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Two defensive alliances dominated the political landscape of Europe during the Belle Èpoque: the Triple Entente (Britain, France, and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria, Italy). Although a member of the latter, Italy declared its neutrality at the outbreak of World War One (28 July 1914) on the ground that Austria and Germany had taken the offensive and started the conflict. Almost a year later, after secret negotiations with both warring sides concerning territorial rewards in her favor at the end of the conflict, Italy joined Britain, Russia, and France, becoming a member of the Allied Powers and entering the war against the Central Powers (24 May 1915).

Italy primarily confronted the Habsburg Empire in trench warfare, at a long border marked by the high altitudes and cold winters of the Eastern Alps and of the Karst Plateau. Multiple battles were fought at the Isonzo river, where the Italian army repeatedly attacked. Despite winning a majority of these battles, and stopping the Austrian offensive of 1916, the Italians suffered heavy losses and made little progress as the mountainous terrain favoured the defender.

From 1915 to 1917, eleven battles were fought at the [Isonzo River]] The strafexpeditions

The Italian army repeatedly attacked and, Italy was then forced to retreat in 1917 by a German-Austrian counteroffensive at the Battle of Caporetto after Russia left the war, allowing the Central Powers to move reinforcements to the Italian Front from the Eastern Front.

This article is about Italian military operations in World War I.

Although a member of the Triple Alliance along with Germany and Austria, Italy refused its allies to join the Central Powers at the outbreak of World War One (28 July 1914) on the ground that three countries were bound by a defensive pact whereas it was

. on the ground that the three countries were only bound by a defensive pact while the offensive was  In fact, those two countries had taken the offensive while the Triple Alliance was supposed to be a defensive alliance. Moreover the Triple Alliance recognized that both Italy and Austria-Hungary were interested in the Balkans and required both to consult each other before changing the status quo and to provide compensation for whatever advantage in that area: Austria-Hungary did consult Germany but not Italy before issuing the ultimatum to Serbia, and refused any compensation before the end of the war.

Almost a year after the war's commencement, after secret parallel negotiations with both sides (with the Allies in which Italy negotiated for territory if victorious, and with the Central Powers to gain territory if neutral) Italy entered the war on the side of the Allied Powers.

Italy began to fight against Austria-Hungary along the northern border, including high up in the now-Italian Alps with very cold winters and along the Isonzo river. The Italian army repeatedly attacked and, despite winning a majority of the battles, suffered heavy losses and made little progress as the mountainous terrain favoured the defender. Italy was then forced to retreat in 1917 by a German-Austrian counteroffensive at the Battle of Caporetto after Russia left the war, allowing the Central Powers to move reinforcements to the Italian Front from the Eastern Front.

The offensive of the Central Powers was stopped by Italy at the Battle of Monte Grappa in November 1917 and the Battle of the Piave River in May 1918. Italy took part in the Second Battle of the Marne and the subsequent Hundred Days Offensive in the Western Front. On 24 October 1918 the Italians, despite being outnumbered, breached the Austrian line in Vittorio Veneto and caused the collapse of the centuries-old Habsburg Empire. Italy recovered the territory lost after the fighting at Caporetto in November the previous year and moved into Trento and South Tyrol. Fighting ended on 4 November 1918. Italian armed forces were also involved in the African theatre, the Balkan theatre, the Middle Eastern theatre and then took part in the Occupation of Constantinople. At the end of World War I, Italy was recognized with a permanent seat in the League of Nations' executive council along with Britain, France and Japan.

Roy Pryce summarized the bitter experience:

"The government's hope was that the war would be the culmination of Italy's struggle for national independence. Her new allies promised her the 'natural frontiers' which she had so long sought-the Trentino and Trieste-and something more. At the end of hostilities she did indeed extend her territory, but she came away from the peace conference dissatisfied with her reward for three and a half years' bitter warfare, having lost half a million of her noblest youth, with her economy impoverished and internal divisions more bitter than ever. That strife could not be resolved within the framework of the old parliamentary regime. The war that was to have been the climax of the Risorgimento produced the Fascist dictatorship. Something, somewhere, had gone wrong."

=International relations (1453-1648)=

==1500s= Around 1500, the Italian Renaissance peaked as the "High Renaissance" and spread throughout Europe. Italy was the wealthiest European country and also the most fragmented, being divided into many rich city-states and regional polities. This situation made Italy the "battleground of Europe", as European monarchs fought each other to gain control of Italian states and establish their hegemony in international affairs. Valois France and the House of Habsburg were the chief contenders in these conflicts, known as the Italian Wars of the French-Habsburg rivalry. To counter the ambitions of King Charles VIII of France during the inconclusive First Italian War (1494-1498), Maximilian I of Habsburg, Archduke of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor, pursued an ambitious dynastic policy to encircle the French kingdom: his son "Philip the Handsome", born to Mary the Rich, Burgundian duchess of the Low Countries, was married to "Joanna the Mad", a daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain from the House of Trastámara. This political marriage reflected Maximilian's practice to expand the House of Habsburg with dynastic links rather than conquest, as exemplified by his saying "Let others wage war, you, happy Austria, marry". The son of Philip and Joanna, Charles of Habsburg, was given birth in the Flemish city of Ghent on February 24, 1500: the locals "shouted Austria and Burgundy throughout the whole city for three hours" to celebrate this event. Attempts made by the Spanish monarchs to name other heirs for the throne of Spain failed. In a few years, Maximilian's grandson Charles was the potential heir of the Low Countries, Spain, Austria, and the Holy Roman Empire.

In mid-April 1500, the forces of King Louis XII of France captured Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan and occupied the Duchy of Milan. This was done on the ground of a weak dynastic claim (Louis XII was a descendant of the Visconti, the former ruling dynasty of Milan) and also against Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor who supported Ludovico Sforza (Maximilian was in fact married to Bianca Sforza, a relative of the deposed Duke). Emperor Maximilian refused to invest Louis XII with the Duchy of Milan, formally an imperial fief.

=16th century=

1400s

 * 1401: Dilawar Khan establishes the Malwa Sultanate in present-day central India.
 * 1402: Ottoman and Timurid Empires fight at the Battle of Ankara resulting in Timur's capture of Bayezid I.
 * 1402: Sultanate of Malacca founded by Parameswara.
 * 1402: The settlement of the Canary Islands signals the beginning of the Spanish Empire.
 * 1403–1413: Ottoman Interregnum, a civil war between the four sons of Bayezid I.
 * 1403: The Yongle Emperor moves the capital of China from Nanjing to Beijing.
 * 1404–1406: Regreg War, Majapahit civil war of secession between Wikramawardhana against Wirabhumi.
 * 1405–1433: During the Ming treasure voyages, Admiral Zheng He of China sails through the Indian Ocean to Malacca, India, Ceylon, Persia, Arabia, and East Africa to spread China's influence and sovereignty.
 * 1405–1407: The first voyage of Zheng He, a massive Ming dynasty naval expedition visited Java, Palembang, Malacca, Aru, Samudera and Lambri. (to 1433)
 * 1408: The last recorded event to occur in the Norse settlements of Greenland was a wedding in Hvalsey in the Eastern Settlement in 1408.

1410s

 * 1410: The Battle of Grunwald is the decisive battle of the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War leading to the downfall of the Teutonic Knights.
 * 1410–1413: Foundation of St Andrews University in Scotland.
 * 1410-1415: The last Welsh war of independence, led by Owain Glyndŵr.
 * 1414: Khizr Khan, deputised by Timur to be the governor of Multan, takes over Delhi founding the Sayyid dynasty.
 * 1415: Henry the Navigator leads the conquest of Ceuta from the Moors marking the beginning of the Portuguese Empire.
 * 1415: Battle of Agincourt fought between the Kingdom of England and France.
 * 1415: Jan Hus is burned at the stake as a heretic at the Council of Constance.
 * 1419–1433: The Hussite Wars in Bohemia.

1420s

 * 1420: Construction of the Chinese Forbidden City is completed in Beijing.
 * 1424: James I returns to Scotland after being held hostage under three Kings of England since 1406.
 * 1424: Deva Raya II succeeds his father Veera Vijaya Bukka Raya as monarch of the Vijayanagara Empire.
 * 1425: Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) founded by Pope Martin V.
 * 1429: Joan of Arc ends the Siege of Orléans and turns the tide of the Hundred Years' War.
 * 1429: Queen Suhita succeeds her father Wikramawardhana as ruler of Majapahit.

