The Modern World

Industrial Revolution, term usually applied to the social and economicchanges that mark the transition from a stable agricultural and commercial societyto a modern industrial society relying on complex machinery rather than tools. It isused historically to refer primarily to the period in British history from the middle ofthe 18th cent. to the middle of the 19th century

Voyages of DiscoveryAs far back as the first centuries of the modern age. the early Greeks and Romans theorised about a vast landmass that existed beyond the Indian Ocean. They called it Terra Australis Incognita - the unknown southern land. It took more than 1000 years before this mysterious continent was finally located, charted and named Australia.Through the State Library's incredible collections of maps, journals, log books, letters, paintings, prints, drawings and books, explore the stories of these exciting voyages of discovery. Find out about adventures of famous explorers like Abel Tasman   and James Cook, shipboard life, encounters with indigenous peoples, cultural insights, and descriptions of the strange new flora, fauna and topography of the Great South Land.

The Nationalist Movements in Europe

Rise of nationalism in EuropeNationalism was an important factor in the development of Europe. In the 19th century, a wave of romantic nationalism swept the European continent, transforming its countries. Some newly formed countries, such as Germany, Italy and Romania were formed by uniting various regional states with a common "national identity". Others, such as Greece, Poland and Bulgaria, were formed by winning their independence.

Unification of GermanyThe formal unification of Germany into a politically and administratively integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at theVersailles Palace's Hall of Mirrors in France. Princes of the German states gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor Wilhelm of the German Empire after the French capitulation in the Franco-Prussian War. A century of aristocratic experimentation from the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire (1806) and the consequent rise of nationalism over the span of the Napoleonic Wars era.

Italian unificationItalian unification (Italian: Risorgimento [risordʒiˈmento], meaning the Resurgence) also known as Italian Revolution[1] was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of the Kingdom of Italy in the 19th century. Despite a lack of consensus on the exact dates for the beginning and end of this period, many scholars agree that the process began in 1815 with the Congress of Viennaand the end of Napoleonic rule, and ended in 1871 when Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy.