Essential Historical Dates to Know in Modern European History

1347

The bubonic plague arrives in Italy

1453

End of the Hundred Years’ War; Constantinople falls to the Ottomans

1492

The Moors and Jews are expelled from Spain; Columbus sails to the Americas

1517

Martin Luther posts his Ninety Five Theses in Wittenberg

1527

The Sack of Rome ends the Renaissance

1534

Act of Supremacy establishes the Church of England

1555

Peace of Augsburg allows Lutheranism in Hold Roman Empire

1572

St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre begins French Wars of Religion

1588

The Spanish Armada is defeated

1598

Edict of Nantes ends the French Wars of Religion

1603

Death of Elizabeth l

1642

English Civil War begins

1648

The Thirty Years War ends with the Treaty of Westphalia

1683

Ottoman Turks reach high water mark in Vienna

1687

Newton publishes Principia Mathematica

1688

Glorious Revolution in England

1713

Peace of Utrecht ends the War of Spanish Succession

1715

Death of Louis XIV

1725

Death of Peter the Great

1789

The French Revolution Begins

1796

Death of Catherine the Great

1815

The Congress of Vienna is Established

1848

Revolutions erupt across Europe; Communist Manifesto published

1853

The Crimean War Ends the Concert of Europe

1867

Austria-Hungary is formed with the Ausgleich

1871

The German Empire is Proclaimed

1914

World War One begins

1917

Russian Revolution Begins

1918

World War One ends

1929

The Great Depression begins

1939

World War Two begins

1945

World War Two ends

1953

Death of Stalin

1961

The Berlin Wall goes up

1989

The Berlin Wall comes down

1991

The Soviet Union collapses