India's Mughal Empire was established by nomadic warriors descended from Turks and Mongols. This empire formed a strong central government and established a favorable environment for trade and the arts. Its early rulers were tolerant and curious about different cultures, as shown by the Taj Mahal, which blends Persian and Indian styles. The fall of the Mughal Empire enabled the British to enter the country and gain control.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/
islam/history/mughal/index.shtml

Martin Luther was a German Catholic monk who believed that faith and not good works benefited the believer; when he nailed his 95 theses protesting the Catholic Church's selling of indulgences to the door of a church in Wittenberg, he sparked the Protestant Reformation, which split Christendom in two. His ideas found a sympathetic audience in northern Europe. Excommunicated by the pope in 1521, he continued to work on developing a new church, eventually known as the Lutheran Church.

http://www.saburchill.com/history/biblio/014.html

http://video.pbs.org/video/1379563195/

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese navigator who left Spain with 270 men on five ships to establish a western passage to Asia. Although Magellan was killed in the Philippines, 18 survivors of the expedition returned to Seville in their ship, having made the world's first circumnavigation of the globe.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/
magellan_ferdinand.shtml

Sailing from the Spanish possession of Cuba to Mexico, Hernando Cortes reached Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City) and used his superior firepower to overthrow the Aztec empire and plunder much of its wealth for personal gain and the enrichment of Spain's treasury.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/
cortes_hernan.shtml

Fueled by the desire for a male heir, Henry sought a legal divorce from Catherine of Aragon; pressured by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (Catherine's nephew), the Pope refused to grant Henry's divorce. Despite the Pope's refusal, Henry divorced Catherine and married Ann Boleyn. He also confiscated church lands, denied the authority of the Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of England.

https://www.royal.uk/henry-viii

Ivan ruled Russia for 51 years, consolidating central authority and expanding Russia's borders in all directions, although he never succeeded in securing a year-round, ice-free seaport. He set up a bodyguard which has been described as Russia's first secret police and sent many of his subjects to death via purges.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/faceofrussia/timeline/1500/1533-84.html

The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, sought to uproot Lutheranism from Germany, but was unsuccessful largely because the French and the Ottomans threatened his borders. Charles was forced into a treaty known as the Peace of Augsburg, which allowed local princes the right to choose whether their territories would be Catholic or Lutheran. Dissenters were allowed to emigrate. The treaty excluded Calvinists and Anabaptists.

http://countrystudies.us/germany/13.htm

http://countrystudies.us/germany/14.htm

John Calvin's theological beliefs, which included the doctrine of predestination, were published in this book, which influenced Protestant reformers throughout Europe and North America.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/calvin-predest.asp

In an attempt to reduce attacks of English privateers on Spanish ships and undermine Queen Elizabeth's policies, Spain's Phillip II sent 130 ships and 33,000 men to invade England. The English repulsed this attack with their faster, more maneuverable ships which had cannons with a longer range. The Armada's defeat is considered the beginning of the end of Spain's primacy on the world's stage.

http://www.elizabethi.org/contents/armada/

Born a Catholic, Henry of Navarre became a Huguenot. After marrying the Catholic king's sister, he became heir to the French throne. Catholics protested his succession, which led Henry to reconvert to Catholicism in order to unite the country. He restored peace and prosperity after decades of civil and foreign wars, and issued the Edict of Nantes, which granted religious freedom to Huguenots.   

http://www.biography.com/people/henry-iv-9335199

The Edict of Nantes was proclaimed by Henry IV of France. This law allowed both Huguenots and Catholics equal access to education and state positions, as well as guaranteeing the Protestant Huguenots the freedom to practice their religion. Although it was eventually repealed, the Edict allowed France to re-build after the country's religious wars.

http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/edict-nantes

After Elizabeth I died without a husband or heir, England's throne passed to the Stuart line under James VI of Scotland; this united England and Scotland under a common leader. However, the spendthrift James was an unpopular monarch, whose high-handed belief in the divine right of kings alienated his subjects. By the time of his death in 1625, he had badly damaged the prestige of the Crown.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/james_i_vi.shtml

Spain's Miguel de Cervantes was the author of Don Quixote, which some critics consider the greatest novel ever written. It has been interpreted as a satire on chivalry and romance, as a meditation on the contrast between reality and illusion, or as a criticism of the Catholic Church or Spanish politics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote

Founded in 1607, Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America.

http://historicjamestowne.org/history/history-of-jamestown/

1613 – 1917 C.E.
The Romanovs of Russia

The Romanov line began under Michael. Notable Romanovs include Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. Peter welcomed western ideas as he sought to make Russia a modern European power. He secured ports on the Baltic Sea. Catherine also looked to western thought and further expanded Russia to include a long-desired warm-weather seaport along the Black Sea.

http://www.geographia.com/russia/rushis04.htm

Known as the "Sun King," Louis XIV consolidated all power in his hands and fostered a highly extravagant court life. He repealed the Edict of Nantes, which forced Huguenots to emigrate, resulting in a shortage of skilled workers throughout France. Seeking to expand his empire, he captured much of Flanders (present-day Belgium), reaching the southern border of Holland. He was able to secure the throne of Spain for his grandson, Phillip V.

https://www.history.com/topics/france/louis-xiv

The Treaty of Westphalia marked the end of the Thirty Years War, fought between Catholic and Protestant princes in Germany. The treaty divided the Hapsburg Empire into 300 principalities, ending any dreams of a united Germany. After the treaty was signed, France became the dominant power in Europe.