1430s

 * 1431
 * January 9 – Pretrial investigations for Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France under English occupation.
 * March 3 – Pope Eugene IV succeeds Pope Martin V, to become the 207th pope.
 * March 26 – The trial of Joan of Arc begins.
 * May 30 – Nineteen-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake.
 * June 16 – the Teutonic Knights and Švitrigaila sign the Treaty of Christmemel, creating anti-Polish alliance
 * September – Battle of Inverlochy: Donald Balloch defeats the Royalists.
 * October 30 – Treaty of Medina del Campo, consolidating peace between Portugal and Castille.
 * December 16 – Henry VI of England is crowned King of France.
 * 1438: Pachacuti founds the Inca Empire.

1440s

 * 1440: Eton College founded by Henry VI.
 * 1440s: The Golden Horde breaks up into the Siberia Khanate, the Khanate of Kazan, the Astrakhan Khanate, the Crimean Khanate, and the Great Horde.
 * 1440–1469: Under Moctezuma I, the Aztecs become the dominant power in Mesoamerica.
 * 1440: Oba Ewuare comes to power in the West African city of Benin, and turns it into an empire.
 * 1441: Jan van Eyck, Flemish painter, dies.
 * 1441: Portuguese navigators cruise West Africa and reestablish the European slave trade with a shipment of African slaves sent directly from Africa to Portugal.
 * 1441: A civil war between the Tutul Xiues and Cocom breaks out in the League of Mayapan. As a consequence, the league begins to disintegrate.
 * 1442: Leonardo Bruni defines Middle Ages and Modern times.
 * 1443: Abdur Razzaq visits India.
 * 1443: King Sejong the Great publishes the hangul, the native phonetic alphabet system for the Korean language.
 * 1444: The Albanian league is established in Lezha, Skanderbeg is elected leader. A war begins against the Ottoman Empire. An Albanian state is set up and lasts until 1479.
 * 1444: Ottoman Empire under Sultan Murad II defeats the Polish and Hungarian armies under Władysław III of Poland and János Hunyadi at the Battle of Varna.
 * 1445: The Kazan Khanate defeats the Grand Duchy of Moscow at the Battle of Suzdal.
 * 1446: Mallikarjuna Raya succeeds his father Deva Raya II as monarch of the Vijayanagara Empire.
 * 1447: Wijaya Parakrama Wardhana, succeeds Suhita as ruler of Majapahit.
 * 1449: Saint Srimanta Sankardeva was born.
 * 1449: Esen Tayisi leads an Oirat Mongol invasion of China which culminate in the capture of the Zhengtong Emperor at Battle of Tumu Fortress.

1450s

 * 1450s: Machu Picchu constructed.
 * 1451: Bahlul Khan Lodhi ascends the throne of the Delhi sultanate starting the Lodhi dynasty
 * 1451: Rajasawardhana, born Bhre Pamotan, styled Brawijaya II succeeds Wijayaparakramawardhana as ruler of Majapahit.
 * 1453: The Fall of Constantinople marks the end of the Byzantine Empire and the death of the last Roman Emperor Constantine XI and the beginning of the Classical Age of the Ottoman Empire.
 * 1453: The Battle of Castillon is the last engagement of the Hundred Years' War and the first battle in European history where cannons were a major factor in deciding the battle.
 * 1453: Reign of Rajasawardhana ends.
 * 1454–1466: After defeating the Teutonic Knights in the Thirteen Years' War, Poland annexes Royal Prussia.
 * 1455–1485: Wars of the Roses – English civil war between the House of York and the House of Lancaster.
 * 1456: Joan of Arc is posthumously acquitted of heresy by the Catholic Church, redeeming her status as the heroine of France.
 * 1456: The Siege of Belgrade halts the Ottomans' advance into Europe.
 * 1456: Girishawardhana, styled Brawijaya III, becomes ruler of Majapahit.
 * 1457: Construction of Edo Castle begins.

1460s

 * 1461: The League of Mayapan disintegrates. The league is replaced by seventeen Kuchkabal.
 * 1461: The city of Sarajevo is founded by the Ottomans.
 * 1461
 * February 2 – Battle of Mortimer's Cross: Yorkist troops led by Edward, Duke of York defeat Lancastrians under Owen Tudor and his son Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke in Wales.
 * February 17 – Second Battle of St Albans, England: The Earl of Warwick's army is defeated by a Lancastrian force under Queen Margaret, who recovers control of her husband.
 * March 4 – The Duke of York seizes London and proclaims himself King Edward IV of England.
 * March 5 – Henry VI of England is deposed by the Duke of York during war of the Roses.
 * March 29 – Battle of Towton: Edward IV defeats Queen Margaret to make good his claim to the English throne (thought to be the bloodiest battle ever fought in England).
 * June 28 – Edward, Richard of York's son, is crowned as Edward IV, King of England (reigns until 1483).
 * July – Byzantine general Graitzas Palaiologos honourably surrenders Salmeniko Castle, last garrison of the Despotate of the Morea, to invading forces of the Ottoman Empire after a year-long siege.
 * July 22 – Louis XI of France succeeds Charles VII of France as king (reigns until 1483).
 * 1462: Sonni Ali Ber, the ruler of the Songhai (or Songhay) Empire, along the Niger River, conquers Mali in the central Sudan by defeating the Tuareg contingent at Tombouctou (or Timbuktu) and capturing the city. He develops both his own capital, Gao, and the main centres of Mali, Timbuktu and Djenné, into major cities. Ali Ber controls trade along the Niger River with a navy of war vessels.
 * 1462: Mehmed the Conqueror is driven back by Wallachian prince Vlad III Dracula at The Night Attack.
 * 1464: Edward IV of England secretly marries Elizabeth Woodville.
 * 1465: The 1465 Moroccan revolt ends in the murder of the last Marinid Sultan of Morocco Abd al-Haqq II.
 * 1466: Singhawikramawardhana, succeeds Girishawardhana as ruler of Majapahit.
 * 1467: Uzun Hasan defeats the Black Sheep Turkoman leader Jahān Shāh.
 * 1467–1615: The Sengoku period is one of civil war in Japan.
 * 1469: The marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile leads to the unification of Spain.
 * 1469: Matthias Corvinus of Hungary conquers some parts of Bohemia.
 * 1469: Birth of Guru Nanak Dev. Beside followers of Sikhism, Guru Nanak is revered by Hindus and Muslim Sufis across the Indian subcontinent.

1470s

 * 1470: The Moldavian forces under Stephen the Great defeat the Tatars of the Golden Horde at the Battle of Lipnic.
 * 1471: The kingdom of Champa suffers a massive defeat by the Vietnamese king Lê Thánh Tông.
 * 1472: Abu Abd Allah al-Sheikh Muhammad ibn Yahya becomes the first Wattasid Sultan of Morocco.
 * 1474–1477: Burgundy Wars of France, Switzerland, Lorraine and Sigismund II of Habsburg against the Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.
 * 1478: Muscovy conquers Novgorod.
 * 1478: Reign of Singhawikramawardhana ends.
 * 1478: The Great Mosque of Demak is the oldest mosque in Java, built by the Wali Songo during the reign of Sultan Patah.
 * 1479: Battle of Breadfield, Matthias Corvinus of Hungary defeated the Turks.

1480s

 * 1480: After the Great standing on the Ugra river, Muscovy gained independence from the Great Horde.
 * 1481: Spanish Inquisition begins in practice with the first auto-da-fé.
 * 1485: Matthias Corvinus of Hungary captured Vienna, Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor ran away.
 * 1485: Henry VII defeats Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth and becomes King of England.
 * 1485: Ivan III of Russia conquered Tver.
 * 1485: Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya drives out Praudha Raya ending the Sangama Dynasty.
 * 1486: Sher Shah Suri, is born in Sasaram, Bihar.
 * 1488: Portuguese Navigator Bartolomeu Dias sails around the Cape of Good Hope.

