Human

===Modern===
{{Main|Early modern period|Late modern period}}
[[File:Maquina vapor Watt ETSIIM.jpg|thumb|[[James Watt]]'s steam engine]]
The [[early modern period]] in Europe and the Near East ({{Circa|1450}}–1800) began with the [[Fall of Constantinople|final defeat of the Byzantine Empire]], and the [[Ottoman Empire|rise of the Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Ottomans and Europe|date=1 January 1994|chapter-url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004391659/BP000019.xml|title=Handbook of European History 1400–1600: Late Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation|pages=589–635|veditors=Brady T, Oberman T, Tracy JD|publisher=Brill|doi=10.1163/9789004391659_019|isbn=978-90-04-39165-9|access-date=17 April 2021|archive-date=2 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502073325/https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004391659/BP000019.xml|url-status=live|last1=Kafadar |first1=Cemal }}</ref> Meanwhile, Japan entered the [[Edo period]],<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|vauthors=Goree R|title=The Culture of Travel in Edo-Period Japan|date=19 November 2020|url=https://oxfordre.com/asianhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277727-e-72|encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.72|isbn=978-0-19-027772-7|access-date=7 May 2021|archive-date=12 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812150712/https://oxfordre.com/asianhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277727-e-72|url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Qing dynasty]] rose in China<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Mosca MW|date=2010|title=CHINA'S LAST EMPIRE: The Great Qing|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/a516602ac28aba8955507e46ab41483e/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=25135|journal=Pacific Affairs|volume=83|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=6 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306014457/https://www.proquest.com/openview/a516602ac28aba8955507e46ab41483e/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=25135|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Mughal Empire]] ruled much of India.<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Suyanta S, Ikhlas S|date=19 July 2016|title=Islamic Education at Mughal Kingdom in India (1526–1857)|url=https://journal.tarbiyahiainib.ac.id/index.php/attalim/article/view/228|journal=Al-Ta Lim Journal|volume=23|issue=2|pages=128–138|doi=10.15548/jt.v23i2.228|issn=2355-7893|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=7 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407082504/http://journal.tarbiyahiainib.ac.id/index.php/attalim/article/view/228|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref> Europe underwent the [[Renaissance]], starting in the 15th century,<ref>{{cite book|vauthors=Kirkpatrick R|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/893909816|title=The European Renaissance, 1400–1600|date=2002|isbn=978-1-317-88646-4|page=1|publisher=Routledge |oclc=893909816|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730032848/https://www.worldcat.org/title/european-renaissance-1400-1600/oclc/893909816|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Age of Discovery]] began with the exploring and [[Colonialism|colonizing]] of new regions.<ref>{{cite book|vauthors=Arnold D|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/859536800|title=The Age of Discovery, 1400–1600|date=2002|isbn=978-1-136-47968-7|edition=Second|pages=xi|publisher=Routledge |oclc=859536800|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730032848/https://www.worldcat.org/title/age-of-discovery-1400-1600/oclc/859536800|url-status=live}}</ref> This includes the [[British Empire]] expanding to become the [[List of largest empires|world's largest empire]]<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Palan R|date=14 January 2010|title=International Financial Centers: The British-Empire, City-States and Commercially Oriented Politics|url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.2202/1565-3404.1239/html|journal=Theoretical Inquiries in Law|volume=11|issue=1|doi=10.2202/1565-3404.1239|s2cid=56216309|issn=1565-3404|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=26 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826211616/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.2202/1565-3404.1239/html|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[European colonization of the Americas|the colonization of the Americas]].<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Dixon EJ |date= January 2001 |title=Human colonization of the Americas: timing, technology and process |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews|language=en|volume=20|issue=1–3 |pages=277–299|doi=10.1016/S0277-3791(00)00116-5|bibcode= 2001QSRv...20..277J }}</ref> This expansion led to the [[Atlantic slave trade]]<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Lovejoy PE |date=1989 |title=The Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa: A Review of the Literature |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/182914 |journal=The Journal of African History |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=365–394 |doi=10.1017/S0021853700024439 |jstor=182914 |s2cid=161321949 |issn=0021-8537 |access-date=30 July 2022 |archive-date=6 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306011109/https://www.jstor.org/stable/182914 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[Genocide of Native Americans|genocide of Native American peoples]].<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Cave AA | chapter = Genocide in the Americas|date=2008 | title = The Historiography of Genocide|pages=273–295 | veditors = Stone D |place=London|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|language=en|doi=10.1057/9780230297784_11|isbn=978-0-230-29778-4}}</ref> This period also marked the [[Scientific Revolution]], with great advances in [[mathematics]], [[mechanics]], [[astronomy]] and [[physiology]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Delisle RG | title = Can a revolution hide another one? Charles Darwin and the Scientific Revolution | journal = Endeavour | volume = 38 | issue = 3–4 | pages = 157–158 | date = September 2014 | pmid = 25457642 | doi = 10.1016/j.endeavour.2014.10.001 }}</ref>