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/peace_of_westphalia.htm

When England's James II, a Catholic, attempted to consolidate royal power, Protestant leaders invited the king of Holland, William of Orange, to overthrow James. James fled to France. The throne passed, with no bloodshed, to William (who was married to James' Protestant daughter), upon the condition that William sign a Declaration of Rights stating that the king could not collect taxes or raise an army without Parliament's consent.

http://www.victorianweb.org/history/Glorious_Revolution.html

In his quest to make Russia a modern European power, Peter the Great sent Russians abroad to study at the world's elite schools and return with western expertise. He required Russia's nobility to serve the state for a period of time either in political or military roles. Under his rule, Russian borders expanded to the Baltic coastline.

http://www.saint-petersburg.com/history/peter1st.asp

As new discoveries in science were made and new ways of manufacturing were developed, a philosophical movement known as the Enlightenment arose. A group of French thinkers called the philosophes—Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Diderot—focused on bettering the lives of human beings and improving society in practical ways. The French philosophes had their counterparts in Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and the American colonies, making the Enlightenment an international movement.

http://www.history.com/topics/enlightenment

1713 C.E.
The Treaties of Utrecht

The Treaties of Utrecht ended the Spanish War of Succession, in which England, the Netherlands, and Austria had allied to prevent the grandson of Louis IV, Phillip V, from ruling both Spain and the territories comprising the European part of its empire. The treaty recognized Philip as Spain's king on the condition that France and Spain should never unite under one throne. Spain ceded control of the Netherlands to Austria, and of the Isle of Gibraltar to England. In addition, France recognized England's claim to Newfoundland and mainland Acadia (present-day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick).

http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/utrecht.htm

The Spirit of Laws, a two-volume work by the French thinker Montesquieu, classified three kinds of government: monarchy, republic, or despotism. Monarchies are ruled by kings, despots rule by fear, while republics give all citizens a voice in government. Montesquieu believed in having a balance of power and advocated the division of government into three branches (executive, legislative, and judicial). His ideas strongly influenced the framers of the United States Constitution. 

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/montesquieu/#4

Thomas Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. The signing of the Declaration put the 13 American colonies on the path to a war of independence from the rule of George III of England, a war known as the American Revolution. Drawing on Enlightenment ideas concerning liberty, natural rights, and the mutual obligations of citizens and government, the Declaration set in motion a test that Enlightenment ideas could work in the real world.

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/
charters/declaration_transcript.html

By the late 1700s, France was experiencing overpopulation, high food prices, mounting national debt, and growing tensions between commoners and the nobility. This set the stage for revolution. The Estates-General, a national governing body, first set up a constitutional monarchy, but events quickly led to the imprisonment and execution of Louis XVI. The leaders of the revolution then established a republican government. The American Revolution was an important influence on the French Revolution.

http://www.victorianweb.org/history/hist7.html

http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution

The centralized political regime which replaced the earlier, more democratic government of the French Revolution arrested 500,000 French citizens and executed anywhere from 18,000 to 40,000 people for opposing the policies of the revolution. The revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre was primarily responsible for this harsh repression, which was first known as the Terror; as the Terror continued and increased in cruelty, it became known as the Reign of Terror.

http://www.historywiz.com/terror.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reign_of_Terror

Napoleon Bonaparte, who rose from brigadier general to become dictator (or Consul) of France, ultimately crowned himself as Emperor, having conquered much of Europe. He took control of Catholic institutions and those of the nobility and replaced them with institutions based  on the principles of the French Revolution. The foremost of these was the Napoleonic Code, which reformed the French legal system. After the French Revolution and the reign of Napoleon, the monarchies and clergy of Europe never regained their former power.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/napoleon-crowned-emperor

1814-1815 C.E.

The Congress of Vienna

At the Congress of Vienna, the five major powers of Europe— England, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and France—met to restore peace and stability to the continent after the Napoleonic wars. The Congress established the Quadruple Alliance of England, Russia, Prussia, and Austria, while France was required to make territorial reparations for Napoleon's incursions.

http://saburchill.com/history/chapters/empires/0032f.html

The Troppau Protocol restated the goals of the Congress of Vienna. Focusing on peace and stability, the Protocol stipulated that states which experienced a revolution would cease to be members of the Alliance. The Protocol was signed by Russia, Prussia, and Austria; England refused to sign. Due to its anti-revolution clause, it was later used as a justification for intervening in Spanish and Italian uprisings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_Troppau

https://www.britannica.com/event/Congress-of-Troppau

Since the capture of Constantinople in 1453, Greece had been subject to Ottoman rule, but in 1821, a nationalist uprising supported by England, France, and Russia secured Greek independence. Turkey did not recognize Greece's independence until 1829.

http://staff.lib.msu.edu/sowards/balkan/lecture6.html

During this period, Russia claimed parts of the crumbling Ottoman Empire, leading to a declaration of war by the Ottomans in 1853. Fearing that Russia would control the Black Sea and gain access to the Mediterranean, France and England entered the war in 1854. The war took place in the Crimean Peninsula in the Black Sea. Allied forces captured the port of Sevastopol in 1855 and the Russians sued for peace. The war concluded in 1856, with the Treaty of Paris.

http://www.victorianweb.org/history/crimea/chron.html