Sections:

• Welcome
• American History
• European History
• Latin American History
• African History

Topics for this Section:

• Greek and Phoenician Colonization
  1. Introduction
  2. Colonies and Emporia
  3. Natural Resources in the Colonial Areas of Mediterranean World
  4. The Focus of Colonization
  5. Colony and Mother City
  6. Summary
• Origins and Movements of Greek Intellectuals
  1. General Introduction
  2. Introduction: Where Were the Greek Intellectuals Active?
  3. BC 800-323
  4. Introduction: Travel and the Exchange of Ideas
  5. Travel of Selected Intellectuals in More Detail
  6. Summary
• Sanctuaries and Diplomacy in the Greek World
  1. General Introduction
  2. Introduction: Olympia
  3. Olympia: 700 BC to 200 AD
  4. Introduction: Delphi
  5. Delphi: 800 BC to 200 AD
  6. Introduction: Nemea
  7. Nemea: 700 BC to 200 AD
  8. Introduction: Isthmia
  9. Isthmia: 700 BC to 200 AD
  10. Introduction: Olympic Victors
  11. Olympic Victors: 776 BC to 369 AD
• Roman Italy in the Republic
  1. Introduction
  2. Roman Expansion in Italy : 509-31 BC
  3. Census Figures: Roman Citizens.
  4. Summary
• Romanization
  1. Introduction
  2. The Romanization of the Western Mediterranean
  3. Elements of Cultural Change
  4. Case Study: the Gallic Provinces
  5. Summary
• Rome and Asia Minor
  1. General Introduction
  2. Introduction to Provincial Structure
  3. Provinces: BC 125-25
  4. Provinces: AD 1-276
  5. Second Introduction: Temples of the Imperial Cult
  6. Temples of the Imperial Cult
  7. Third Introduction: The Minting of Coins
  8. The Minting of Coins
  9. Summary
• Crisis of the 3rd Century
  1. Introduction
  2. AD 15-285
  3. AD 200-285
  4. Some Factors in the Crisis
  5. Other Archaeological Factors
  6. Summary
• Centers of Learning in the Middle Ages
  1. Introduction
  2. University Foundation Privileges
  3. High Medieval Period
  4. Jesuit Centers
  5. Pre-Modern Period
• The Reformation
• Peasant Rebellions in Early Modern Europe
  1. Introduction
  2. 1290-1424
  3. 1425-1549
  4. 1550-1699
  5. 1700-1800
  6. The Peasants' War of 1525
  7. France: 1600-1700
  8. Britain: 1756-1801
• Academies in Early Modern Europe
  1. Introduction
  2. 1650-1700
  3. 1701-1760
  4. 1761-1810
  5. Summary
• Communication and the Postal System in the Early Modern Period
  1. Introduction
  2. 1505-1541
  3. 1570-1610
  4. 1611-1648
  5. 1649-1799
• Spain
  1. Introduction
  2. Natural Resources of the Iberian Peninsula
  3. Ancient Iberia
  4. Germanic Invasions
  5. Visigothic Control
  6. Islamic Spain
  7. Reconquista
• France
• Italy
  1. Introduction
  2. Italy at the End of the Roman Empire
  3. Medieval Conquests of Italy
  4. High Middle Ages to the French Revolution
  5. Napoleonic Era
  6. Unification of Italy
• Russia in the 20th Century
  1. Introduction
  2. 1910-1991
  3. Summary
• The Cold War
  1. Introduction
  2. The Cold War in Europe : 1945-1990
  3. Reunification and Resolution
  4. Summary

Introduction

Already and well before the outbreak of WWI, Russia had become one of the largest land empires on Earth, exercising hegemony over people of many nationalities, religions and ethnicities. The Russian Imperial territories had been extended southwest to the Austrian-Hungarian Empire; east to the Pacific; south and east absorbing the Caucasus Mountains and Central Asia; and north all the way to the polar icecap.

Massive public suffering and discontent during WWI led to the resignation of the imperial monarchy of Russia. The Russian Provisional government and its Soviet successors made feeble attempts to continue the War and end it on terms favorable to Russia. The result was significant territorial losses to her western and southern boundaries. The Russian people and newly formed Communist/Bolshevik government viewed these losses as a humiliation.

WWI witnessed the end of several established empires including not only Tsarist Russia, but also the German and the Ottoman Empires. Russia, now the Soviet Socialist Republic, endured a three year Civil War. After the Bolshevik victory and the collapse of the Ottomans, Lenin successfully reclaimed many of the losses in Central Asia. These territories became Soviet Socialist Republics and joined together under a new name: the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

In the interwar period Lenin and Stalin regained most of the territories lost during and after WWI. This process was marked by the invasion in Central Asia and Asia minor, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 dividing Poland, and by the export of the Russian revolution to these areas.

During and after WWII, the Soviet Union continued to gain control of territories through invasion and reparations. The Yalta Conference (1943) allowed Stalin enough opportunities to gain control of several more central European countries. Fearing a revitalized and vengeful Germany as well as an ideologically hostile West, Stalin looked to use these countries as a defensive buffer and as a springboard for exporting the Revolution further west. Less then a century after disruptions of WWI and the Russian Revolution, the new Russian / Soviet Empire peaked with 15 republics, six Warsaw Pact states, and might again be described (by western historians) as the largest ‘empire’ on earth.

The glory of Soviet Russia was short lived. The cost of the Empire was unsustainable: the parallel arms race with the US and China and the stagnant Soviet economy led to an implosion of the Soviet fiscal and political system. The collapse of the Soviet State in the early 1990s led to the creation of some nation states that had previously been ethnic regions. Other territories that had been states before, such as Poland, where given new borders. However, many of the territories had never been independent, either dominated by Russia or else another empire. In total 15 republics and six Warsaw Pact countries became independent in 1991.