The World History Introduction

The article uncovers the main principles accepted in the historical approach to time-period classification, including the widely recognised naming and chronological definition of the periods.

Here we list the civilisations you will meet in the library collection, explaining the publications’ topics and providing direct links to them.

The purpose of this article is to inform the reader about the general approaches we applied and the methodology we used.

All content is educational in purpose and aims at the popularisation of historical knowledge for a wide range of readers, from school pupils to the general public.

Condensed Historical Periods Classification

We divided the approaches to period classification into two sections. Here you will see the more shortened, so-called orthodox classification, used mostly in school courses and in the 1960s. The other section extends the presentation to a more accurate modern classification.

Prehistory (Before writing systems)

Before writing; before states.

  1. Human evolution, stone technologies, hunter–gatherer lifeways.
  2. Ends with the emergence of agriculture and writing in different regions.

Ancient World

From the appearance of writing to the fall of major classical empires. Typical timeframe: ca. 3300 BC – AD 500 (varies by region).

  1. Early states and first civilisations (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus, China).
  2. Bronze & Iron Age societies.
  3. Expansion of classical cultures (Greece, Rome, Persia, India, China).
  4. Establishment of large-scale trade networks and codified religions.

Medieval / Post-Classical World

After the classical collapse; formation of new cultural and political orders. Typical timeframe: ca. AD 500 – 1500.

  1. Byzantium, Islamic Caliphates, medieval Europe, African kingdoms, Tang–Song China.
  2. Growing regionalisation, then later global connectivity.
  3. Rise of feudal structures, religious states, and new empires.

Early Modern Period

Transition to globalisation, science, and early capitalism. Typical timeframe: ca. 1500 – 1800.

  1. Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution.
  2. Maritime expansion and formation of global empires.
  3. Pre-industrial economic growth and urbanisation.

Modern Period

Industrial, political, and social transformation on a global scale. Typical timeframe: ca. 1800 – 1945.

  1. Industrial Revolution, nation-states, democratic and revolutionary movements.
  2. Imperialism, world wars, decolonisation.
  3. Rapid scientific and technological innovation.

Contemporary Period

Post–World War II to present; global interconnected world. Typical timeframe: 1945 – present.

  1. Cold War, nuclear age, space age.
  2. Information and digital revolutions, globalisation.
  3. Climate challenges, multipolar geopolitics, and numerous sources lead many scientists to consider that this period does not relate to historical science, but is closer to sociology, politology, and related fields.

The ancient and prehistoric world collection presents you a wide range of general and detailed publications about the Sumerian kingdom, Babylonian civilisation, Persia, Greece and its city-states with detailed research into the ancient Greeks' socio-economy structure, prominent Greeks’ philosophers and politicians such as Aristotle, Diodorus Siculus, Herodotus, Plutarch, Thucydides, Xenophon; ancient Rome, the Roman Empire and Rome from the settlement to the giant Roman Empire, listed all prominent impactors starting from the seven kings of Rome, interregnum period and decline of the Roman monarchy, the Roman *Respublica* evolution, the Roman law foundation well known as the decemvirate-generated Twelve Tables, with later metamorphoses leading to sole-leadership ruled together by emperors and senate, first tyranny, and political games within Rome. The Jewish kingdom, or sometimes called Israelites' kingdom, Biblically known as The House of David, its historical pathway from first records, the nation-slavery, expulsion from the native territories, and then restoration with alias of third power, the Jewish temples’ destiny. Indus Harappan civilisation gathering and establishing the kingdom from scattered mostly unlinked tribes to a culture with well-developed administrative governing. China from the earliest settlements to Shang dynasty administrative reorganisation, its feudalistic approach, and comparison with medieval European feudalistic structure. The American continental civilisation, overall review of the civilisation, listing, and comparison of those historical evolutions with Mediterranean civilisations’ destiny and their pathways as well. The section contains also several publications as brief superficial reviews aimed to inform the reader of the conceptual design and generalisation dedicated civilisation, or set of civilisations, with comparative analyses. [Visit the section by clicking on the paragraph.]

