A shared history

European construction did not begin in 1950. This thread links the ancient inheritance, the Judeo-Christian matrix and the contemporary Union.

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326 events

3600 BC earliest marker

46 countries covered

0 already discussed

Event density

One century per bar before 1500, one decade after: archives are not evenly spread.

Ancient Greece Early Middle Ages Renaissance Enlightenment Concert of Europe European integration Rome High and Late Middle Ages Reformation and wars of religion Age of revolutions World wars Cold War

1780 1829 1879

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32 events

1700 1799

Enlightenment 2 events

1789 Text Early modern period France

Declaration of the Rights of Man

The Assembly proclaims universal rights. The political vocabulary of contemporary Europe flows directly from it.

1791 Text Early modern period Poland

Constitution of 3 May

Europe’s first written constitution, adopted shortly before the country’s third partition.

1800 1824

Age of revolutions 8 events

1804 Text Early modern period France

Civil Code

Napoleon commissions a synthesis of Roman and customary law, exported from Spain to Poland.

1806 Event Early modern period Liechtenstein

Sovereignty acquired

The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire leaves Liechtenstein fully sovereign.

1809 Event Early modern period Finland

Autonomous grand duchy

Attached to Russia, Finland keeps its Swedish laws and develops its institutions.

1812 Event Early modern period Moldova

Annexation of Bessarabia

Russia takes the eastern half of the principality at the Treaty of Bucharest.

1814 Text Early modern period Norway

Eidsvoll Constitution

On 17 May Norway adopts one of the most liberal constitutions of its time.

1814 Event Early modern period Sweden

Beginning of neutrality

Sweden’s last war. Two centuries of non-alignment begin.

1815 Treaty Early modern period Austria

Congress of Vienna

Metternich reorganises post-Napoleonic Europe: the continent’s first collective security system.

1815 Institution Early modern period Luxembourg Netherlands

Creation of the Grand Duchy

The Congress of Vienna makes Luxembourg a sovereign state in personal union with the Netherlands.

1825 1849

Concert of Europe 8 events

1830 Event Early modern period Belgium

Belgian independence

The Brussels revolution creates a constitutional kingdom, neutral and guaranteed by the powers.

1830 Event Early modern period Greece

Greek independence

Backed by European philhellenism, Greece becomes a state again after four Ottoman centuries.

1835 Text Early modern period Finland

Publication of the Kalevala

Lönnrot compiles the national epic, the foundation of the Finnish cultural awakening.

1843 Event Early modern period Slovakia

Codification of Slovak

Ľudovít Štúr fixes the literary standard, a precondition of modern nationhood.

1845 Disaster Early modern period Ireland

The Great Famine

A million dead, two million exiled: the island’s population has never recovered.

1848 Text Early modern period Switzerland

Federal Constitution

After a brief civil war, Switzerland becomes a federal state with direct democracy.

1848 Event Early modern period Slovenia

United Slovenia programme

The springtime of peoples sees the first national political claim formulated.

1849 Text Early modern period Denmark

Liberal constitution

Absolutism ends; Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy.

1850 1874

Concert of Europe 10 events

1859 Event Early modern period Romania

Union of the principalities

Cuza is elected in both Iași and Bucharest: modern Romania appears on the map.

1861 Event Early modern period Italy

Italian unification

The Risorgimento produces the Kingdom of Italy; Rome joins in 1870, ending the Papal States.

1861 Treaty Early modern period Monaco

Franco-Monegasque treaty

Monaco cedes Menton and Roquebrune and sees its independence recognised.

1863 Institution Early modern period Switzerland

Founding of the Red Cross

Henry Dunant creates in Geneva the institution that will give birth to humanitarian law.

1863 Event Early modern period Monaco

Monte-Carlo Casino

The Société des bains de mer turns a poor rock into a European destination.

1864 Event Early modern period Lithuania

Ban on the Lithuanian press

Forty years of book smuggling keep the language alive.

1867 Treaty Early modern period Hungary

Austro-Hungarian Compromise

Budapest becomes the second capital of an empire of fifty million people.

1867 Treaty Early modern period Luxembourg

Treaty of London

The fortress is dismantled and the country’s neutrality guaranteed by the powers.

1871 Event Early modern period Germany

Proclamation of the German Empire

At Versailles, Bismarck completes unification. A first-rank industrial power arises at the centre of the continent.

1873 Event Early modern period Latvia

First song festival

Dozens of choirs gather in Riga: song becomes the nation’s political expression.

1875 1899

Concert of Europe 4 events

1878 Treaty Early modern period Bulgaria

Treaty of Berlin

An autonomous Bulgarian principality is reborn after the Russo-Turkish war.

1878 Event Early modern period Serbia

Independence of Serbia recognised

The Congress of Berlin confirms Serbian sovereignty after four Ottoman centuries.

1878 Event Early modern period Montenegro

Independence of Montenegro recognised

The Congress of Berlin confirms a state the Ottomans had never fully subdued.

1878 Event Early modern period Bosnia and Herzegovina

Austro-Hungarian administration

The Congress of Berlin entrusts Bosnia to Vienna, which annexes it in 1908.