1490s

 * 1492: The death of Sunni Ali Ber left a leadership void in the Songhai Empire, and his son was soon dethroned by Mamadou Toure who ascended the throne in 1493 under the name Askia (meaning "general") Muhammad. Askia Muhammad made Songhai the largest empire in the history of West Africa. The empire went into decline, however, after 1528, when the now-blind Askia Muhammad was dethroned by his son, Askia Musa.
 * 1492: Boabdil's surrender of Granada marks the end of the Spanish Reconquista and Al-Andalus.
 * 1492: Ferdinand and Isabella sign the Alhambra Decree, expelling all Jews from Spain unless they convert to Catholicism; 40,000–200,000 leave.
 * 1492: Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas from Spain.
 * 1494: Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas and agree to divide the World outside of Europe between themselves.
 * 1494–1559: The Italian Wars lead to the downfall of the Italian city-states.
 * 1497–1499: Vasco da Gama's first voyage from Europe to India and back.
 * 1499: Ottoman fleet defeats Venetians at the Battle of Zonchio.
 * 1499: University “Alcalá de Henares” in Madrid, Spain is built.
 * 1499: Michelangelo's Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica is made in Rome
 * 1500: Islam becomes the dominant religion across the Indonesian archipelago.
 * 1500: Around late 15th century Bujangga Manik manuscript was composed, tell the story of Jaya Pakuan Bujangga Manik, a Sundanese Hindu hermit journeys throughout Java and Bali.

Undated

 * Polybius' "The Histories" translated into Italian, English, German and French.
 * Mississippian culture disappears.
 * Medallion rug, variant Star Ushak style, Anatolia (modern Turkey), is made. It is now kept at The Saint Louis Art Museum.

1500s



 * 1500: Charles of Ghent (future Lord of the Netherlands, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, and Holy Roman Emperor) was born.
 * 1500: Guru Nanak begins the spreading of Sikhism, the fifth-largest religion in the world.
 * 1500: Spanish navigator Vicente Yáñez Pinzón encounters Brazil but is prevented from claiming it by the Treaty of Tordesillas.
 * 1500: Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral claims Brazil for Portugal.
 * 1500: The Ottoman fleet of Kemal Reis defeats the Venetians at the Second Battle of Lepanto.
 * 1501: Michelangelo returns to his native Florence to begin work on the statue David.
 * 1501: Safavid dynasty reunifies Iran and rules over it until 1736. Safavids adopt a Shia branch of Islam.
 * 1502: First reported African slaves in the New World
 * 1502: The Crimean Khanate sacks Sarai in the Golden Horde, ending its existence.
 * 1503: Spain defeats France at the Battle of Cerignola. Considered to be the first battle in history won by gunpowder small arms.
 * 1503: Leonardo da Vinci begins painting the Mona Lisa and completes it three years later.
 * 1503: Nostradamus is born on either December 14 or December 21.
 * 1504: A period of drought, with famine in all of Spain.
 * 1504: Death of Isabella I of Castile; Joanna of Castile becomes the Queen.
 * 1504: Foundation of the Sultanate of Sennar by Amara Dunqas, in what is modern Sudan
 * 1505: Zhengde Emperor ascends the throne of Ming Dynasty.
 * 1505: Martin Luther enters St. Augustine's Monastery at Erfurt, Germany, on 17 July and begins his journey to instigating the Reformation.
 * 1505: Sultan Trenggono builds the first Muslim kingdom in Java, called Demak, in Indonesia. Many other small kingdoms were established in other islands to fight against Portuguese. Each kingdom introduced local language as a way of communication and unity.
 * 1506: Leonardo da Vinci completes the Mona Lisa.
 * 1506: King Afonso I of Kongo wins the battle of Mbanza Kongo, resulting in Catholicism becoming Kongo's state religion.
 * 1506: At least two thousand converted Jews are massacred in a Lisbon riot, Portugal.
 * 1506: Christopher Columbus dies in Valladolid, Spain.
 * 1506: Poland is invaded by Tatars from the Crimean Khanate.
 * 1507: The first recorded epidemic of smallpox in the New World on the island of Hispaniola. It devastates the native Taíno population.
 * 1507: Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Hormuz and Muscat, among other bases in the Persian Gulf, taking control of the region at the entrance of the Gulf.
 * 1508–1512: Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
 * 1509: The Battle of Diu marks the beginning of Portuguese dominance of the Spice trade and the Indian Ocean.
 * 1509: The Portuguese king sends Diogo Lopes de Sequeira to find Malacca, the eastern terminus of Asian trade. After initially receiving Sequeira, Sultan Mahmud Shah captures and/or kills several of his men and attempts an assault on the four Portuguese ships, which escape. The Javanese fleet is also destroyed in Malacca.

1510s



 * 1509–10: The 'great plague' in various parts of Tudor England.
 * 1510: Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Goa in India.
 * 1511: Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Sultanate of Malacca in present-day Malaysia.
 * 1512: Copernicus writes Commentariolus, and proclaims the sun the center of the solar system.
 * 1512: The southern part (historical core) of the Kingdom of Navarre is invaded by Castile and Aragon.
 * 1512: The first Portuguese exploratory expedition was sent eastward from Malacca (in present-day Malaysia) to search for the 'Spice Islands' (Maluku) led by Francisco Serrão. Serrão is shipwrecked but struggles on to Hitu (northern Ambon) and wins the favour of the local rulers.
 * 1513: Machiavelli writes The Prince, a treatise about political philosophy
 * 1513: The Portuguese mariner Jorge Álvares lands at Macau, China, during the Ming Dynasty.
 * 1513: Henry VIII defeats the French at the Battle of the Spurs.
 * 1513: The Battle of Flodden Field in which invading Scots are defeated by Henry VIII's forces.
 * 1513: Sultan Selim I ("The Grim") orders the massacre of Shia Muslims in Anatolia (present-day Turkey).
 * 1513: Vasco Núñez de Balboa, in service of Spain arrives at the Pacific Ocean (which he called Mar del Sur) across the Isthmus of Panama. He was the first European to do so.
 * 1514: The Battle of Orsha halts Muscovy's expansion into Eastern Europe.
 * 1514: Dózsa rebellion (peasant revolt) in Hungary.
 * 1514: The Battle of Chaldiran, the Ottoman Empire gains decisive victory against Safavid dynasty.
 * 1515: The Ottoman Empire wrests Eastern Anatolia from the Safavids after the Battle of Chaldiran.
 * 1515: The Ottomans conquers the last beyliks of Anatolia, the Dulkadirs and the Ramadanids.
 * 1516–1517: The Ottomans defeat the Mamluks and gain control of Egypt, Arabia, and the Levant.
 * 1517: The Sweating sickness epidemic in Tudor England.
 * 1517: The Reformation begins when Martin Luther posts his Ninety-five Theses in Saxony.
 * 1518: Mir Chakar Khan Rind leaves Baluchistan and settles in Punjab.
 * 1518: Leo Africanus, also known as al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi, an Andalusian Berber diplomat who is best known for his book Descrittione dell’Africa (Description of Africa), is captured by Spanish pirates; he is taken to Rome and presented to Pope Leo X.
 * 1518: The dancing plague of 1518 begins in Strasbourg, lasting for about one month.
 * 1519: Leonardo da Vinci dies of natural causes on May 2.
 * 1519: Wang Yangming, the Chinese philosopher and governor of Jiangxi province, describes his intent to use the firepower of the fo-lang-ji, a breech-loading Portuguese culverin, in order to suppress the rebellion of Prince Zhu Chenhao.
 * 1519: Barbary pirates led by Hayreddin Barbarossa, a Turk appointed to ruling position in Algiers by the Ottoman Empire, raid Provence and Toulon in southern France.
 * 1519: Charles I of Austria, Spain, and the Low Countries becomes Emperor of Holy Roman Empire as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (ruled until 1556).
 * 1519–1522: Spanish expedition commanded by Magellan and Elcano are the first to Circumnavigate the Earth.
 * 1519–1521: Hernán Cortés leads the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