Medieval history library is a collection of publications that includes all major civilisations’ metamorphoses (we united the Medieval and partially Early Modern period to the library section, from the point of view of difficulty to separate some processes to a dedicated period), continuing the tracing of human history evolutionary processes. It includes the post-classical world, the early Christianity, the evangelistic world sunrise, the Inquisition period, the Crusaders’ epoch, the Islamic world birth and rising, the Ottoman Empire foundation, Middle East development, early scientific achievements, this fleeing and pressure of religious authority to the development of science, and at the same time its controversy in policy when prominent religious actors were the scientists at the same time. The decline and end of the Byzantine Empire. We will trace the self-isolation China civilisation development policy, Japanese culture continuation of development, its feudalistic unique design, and will trace the Japan feudalistic approach vs European hierarchy. We will be spectators of the American conquest tragedy, and will see the failure of the major American civilisations impacted by the Columbian discovery consequences. And at the same time the section presents you a series of comparative publications which will serve as good tutorials for more deep understanding of the historical processes of that time. The foundations of England and its kingdoms, Carolingian epoch, France, Italy, German counties, Eastern European civilisations, the Ukrainian culture, the Nordic tribes, Vikings’ impact on the world ethnicity reshaping, Mongol invasion and reorganisation of Eastern Europe under this power, the Russia establishing as a vassal of the Mongol power, and vanishing the city-states with alias ruled by Mongol military forces and political obeying or destroying principles, and many other period-related events (e.g. Hundred Years' War, such figures as Charles of Blois-Châtillon, and its impact on the France medieval history pathway). [Visit the section, clicking the paragraph...]

The romantique epoche, accompanied with numerous conflicts, wars, such as the Thirty Years' War, the Great France revolution, the First France Respublica, restoration of the sole ruler power, emperor of the France, first World's Nation, scientific revolution, France-centric cultural world, philosophy second wave of prosperity, Russian Empire expansion, reduction of the Ottoman Empire influence, the reduction of the Pope influence on the counties and reigns around the Christianic world, end of the Inquisition, powder misterity, and hunting for the secret of the powder magic, and many other publications are present in the epoche section. [Renaissance Epoch (ca. 1500 – 1800.), visiting the library, click on the paragraph.]

The modern period collection you will find in the Modern Period (ca. 1800 – 1945) section. All events such as European domination, Industrial Revolution, second wave of the scientific revolution, losing the religion impact within societies, Darwinian impact on the scientific and philosophic approaches, medical science establishing, the history as a science foundation, British Empire prosperity, American Civil War, USA from colony to independence pathway, end of empires, Marxism, and utopy theories of social inequality, and exploiting humans by humans, early democracy application and the democracy philosophy reorganisation in the USA approach, the Great War, the World War Two, Chinese state failure, two Chinas, the League of Nations and its decay, Soviet Empire, and the Western world. All these events and many unlisted here are present in the library section. [Visit the section to see all publications and tutorials]

Cross Civilisations Library contains the large publications with complex reviews as civilisations’ world map in a single publication, for comparative analyses, and the large publications related to dedicated civilisations as well, with brief complex review of the civilisation from the prehistoric period till present days with the core events the civilisation passed over. The topics include American civilisations research, ancient civilisations of the Mediterranean, Japan, China, Indus, Korea, Western Europe pathway, Eastern Europe historical evolution, Australia metamorphoses, Roman Empire impact on the history of the world, Ottoman Empire world impact, globalisation in modernity, and many other complex analytical and researching materials that may be useful as tutorials, and researching base, as simple reading for history enthusiasts. [See the publications, click the paragraph]

Global Historical Period Classifications (Expanded, Widely Accepted)

Just as we declared before here you will see scholarly accepted periodisation in historical approach.

Prehistory (Before writing systems)

Prehistory differs by region because writing appears at different times.

Paleolithic (Old Stone Age)

ca. 3.3 million BP – 10,000 BC

  • Emergence of the earliest stone tools.
  • Fully hunter–gatherer societies.
  • Progressive cognitive, social, and technological evolution (fire, symbolic behaviour, long-distance networks).

Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age / Epipaleolithic)

ca. 10,000 – 6,000 BC (varies by region)

  • Transition after the Last Glacial Maximum.
  • Broad-spectrum subsistence, microlithic tools.
  • Semi-sedentary communities appear in some regions.

Neolithic (New Stone Age)

ca. 10,000 – 3,000 BC (regional variation)

  • Domestication of plants and animals.
  • Permanent villages, pottery, weaving.
  • First proto-urban sites; early ritual architectures.

