World History

Ancient History in General

Ancient Civilizations: This site looks at ancient civilization from prehistory forward, covering not only classical Greece and Rome, but the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas as well.
Ancient History Lists: What were the 10 Oldest Civilizations That Ever Existed? Who were the Top 10 Most Famous People in Ancient China? The answers to these and a host of other questions can be found on this site.
Ancient Mesopotamia: This History, Our History: The purpose of this website is to disseminate knowledge and awareness of this ancient civilization that will lead to a better understanding of ourselves, others, and of current events for the K-12 community.
BBC: Ancient History: While this site is no longer updated, this part of the BBC’s large selection of educational offerings still has tons of valuable information about ancient civilizations.
History.com: Ancient History: Today’s world owes an immense debt to the mighty empires and great cities of ancient history. Their inventions and ideas enabled the advancement of human society and laid the foundation for modern life. Articles and videos from the History Channel.
History Link 101: Links to sites with information, maps, images, etc. relating to history topics around the world.
Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: This site contains hundred of local files as well as links to source texts throughout the net, covering areas including Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Christian Origins among others.
Odyssey Online: A set of pages with interesting facts about ancient civilizations.
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: A virtual tour of the Seven Wonders, of which only the Great Pyramid is still around today.
Smithsonian Magazine: Ancient Civilizations: Links to all articles tagged as “Ancient Civilizations” at the Smithsonian Magazine website.
Thought.co: Ancient History and Culture: The Roman Empire and Qing Dynasty are now only ruins, but there’s far more to discover about the ancient world. Explore classical history, mythology, language and literature, and learn more about the many fascinating figures of the ancient world.
World History Encyclopedia: We want to make history engaging and compelling, inspiring our users and visitors to learn more. We reach the digital generation by sharing an array of historical topics and narratives through text, video, interactive features, and social media. (Formerly the ‘Ancient History Encyclopedia’)

Ancient Americas

10 Ancient American Civilizations: Brief discussions and links to further resources about such civilizations as the Olmec, the Incas, the Mayas, and the Aztecs.
Ancient American Civilizations: This story map has short overviews with images of the remains of various civilizations in the Americas.
The Ancient Americas: [T]he story of human life in the Americas, from the arrival of small groups of hunter-gatherers, whose way of life survived into the 20th century, to the great but fragile empires of the Aztec and the Inca, which came to brutal ends with the arrival of Europeans.
Ancient Origins: North America
Ancient Origins: Central America
Ancient Origins: South America: Sections from the online magazine Ancient Origins covering the American continents.
History Channel: Ancient America: Ancient America was home to sophisticated civilizations such as the Maya, Inca, Olmec and Aztec societies, and mysterious ruins like Chichen Itza, Teotihuacan, Serpent Mound, Tikal, Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines. Check this site for links to multiple articles and videos.
Khan Academy: Pre-Contact America: A video with an overview of the population and civilizations in the Americas over the past sixteen thousand years.
National Geographic: Native Americans: A resource collection about Native Americans in colonial times and after.
Native American Society on the Eve of British Colonization: This is the first chapter of an online textbook about American history.
Tracking the First Americans: New finds, theories, and genetic discoveries are revolutionizing our understanding of the first Americans. (National Geographic, Jan. 2015)
Who Were the 1st Americans? 11,000-Year-Old DNA Reveals Clues: An article from Live Science tracks the migrations of early Americans from their genetic footprints.

Ancient Egypt

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about ancient Egypt: The land of the pharaohs is famous for its huge pyramids, its bandaged mummies and its golden treasures. But how much do you really know about ancient Egypt? Here, Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley shares 10 lesser-known facts
Ancient Egypt 101 video: Learn how Ancient Egypt contributed to society with its many cultural developments, particularly in language and mathematics. From National Geographic.
Ancient History Encyclopedia: Ancient Egypt: Article discussing the various kingdoms of Egypt and the ancient land’s rise and fall.
BBC Bitesize: Ancient Egypt: 10 learner guides + 12 class clips introduce ancient Egypt to younger learners.
BBC Teach: History KS2: Ancient Egypt – Life and Death in the Valley of the Kings: Egyptologist, Dr Joann Fletcher investigates what everyday life was like in ancient Egypt for an ordinary person in a lesson for secondary students.
The British Museum: Ancient Egypt: Ancient Egyptian life, geography, religion, writing, and more.
History.com: Ancient Egypt: For almost 30 centuries—from its unification around 3100 B.C. to its conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.—ancient Egypt was the preeminent civilization in the Mediterranean world. From the great pyramids of the Old Kingdom through the military conquests of the New Kingdom, Egypt’s majesty has long entranced archaeologists and historians and created a vibrant field of study all its own.
Khan Academy: Ancient Egypt: Videos and lessons about ancient Egypt.
Khan Academy: Ancient Egypt: An Introduction: Exploration of ancient Egyptian art. From Khan Academy.
Mysteries of Ancient Egypt: Articles for students from the Canadian Museum of History.