1520s



 * 1520–1566: The reign of Suleiman the Magnificent marks the zenith of the Ottoman Empire.
 * 1520: The first European diplomatic mission to Ethiopia, sent by the Portuguese, arrives at Massawa 9 April, and reaches the imperial encampment of Emperor Dawit II in Shewa 9 October.
 * 1520: The Portuguese established a trading post in the village of Lamakera on the eastern side of Solor (in present-day Indonesia) as a transit harbour between Maluku and Malacca.
 * 1520: Sultan Ali Mughayat Shah of Aceh begins an expansionist campaign capturing Daya on the west Sumatran coast (in present-day Indonesia), and the pepper and gold producing lands on the east coast.
 * 1521: Belgrade (in present-day Serbia) is captured by the Ottoman Empire.
 * 1521: After building fortifications at Tuen Mun, the Portuguese attempt to invade Ming Dynasty China, but are expelled by Chinese naval forces.
 * 1521: Philippines encountered by Ferdinand Magellan. He was later killed in the Battle of Mactan in central Philippines in the same year.
 * 1521: Jiajing Emperor ascended the throne of Ming Dynasty, China.
 * 1521: November, Ferdinand Magellan's expedition reaches Maluku (in present-day Indonesia) and after trade with Ternate returns to Europe with a load of cloves.
 * 1521: Pati Unus leads the invasion of Malacca (in present-day Malaysia) against the Portuguese occupation. Pati Unus was killed in this battle, and was succeeded by his brother, sultan Trenggana.
 * 1522: Rhodes falls to the Ottomans of Suleiman the Magnificent.
 * 1522: The Portuguese ally themselves with the rulers of Ternate (in present-day Indonesia) and begin construction of a fort.
 * 1522: August, Luso-Sundanese Treaty signed between Portugal and Sunda Kingdom granted Portuguese permit to build fortress in Sunda Kelapa.
 * 1523: Sweden gains independence from the Kalmar Union.
 * 1523: The Cacao bean is introduced to Spain by Hernán Cortés
 * 1524–1525: German Peasants' War in the Holy Roman Empire.
 * 1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano is the first European to explore the Atlantic coast of North America between South Carolina and Newfoundland.
 * 1524 – Ismail I, the founder of Safavid dynasty, dies and Tahmasp I becomes king.
 * 1525: Spain and Germany defeat France at the Battle of Pavia, Francis I of France is captured.
 * 1526: The Ottomans defeat the Kingdom of Hungary at the Battle of Mohács.
 * 1526: Mughal Empire, founded by Babur, rules India until 1857.
 * 1527: Sack of Rome with Pope Clement VII escaping and the Swiss Guards defending the Vatican being killed. The sack of the city of Rome considered the end of the Italian Renaissance.
 * 1527: Protestant Reformation begins in Sweden.
 * 1527: The last ruler of Majapahit falls from power. This state (located in present-day Indonesia) was finally extinguished at the hands of the Demak. A large number of courtiers, artisans, priests, and members of the royalty moved east to the island of Bali; however, the power and the seat of government transferred to Demak under the leadership of Pangeran, later Sultan Fatah.
 * 1527: June 22, The Javanese Prince Fatahillah of the Cirebon Sultanate successfully defeated the Portuguese armed forces at the site of the Sunda Kelapa Harbor. The city was then renamed Jayakarta, meaning "a glorious victory." This eventful day came to be acknowledged as Jakarta's Founding Anniversary.
 * 1529: The Austrians defeat the Ottoman Empire at the siege of Vienna.
 * 1529: Treaty of Zaragoza defined the antimeridian of Tordesillas attributing the Moluccas to Portugal and Philippines to Spain.
 * 1529: Imam Ahmad Gragn defeats the Ethiopian Emperor Dawit II in the Battle of Shimbra Kure, the opening clash of the Ethiopian–Adal War.

1530s



 * 1531–32: The Church of England breaks away from the Catholic Church and recognizes King Henry VIII as the head of the Church.
 * 1531: The Inca Civil War is fought between the two brothers, Atahualpa and Huáscar.
 * 1532: Francisco Pizarro leads the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
 * 1532: Foundation of São Vicente, the first permanent Portuguese settlement in the Americas.
 * 1533: Anne Boleyn becomes Queen of England.
 * 1533: Elizabeth Tudor is born.
 * 1534: Jacques Cartier claims Canada for France.
 * 1534: The Ottomans capture Baghdad from the Safavids.
 * 1534: Affair of the Placards – Francis becomes more active in repression of French Protestants.
 * 1535: The Münster Rebellion, an attempt of radical, millennialist, Anabaptists to establish a theocracy, ends in bloodshed.
 * 1535: The Portuguese in Ternate depose Sultan Tabariji (or Tabarija) and send him to Portuguese Goa where he converts to Christianity and bequeaths his Portuguese godfather Jordao de Freitas the island of Ambon. Hairun becomes the next sultan.
 * 1536: Katherine of Aragon dies in Kimbolton Castle, in England.
 * 1536: In England, Anne Boleyn is beheaded for adultery and treason.
 * 1536:  Establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal.
 * 1536:  Foundation of Buenos Aires (in present-day Argentina) by Pedro de Mendoza.
 * 1537: The Portuguese establish Recife in Pernambuco, north-east of Brazil.
 * 1537:  William Tyndale's partial translation of the Bible into English is published, which would eventually be incorporated into the King James Bible.
 * 1538: Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada founds Bogotá.
 * 1538: Spanish–Venetian fleet is defeated by the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Preveza.
 * 1539: Hernando de Soto explores inland North America.

1540s



 * 1540: The Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, is founded by Ignatius of Loyola and six companions with the approval of Pope Paul III.
 * 1540: Sher Shah Suri founds the Suri dynasty in South Asia, an ethnic Pashtun (Pathan) of the house of Sur, who supplanted the Mughal dynasty as rulers of North India during the reign of the relatively ineffectual second Mughal emperor Humayun. Sher Shah Suri decisively defeats Humayun in the Battle of Bilgram (May 17, 1540).
 * 1541: Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago de Chile.
 * 1541: An Algerian military campaign by Charles V of Spain (Habsburg) is unsuccessful.
 * 1541: Amazon River is encountered and explored by Francisco de Orellana.
 * 1541: Capture of Buda and the absorption of the major part of Hungary by the Ottoman Empire.
 * 1541: Sahib I Giray of Crimea invades Russia.
 * 1542: War resumes between Francis I of France and Emperor Charles V. This time Henry VIII is allied with the Emperor, while James V of Scotland and Sultan Suleiman I are allied with the French.
 * 1542: Akbar The Great is born in the Rajput Umarkot Fort
 * 1542: Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the island of Samar and Leyte Las Islas Filipinas honoring Philip II of Spain and became the official name of the archipelago.
 * 1543: Ethiopian/Portuguese troops decisively defeat the Adal-Ottoman Muslim army led by Imam Ahmad Gragn at the Battle of Wayna Daga; Imam Ahmad Gragn is killed at this battle.
 * 1543: Copernicus publishes his theory that the Earth and the other planets revolve around the Sun
 * 1543: The Nanban trade period begins after Portuguese traders make contact with Japan.
 * 1544: The French defeat an Imperial–Spanish army at the Battle of Ceresole.
 * 1544: Battle of the Shirts in Scotland. The Frasers and Macdonalds of Clan Ranald fight over a disputed chiefship; reportedly, 5 Frasers and 8 Macdonalds survive.
 * 1545: Songhai forces sack the Malian capital of Niani
 * 1545: The Council of Trent meets for the first time in Trent (in northern Italy).
 * 1546: Michelangelo Buonarroti is made chief architect of St. Peter's Basilica.
 * 1546: Francis Xavier works among the peoples of Ambon, Ternate and Morotai (Moro) laying the foundations for a permanent mission. (to 1547)
 * 1547: Henry VIII dies in the Palace of Whitehall on 28 January at the age of 55.
 * 1547: Francis I dies in the Château de Rambouillet on 31 March at the age of 52.
 * 1547: Edward VI becomes King of England and Ireland on 28 January and is crowned on 20 February at the age of 9.
 * 1547: Emperor Charles V decisively dismantles the Schmalkaldic League at the Battle of Mühlberg.
 * 1547: Grand Prince Ivan the Terrible is crowned tsar of (All) Russia, thenceforth becoming the first Russian tsar.
 * 1548: Battle of Uedahara: Firearms are used for the first time on the battlefield in Japan, and Takeda Shingen is defeated by Murakami Yoshikiyo.
 * 1548: Askia Daoud, who reigned from 1548 to 1583, establishes public libraries in Timbuktu (in present-day Mali).
 * 1548: The Ming Dynasty government of China issues a decree banning all foreign trade and closes down all seaports along the coast; these Hai jin laws came during the Wokou wars with Japanese pirates.
 * 1549: Tomé de Sousa establishes Salvador in Bahia, north-east of Brazil.
 * 1549: Arya Penangsang with the support of his teacher, Sunan Kudus, avenges the death of Raden Kikin by sending an envoy named Rangkud to kill Sunan Prawoto by Keris Kyai Satan Kober (in present-day Indonesia).

