Manet was the first of the impressionists, who reinvented painting in the 19th century. His Le Dejeuner sur l'herbe shocked the public because it mimicked the Old Masters yet the subjects of the painting were contemporary Parisians.

With the onset of World War I came new, brutal methods of fighting, including trench warfare. The Battle of Verdun (above) lasted from February 21 until December 19, 1916, and resulted in an estimated 700,000 dead, wounded, and missing.

The 20th century was a very different story. Two world wars divided Europe against itself, casting a din of alienation and disillusionment across the continent. The empires crumbled, and new nation-states emerged from their ashes. Science proved deadly with the emergence of new lethal weaponry, including the atomic bomb. Freud proclaimed humans fundamentally irrational, and Einstein asserted that Newton's ideas were merely a good start. Nationalism turned violent as ethnic groups turned against each other.

Totalitarian governments used new technologies to control more aspects of society than had ever been possible. In the midst of increasing respect for civil and human rights, the Holocaust claimed the lives of 12 million members of targeted groups. The 20th century was the most violent in the course of human history, and as a result, Europe's place of global preeminence was seriously challenged.

The Berlin Wall was a symbol of the "Iron Curtain" that divided Europe for the second half of the 20th century. In the autumn of 1989, the citizens of Eastern Europe overthrew the Soviet system and brought democracy to their countries.

As Europe looked toward the 21st century, the hope of a new beginning flourished. Totalitarian regimes collapsed at the end of World War II and the Cold War. A United Nations was created as a "town meeting for the world." The nations of Western Europe blurred their boundaries by eliminating trade duties and moving toward a common currency.

Yet nationalism still divided regions of Europe, leading to "ethnic cleansing" in the Balkans. A nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, Ukraine delivered toxins across the region. And Europe continued to deal with the age-old division between its "haves" and "have-nots."

The road is rocky and exciting. It is a tapestry of the heights of human achievement and its darkest faces. Enjoy the ride.

1. Conservatism and Liberalism After Napoleon
   1. The Congress of Vienna
   2. Metternich's Vision: The Concert of Europe
   3. The Liberal Reaction
   4. The Revolutions of 1848
2. Nationalism and Unification
   1. Italian Reunification
   2. German Unification: The Age of Bismarck
   3. French Nationalism: Making Peasants into Citizens
   4. The Austro-Hungarian Empire
   5. The Russian Empire under Alexander II
3. Industrialization and Industrial Society
   1. The Industrial Revolution: 18th century Britain
   2. Advances in Science and Industry
   3. The Social Costs of Industrialization
   4. Marxism and Socialism
4. The New Imperialism
   1. The British Empire: Jewels in the Crown
   2. The Scramble for Africa
   3. The Heart of Darkness
   4. East Meets West: Opium Wars, Open Doors, and Boxers
   5. Darwinism and Its Social Implications
5. The Cultural Revolution: The Birth of the Modern
   1. Fin de Siècle Vienna
   2. Freud and Modern Consciousness
   3. A New Scientific Revolution
   4. A Revolution in Art
   5. British Suffragettes: Fighting for the Right to Vote
6. The War to End All Wars
   1. The Assassination and Its Aftermath
   2. Welcoming the War
   3. Life in the Trenches
   4. Home Fronts in Europe
   5. The Russian Revolution
   6. The Treaty of Versailles
7. The Depression and the Rise of Totalitarianism
   1. Hitler's Rise to Power
   2. Under Nazi Rule
   3. Mussolini's Italy
   4. Franco's Spain and the Spanish Civil War
   5. Stalin's Russia
8. World War II
   1. Blitzkrieg
   2. The Course of the War
   3. Resistance
   4. The Holocaust
   5. The End of the "Thousand Year Reich"
9. Europe Divided
   1. The Cold War Begins
   2. The Iron Curtain Falls
   3. The Occupation of Berlin
   4. NATO
   5. The United Nations
10. The Reconstruction of Western Europe
    1. The Marshall Plan and Economic Miracles
    2. The Treaty of Rome and the Idea of Community
    3. Democracy in Germany
    4. The End of Empire: Decolonization
11. European Society During the Cold War
    1. Existentialism
    2. Social Protest in Western Europe
    3. Political Resistance in Eastern Europe
    4. Tito's Yugoslavia
12. Europe Reunited
    1. The Collapse of the Soviet Union
    2. The Reunification of Germany
    3. Yugoslavia Breakup: Nationalism & Ethnic Cleansing
    4. The European Union and European Identity