Season 1
52 episodes · 1989
1The Dawn of History
The origins of the human race are traced from anthropoid ancestors to the agricultural revolution.
2The Ancient Egyptians
Egyptian irrigation created one of the first great civilizations.
3Mesopotamia
Settlements in the Fertile Crescent gave rise to the great river civilizations of the Middle East.
4From Bronze to Iron
Metals revolutionized tools, as well as societies, in the empires of Assyria, Persia, and Neo-Babylonia.
5The Rise of Greek Civilization
Democracy and philosophy arose from Greek cities at the edge of the civilized world.
6Greek Thought
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle laid the foundation of Western intellectual thought.
7Alexander the Great
Alexander's conquests quadrupled the size of the world known to the Greeks.
8The Hellenistic Age
Hellenistic kingdoms extended Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean.
9The Rise of Rome
Through its army, Rome built an empire that shaped the West.
10The Roman Empire
Rome's civil engineering contributed as much to the empire as did its weapons.
11Early Christianity
Christianity spread despite contempt and persecution from Rome.
12The Rise of the Church
The old heresy became the Roman empire's official religion under the Emperor Constantine.
13The Decline of Rome
While enemies slashed at Rome's borders, civil war and economic collapse destroyed the empire from within.
14The Fall of Rome
Despite the success of emperors such as Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, Rome fell victim to barbarian invasions.
15The Byzantine Empire
From Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire carried on the traditions of Greece and Rome.
16The Fall of Byzantium
Nearly a thousand years after Rome's fall, Constantinople was conquered by the forces of Islam.
17The Dark Ages
Barbarian kingdoms took possession of the fragments of the Roman Empire.
18The Age of Charlemagne
Charlemagne revived hopes for a new empire in Western Europe.
19The Middle Ages
Amid invasion and civil disorder, a military aristocracy dominated the kingdoms of Europe.
20The Feudal Order
Bishop, knight, and peasant exemplified some of the social divisions of the year 1000 A.D.
21Common Life in the Middle Ages
Famine, disease, and short life expectancies were the conditions that shaped medieval beliefs.
22Cities and Cathedrals of the Middle Ages
The great churches embodied the material and spiritual ambitions of the age.
23The Late Middle Ages
Two hundred years of war and plague debilitated Europe.
24The National Monarchies
A new urban middle class emerged, while dynastic marriages established centralized monarchies.
25Renaissance & the Age of Discovery
Renaissance humanists made man "the measure of all things." Europe was possessed by a new passion for knowledge.
26Renaissance & the New World
The discovery of America challenged Europe.
27The Reformation
Voiced by Martin Luther, Protestantism shattered the unity of the Catholic Church.
28The Rise of the Middle Class
As the cities grew, new middle-class mores had an impact on religious life.
29The Wars of Religion
For more than a century, the quarrels of Protestants and Catholics tore Europe apart.
30The Rise of the Trading Cities
Amid religious wars, a few cities learned that tolerance increased their prosperity.
31The Age of Absolutism
Exhausted by war and civil strife, many Europeans exchanged earlier liberties and anarchies for greater peace.
32Absolutism and the Social Contract
Arguments about the legitimate source of political power centered on divine right versus natural law.
33The Enlightened Despots
Monarchs considered reforms in order to create more efficient societies, but not at the expense of their own power.
34The Enlightenment
Intellectual theories about the nature of man and his potential came to the fore.
35The Enlightenment and Society
Scientists and social reformers battled for universal human rights during a peaceful and prosperous period.
36The Modern Philosophers
Freedom of thought and expression opened new vistas explored by French, English, and American thinkers.
37The American Revolution
The British colonists created a society that tested Enlightenment ideas and resisted restrictions imposed by England.
38The American Republic
A new republic, the compromise of radicals and conservatives, was founded on universal freedoms.
39The Death of the Old Regime
In France the old order collapsed under revolutionaries' attacks and the monarchy's own weakness.
40The French Revolution
Liberty, equality, and fraternity skidded into a reign of Terror.
41The Industrial Revolution
Technology and mass production reduced famine and ushered in higher standards of living.
42The Industrial World
A consumer revolution was fueled by coal, public transportation, and new city services.
43Revolution and Romantics
Leaders in the arts, literature, and political theory argued for social justice and national liberation.
44The Age of the Nation-States
The great powers cooperated to quell internal revolts, yet competed to acquire colonies.
45A New Public
Public education and mass communications created a new political life and leisure time.
46Fin de Siècle
Everyday life of the working class was transformed by leisure, prompting the birth of an elite avant-garde movement.
47The First World War and the Rise of Fascism
Old empires crumbled during World War I to be replaced by right-wing dictatorships in Italy, Spain, and Germany.
48The Second World War
World War II was a war of new tactics and strategies. Civilian populations became targets as the Nazi holocaust exterminated millions of people.
49The Cold War
The U.S. and Soviet Union dominated Europe and confronted each other in Korea.
50Europe and the Third World
Burdened with the legacy of colonial imperialism, the Third World rushed development to catch up with its Western counterparts.
51The Technological Revolution
Keeping up with the ever-increasing pace of change became the standard of the day.
52Toward the Future
Modern medicine, atomic energy, computers, and new concepts of time, energy, and matter all have an important effect on life in the 20th century.