1550s



 * 1550: The architect Mimar Sinan builds the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul.
 * 1550: Mongols led by Altan Khan invade China and besiege Beijing.
 * 1550–1551: Valladolid debate concerning the human rights of the Indigenous people of the Americas.
 * 1551: Fifth outbreak of sweating sickness in England. John Caius of Shrewsbury writes the first full contemporary account of the symptoms of the disease.
 * 1551: North African pirates enslave the entire population of the Maltese island Gozo, between 5,000 and 6,000, sending them to Libya.
 * 1552: Russia conquers the Khanate of Kazan in central Asia.
 * 1552: Jesuit China Mission, Francis Xavier dies.
 * 1553: Mary Tudor becomes the first queen regnant of England and restores the Church of England under Papal authority.
 * 1553: The Portuguese found a settlement at Macau.
 * 1554: Missionaries José de Anchieta and Manuel da Nóbrega establishes São Paulo, southeast Brazil.
 * 1554: Princess Elizabeth is imprisoned in the Tower of London upon the orders of Mary I for suspicion of being involved in the Wyatt rebellion.
 * 1555: The Muscovy Company is the first major English joint stock trading company.
 * 1556: Publication in Venice of Delle Navigiationi et Viaggi (terzo volume) by Giovanni Battista Ramusio, secretary of Council of Ten, with plan La Terra de Hochelaga, an illustration of the Hochelaga.
 * 1556: The Shaanxi earthquake in China is history's deadliest known earthquake during the Ming dynasty.
 * 1556: Georgius Agricola, the "Father of Mineralogy", publishes his De re metallica.
 * 1556: Akbar the Great defeats Hemu at the Second battle of Panipat.
 * 1556: Russia conquers the Astrakhan Khanate.
 * 1556–1605: During his reign, Akbar expands the Mughal Empire in a series of conquests (in the Indian subcontinent).
 * 1556: Mir Chakar Khan Rind captures Delhi with Humayun.
 * 1556: Pomponio Algerio, radical theologian, is executed by boiling in oil as part of the Roman inquisition.
 * 1557: Habsburg Spain declares bankruptcy. Philip II of Spain had to declare four state bankruptcies in 1557, 1560, 1575 and 1596.
 * 1557: The Portuguese settle in Macau (on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from present-day Hong Kong).
 * 1557: The Ottomans capture Massawa, all but isolating Ethiopia from the rest of the world.
 * 1558: Elizabeth Tudor becomes Queen Elizabeth I at age 25.
 * 1558–1603: The Elizabethan era is considered the height of the English Renaissance.
 * 1558–1583: Livonian War between Poland, Grand Principality of Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark and Russia.
 * 1558: After 200 years, the Kingdom of England loses Calais to France.
 * 1559: With the Peace of Cateau Cambrésis, the Italian Wars conclude.
 * 1559: Sultan Hairun of Ternate (in present-day Indonesia) protests the Portuguese's Christianisation activities in his lands. Hostilities between Ternate and the Portuguese.

1560s



 * 1560: Ottoman navy defeats the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Djerba.
 * 1560: Elizabeth Bathory is born in Nyirbator, Hungary.
 * 1560: By winning the Battle of Okehazama, Oda Nobunaga becomes one of the pre-eminent warlords of Japan.
 * 1560: Jeanne d'Albret declares Calvinism the official religion of Navarre.
 * 1560: Lazarus Church, Macau
 * 1561: Sir Francis Bacon is born in London.
 * 1561: The fourth battle of Kawanakajima between the Uesugi and Takeda at Hachimanbara takes place.
 * 1561: Guido de Bres draws up the Belgic Confession of Protestant faith.
 * 1562: Mughal emperor Akbar reconciles the Muslim and Hindu factions by marrying into the powerful Rajput Hindu caste.
 * 1562–98: French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Huguenots.
 * 1562: Massacre of Wassy and Battle of Dreux in the French Wars of Religion.
 * 1562: Portuguese Dominican priests build a palm-trunk fortress which Javanese Muslims burned down the following year. The fort was rebuilt from more durable materials and the Dominicans commenced the Christianisation of the local population.
 * 1563: Plague outbreak claimed 80,000 people in Elizabethan England. In London alone, over 20,000 people died of the disease.
 * 1564: Galileo Galilei born on February 15
 * 1564: William Shakespeare baptized 26 April
 * 1565: Battle of Talikota fought between the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates.
 * 1565: Mir Chakar Khan Rind dies at aged 97.
 * 1565: Estácio de Sá establishes Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
 * 1565: The Hospitallers, a Crusading Order, defeat the Ottoman Empire at the siege of Malta (1565).
 * 1565: Miguel López de Legazpi establishes in Cebu the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines starting a period of Spanish colonization that would last over three hundred years.
 * 1565: Spanish navigator Andres de Urdaneta discovers the maritime route from Asia to the Americas across the Pacific Ocean, also known as the tornaviaje.
 * 1565: Royal Exchange is founded by Thomas Gresham.
 * 1566: Suleiman the Magnificent, ruler of the Ottoman Empire, dies on September 7, during the battle of Szigetvar.
 * 1566–1648: Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Netherlands.
 * 1566: Da le Balle Contrade d'Oriente, composed by Cipriano de Rore.
 * 1567: After 45 years' reign, Jiajing Emperor died in the Forbidden City, Longqing Emperor ascended the throne of Ming Dynasty.
 * 1567: Mary, Queen of Scots, is imprisoned by Elizabeth I.
 * 1568: The Transylvanian Diet, under the patronage of the prince John Sigismund Zápolya, the former king of Hungary, inspired by the teachings of Ferenc Dávid, the founder of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania, promulgates the Edict of Torda, the first law of freedom of religion and of conscience in the World.
 * 1568–1571: Morisco Revolt in Spain.
 * 1568–1600: The Azuchi-Momoyama period in Japan.
 * 1568: Hadiwijaya sent his adopted son and son in-law Sutawijaya, who would later become the first ruler of the Mataram dynasty of Indonesia, to kill Arya Penangsang.
 * 1569: Rising of the North in England.
 * 1569: Mercator 1569 world map published by Gerardus Mercator.
 * 1569: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth is created with the Union of Lublin which lasts until 1795.
 * 1569: Peace treaty signed by Sultan Hairun of Ternate and Governor Lopez De Mesquita of Portugal.

1570s



 * 1570: Ivan the Terrible, tsar of Russia, orders the massacre of inhabitants of Novgorod.
 * 1570: Pope Pius V issues Regnans in Excelsis, a papal bull excommunicating all who obeyed Elizabeth I and calling on all Catholics to rebel against her.
 * 1570: Sultan Hairun of Ternate (in present-day Indonesia) is killed by the Portuguese. Babullah becomes the next Sultan.
 * 1571: Pope Pius V completes the Holy League as a united front against the Ottoman Turks.
 * 1571: The Spanish-led Holy League navy destroys the Ottoman Empire navy at the Battle of Lepanto.
 * 1571: Crimean Tatars attack and sack Moscow, burning everything but the Kremlin.
 * 1571: American Indians kill Spanish missionaries in what would later be Jamestown, Virginia.
 * 1571: Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi establishes Manila, Philippines as the capital of the Spanish East Indies.
 * 1572: Brielle is taken from Habsburg Spain by Protestant Watergeuzen in the Capture of Brielle, in the Eighty Years' War.
 * 1572: Spanish conquistadores apprehend the last Inca leader Tupak Amaru at Vilcabamba, Peru, and execute him in Cuzco.
 * 1572: Jeanne d'Albret dies aged 43 and is succeeded by Henry of Navarre.
 * 1572: Catherine de' Medici instigates the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre which takes the lives of Protestant leader Gaspard de Coligny and thousands of Huguenots. The violence spreads from Paris to other cities and the countryside.
 * 1572: First edition of the epic The Lusiads of Luís Vaz de Camões, three years after the author returned from the East.
 * 1572: The 9 years old Taizi, Zhu Yijun ascended the throne of Ming Dynasty, known as Wanli Emperor.
 * 1573: After heavy losses on both sides the siege of Haarlem ends in a Spanish victory.
 * 1574: in the Eighty Years' War the capital of Zeeland, Middelburg declares for the Protestants.
 * 1574: After a siege of 4 months the siege of Leiden ends in a comprehensive Dutch rebel victory.
 * 1575: Oda Nobunaga finally captures Nagashima fortress.
 * 1575: Following a five-year war, the Ternateans under Sultan Babullah defeated the Portuguese.
 * 1576: Tahmasp I, Safavid shah, dies.
 * 1576: The Battle of Haldighati is fought between the ruler of Mewar, Maharana Pratap and the Mughal Empire's forces under Emperor Akbar led by Raja Man Singh.
 * 1576: Sack of Antwerp by badly paid Spanish soldiers.
 * 1577–80: Francis Drake circles the world.
 * 1577: Ki Ageng Pemanahan built his palace in Pasargede or Kotagede.
 * 1578: King Sebastian of Portugal is killed at the Battle of Alcazarquivir.
 * 1578: The Portuguese establish a fort on Tidore but the main centre for Portuguese activities in Maluku becomes Ambon.
 * 1578: Sonam Gyatso is conferred the title of Dalai Lama by Tumed Mongol ruler, Altan Khan. Recognised as the reincarnation of two previous Lamas, Sonam Gyatso becomes the third Dalai Lama in the lineage.
 * 1579: The Union of Utrecht unifies the northern Netherlands, a foundation for the later Dutch Republic.
 * 1579: The Union of Arras unifies the southern Netherlands, a foundation for the later states of the Spanish Netherlands, the Austrian Netherlands and Belgium.
 * 1579: The British navigator Sir Francis Drake passes through Maluku and transit in Ternate on his circumnavigation of the world. The Portuguese establish a fort on Tidore but the main centre for Portuguese activities in Maluku becomes Ambon.