Chalcolithic (Copper Age)

ca. 5,000 – 3,000 BC

  • Early metallurgy (copper), but stone tools still dominant.
  • Social stratification increases; long-distance trade intensifies.

Ancient History (Early states → Classical world)

Bronze Age

ca. 3,300 – 1,200 BC

  • Emergence of writing (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus, China).
  • Urbanisation, administration, codified law.
  • Complex polities and early empires.

Iron Age

ca. 1,200 – 500 BC (varies by region)

  • Widespread use of iron tools and weapons.
  • Rise of powerful states and empires (Neo-Assyrian, Zhou China, Vedic polities).
  • Foundation of classical civilisations.

Classical Antiquity

ca. 500 BC – AD 500

  • Greek city-states, Hellenistic world, Roman Republic/Empire.
  • Maurya / Gupta India, Qin–Han China.
  • Expansion of philosophy, science, global trade routes, and world religions.

Post-Classical Era (Early Middle Ages → Global cultural formations)

Late Antiquity

ca. AD 250 – 750

  • Transformation of Roman world; rise of Byzantium.
  • Spread of Christianity and emergence of Islam.
  • Formation of early medieval polities across Eurasia.

Early Middle Ages

ca. AD 500 – 1000

  • Fragmentation and regionalisation of power.
  • Viking Age, Carolingian world, early Slavic and steppe polities.
  • Tang–Song transition in China; classical Maya peak.

High Middle Ages

ca. AD 1000 – 1300

  • Feudal consolidation; agricultural expansion.
  • Crusades; intensification of global trade (Silk Road, Indian Ocean).
  • Song Chinese economic revolution.

Late Middle Ages

ca. AD 1300 – 1500

  • Crises: plague, climate changes, political fragmentation.
  • Rise of early national monarchies. (This is not “national” in the contemporary meaning, as at that time the nation was mostly understood as a territorial designation under the highest senior power to whom all vassals were subordinated.)
  • Pre-Renaissance cultural movements.

Early Modern Period

Renaissance

ca. 1400 – 1600

  • Revival of classical learning, arts, science.
  • Transformation in urban life and intellectual culture.

Age of Discovery / Maritime Expansion

ca. 1400 – 1700

  • European global maritime networks.
  • Columbian exchange, early colonial empires.
  • Intensification of Afro-Eurasian–American contact.

Reformation & Religious Conflicts

ca. 1500 – 1650

  • Protestant–Catholic schisms; new confessional states.

Scientific Revolution

ca. 1550 – 1700

  • Systematic empirical science, foundations of physics, astronomy, biology.

Enlightenment & Early Industrialisation

ca. 1650 – 1800

  • Rationalism, early liberal thought.
  • Pre-industrial economic expansions.

Modern Era (Industrial, Contemporary)

Industrial Revolution

ca. 1760 – 1840

  • Mechanisation, factories, steam power.
  • Massive social and demographic transformation.

Age of Revolutions

Late 18th – early 19th c.

  • American, French, Latin American revolutions.
  • Reordering of political structures.

19th Century / Imperial Age

ca. 1800 – 1914

  • Nation-states, global empires, industrial capitalism.
  • Advances in science, transportation, communication.

Early 20th Century / World Wars

1914 – 1945

  • First and Second World Wars; global geopolitical restructuring.
  • Rise of totalitarian ideologies, mass mobilisation.

Contemporary Period

Cold War Era

1945 – 1991

  • Bipolar world: US vs USSR.
  • Decolonisation; technological acceleration (nuclear, space, computing).
  • Formation of global institutions.

Modern Time

1991 - Today

  • Not a subject of historical analysis, and may be considered as an object for research only after 45 years have passed since the events.

Alternative Macro-Periodisations (Common scholarly frames)

Three-Age System

  • Stone Age → Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic
  • Bronze Age
  • Iron Age

Anthropocene Framework

Widely used in archaeology, environmental history, and anthropology:

  • Foraging Era (Paleolithic)
  • Agricultural Era (Holocene Neolithic → 1800)
  • Industrial–Fossil Fuel Era (1800 – (present - 45 years))

Global Economic Periods

  • Pre-agrarian
  • Agrarian–tributary states
  • Commercial/mercantile world-system
  • Industrial markets dominate
  • Informational and service markets dominate