Classical Greece & Rome

Ancient Greece (The British Museu): The site is divided into ten ‘chapters’ which address themes or topics relevant to ancient Greece. Although primarily aimed at the middle school level, there are items of interest here for all.
Ancient Rome: Discover Ancient Rome from the legendary period dominated by kings through the Republic and Empire with biographies, timelines, and maps. With links to other pages.
Classics Unveiled: Portal to four classics sites online: MythNET (classical mythology), Rome Unleashed (Roman history), Rome Exposed (Roman life), and Latin Wordstock (Latin vocabulary and derivatives).
The Classics Pages: Over 1000 pages of news, information, games and controversy about the life, literature, art and archaeology of the ancient world of Greece & Rome.
Comparing and Contrasting Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome: Though we sometimes lump ancient Greece and Rome together under the idea of “classical” history, there were major differences between them, as well as some similarities.
A Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire: Roman provinces, roads, cities and towns, neatly laid out on a terrain map with sidebar annotations.
Digital Roman Forum: What the forum was like in late classical times. (Archived site.)
Forum Romanum: Collection of links concerning Latin language and Roman history and culture, with many visual images. A Perseus Award site.
Greco-Persian Wars: Battle of Thermopylae: Detailed description of the historic battle.
History.com: Ancient Rome: Article about the history and culture of ancient Rome, with links to further related articles.
History.com: Classical Greece: Article about the history and culture of ancient Greece, with links to further related articles.
The History of Rome: Archive of a podcast series …tracing the history of the Roman Empire, beginning with Aeneas’s arrival in Italy and ending with the exile of Romulus Augustulus, last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
LacusCurtius: A Gateway to the Roman World: Roman antiquities, texts, architecture, maps, and scholarly works about the classical world.
Livius: Articles on Ancient History: Livius is a site containing dozens of articles on varying ancient history topics by a professor of ancient history.
ORBIS: The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World: A simplified version of the giant network of cities, roads, rivers and sea lanes that framed movement across the Roman Empire. This is basically a fancy map interface which allows one to zoom in, pan around, and virtually ‘travel’ across the ancient Roman world.
The Roman Empire in the First Century: Companion website to a PBS series about the Roman Empire in the first century.
The Roman Empire Explained: Here are 40 maps that explain the Roman Empire — its rise and fall, its culture and economy, and how it laid the foundations of the modern world.
Rome Reborn: An international initiative whose goal is the creation of 3D digital models illustrating the urban development of ancient Rome from the first settlement in the late Bronze Age (ca. 1000 B.C.) to the depopulation of the city in the early Middle Ages (ca. A.D. 550). With images and video.

Governments and Political Systems

Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy in America

Complete text of de Tocqueville’s famous work on American history, character, and government in the 1830’s. Also available as free downloadable files in various formats from Project Gutenberg: volume 1 — volume 2.

Alternatives to Capitalism and Democracy

An overview of “alternatives to democracy” from the 2001 book The Economic History of the Twentieth Century.

Ancient Greek Philosophy

Aristotle :
Aristotle: Politics —
Aristotle’s Political Theory —
Politics: A Treatise on Government by Aristotle
Plato :
Plato’s Ethics and Politics in The Republic —
Plato: Political Philosophy —
The Republic by Plato

Constite

Check out Constitute to read, search, and compare the world’s constitutions!

The Core Documents of our Democracy

The purpose of this guide is to showcase the core documents, websites and databases that provide vital information about the workings and activities of our Federal Government.

Global Integrity

Global Integrity is an independent, non-profit organization tracking governance and corruption trends around the world. Global Integrity uses local teams of researchers and journalists to monitor openness and accountability.

James Russell Lowell: On Democracy

Essay on American democracy by American poet and man of letters James Russell Lowell in the 19th century.

Political Philosophy

Political philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about the state, government, politics, liberty, justice and the enforcement of a legal code by authority. (Philosophy Basics). For further information, check out Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Philosophy Basics, or the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Online.

Political Resources on the Net

Listings of political sites available on the Internet sorted by country, with links to Parties, Organizations, Governments, Media and more from all around the world.

