Modernity the Birth of Modern History, 1815

It may be asked why modern history should begin with 1815. There is no spectacular date to signify the opening of modern times. Yet it is necessary to begin somewhere and 1815 is convenient, because it was in that year that Napoleon Bonaparte was finally defeated at Waterloo, and his attempt at building a European empire was ended. A long period of revolutionary turmoil came to a close in 1815. It has lasted for almost half a century …

…old customs loosen, and ancestral religions are questioned. There is a demand for individual liberation, and an expectation of a higher standard of living. Everywhere there is a drive for more equality- between sexes and among races, between high and low incomes, between adherents of different religion, or between different parts of the same country. Movements for social change may be slow and gradual, or revolutionary and catastrophic, but movement of some kind is universal.