THE ROAD TO OUR TIME The History of the Modern Western World From Constantinople 1458 To New York City 2001 Year By Year Written by Johan Maltesson © Johan Maltesson Johan Maltesson The Road To Our Time Helsingborg, Sweden 2017 Foreword History is fun and interesting. Why is that? Well, because exactly everything is history. And because everything in our own time can be traced back to a beginning sometimes else. This book will take you through history as it happened, year by year. It will follow the wars, politics and disasters. The rulers, scientists, philosophers and artists. That which made the difference that eventually led to us here and now. Its focus is on us – on our own modern era and on us who live in the West. The West being defined as Europe together with the colonised parts of the world whose majority population is of European ancestry – that is, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand. The Modern Era is the time when the Western World came to conquer, dominate and colonised the rest of the world, for bad and for good. But when did it begin? Of course, the transition from the Middle Ages to Modernity was a process over decades. By the mid 15th century, it had been a hundred years since the Black Plague had ravaged the entire European continent, killing nearly every second person – an apocalyptic event which had brought the thriving High Middle Ages to an abrupt end. Now, a hundred years after the Black Death, Europe´s population was at last once more thriving and increasing. It was also during the mid 15th century that the printing press technology was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the Holy Roman Empire and spread across Europe, making mass communication possible on a greater scale than ever before, marking an important turning point in human history. The most commonly cited specific date for the end of the MiddleAges, however, is on the 29th of May of the year 1453. Because it was on this day that the Eastern Roman Empire ultimately fell – almost a thousand years after the fall of its Western counterpart in the year 537, and nearly 1,500 years after the empire’s foundation. Its fall led to the emigration of people from the fallen city - and in particular of people holding old, nearly forgotten Greek and Roman knowledge of art, science and philosphy nearly forgotten in the West, which helped spark the Renaissance Era in Europe. And the Ottoman control of of the eastern Mediterranean led to new trade routes being sought from Europe towards India and China – leading to the discovery of the Americas and their profitable, unspoiled riches. Thus begun the Modern Time of the Western World. Major states on the European continent on the 29th of May 1453... Byzantine Empire (also known as the Roman Empire or the Eastern Roman Empire) The thousand year old empire disappeared for good on the 29th of May 1453. At this point the empire was extremely weakened – consisting nearly exclusively of the great old imperial city of Constantinople. But as the direct political and cultural continuation of the old Roman Empire and rhe centre of Orthodox Christendom, its ultimate fall would nevertheless transform the European continent forever. Crown of Aragon Roughly today’s eastern Spanish regions of Catalonia, Valencia, Aragon and the Balearic Islands. Crown of Castile Roughly today’s Spanish regions of Madrid, Castile-La Mancha and Castile-Léon. Duchy of Burgundy Roughly the present-day Netherlands, Belgium and northeastern France. Duchy of Savoy Roughly the present-day Italian regions of Piedmont and Aosta Valley and the present-day French region of Savoy. Emirate of Granada An Islamic state roughly covering the southern part of the present-day Spanish region of Andalusia. Grand Duchy of Lithuania Roughly present-day Lithuania, present-day Belarus and the northwestern part of present-day Ukraine. Grand Duchy of Moscow The city of Moscow and its close surroundings. Holy Roman Empire A vast, loose federation of semi-independent, mainly German speaking states in Central Europe. The ultimate rule of the Empire lay with the Emperor of the House of Habsburg, seated in the Austrian capital Vienna. Besides the Archduchy of Austria (roughly the present-day Austrian states of Vienna and Lower and Upper Austria), other major states within the Holy Roman Empire included the Kingdom of Bohemia (roughly present-day Czechia and the present- day Polish regions of Silesia, Lower Silesia and Opole), the Duchy of Bavaria (roughly the present-day German administrative regions of Upper and Lower Bavaria), the Electorate of Saxony (roughly the present-day German states of Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt), the Swiss Confederacy (roughly the present-day German-speaking part of Switzerland) and the Margraviate of Brandenburg (roughly the present-day German states of Berlin and Brandenburg and the present-day Polish region of Lubusz) – and many hundreds of smaller constituent states in an extraordinarily complex political organisation. Kalmar Union A