University of Michigan Documents Center: Political Science

Find political science data, articles, encyclopedias, handbooks and information about quantitative and qualitative research methods along with information on writing dissertations, publishing, and non-traditional research methods like digital scholarship.

Wikipedia: Forms of Government / Government / Political Philosophy

General introductions with links.

World Statesmen

World Statesmen is an encyclopedia of nations, colonies, international and religious organizations, and other polities mostly since the year 1700. Country facts, maps, anthems, flags, links, and multiple indexes are included.

Imperialism

General Imperialism

African Slave Trade and European Imperialism: A timeline with links.
Boundless U.S. History: American Imperialism: Overview of American imperialism in the latter part of the nineteenth century from a free online course.
Colonization of Africa: Let’s look at a map and see a summary of the different phases of exploration, conquests and colonization of African territories by European powers, beginning from the mid-15th century. From the Geo History channel on YouTube.
Imperialism: Crash Course World History #35 (video): John Green teaches you about European Imperialism in the 19th century. European powers started to create colonial empires way back in the 16th century, but businesses really took off in the 19th century, especially in Asia and Africa.
International Encyclopedia of the First World War: Imperialism: This article focuses on the extent to which imperialism contributed to the outbreak of the First World War.
Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Imperialism
Internet Modern History Sourcebook: The Long Nineteenth Century: Excellent resources for links to websites and primary sources.
John Hobson: Imperialism: 1902 critique of imperialism by a British economist.
The New Imperialism: A look at the ‘New Imperialism’ of the late 19th and early 20th century. Part of a site about the British Empire.

The Belgian Congo

Belgium – Moving from Regrets to Reparations: A look at past and present relations between Belgium and the Congo, in June 2020.
The Butcher of Congo: (Interview with the author of a popular book about King Leopold and the Congo.
King Leopold’s ‘Heart of Darkness’: In 1885, King Leopold II of Belgium gained a vast area in central Africa as his personal possession. His greed and the system of forced labor he imposed there prompted the first human rights movement of the 20th century.
Info Please: Congo, Democratic Republic: History: Short history by the Information Please Almanac.
Internet African History Sourcebook: European Imperialism: Colletion of links to articles from the Internet History Sourcebook site.
Leopold II: Belgium ‘wakes up’ to its bloody colonial past: A renewed global focus on racism is highlighting a violent colonial history that generated riches for Belgians but death and misery for Congolese. (June 2020)
The Scramble for Africa: An overview for students from secondary school teachers.
The Story of the Congo Free State: Selections from a 19-5 book about imperialism in Africa.

British India

BBC: The British Presence in India in the 18th Century
BBC: British India and the ‘Great Rebellion’: Archived pages from the British History section of the British Broadcasting Company site.
Britannica: British raj: Encyclopedia article about the period of direct British rule over the Indian subcontinent from 1858 until the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947.
The British Empire: This site tries to bring to life the peoples, cultures, adventures and domination that made the Empire such a powerful institution.
Case Study 4: background: Living in the British empire: Article from the British National Archives discussing the British rule in India.
Internet Indian History Sourcebook: Excellent resource for links to primary source documents and other sites.
Boundless World History: British India: An overview of the British in India from the time of the East India Trading Company though Gandhi and independence.
Queen Victoria’s Empire: Passage to India: From PBS, an overview of Queen Victoria and the Indian Rebellion in the mid-19th century.
Manas: British India: Pages about the history of the British in India, from the 1600s through the 20th century.

China and the Opium Wars

China and Europe: 1500-1800: Website looking at eonomic relations between China and Europe from 1500 through the mid-twentieth century.
The Chinese Opium Wars: Articles and illustrations from a website about the Victorian era.
The Opium Wars: The Bloody Conflicts That Destroyed Imperial China: In 1839, England went to war with China because it was upset that Chinese officials had shut down its drug trafficking racket and confiscated its dope. Stating the historical record so plainly is shocking?—?but it’s true, and the consequences of that act are still being felt today. (August 2016)
Letter of Advice to Queen Victoria: Letter from the Chinese Commissioner to Queen Victoria detailing the Chinese issues which led to the Opium Wars.
The Opium Wars in China: The Opium Wars in the mid-19th century were a critical juncture in modern Chinese history. Discusses the causes of the Opium Wars and their long-lasting consequences.
Tea and Opium: Explores the history and economics of British-Chinese interactions..
Thought.co: The First and Second Wars: Overview of the background, history, and results of the Opium Wars.