1580s



 * 1580: Drake's royal reception after his attacks on Spanish possessions influences Philip II of Spain to build up the Spanish Armada. English ships in Spanish harbours are impounded.
 * 1580: Spain unifies with Portugal under Philip II. The struggle for the throne of Portugal ends the Portuguese Empire. The Spanish and Portuguese crowns are united for 60 years, i.e. until 1640.
 * 1580–1587: Nagasaki comes under control of the Jesuits.
 * 1581: Dutch Act of Abjuration, declaring abjuring allegiance to Philip II of Spain.
 * 1581: Bayinnaung dies at the age of 65.
 * 1582: Oda Nobunaga is assassinated by his general, Akechi Mitsuhide.
 * 1582: Pope Gregory XIII issues the Gregorian calendar. The last day of the Julian calendar was Thursday, 4 October 1582 and this was followed by the first day of the Gregorian calendar, Friday, 15 October 1582
 * 1582: Yermak Timofeyevich conquers the Siberia Khanate on behalf of the Stroganovs.
 * 1583: Denmark builds the world's first theme park, Bakken.
 * 1583: Death of Sultan Babullah of Ternate.
 * 1584–1585: After the siege of Antwerp, many of its merchants flee to Amsterdam. According to Luc-Normand Tellier, "At its peak, between 1510 and 1557, Antwerp concentrated about 40% of the world trade...It is estimated that the port of Antwerp was earning the Spanish crown seven times more revenues than the Americas."
 * 1584: Ki Ageng Pemanahan died. Sultan Pajang raised Sutawijaya, son of Ki Ageng Pemanahan as the new ruler in Mataram, titled "Loring Ngabehi Market" (because of his home in the north of the market).
 * 1585: Colony at Roanoke founded in North America.
 * 1585–1604: The Anglo-Spanish War is fought on both sides of the Atlantic.
 * 1587: Mary, Queen of Scots is executed by Elizabeth I.
 * 1587: The reign of Abbas I marks the zenith of the Safavid dynasty.
 * 1587: Troops that would invade Pajang Mataram Sultanate storm ravaged the eruption of Mount Merapi. Sutawijaya and his men survived.
 * 1588: Mataram into the kingdom with Sutawijaya as Sultan, titled "Senapati Ingalaga Sayidin Panatagama" means the warlord and cleric Manager Religious Life.
 * 1588: England repulses the Spanish Armada.
 * 1589: Spain repulses the English Armada.
 * 1589: Catherine de' Medici dies at aged 69.

1590s



 * 1590: Siege of Odawara: the Go-Hojo clan surrender to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Japan is unified.
 * 1591: Gazi Giray leads a huge Tatar expedition against Moscow.
 * 1591: In Mali, Moroccan forces of the Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur led by Judar Pasha defeat the Songhai Empire at the Battle of Tondibi.
 * 1592–1593: John Stow reports 10,675 plague deaths in London, a city of approximately 200,000 people.
 * 1592–1598: Korea, with the help of Ming Dynasty China, repels two Japanese invasions.
 * 1593–1606: The Long War between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Turks.
 * 1594: St. Paul's College, Macau, founded by Alessandro Valignano.
 * 1595: First Dutch expedition to Indonesia sets sail for the East Indies with two hundred and forty-nine men and sixty-four cannons led by Cornelis de Houtman.
 * 1596: Birth of René Descartes.
 * 1596: June, de Houtman's expedition reaches Banten the main pepper port of West Java where they clash with both the Portuguese and Indonesians. It then sails east along the north coast of Java losing twelve crew to a Javanese attack at Sidayu and killing a local ruler in Madura.
 * 1597: Romeo and Juliet is published.
 * 1597: Cornelis de Houtman's expedition returns to the Netherlands with enough spices to make a considerable profit.
 * 1598: The Edict of Nantes ends the French Wars of Religion.
 * 1598: Abbas I moves Safavids capital from Qazvin to Isfahan in 1598.
 * 1598–1613: Russia descends into anarchy during the Time of Troubles.
 * 1598: The Portuguese require an armada of 90 ships to put down a Solorese uprising. (to 1599)
 * 1598: More Dutch fleets leave for Indonesia and most are profitable.
 * 1598: The province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México is established in Northern New Spain. The region would later become a territory of Mexico, the New Mexico Territory in the United States, and the US State of New Mexico.
 * 1598: Death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, known as the unifier of Japan.
 * 1599: The Mali Empire is defeated at the Battle of Jenné.
 * 1599: The van Neck expedition returns to Europe. The expedition makes a 400 per cent profit. (to 1600)
 * 1599: March, Leaving Europe the previous year, a fleet of eight ships under Jacob van Neck was the first Dutch fleet to reach the ‘Spice Islands’ of Maluku.
 * 1600: Giordano Bruno is burned at the stake for heresy in Rome.
 * 1600: Battle of Sekigahara in Japan. End of the Warring States period and beginning of the Edo period.
 * 1600: The Portuguese win a major naval battle in the bay of Ambon. Later in the year, the Dutch join forces with the local Hituese in an anti-Portuguese alliance, in return for which the Dutch would have the sole right to purchase spices from Hitu.
 * 1600: Elizabeth I grants a charter to the British East India Company beginning the English advance in Asia.

