17. First World War: August 4, 1914 to November 11, 1918

Causes: The events of July and early August 1914 are a classic case of "one thing led to another" - otherwise known as the treaty alliance system.
Mutual Defense Alliances- Over time, countries throughout Europe made mutual defense agreements that would pull them into battle. Thus, if one country was attacked, allied countries were bound to defend them.

16. Unification of Germany

• The unification of Germany into a politically integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at the Versailles Palace's Hall of Mirrors in France.
• Like Italy, Germany was also divided into many states. At the end of Napoleonic Wars 1792-1815 there were 38 independent states in Germany.
• In 1815, the German states along with the Austria were organized into a Germanic confederation.
• Prussia was one of the most powerful states.

15. Unification of Italy: 1848-70

The Italian Unification or Italian Risorgimento is known as the chain of political and military events that produced a united Italian peninsula under the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. These events can be broken down in five stages:

14. French Revolution

The French Revolution began in 1789 and ended in the late 1790s with the ascent of Napoleon Bonaparte. During this period, French citizens razed and redesigned their country’s political landscape, uprooting centuries-old institutions such as absolute monarchy and the feudal system. Like the American Revolution before it, the French Revolution was influenced by Enlightenment ideals, particularly the concepts of popular sovereignty and inalienable rights. Although it failed to achieve all of its goals and at times degenerated into a chaotic bloodbath, the movement played a critical role in shaping modern nations by showing the world the power inherent in the will of the people.

13. American Revolution 1775 – 83 in Chronology

The American Revolution (1775-83) is also known as the American Revolutionary War and the U.S. War of Independence. The conflict arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain's 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown. Skirmishes between British troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict, and by the following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their independence.

12. The Glorious Revolution in England: 1688 - 1689

Between 1688 and 1689, Parliament engineered the ouster of the legitimate male line of Stuart kings and imported a new Protestant king and queen:  William III and Mary II. 

Mary II was the Protestant daughter of James II from his first wife.  William was her husband. William of Orange was the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic and the primary opponent of the French Catholic king Louis XIV.