1568–1815 CE · selected conflict survey · Europe · War
This selected survey follows dynastic, religious and commercial conflicts from the Dutch Revolt and wars of Louis XIV through the Seven Years’ and Napoleonic Wars, often extending overseas.
Atlas dossier · Early Modern WorldFree device narration · synchronized English captions · transcript available
Why it matters
The 1568–1815 span does not describe one continuous war or every European conflict. It links selected struggles whose coalitions, religious alignments and imperial theatres changed repeatedly. Civilian loss, taxation and colonial warfare belong alongside dynastic and battlefield narratives.
UK National Archives: Anglo-French wars research shelf ↗The earlier 1814 endpoint stopped at Napoleon’s first abdication. Waterloo was fought on 18 June 1815 after his return, against a coalition led by Wellington and Blücher. Extending the display to 1815 distinguishes those two milestones without implying that European or colonial warfare ended there.
National Army Museum: Battle of Waterloo ↗Silent pan-and-zoom motion derivative of the Major Anglo-French and European wars reconstruction; not archival footage.
Enlarge and examine the picturePrimary Atlas editorial reconstruction for Major Anglo-French and European wars.
World History in Pictures · Public site artwork. This record does not grant third-party republication rights.
How Atlas classifies this artwork →
Enlarge and examine the pictureDetail crop from the same Major Anglo-French and European wars reconstruction; not an independent historical record.
World History in Pictures · Same editorial artwork package
How Atlas classifies this artwork →
Enlarge and examine the pictureContext crop from the same Major Anglo-French and European wars reconstruction; not an independent historical record.
World History in Pictures · Same editorial artwork package
How Atlas classifies this artwork →Interpretation note
This dossier distinguishes the event’s basic chronology from later arguments about meaning, responsibility and legacy. When comparing religious, national, Indigenous or scholarly interpretations, consult the primary and institutional sources above alongside peer-reviewed historical work.
Elsewhere in the world
1602–1720 CE · institutional milestones, not a complete history · GlobalJoint-stock companies, exchanges and global financeThe Dutch East India Company, securities trading, insurance and public debt developed durable institutions for pooling capital and financing long-distance commerce; the 1720 crises exposed their risks.
1526–1858 CE · dynastic survey · AsiaMughal IndiaMughal rulers governed much of South Asia through negotiated sovereignty, taxation and military power while court culture supported major architecture, painting and literature.
c. 1501–1866 CE · voyage survey; resistance continued · GlobalAtlantic slave trade and resistanceEuropean and American traders forcibly transported more than twelve million captive Africans across the Atlantic; resistance by Africans and their descendants took many forms throughout slavery and abolition.