1601–1650

 * 1600: Michael the Brave unifies the three Romanian principalities: Wallachia, Moldavia and Translyvania after the Battle of Șelimbăr from 1599.
 * 1601: In the Battle of Kinsale, England defeats Irish and Spanish forces at the town of Kinsale, driving the Gaelic aristocracy out of Ireland and destroying the Gaelic clan system.
 * 1601–1603: The Russian famine of 1601–1603 kills perhaps one-third of Russia.
 * 1602: Matteo Ricci produces the Map of the Myriad Countries of the World (坤輿萬國全圖, Kūnyú Wànguó Quántú), a world map that will be used throughout East Asia for centuries.
 * 1602: The Dutch East India Company (VOC) is established by merging competing Dutch trading companies. Its success contributes to the Dutch Golden Age.
 * 1603: Elizabeth I of England dies and is succeeded by her cousin King James VI of Scotland, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England.
 * 1603: Tokugawa Ieyasu takes the title of shōgun, establishing the Tokugawa shogunate. This begins the Edo period, which will last until 1868.
 * 1603: In Nagasaki, the Portuguese Jesuit missionary João Rodrigues publishes Nippo Jisho, the first dictionary of Japanese to an European language (Portuguese)
 * 1605: The King of Gowa, a Makassarese kingdom in South Sulawesi, converts to Islam.
 * 1605-1627: The reign of Mughal emperor Jahangir after the death of emperor Akbar.
 * 1606: The Long War between the Ottoman Empire and Austria is ended with the Peace of Zsitvatorok—Austria abandons Transylvania.
 * 1606: Treaty of Vienna ends anti-Habsburg uprising in Royal Hungary.
 * 1607: Flight of the Earls (the fleeing of most of the native Gaelic aristocracy) occurs from County Donegal in the west of Ulster in Ireland.
 * 1607: Iskandar Muda becomes the Sultan of Aceh (r. 1607–1637). He will launch a series of naval conquests that will transform Aceh into a great power in the western Malay Archipelago.
 * 1610: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth army defeats combined Russian–Swedish forces at the Battle of Klushino and conquers Moscow.
 * 1610: King Henry IV of France is assassinated by François Ravaillac.
 * 1611: The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, the oldest existing university in Asia, established by the Dominican Order in Manila
 * 1611: The first publication of the King James Bible.
 * 1612: Cotswold Olympic Games, Robert Dover
 * 1613: The Time of Troubles in Russia ends with the establishment of the House of Romanov, which rules until 1917.
 * 1613–1617: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth is invaded by the Tatars dozens of times.
 * 1613: The Dutch East India Company is forced to evacuate Gresik because of the Mataram siege of neighboring Surabaya. The VOC enters into negotiations with Mataram and is allowed to set up a trading post in Jepara.
 * 1614–1615: The Siege of Osaka (last major threat to Tokugawa shogunate) ends.
 * 1616: The last remaining Moriscos (Moors who had nominally converted to Christianity) in Spain are expelled.
 * 1616: English poet and playwright William Shakespeare dies.
 * 1618: The Defenestration of Prague.
 * 1618: The Bohemian Revolt precipitates the Thirty Years' War, which devastates Europe in the years 1618–48.
 * 1618: The Manchus start invading China. Their conquest eventually topples the Ming dynasty.
 * 1619: Dutch East India Company, English East India Company, and Sultanate of Banten all fighting over port city of Jayakarta. VOC forces storm the city and withstand a months-long siege by the combined English, Bantenese, and Jayakartan forces. They are relieved by Jan Pieterszoon Coen and a fleet of nineteen ships out of Ambon. Coen had burned Jepara and its EIC post along the way. The VOC levels the old city of Jayakarta and builds its new headquarters, Batavia, on top of it.
 * 1620–1621: Polish-Ottoman War over Moldavia.
 * 1620: Bethlen Gabor allies with the Ottomans and an invasion of Moldavia takes place. The Polish suffer a disaster at Cecora on the River Prut.
 * 1620: The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, England to what became Plymouth Colony in the New England region of North America.
 * 1621: The Battle of Chocim: Poles and Cossacks under Jan Karol Chodkiewicz defeat the Ottomans.
 * 1622: Jamestown massacre: Algonquian natives kill 347 English settlers outside Jamestown, Virginia (one-third of the colony's population) and burn the Henricus settlement.
 * 1624–1642: As chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu centralises power in France.
 * 1626: St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican completed.
 * 1627: Aurochs go extinct.
 * 1628—1629: Sultan Agung of Mataram launches a failed campaign to conquer Dutch Batavia.
 * 1629: Abbas I, the Safavids king, died.
 * 1629: Cardinal Richelieu allies with Swedish Protestant forces in the Thirty Years' War to counter Ferdinand II's expansion.
 * 1630 : Birth of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Shivneri fort
 * 1631: Mount Vesuvius erupts.
 * 1632: Battle of Lützen, death of king of Sweden Gustav II Adolf.
 * 1632: Taj Mahal building work started in Agra, India.
 * 1633: Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition.
 * 1633–1639: Japan transforms into "locked country".
 * 1634: Battle of Nördlingen results in Catholic victory.
 * 1636: Harvard University is founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
 * 1637: Shimabara Rebellion of Japanese Christians, rōnin and peasants against Edo.
 * 1637: The first opera house, Teatro San Cassiano, opens in Venice.
 * 1637: Qing dynasty attacked Joseon dynasty.
 * 1639: Naval Battle of the Downs – Republic of the United Provinces fleet decisively defeats a Spanish fleet in English waters.
 * 1639: Disagreements between the Farnese and Barberini Pope Urban VIII escalate into the Wars of Castro and last until 1649.
 * 1639–1651: Wars of the Three Kingdoms, civil wars throughout Scotland, Ireland, and England.
 * 1640–1668: The Portuguese Restoration War led to the end of the Iberian Union.
 * 1641: The Irish Rebellion.
 * 1641: René Descartes publishes Meditationes de prima philosophia Meditations on First Philosophy.
 * 1642: Beginning of English Civil War, conflict will end in 1649 with the execution of King Charles I, abolishment of the monarchy and the establishment of the supremacy of Parliament over the king.
 * 1643: L'incoronazione di Poppea, Monterverdi
 * 1644: The Manchu conquer China ending the Ming dynasty. The subsequent Qing dynasty rules until 1912.
 * 1644–1674: The Mauritanian Thirty-Year War.
 * 1645–1669: Ottoman war with Venice. The Ottomans invade Crete and capture Canea.
 * 1647–1652: The Great Plague of Seville.
 * 1648: The Peace of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War and marks the ends of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire as major European powers.
 * 1648–1653: Fronde civil war in France.
 * 1648–1657: The Khmelnytsky Uprising – a Cossack rebellion in Ukraine which turned into a Ukrainian war of liberation from Poland.
 * 1648–1667: The Deluge wars leave Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in ruins.
 * 1648–1669: The Ottomans capture Crete from the Venetians after the Siege of Candia.
 * 1649: King Charles I is executed for High treason, the first and only English king to be subjected to legal proceedings in a High Court of Justice and put to death.
 * 1649–1653: The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.

1651–1700

 * 1651: English Civil War ends with the Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Worcester.
 * 1656–1661: Mehmed Köprülü is Grand Vizier.
 * 1655–1661: The Northern Wars cement Sweden's rise as a Great Power.
 * 1658: After his father Shah Jahan completes the Taj Mahal, his son Aurangzeb deposes him as ruler of the Mughal Empire.
 * 1660: The Commonwealth of England ends and the monarchy is brought back during the English Restoration.
 * 1660: The Royal Society is founded
 * 1661: The reign of the Kangxi Emperor of China begins.
 * 1663: Ottoman war against Habsburg Hungary.
 * 1664: The Battle of St. Gotthard: count Raimondo Montecuccoli defeats the Ottomans. The Peace of Vasvar – intended to keep the peace for 20 years.
 * 1665: Robert Hooke discovers cells using a microscope.
 * 1665: Portugal defeats the Kongo Empire at the Battle of Mbwila.
 * 1665–1667: The Second Anglo-Dutch War fought between England and the United Provinces.
 * 1666: The Great Fire of London.
 * 1667: The Raid on the Medway during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
 * 1667–1668: The War of Devolution; France invades the Netherlands. The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668) brings this to a halt.
 * 1667–1699: The Great Turkish War halts the Ottoman Empire's expansion into Europe.
 * 1672–1673: Ottoman campaign to help the Ukrainian Cossacks. John Sobieski defeats the Ottomans at the second battle of Khotyn (1673).
 * 1672–1674: The Third Anglo-Dutch War fought between England and the United Provinces
 * 1672–1676: Polish–Ottoman War.
 * 1672–1678: Franco-Dutch War.
 * 1674: Shivaji forms the Maratha Empire, which lasts until 1818.
 * 1676–1681: Russia and the Ottoman Empire commence the Russo-Turkish Wars.
 * 1678: The Treaty of Nijmegen ends various interconnected wars among France, the Dutch Republic, Spain, Brandenburg, Sweden, Denmark, the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, and the Holy Roman Empire.
 * 1680: The Pueblo Revolt drives the Spanish out of New Mexico until 1692.
 * 1682: Chateau de Versailles, Saint-Gobain
 * 1682 – In North America, the French explorer Robert La Salle claims all the land east of the Mississippi River.
 * 1683: China conquers the Kingdom of Tungning and annexes Taiwan.
 * 1683: The Ottoman Empire is defeated in the second Siege of Vienna.
 * 1683–1699: The Great Turkish War leads to the conquest of most of Ottoman Hungary by the Habsburgs.
 * 1687: Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
 * 1688: The Siege of Derry.
 * 1688: Siamese revolution of 1688 ousted French influence and virtually severed all ties with the West until the 19th century.
 * 1688–1689: The Glorious Revolution starts with the Dutch Republic invading England, England becomes a constitutional monarchy.
 * 1688–1691: The War of the Two Kings in Ireland.
 * 1688–1697: The Grand Alliance sought to stop French expansion during the Nine Years' War.
 * 1689: The Battle of Killiecrankie is fought between Jacobite and Williamite forces in Highland Perthshire.
 * 1689: The Karposh rebellion is crushed in present-day North Macedonia, Skopje is retaken by the Ottoman Turks. Karposh is killed, and the rebels are defeated.
 * 1689: Bill of Rights
 * 1690: The Battle of the Boyne in Ireland.
 * 1692: Port Royal in Jamaica is struck by an earthquake and a tsunami. Approximately 2,000 people die and 2,300 are injured.
 * 1692–1694: Famine in France kills two million.
 * 1693: The College of William and Mary is founded in Williamsburg, Virginia, by a royal charter.
 * 1694: The Bank of England is established.
 * 1695: The Mughal Empire nearly bans the East India Company in response to pirate Henry Every's capture of the Ganj-i-Sawai.
 * 1696–1697: Famine in Finland wipes out almost one-third of the population.
 * 1697–1699: Grand Embassy of Peter the Great
 * 1699: Thomas Savery demonstrates his first steam engine to the Royal Society.

