European history has had numerous great turns and changes over the centuries with its mighty empires forming, expanding, exploring and warring, and revolutions of all kinds through the centuries, which can split into four major eras. Have a look at the key dates of events that shaped Europe.
Key dates in Ancient Europe
The ancient world is full of dramatic events and fascinating characters. Here’s a taster of the main events that occurred in Europe in BC (Before Christ) and the first 500 years AD (Anno Domini, or ‘Year of Our Lord’)
| Year |
Event |
| c3000 BC |
Bronze Age in southern Europe |
| c4000 BC |
Neolithic culture at its height in northern Europe |
| c2000 BC |
Iron Age in northern Europe |
| c1700 BC |
Construction of palace of King Minos at Knossos, Crete |
| c1550 BC |
Earthquakes destroy Minoan civilisation |
| 509 BC |
Roman Republic established |
| 431–404 BC |
Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta |
| 336–323 BC |
Alexander the Great conquers Persia (modern-day Iran) |
| 216 BC |
Hannibal defeats Romans at Battle of Cannae |
| 146 BC |
Romans destroy Carthage and conquer Greece |
| 49 BC |
Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon: Roman civil war |
| 27 BC |
Octavian becomes Roman Emperor Augustus |
| AD 313 |
Edict of Milan: Constantine accepts Christianity |
| AD 395 |
Roman Empire divides in two |
| AD 410 |
Rome sacked by Alaric, king of the Visigoths |
| AD 476 |
Last western Roman emperor deposed |
Key dates in Europe's Middle Ages
The Middle Ages in European history have a bad press, as if everyone was barbaric and always burning witches and torturing people. But it was a time when Europeans achieved their most breathtaking achievements in art and architecture, and set in place much of the thinking and ideas we rely on today.
| Year |
Event |
| 529 |
St Benedict founds the monastery of Monte Cassino |
| 711 |
Muslim invasion of Spain |
| 732 |
Charles Martel defeats Arabs at Battle of Poitiers |
| 787 |
Viking raid on Lindisfarne |
| 800 |
Charlemagne crowned ‘Roman’ emperor in the west |
| 1054 |
Schism between ‘Catholic’ Roman Church and ‘Orthodox’ Greek Church |
| 1066 |
Norman conquest of England |
| 1071 |
Battle of Manzikert: Turks overrun Anatolia |
| 1099 |
Jerusalem falls to First Crusade |
| 1204 |
Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople |
| 1241 |
Mongols overrun eastern Europe |
| 1337 |
Start of the Hundred Year’s War |
| AD 313 |
Edict of Milan: Constantine accepts Christianity |
| AD 395 |
Roman Empire divides in two |
| AD 410 |
Rome sacked by Alaric, king of the Visigoths |
| AD 476 |
Last western Roman emperor deposed |
| 1346 |
Black Death arrives in western Europe |
| 1309–1417 |
The Great Schism |
| 1450 |
Gutenberg’s printing press |
| 1453 |
Fall of Constantinople |
| 1492 |
Fall of Granada: Moors expelled from Spain; Columbus lands in the New World |
Key dates in early Modern Europe
Early Modern Europe underwent some dramatic twists with empires expanding and religious conflicts raging while science and technology developments made leaps and bounds. Here are some key milestones during this time.
| Year |
Event |
| 1517 |
Luther’s 95 theses launch the Reformation |
| 1526 |
Battle of Mohács: Ottoman Turks conquer Hungary |
| 1581 |
Dutch declare independence from Spain |
| 1618–48 |
Thirty Years’ War |
| 1683 |
Turks defeated outside Vienna |
| 1703 |
Peter I founds St Petersburg |
| 1713 |
Treaty of Utrecht ends War of Spanish Succession |
| 1740 |
Frederick II of Prussia invades Silesia |
Key dates in Modern Europe
A great number of decisive political wars and revolutions took place in the last two centuries; struggles for independence and liberation, industrialisation, nationalism and European integration. Take look at some of the landmark events that changed Europe in Modern history.
| Year |
Event |
| 1789 |
Fall of the Bastille: start of the French Revolution |
| 1804 |
Napoleon crowned Emperor of France |
| 1815 |
Battle of Waterloo: Napoleon exiled to St Helena |
| 1829 |
Greece wins independence from Ottoman Empire |
| 1833 |
Slavery abolished in British Empire |
| 1848 |
Revolutions across Europe |
| 1854–6 |
Crimean War |
| 1860–1 |
Unification of Italy |
| 1861 |
Alexander II emancipates Russian serfs |
| 1870–1 |
Franco-Prussian War; proclamation of German empire |
| 1914–18 |
First World War |
| 1917 |
Russian Revolution |
| 1919 |
Treaty of Versailles |
| 1936–9 |
Spanish Civil War |
| 1939–45 |
Second World War |
| 1941 |
Operation Barbarossa: German invasion of Russia |
| 1949 |
Formation of NATO |
| 1956 |
Soviet invasion of Hungary; Suez crisis |
| 1957 |
Treaty of Rome founds the European Economic Community |
| 1975 |
Democracy restored in Spain |
| 1985 |
Mikhail Gorbachev in power in Russia |
| 1989 |
Fall of the Berlin Wall: anti-communist revolutions across eastern Europe |
| 1992 |
Yugoslavia civil war starts |
| 2002 |
Adoption of the Euro |
| 2004 |
European Union enlarges to 25 member states |