Industrial Revolution

The Ecological Impact of the Industrial Revolution: The impact of the Industrial Revolution on the world’s health and psyche would not begin to register until the early 1960s, some 200 years after its beginnings. From human development, health and life longevity, to social improvements and the impact on natural resources, public well-being, energy usage and sanitation, the effects have been profound.
History.com: Industrial Revolution: Overview of the First Industrial Revolution from the History Channel.
National Geographic: Industrial Revolution and Technolocy: Whether it was mechanical inventions or new ways of doing old things, innovations powered the Industrial Revolution.
Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Industrial Revolution: Subject-organized links about the Industrial Revolution.
The Plight of Women’s Work in the Early Industrial Revolution in England and Wales: How the Industrial Revolution affected and was affected by women.
Spartacus Educational: Child Labour in Britain: Short articles about child labor during the British Industrial Revolution.
Spartacus Educational: The Industrial Revolution: Numerous short articles about the British Industrial Revolution.
Thought.co: A Beginner’s Guide to the Industrial Revolution: Summary of the Industrial Revolution. With links to related articles and topics.
Thought.co: Significant Eras of the American Industrial Revolution: There were actually two Industrial Revolutions. The first occurred in Great Britain in the mid-17th and early 18th centuries as that nation became an economic and colonial powerhouse. The second Industrial Revolution occurred in the U.S. beginning in the mid-1800s….
Toynbee Lectures on the Industrial Revolution in England: Famous lecture by historian Arnold Toynbee.

Middle Ages & Renaissance

Annenberg Learner: Renaissance: Join us as we explore the Renaissance and discover the forces that drove this rebirth in Europe, and in Italy in particular.
BBC: History: Middle Ages: Archives of articles about Great Britain during the Middle Ages. (No longer updated.)
The Great Courses Daily: The Rise of Europe in the Middle Ages: During the Middle Ages, between about 900 and 1300, Europe experienced one of the longest periods of sustained growth in human history. What factors led to this tremendous expansion?
Eyewitness to History: The Middle Ages and Renaissance: This site contains excerpts from primary sources with explanatory text.
History.com: Middle Ages
History.com: Renaissance
History.com: The Crusades: Articles, videos, and images about the Medieval and Renaissance periods from The History Channel.
HistoryExtra: About the Medieval Period: Read everything you need to know about the medieval period …. one of the most turbulent and transformative periods in history, popularised by the Black Death, Magna Carta and the Hundred Years’ War.
A History of the Crusades: A collaborative and comprehensive treatment of the topic, ranging in time from the first 100 years of the Crusades to their ultimate impact on the histories of the Near East and Europe. The work is comprised of six volumes, each of which is included here in its entirety.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook: Primary sources on various topics in medieval history.
The Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies: Provides free, organized access to electronic resources in medieval studies through a … server at Georgetown University. The Labyrinth’s easy-to-use menus and links provide connections to databases, services, texts, and images on other servers around the world.
Life in Elizabethan England: Free online book about what life was like in the age of Elizabeth I.
Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance: PBS site about the Medici family of Florence – patrons of the arts, bankers, and ruthless politicians.
The Middle Ages: People, arts, literature, wars and weapons, and culture of the Middle Ages. Includes a special section on the Black Death.
Mostly Medieval – Exploring the Middle Ages: Here you will find information on heraldry, myths and legends, religion, medicine, and other aspects of life in Britain during the Middle Ages.
Overview of the Middle Ages: Video from Khan Academy with a short (10 min.) overview of the Middle Ages.
Thought.co: Medieval and Renaissance History: Gather round all ye fair maidens and travel back to medieval times to explore the history, people, culture, and events of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Twentieth Century

20th Century Documents : 1900 – 1999: Major documents of the 20th century, from the Avalon Project at Yale Law School.
Modern World History: 1918-1980: Short articles on topics from the Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points and the Treaty of Versailles through the 1982 Falklands War.
Historical Altas of the Twentieth Century: The twentieth century as seen through annotated maps.
History Channel: Topics: Choose a subject to read articles about 20th century history, including early 20th century US, Communism’s rise and decline, and more.
History on the Net: Twentieth Century: Includes articles about the Titanic, World War One, Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, and the Cold War.
Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Large collection of links to primary source documents on modern history.
Khan Academy: The 20th Century: This topic takes us on a journey from the end of Imperialism through two world wars and the Cold War and brings us to our modern world.
Rutgers Oral History Project: An enterprise to record the personal experiences of: Rutgers University alumni and/or New Jersey residents who served on the home front and overseas during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War among other topics.
Thought.co: Timeline of the 20th Century: This century witnessed two world wars, the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Holocaust in Europe, the Cold War, revolutionary social equality movements, and the exploration of space. Follow the changes in this decade-by-decade timeline of the 20th century.

Major Wars of the 20th Century