union between the Kingdom of Denmark (including the present-day German region of Schleswig and the present-day Swedish provinces of Scania, Halland, Blekinge and Gotland), the Kingdom of Norway (including Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, the present-day Swedish provinces of Bohuslan, Jamtland and Harjedalen, and the present-day British Shetland and Orkney Islands) and the Kingdom of Sweden (excluding the previously mentioned provinces – but including all of Finland). Ruled by the Danish monarch, but plagued by nearly constant conflict as the Swedish nobility sought autonomy for their part of the union. Kingdom of England Roughly present-day England, as well as the city of Calais in present-day France. Kingdom of France Roughly present-day Metropolitan France – but not including present-day northeasternmost France, Savoy, the Nice region, Calais, Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Corsica. Kingdom of Hungary Roughly present-day Hungary, Slovakia, Transylvania (in present-day Romania), northern Serbia and northern Croatia. Kingdom of Navarre Roughly the present-day Spanish regions of Navarre and the Basque Country, and the present- day French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Kingdom of Poland Roughly present-day central and eastern Poland. Kingdom of Portugal Nearly identical to today’s mainland Portugal Kingdom of Scotland Roughly present-day Scotland except the Shetland and Orkney Islands. Ottoman Empire The swiftly and agressively expanding Turkish Ottoman Empire covered much of Anatolia (present-day Turkey) and the Balkans. On the 29th of May 1453, the empire won its ultimate sought-after prize – the mighty city of Constantinople, which became the capital and crown jewel at the centre of the empire. Along with the Emirate of Granada, it was the only Islamic state in Europe. Papal States A Christian theocracy under the direct rule of the pope in Rome, covering roughly the present- day Italian regions of Lazio, Marche and Umbria. Principality of Moldavia Roughly covering present-day northeastern Romania, the present-day country of Moldova, and present-day southeastern Ukraine. Principality of Wallachia Roughly covering present-day southern Romania. Republic of Florence Roughly the present-day Italian region of Tuscany. Republic of Genoa Roughly the present-day Italian region of Liguria, Monaco, and the region around Nice in France. Republic of Venice Roughly the present-day Italian region of Veneto. State of the Teutonic Order A state on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea under the direct rule of the Teutonic Order, a German Christian knight order. Covered roughly the present-day Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, the present-day Polish regions of Warmia-Masuria and Pomerania, the coastland of present-day Lithuania, and most of present-day Latvia and Estonia. TIMELINE 1453 29 May. Following almost two months of siege and several failed attempts at breaching the city walls of Constantinople – the very last holdout of the Byzantine Empire, the eastern direct continuation of the Roman Empire – the Ottoman Empire under sultan Mehmet II shortly after midnight makes a final all-out assault against the city. At last the Ottomans manage to breach through parts of the city walls and panic ensues within the city among both soldiers and civilians. The Roman defence collapses and the Ottomans start to pour into the city. The Roman emperor himself is killed as he sees the city lost and charges against the Ottomans ahead of his soldiers in a last act of honour. The victorious Ottomans treat the city’s panicking inhabitants with extreme levels of cruelty and brutality. Roman leaders, soldiers, priest, nuns and ordinary civilians alike are met with merciless violence – indiscriminate mass slaughter, mass rape and mass torture. The ancient city is utterly pillaged and desecrated and innumerable Greek and Roman cultural treasures are forever lost or destroyed. Only after three days, the Ottoman sultan decides to order an end to the slaughter and pillage. By that time, many thousands of the civilians who were unable to escape the city have been killed, tens of thousands more have been taken as slaves, and the city lies in desolate ruin. With the fall of Constantinople and the death of emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos, the almost 1,500 years old Roman Empire ceases to exist. The nearly emptied city of Constantinople is immediately made the new capital of the Ottoman Empire. The Haga Sophia, the city’s greatest cathedral and the heart of Orthodox Christendom, is turned into a mosque. And the nearly emptied city is soon repopulated by immigrants from all around the Ottoman Empire, while Romans from Constantionple fleeing the falling city end up around the shores of the Mediterranean, bringing with them old Greco- Roman culture, literature, science and philosophy, significantly contributing in lighting the spark of the new Renaissance Era in Western Europe – the Modern Era begins.