How Well Do You Know the History of Europe?

Catherine the Great was born Sophie Friederike Auguste in Stettin, Prussia (now Szczecin, Poland). Her father was a German prince, and at 14, she was chosen to marry the heir to the Russian throne. Catherine — as she was renamed — became empress of Russia in 1762, replacing her husband Peter III after a coup. She reigned for 34 years, during which time she expanded the Russian Empire and embraced the arts and culture of Enlightenment-era Europe.

This document was named after the city of Maastricht in the Netherlands, where the treaty was signed on February 7, 1992. It formally established the European Union, which now has 27 member countries from all regions of Europe. It also created a central banking system and set the euro as common currency. The EU encourages cooperation on social, environmental, and political policies.

At its peak, Napoleon Bonaparte’s French empire spanned from Portugal to Eastern Europe, including Italy. The task of dividing up this empire was primarily negotiated among the four countries that defeated Napoleon: Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, and Russia. The Congress of Vienna restored France to its original 1789 territory and is considered an early example of the power of diplomatic agreements.

Charlemagne became king of the Franks in 779 CE, and spent the next few decades fighting to expand his territory and spread Christianity among his subjects. In 800 CE, in recognition of Charlemagne’s power, Pope Leo III crowned him the first Holy Roman Emperor, reviving the tradition of the Western Roman Empire. Charlemagne is remembered as a great leader who supported scholarship and the arts.

There were at least eight Crusades, the first taking place between 1096 and 1099 CE. These religious campaigns were fought between Christians and Muslims, with the goal of reclaiming the Holy Land and halting the further expansion of Muslim states in Christian regions of Europe and the Middle East. Crusading declined during the 16th century, but had lasting impacts on religion in the region.

The marriage of these Catholic monarchs played a huge role in uniting Spain as one kingdom. Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile were married in 1469, and the union of their kingdoms provided the basis for what would become Spain. The monarchs also funded the voyages of Christopher Columbus, which brought the Spanish Empire across the Atlantic Ocean through colonization.

From the mid-14th century to the mid-15th century, France and England were engaged in intermittent conflicts collectively known as the Hundred Years’ War. It started with disputed land in France that England laid claim to, and England also questioned the legitimacy of the succession of the French monarchy. After many squabbles and little progression, a truce was finally agreed upon in 1475 by King Edward IV and King Louis XI.

Though wax, clay, and wood block printing techniques had been around for centuries, the printing press invented by Johannes Gutenberg in 1452 incorporated metal and used a block for each letter, creating a movable typing system customizable to print any work. Though the Gutenberg press is considered a key catalyst in the spread of publishing and information throughout Europe, his actual print shop published only one text: the Bible.

The ancient Greeks are credited with creating the first democratic system of government, in which citizens elected their representatives and voted on passing new laws. The word “democracy” comes from the Greek words “demos” (“people”) and “kratos” (“rule”). The Athenians developed democracy around the fifth century BCE.

Louis XIV ruled France for the better part of a century, from the death of his father in 1643 to his own passing in 1715. During his 72-year reign, he oversaw a golden age of France that included a flourishing of art, literature, and theater. A notable proponent of the concept of divine right, Louis chose the sun as his emblem to represent his divine lineage and authority over the nation.

While tension had been growing throughout European countries for several years, the final catalyst for World War I was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire was shot on June 28, 1914, by a Serbian nationalist. Afterward, Austria-Hungary waited for German support before declaring war on Serbia. World powers joined forces in a chain reaction that led to a global conflict.

Nicknamed the “Iron Chancellor” for his role as both a military leader and diplomat, Otto von Bismarck created a unified Germany after defeating both Denmark and France in war. As chancellor of the new empire, Bismarck was key in preserving a decades-long era of peace in Europe, attained through a series of treaties forming alliances of nations.

Alexander the Great created a massive empire that stretched westward from Macedonia in northern Greece to the Himalayas of India — all before turning 30. Though he ruled for only 13 years and his empire didn’t stay together long after his death in 323 BCE, Alexander’s far-ranging conquests influenced the cultural development of Europe and Asia.

John Locke is best known today for his political theories, including the separation of church and state and the opposition to government by authoritarian bodies. These and other ideas from Locke and his liberal contemporaries inspired political movements in Europe and beyond, including the American Revolution.

Civilizations had been traveling the long route between China and Europe via Turkey and the Middle East for many years, but the pace of trade accelerated after Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty sent an envoy to Turkey around 138 BCE. Goods such as spices, paper, gunpowder, and textiles were traded in both directions along the Silk Road, greatly influencing the culture on both continents.

On July 14, 1789, about 900 Paris citizens descended on the Bastille, an old fortress-turned-prison that represented King Louis XVI’s unfair rule. Today, July 14 is a national holiday in France, celebrating the end of the monarchy and start of the republic.

The Vikings raided and colonized their way through Europe between the ninth and 11th centuries. They were of Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish descent, and their clans were ruled by chieftains. They settled throughout Europe, from present-day Ireland to as far east as Russia. Some Vikings crossed the Atlantic Ocean, reaching Greenland 500 years before any other Europeans reached North America.

The French Revolution was a significant cultural turning point for all of Europe. It eschewed the medieval feudal system and its emphasis on noble rule in favor of a more free society focused on individual rights, governed by representatives known as the National Assembly. The revolution lasted from 1789 to 1799, when, after a period of instability, Napoleon Bonaparte established his consulate as France’s governing body.

The Berlin Wall was built by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) on August 12, 1961, to surround West Berlin, which was controlled by the Western Allied powers of World War II: Britain, France, and the United States. East Berlin was under Soviet control, and the wall became a symbol of the Cold War. The border was reopened decades later in 1989.

Best known for his Ninety-five Theses questioning the Catholic concept of indulgences — works done or money paid in order to earn forgiveness for sin — Martin Luther started life as a Catholic monk but eventually split from the church during a religious schism called the Protestant Reformation.

When Pope Clement VII denied King Henry VIII a divorce from his wife Catherine of Aragon (so he could marry Anne Boleyn), the English monarch made a decision that impacted religion across Western Europe. He married Anne Boleyn in secret and was excommunicated from the Catholic Church. He was then declared the head of the Church of England, and the pope no longer held any authority in Britain.

The historic city of Constantinople is now Istanbul, a city in Turkey that straddles two continents, Europe to the west and Asia to the east. It has been an important city for trade for centuries. The conquest of Constantinople at the hands of the Ottomans in 1453 marked the end of the Byzantine Empire, which once spanned most of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. After capturing the city, the Ottoman Empire expanded rapidly into Eastern Europe.

The Renaissance was an important era of European history that saw a return to classical values and artistic styles. Beginning in Italy during the late 13th and early 14th centuries with legendary artists and thinkers such as Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance spread to the rest of Europe in the ensuing decades and peaked in the 16th century.

The treaty that ended the First World War was signed on June 28, 1919, at the Palace of Versailles in Paris. Though it was celebrated as a milestone accomplishment by the “Big Four” victorious nations — England, Italy, France, and the U.S. — the harsh terms the treaty imposed on Germany fueled resentment, and led to conditions that set the stage for World War II.

The Celts were early Indo-European peoples who lived in tribes around Europe from roughly 2000 BCE until the first century BCE. The Proto-Celtic language emerged around 1300 BCE, and there were eventually 16 Celtic languages that evolved from it. Six of these languages are still used today — Irish, Manx, Scottish Gaelic, Breton, Cornish, and Welsh — in Ireland and the United Kingdom.