Khrushchev
from:1964 till:1982 shift:(0,-5) text: Brezhnev
from:1982 till:1991 shift:(0,-5) text: Dissolution
from:1991 till:2013 text: Federation

bar:U.S. color:age
from:1850 till:1860 text: Antebellum
from:1860 till:1865 text: US Civil War
from:1865 till:1900 text: Gilded Age
from:1900 till:1918 shift:(0,3) text: Progressive Era
from:1918 till:1945 text: World Wars
from:1945 till:1964 text: Post-War
from:1964 till:1980 shift:(0,7) text: Cold War America
from:1980 till:1991 text: Republicanism
from:1991 till:2013 shift:(0,5) text: America

:::''Dates are approximate range (based upon influence), consult particular article for details''
::: Modern Age Other

Contemporary

The contemporary " Great Divergence" is a term given to a period starting in late 1970s when inequality grew substantially in the United States and to a lesser extent in other countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom. The term originated with Nobel laureate, Princeton economist and '' New York Times'' columnist Paul Krugman, and is a reference to the " Great Compression", an earlier era in the 1930s and 40s when income became dramatically more equal in the United States and elsewhere.The Great Divergence. By Timothy Noah
/ref>

ImageSize = width:1000 height:230
PlotArea = width:900 height:195 left:65 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify
Colors =
id:time value:rgb(0.7,0.7,1) #
id:period value:rgb(1,0.7,0.5) #
id:age value:rgb(0.95,0.85,0.5) #
id:era value:rgb(1,0.85,0.5) #
id:eon value:rgb(1,0.85,0.7) #
id:filler value:gray(0.8) # background bar
id:black value:black

Period = from:1900 till:2020
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1900
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1900

PlotData =
align:center textcolor:black fontsize:10 mark:(line,black) width:11 shift:(0,-5)

bar:Decades color:era
from:1973 till:2010 shift:(0,7) text: Post-Modern
from:1920 till:1929 text: Twenties
from:1929 till:1939 text: Depression
from:1960 till:1969 text:Sixties
from:1970 till:1979 text:Seventies
from:1980 till:1989 text:Eighties
from:1990 till:1999 text:Nineties
from:2000 till:2009 text: Noughties
from:2010 till:2019 text: Twenty-Tens
bar:Machine color:era
from:1900 till:1945 text: Machine Age
bar:World.Wars color:era
from:1914 till:1918 text: World War I
from:1918 till:1939 text:Interwar period
from:1939 till:1946 text: World War II
from:1946 till:1962 text: Post-war era
bar:Atomic color:era
from:1945 till:2010 text: Atomic Age
bar:Cold.War color:era
from:1945 till:1991 text:Cold War
bar:Space color:era
from:1957 till:2010 text: Space Age
bar:Info color:era
from:1970 till:2010 text: Information Age
from:2010 till:2010 text:Big Data
bar:Oil color:era
from:1901 till:2010 text:Age of Oil

See also

;Timelines

;Main: Macrohistory, Open and closed systems in social science, interconnectedness and holism, Causality and dynamical systems, Complex system
;People: David Christian, Jami' al-tawarikh, al-Tabari, John Clark Ridpath
;Books: '' Cyclopedia of Universal History'', ''Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose'', '' The End of History and the Last Man''
;Projects:Seshat (project)
;General: World-systems theory, Metanarrative, Cliometrics, Big History, Systems theory, Interdependence, Hindu units of time
;Other: Comparative history, Historical materialism, Integral theory, Epic of evolution, Chaos theory (and Butterfly effects), Systems theory in political science, Source criticism, Primary research and Secondary research, Literature review

References

Further reading

;Pre-1920s books

History, Its Theory and Practice
- Benedetto Croce, Douglas Ainslie.

Compendium of Chronicles
Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb
* George Crabb
Universal Historical Dictionary
Baldwin and Cradock, 1833

An universal history: in twenty-four books
Volume 1 By Johannes von Müller, James Cowles Prichard
* Bonnaud, Robert, ''The System of History'', Fayard 1989, 334 pages (not yet translated).
* Guha, Ranajit,
History at the Limit of World-History
(Italian Academy Lectures), Columbia University Press 2002.
* Sale, George, Archibald Bower, and George Psalmanazar,
An Universal History, from the Earliest Account of Time
. Millar, 1747.
* Wilson, Horace Hayman,
A manual of universal history and chronology
. 1835.
*Jones, Lynds Eugene, George Palmer Putnam, and Simeon Strunsky,
Tabular Views of Universal History
. G. P. Putnam's sons, 1907. 313 pages.
* Fisher, George Park,
Outlines of Universal History
. Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor, and company, 1885. 674 pages.
* Georg Weber,
Outlines of Universal History: From the Creation of the World to the Present Time
. Hickling, Swan and Brewer, 1859. 559 pages. (ed. Translated by M. Behr).
* Ollier, Edmund,
Cassell's illustrated universal history
Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co., 1885.
* Clare, Israel Smith,
Library of Universal History
. R. S. Peale, J. A. Hill, 1897.


R. S. Peale, J. A. Hill, 1897.

Egypt's Place in Universal History: An Historical Investigation in Five Books
- Christian Karl Josias Freiherr von Bunsen, Samuel Birch, Philo (of Byblos.).


Louis Heilprin.
* ttps://books.google.com/books/about/Die_Weltgeschichte_in_%C3%BCbersichtlicher_D.html?id=Sfs1AAAAMAAJ%20%20 World history in a concise representation Georg Weber - German

An Introduction to the Study of Universal History
John Stoddart
* Hegel, GWF. ''Philosophy of Right.'' TM Knox, tr. Oxford UP: New York, 1967. para. 341-360 (pp. 216–223). As a point of clarification, Hegel writes of World History, although this is somewhat identical to Universal History.
* Kant, Immanuel. “Idea for a Universal History from a Cosmopolitan Point of View.” In ''Philosophical Writings.'' Ernest Behler, ed. Lewis W Beck, tr. Continuum: New York, 1986. pp. 249–262.

;Post-1920s books
* '' A Study of History'' by Arnold Toynbee.
* '' The Outline of History'' by Herbert Wells.
* ''The Philosophy of History'' by Karl Jaspers.
* Mink, Louis O. “Narrative Form as a Cognitive Instrument.” In ''Historical Understanding.'' Brian Fay, et al., eds. Cornell UP: Ithaca, 1987. pp. 182–203.
* White, Hayden. ''Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe.'' Johns Hopkins UP, 1975.
* D Christian. "The return of universal history." History and Theory 49.4 (2010): 6-27. DOI 10.1111/j.1468-2303.2010.00557.x
* George Park Fisher. Outlines of Universal History Designed as a Text Book and for Private Reading. Kessinger Publishing, Jun 1, 2004.

The Rise of the West
A History of the Human Community. By William H. McNeill.
* '' The End of History and the Last Man'' by Francis Fukuyama.
''Teaching & Researching Big History: Exploring a New Scholarly Field'', International Big History Association, 2014

;Patents
* , Chart for Teaching Universal History, Nov 1, 1920.

;Websites
*

. (Visual tour)
*
World History Atlas & Timelines since 3000 BC
. (Geacron)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Universal History
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Chronicles
Historiography
Intellectual history
Linear theories
Theories of history
World history

ca:Història universal
ru:Универсальная история