European History Transformations

• The Protestant Reformation saw the fragmentation of religious thought, leading to religious wars.
• The Age of Exploration led to colonization, and the exploitation of the people and resources of colonies brought resources and wealth to Europe.
• After 1800, the Industrial Revolution brought capital accumulation and rapid urbanization to Western Europe, while several countries transitioned away from absolutist rule to parliamentary regimes.
• The Age of Revolutions saw long-established political systems upset and turned over. In the 20th century, World War I led to a remaking of the map of Europe as the large Empires were broken up into nation-states.
• Lingering political issues would lead to World War II, during which Nazi Germany perpetrated the Holocaust.
• After World War II, during the Cold War, most of Europe became divided by the Iron Curtain in two military blocs: NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
• The post-war period saw decolonization as Western European colonial empires were dismantled.
• The post-war period also featured the gradual development of the European integration process, which led to the creation of the European Union; this extended to Eastern European countries after the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

The key facts from the text above are as follows:

• The Protestant Reformation saw the fragmentation of religious thought, leading to religious wars.
• The Age of Exploration led to colonization, and the exploitation of the people and resources of colonies brought resources and wealth to Europe.
• After 1800, the Industrial Revolution brought capital accumulation and rapid urbanization to Western Europe, while several countries transitioned away from absolutist rule to parliamentary regimes.
• The Age of Revolutions saw long-established political systems upset and turned over. In the 20th century, World War I led to a remaking of the map of Europe as the large Empires were broken up into nation-states.
• Lingering political issues would lead to World War II, during which Nazi Germany perpetrated the Holocaust.
• After World War II, during the Cold War, most of Europe became divided by the Iron Curtain in two military blocs: NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
• The post-war period saw decolonization as Western European colonial empires were dismantled.
• The post-war period also featured the gradual development of the European integration process, which led to the creation of the European Union; this extended to Eastern European countries after the Fall of the Berlin Wall.