=Italy intros in WW1 and WW2 (change to "Italy during World War"?)=

Italy in World War One
Allo scoppio della prima guerra mondiale nel 1914, l'Italia rimase neutrale.

Two defensive alliances dominated European politics between the late 1800s and the early 1900s: the Triple Entente (Britain, France, and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria, Italy). Although a member of the latter, Italy declared its neutrality at the outbreak of World War One (28 July 1914) on the ground that the conflict was started by the offensives of the two Central Powers (Austria and Germany). Almost a year later, after secret parallel negotiations with both sides concerning territorial rewards at the end of the conflict, Italy joined Britain, Russia, France, and Japan, becoming a member of the Allied Powers.

This article is about Italian military operations in World War I.

Although a member of the Triple Alliance along with Germany and Austria, Italy refused its allies to join the Central Powers at the outbreak of World War One (28 July 1914) on the ground that three countries were bound by a defensive pact whereas it was

. on the ground that the three countries were only bound by a defensive pact while the offensive was  In fact, those two countries had taken the offensive while the Triple Alliance was supposed to be a defensive alliance. Moreover the Triple Alliance recognized that both Italy and Austria-Hungary were interested in the Balkans and required both to consult each other before changing the status quo and to provide compensation for whatever advantage in that area: Austria-Hungary did consult Germany but not Italy before issuing the ultimatum to Serbia, and refused any compensation before the end of the war.

Almost a year after the war's commencement, after secret parallel negotiations with both sides (with the Allies in which Italy negotiated for territory if victorious, and with the Central Powers to gain territory if neutral) Italy entered the war on the side of the Allied Powers. Italy began to fight against Austria-Hungary along the northern border, including high up in the now-Italian Alps with very cold winters and along the Isonzo river. The Italian army repeatedly attacked and, despite winning a majority of the battles, suffered heavy losses and made little progress as the mountainous terrain favoured the defender. Italy was then forced to retreat in 1917 by a German-Austrian counteroffensive at the Battle of Caporetto after Russia left the war, allowing the Central Powers to move reinforcements to the Italian Front from the Eastern Front.

The offensive of the Central Powers was stopped by Italy at the Battle of Monte Grappa in November 1917 and the Battle of the Piave River in May 1918. Italy took part in the Second Battle of the Marne and the subsequent Hundred Days Offensive in the Western Front. On 24 October 1918 the Italians, despite being outnumbered, breached the Austrian line in Vittorio Veneto and caused the collapse of the centuries-old Habsburg Empire. Italy recovered the territory lost after the fighting at Caporetto in November the previous year and moved into Trento and South Tyrol. Fighting ended on 4 November 1918. Italian armed forces were also involved in the African theatre, the Balkan theatre, the Middle Eastern theatre and then took part in the Occupation of Constantinople. At the end of World War I, Italy was recognized with a permanent seat in the League of Nations' executive council along with Britain, France and Japan.

Roy Pryce summarized the bitter experience:

"The government's hope was that the war would be the culmination of Italy's struggle for national independence. Her new allies promised her the 'natural frontiers' which she had so long sought-the Trentino and Trieste-and something more. At the end of hostilities she did indeed extend her territory, but she came away from the peace conference dissatisfied with her reward for three and a half years' bitter warfare, having lost half a million of her noblest youth, with her economy impoverished and internal divisions more bitter than ever. That strife could not be resolved within the framework of the old parliamentary regime. The war that was to have been the climax of the Risorgimento produced the Fascist dictatorship. Something, somewhere, had gone wrong."

Italy in World War Two


At the outbreak of World War Two between Nazi Germany and the Franco-British alliance in September 1939, Benito Mussolini declared Fascist Italy a non-belligerant state. Altough Italy and Germany were bound by the Pact of Steel, Mussolini initially stayed out of the conflict given that the Italian military was not ready for a conflict to be fought prior to 1943. The resources destined to the armed forces in the inter-war period were, in fact, spent by Fascist Italy in successful but costly Imperialistic campaigns (reconquest of Libya, the conquest of Ethiopia, and the intervention in the Spanish civil war) rather than on major rearmament programs (in contrast to the British and the Germans]): the Italian army was equipped with [[artillery from World War One, the Italian navy lacked aircraft carriers and radars, and the Italian air force still relied on biplanes. Despite this situation, Mussolini joined the war at the side of Hitler in June 1940 on the assumption that the French Republic and the British Empire were exhausted and about to surrender. Altough this proved true for France, overrun by German forces while Italian troops obtained a modest advance at the Battle of the Alps, the British empire refused a negotiated peace settlement and war continued.

Italy directly or indirectly confronted Britain in a "parallel war", taking the offensive in multiple fronts such as East Africa, Egypt, Greece, and the Mediterranean sea. The consequence was that, at the end of 1940, Italy was in imperial overstretch: the counter-attacks of the allies began and brought the war into southern Albania and eastern Libya at the beginning of 1941. Therefore, Benito Mussolini requested aid to Adolf Hitler: Italo-German troops reconquered Libya and occupied Greece along with Yugoslavia. On the other hand, Italian East Africa was isolated from the Euro-Mediterranean theatre and lost in its entirety.

German and Japanese actions in 1941 led to the entry of the Soviet Union and United States, respectively, into the war.

As the least of the great powers, Italy, even with German help, had little chance of surviving a long conflict against three superpowers such as the USSR, the US, and the British Empiire. By this point, Italian influence extended throughout the Mediterranean. With the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia and the Balkans, Italy annexed Ljubljana, Dalmatia and Montenegro, and established the puppet states of Croatia and Greece. Following Vichy France's collapse and the Case Anton, Italy occupied the French territories of Corsica and Tunisia. Italian forces had also achieved victories against insurgents in Yugoslavia and in Montenegro, and Italo-German forces had occupied parts of British-held Egypt on their push to El-Alamein after their victory at Gazala. However, Italy's conquests were always heavily contested, both by various insurgencies (most prominently the Greek resistance and Yugoslav partisans) and Allied military forces, which waged the Battle of the Mediterranean throughout and beyond Italy's participation

not ready on the ground that Italian decision was based on the

despite being a member of the Axis Powers, declared its non belligerance.

The participation of Italy in the Second World War was characterized by a complex framework of ideology, politics, and diplomacy, while its military actions were often heavily influenced by external factors. Italy joined the war as one of the Axis Powers in 1940, as the French Third Republic surrendered, with a plan to concentrate Italian forces on a major offensive against the British Empire in Africa and the Middle East, known as the "parallel war", while expecting the collapse of British forces in the European theatre. The Italians bombed Mandatory Palestine, invaded Egypt and occupied British Somaliland with initial success. However, German and Japanese actions in 1941 led to the entry of the Soviet Union and United States, respectively, into the war, thus ruining the Italian plan of forcing Britain to agree to a negotiated peace settlement.

The Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was aware that Fascist Italy was not ready for a long conflict, as its resources were reduced by successful pre-WWII conflicts: pacification of Libya (which was undergoing Italian settlement), intervention in Spain (where a friendly fascist regime had been installed), and invasion of Ethiopia and Albania. However, he opted to remain in the war as the imperial ambitions of the Fascist regime, which aspired to restore the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean (the Mare Nostrum), were partially met by late 1942.

.

The country's imperial overstretch (opening multiple fronts in Africa, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, and the Mediterranean) ultimately resulted in its defeat in the war, as the Italian empire collapsed after disastrous defeats in the Eastern European and North African campaigns. In July 1943, following the Allied invasion of Sicily, Mussolini was arrested by order of King Victor Emmanuel III, provoking a civil war. Italy's military outside of the Italian peninsula collapsed, its occupied and annexed territories falling under German control. Italy capitulated to the Allies on 3 September 1943.

The northern half of the country was occupied by the Germans with the cooperation of Italian fascists, and became a collaborationist puppet state (with more than 800,000 soldiers and militia recruited for the Axis), while the south was officially controlled by monarchist forces, which fought for the Allied cause as the Italian Co-Belligerent Army (at its height numbering more than 50,000 men), as well as around 350,000 Italian resistance movement partisans (many of them ex-Royal Italian Army soldiers) of disparate political ideologies that operated all over Italy. On 28 April 1945, Benito Mussolini was executed by Italian Communist partisans, two days before Adolf Hitler's suicide. -->