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CatalanTimeline Late Modern period (1789-1945)
The timeline of the Late Modern period covers a historical period of two centuries, from the French Revolution in 1789 to 1945.
Elliot Fernández
He has a degree in History from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (2009) and a Master's in World History from Pompeu Fabra University (2011).
Post on 21/07/2020 | Updated on 12/10/2022
Table of content:
The Late Modern History period is the historical stage closest to the present time. It is traditionally considered to have begun with the French Revolution of 1789 and has continued up to the present day. But some historians have considered it appropriate to take this stage to the end of the World War II. The timeline of the Late Modern Period synthesizes the main events that have occurred during this period.
It is a relatively short period of only two centuries. Time when history accelerated. It was the period when humanity experienced the most profound changes. There were technological, political, demographic and economic revolutions of great importance.
The events of this period have been marked by accelerated transformations. It began with the French Revolution (politics) and was followed by the Industrial Revolution (economics). While the pre-industrial society was being destroyed, a new class society was being built. The contemporary world is dominated by a new privileged elite, the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie replaced its traditional antagonists (the aristocrats) in power.
Contemporary society experienced the birth and development of a new social class, the labour movement. The workers put forward different alternatives to capitalism through the unions and the left-wing political parties.
In the political field, new ideologies and political forms emerged. The most prominent political movements were liberalism, nationalism and totalitarianism.
In contrast, the 20th century saw the greatest wars known to mankind. The first half of the century saw the World War I and the World War II. Between one war and the other, the world experienced the emergence of totalitarian regimes. Their maximum expression was Nazism in Germany.
The timeline of Late Modern Period 1789-1945: an interconnected world
The timeline of the Late Modern Period contained here shows the most outstanding events of the period from a Eurocentric view of the world. But the contemporary world is the most universal historical stage in history. The revolution in transport made it possible to have an interconnected planet. Political and economic relations went beyond the traditional borders of the European continent.
Main historical facts of the period 1789-1800:
| Event | Period | Dates | City | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First permanent European settlement established in Australia by Great Britain in Sydney. | British Empire | 26th January 1788 | Sidney | Australia |
| Inauguration as the first President of the United States of George Washington | Independence United States of America | 30th April 1789 | New York | United States of America |
| Creation of the Breton Club and the subsequent Society of Friends of the Constitution | French Revolution | 30th April 1789 | Versailles | France |
| Opening of the 1789 Estates General at the Hôtel des Menus Plaisirs | French Revolution | 5th May 1789 | Versailles | France |
| The members of the Third Estate constitute the National Assembly, by refusing to deliberate jointly with the other two Estates (nobility and clergy). | French Revolution | 17th May 1789 | Versailles | France |
| Jeu de Paume Oath, the deputies of the National Assembly swear not to separate until they have endowed France with a Constitution. | French Revolution | 20th June 1789 | Versailles | France |
| With the accession of the deputies of the clerical and noble states to the National Assembly, it becomes the National Constituent Assembly. | French Revolution | 9th July 1789 | Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs, Versailles | France |
| Storming of the Bastille | French Revolution | 14th July 1789 | Paris | France |
| Approval of the 4th August Decrees: abolition of Feudalism and of the privileges of the nobility and the clergy | French Revolution | 4th August 1789 | Versailles | France |
| Proclamation of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. | French Revolution | 26th August 1789 | Versailles | France |
| The Assemblée nationale constituent (National Constituent Assembly) moves from Versailles to Paris | French Revolution | 19th October 1789 | Salle du Manège at the Tuileries, Paris | France |
| The Society of Friends of the Constitution becomes the Jacobin Club | French Revolution | 19th October 1789 | Paris | France |
| The Society for the Rights of Man and the Citizen, better known as the Cordeliers Club, is founded. | French Revolution | 27th April 1790 | Paris | France |
| The civil constitution of the clergy is sanctioned by King Louis XVI | French Revolution | 22nd July 1790 | Paris | France |
| Louis XVI of France sends a message of help to Frederick William II of Prussia to stop the revolution. | French Revolution | 3sd December 1790 | Paris | France |
| The Society of Friends of the Constitution or Club des Feuillants is created, an aristocratic split from the Jacobins, in favour of a constitutional monarchy. | French Revolution | 16th July 1791 | Paris | France |
| The French Revolutionary Wars begin. The National Assembly declares war on Austria, considered the focus of the counter-revolution | French Revolution | 20th April 1791 | France | |
| The Assembly votes the Constitution of 1791, which establishes a constitutional monarchy in which the legislative power is exercised by a Legislative Assembly, elected by census suffrage. | French Revolution | 3rd – 13th September 1791 | Paris | France |