The [[late modern period]] (1800–present) saw the [[Technological Revolution|Technological]] and [[Industrial Revolution]] bring such discoveries as [[imaging technology]], major innovations in transport and [[energy development]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century|url=https://www.greatachievements.org/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150406160644/https://greatachievements.org/|archive-date=6 April 2015|access-date=7 April 2015| work = National Academy of Engineering }}</ref> The [[United States|United States of America]] underwent great change, going from a [[Thirteen Colonies|small group of colonies]] to one of the [[global superpower]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|vauthors=Herring GC|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/299054528|title=From colony to superpower : U.S. foreign relations since 1776|date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-972343-0|location=New York|page=1|oclc=299054528|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730032849/https://www.worldcat.org/title/from-colony-to-superpower-us-foreign-relations-since-1776/oclc/299054528|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Napoleonic Wars]] raged through Europe in the early 1800s,<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=O'Rourke KH|date=March 2006|title=The worldwide economic impact of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1793–1815|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1740022806000076/type/journal_article|journal=Journal of Global History|language=en|volume=1|issue=1|pages=123–149|doi=10.1017/S1740022806000076|issn=1740-0228|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730032852/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-global-history/article/abs/worldwide-economic-impact-of-the-french-revolutionary-and-napoleonic-wars-17931815/B5D21C47E53307E78358803D4695FCE8|url-status=live}}</ref> Spain lost most of its colonies in the [[New World]],<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Zimmerman AF|date=November 1931|title=Spain and Its Colonies, 1808–1820|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2506251|journal=The Hispanic American Historical Review|volume=11|issue=4|pages=439–463|doi=10.2307/2506251|jstor=2506251|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=6 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306014948/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2506251|url-status=live}}</ref> while Europeans continued [[Scramble for Africa|expansion into Africa]]{{snd}}where European control went from 10% to almost 90% in less than 50 years<ref>{{cite web |date=2011 |title=British History in depth: Slavery and the 'Scramble for Africa' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/scramble_for_africa_article_01.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324121231/https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/scramble_for_africa_article_01.shtml |archive-date=24 March 2022 |access-date=5 May 2021 |website=[[BBC]] |language=en-GB |vauthors=David S}}</ref>{{snd}}and Oceania.<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Raudzens G |date=2004 |title=The Australian Frontier Wars, 1788–1838 (review) |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/jmh.2004.0138 |journal=The Journal of Military History |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=957–959 |doi=10.1353/jmh.2004.0138 |issn=1543-7795 |s2cid=162259092}}</ref>

A tenuous [[Balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]] among European nations collapsed in 1914 with the outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]], one of the deadliest conflicts in history.<ref>{{Cite book|vauthors=Clark CM|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/794136314|title=The sleepwalkers : how Europe went to war in 1914|date=2012|publisher=Allen Lane|isbn=978-0-7139-9942-6|location=London|chapter=Polarization of Europe, 1887–1907|oclc=794136314|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730032849/https://www.worldcat.org/title/sleepwalkers-how-europe-went-to-war-in-1914/oclc/794136314|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1930s, [[Great Depression|a worldwide economic crisis]] led to the rise of [[authoritarian]] regimes and a [[World War II|Second World War]], involving [[World War II by country|almost all of the world's countries]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Robert Dahl |title=Democracy and Its Critics |url=https://archive.org/details/democracyitscrit00dahl_0 |url-access=registration |year=1989 |publisher=Yale UP |pages=[https://archive.org/details/democracyitscrit00dahl_0/page/239 239–240] |isbn=0-300-15355-4}}</ref> The war's destruction led to the collapse of most global empires, leading to widespread decolonization.