| The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen (French: Déclaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne), was written by French activist, feminist, and playwright Olympe de Gouges in response to the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. | French Revolution | 14 September 1791 | Paris | France |
| Popular insurrection in Paris, called the 10th of August 1792. The insurrectionary Commune of Paris is constituted, the people take the Tuileries Palace, residence of the kings. Fall of the constitutional monarchy. | French Revolution | 10th August 1792 | Paris | France |
| Creation of the first Revolutionary Court, at the request of Maximilien de Robespierre. | French Revolution | 17th August 1792 | Paris | France |
| The Haitian Revolution was a successful insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue. The revolt ended in 1804 with the former colony’s independence. It involved black, biracial, French, Spanish, British, and Polish participants—with the ex-slave Toussaint Louverture emerging as Haiti’s most charismatic hero. | Haitian Revolution | 22nd August 1791 – 18th November 1804 | Saint-Domingue | Haiti |
| The New York Stock and Exchange is founded. | Capitalism | 17th May 1792 | New York | United States of America |
| Establishment of the First French Republic. The monarchy is abolished in France by the National Convention | French Revolution | 21st September 1792 | Paris | France |
| Execution of Louis XVI in the Place de la Révolution | French Revolution | 21st January 1793 | Paris | France |
| The Convention establishes the Committee of Public Safety. | French Revolution | 6th April 1793 | Paris | France |
| The Convention adopts the Law of Suspects that allowed massive arrests for the sole suspicion of being an enemy of the revolution. The period of “The Terror” begins. | French Revolution | 17th September 1793 | Paris | France |
| The Convention approves the Law of Pradial 22, which begins the Great Terror. | French Revolution | 10th June 1793 | Paris | France |
| Fall of Maximilien de Robespierre in the Coup d’état of 9 Thermidor | French Revolution | 27th July 1793 | Paris | France |
| The Constitution of the year III is approved, which establishes the regime of the Directory after the fall of the revolutionary government of the Convention | French Revolution | 22nd August 1795 | Paris | France |
| Coup d’état on 18 Fructidor. The republicans defeat the monarchists. | French Revolution | 4th September 1797 | Paris | France |
| Napoleon Bonaparte’s coup d’état of the 18th brumaire against the Directory. The regime of the Consulate begins. | French Revolution | 9th November 1799 | Paris | France |
| A group of English textile workers in Manchester rebelled against the introduction of machinery which threatened their skilled craft. This was one of the initial riots that would occur under the Luddite movement. | Industrial Revolution / Luddite movement | 9th October 1799 | Manchester | United Kingdom |
| The first large-scale Luddite riot took place in Arnold, Nottingham resulting in the destruction of machinery. | Industrial Revolution / Luddite movement | 1811 | Nottingham | United Kingdom |
Main historical facts of the period 1800-1900:
| Event | Period | Dates | City | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formation of First International | Industrial capitalism era | 28/9/1864 | London | United Kingdom |
Main historical facts of the period 1900-1945:
| Event | Period | Dates | City | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSDAP’S foundation | Interwar period | 24/2/1920 | Munich | Germany |
| Beer Hall Putsch | Interwar period | 8/11/1923 – 9/11/1923 | Munich | Germany |
| Agreement against the Communist International (The Anti-Comintern Pact) | World War II | 25/11/1936 | Berlin | Germany |
| Japanese occupation of China (Second Sino-Japanese War) | World War II | 7/7/1937 | Beijing | China |
| The annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany (Anschluss) | World War II | 11/3/1938 – 13/3/1938 | Vienna | Austria |
| Munich Agreement | World War II | 30/9/1938 | Munich | Germany |
| Italian invasion of Albania | World War II | 7/5/1939 – 12/5/1939 | Tirana | Albania |
| Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy (the Pact of Steel) | World War II | 22/5/1939 | Berlin | Germany |
| Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact) | World War II | 23/8/1939 | Moscow | Russia |
| Germany invades Poland. Beginning of WWII | World War II | 1/9/1939 | Warsaw | Poland |
| Cabinet of Winston Churcill as Prime Minister | World War II | 10/5/1940 – 26/7/1945 | London | United Kingdom |
| Wannsee Conference | World War II | 20/1/1942 | Berlin | Germany |
| Battle of Stalingrad | World War II | 23/8/1942 – 2/2/1943 | Volgograd | Russia |
| Dissolution of the Third International (Komintern) | World War II | 15/5/1943 | Moscow | Russia |
| Tehran Conference | World War II | 28/11/1943 – 3/12/1943 | Teheran | Iran |
| Verona Trial | World War II | 8/1/1944 – 10/1/1944 | Verona | Italy |
| Normandy landings | World War II | 6/6/1944 | Normandy | France |
| Liberation of Paris | World War II | 19/8/1944 – 25/8/1944 | Paris | France |
| Fourth Moscow Conference | World War II | 9/9/1944 – 19/9/1944 | Moscow | Russia |
| Yalta Conference | World War II | 4/2/1945 – 11/2/1945 | Yalta | Russia |
| Battle of Berlin | World War II | 6/4/1945 – 9/5/1945 | Berlin | Germany |
| Potsdam Conference | World War II | 17/7/1945 – 2/8/1945 | Potsdam | Germany |
All articles of the course:
Timeline of Contemporary period (1945-2020) Timeline Late Modern period (1789-1945)
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