A Short History of the World

The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Short History of the World, by H. G. Wells This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: A Short History of the World Author: H. G. Wells Release Date: March 2, 2011 [EBook #35461] [Last updated: November 3, 2011] Language: English *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SHORT HISTORY OF THE WORLD *** Produced by Donald F. Behan A Short History of the World Illustrated BY H. G. Wells J. J. Little & Ives Company New York 1922 Copyright, 1922, by H. G. Wells {v} PREFACE This SHORT HISTORY OF THE WORLD is meant to be read straightforwardly almost as a novel is read. It gives in the most general way an account of our present knowledge of history, shorn of elaborations and complications. It has been amply illustrated and everything has been done to make it vivid and clear. From it the reader should be able to get that general view of history which is so necessary a framework for the study of it particular period or the history of a particular country. It may be found useful as a preparatory excursion before the reading of the author's much fuller and more explicit _Outline of History_ is undertaken. But its especial end is to meet the needs of the busy general reader, too driven to study the maps and time charts of that _Outline_ in detail, who wishes to refresh and repair his faded or fragmentary conceptions of the great adventure of mankind. It is not an abstract or condensation of that former work. Within its aim the _Outline_ admits of no further condensation. This is a much more generalized History, planned and written afresh. {vii} CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE WORLD IN SPACE 1 II. THE WORLD IN TIME 5 III. THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE 11 IV. THE AGE OF FISHES 16 V. THE AGE OF THE COAL SWAMPS 21 VI. THE AGE OF REPTILES 26 VII. THE FIRST BIRDS AND THE FIRST MAMMALS 31 VIII. THE AGE OF MAMMALS 37 IX. MONKEYS, APES AND SUB-MEN 43 X. THE NEANDERTHALER AND THE RHODESIAN MAN 48 XI. THE FIRST TRUE MEN 53 XII. PRIMITIVE THOUGHT 60 XIII. THE BEGINNINGS OF CULTIVATION 65 XIV. PRIMITIVE NEOLITHIC CIVILIZATIONS 71 XV. SUMERIA, EARLY EGYPT AND WRITING 77 XVI. PRIMITIVE NOMADIC PEOPLES 84 XVII. THE FIRST SEA-GOING PEOPLES 91 XVIII. EGYPT, BABYLON AND ASSYRIA 96 XIX. THE PRIMITIVE ARYANS 104 XX. THE LAST BABYLONIAN EMPIRE AND THE EMPIRE OF DARIUS I 109 XXI. THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE JEWS 115 XXII. PRIESTS AND PROPHETS IN JUDEA 122 XXIII. THE GREEKS 127 XXIV. THE WARS OF THE GREEKS AND PERSIANS 134 XXV. THE SPLENDOUR OF GREECE 139 XXVI. THE EMPIRE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT 145 XXVII. THE MUSEUM AND LIBRARY AT ALEXANDRIA 150 {viii} XXVIII. THE LIFE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA 156 XXIX. KING ASOKA 163 XXX. CONFUCIUS AND LAO TSE 167 XXXI. ROME COMES INTO HISTORY 174 XXXII. ROME AND CARTHAGE 180 XXXIII. THE GROWTH OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 185 XXXIV. BETWEEN ROME AND CHINA 196 XXXV. THE COMMON MAN'S LIFE UNDER THE EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE 201 XXXVI. RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT UNDER THE ROMAN EMPIRE 208 XXXVII. THE TEACHING OF JESUS 214 XXXVIII. THE DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTRINAL CHRISTIANITY 222 XXXIX. THE BARBARIANS BREAK THE EMPIRE INTO EAST AND WEST 227 XL. THE HUNS AND THE END OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE 233 XLI. THE BYZANTINE AND SASSANID EMPIRES 238 XLII. THE DYNASTIES OF SUY AND TANG IN CHINA 245 XLIII. MUHAMMAD AND ISLAM 248 XLIV. THE GREAT DAYS OF THE ARABS 253 XLV. THE DEVELOPMENT OF LATIN CHRISTENDOM 258 XLVI. THE CRUSADES AND THE AGE OF PAPAL DOMINION 267 XLVII. RECALCITRANT PRINCES AND THE GREAT SCHISM 277 XLVIII. THE MONGOL CONQUESTS 287 XLIX. THE INTELLECTUAL REVIVAL OF THE EUROPEANS 294 L. THE REFORMATION OF THE LATIN CHURCH 304 LI. THE EMPEROR CHARLES V 309 LII. THE AGE OF POLITICAL EXPERIMENTS; OF GRAND MONARCHY AND PARLIAMENTS AND REPUBLICANISM IN EUROPE 318 LIII. THE NEW EMPIRES OF THE EUROPEANS IN ASIA AND OVERSEAS 329 LIV. THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 335 {ix} LV. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE RESTORATION OF MONARCHY IN FRANCE 341 LVI. THE UNEASY PEACE IN EUROPE THAT FOLLOWED THE FALL OF NAPOLEON 349 LVII. THE DEVELOPMENT OF MATERIAL KNOWLEDGE 355 LVIII. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 365 LIX. THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN POLITICAL AND SOCIAL IDEAS 370 LX. THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 382 LXI. THE RISE OF GERMANY TO PREDOMINANCE IN EUROPE 390 LXII. THE NEW OVERSEAS EMPIRES OF THE STEAMSHIP AND RAILWAY 393 LXIII. EUROPEAN AGGRESSION IN ASIA, AND THE RISE OF JAPAN 399 LXIV. THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN 1914 405 LXV. THE AGE OF ARMAMENT IN EUROPE, AND THE GREAT WAR OF 1914-18 409 LXVI. THE REVOLUTION AND FAMINE IN RUSSIA 415 LXVII. THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE WORLD 421 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 429 INDEX 439 {xi} LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Luminous Spiral Clouds of Matter 2 Nebula seen Edge-on 3 The Great Spiral Nebula 6 A Dark Nebula 7 Another Spiral Nebula 8 Landscape before Life 9 Marine Life in the Cambrian Period 12 Fossil Trilobite 13 Early Palæozoic Fossils of various Species of Lingula 14 Fossilized Footprints of a Labyrinthodont, Cheirotherium 15 Pterichthys Milleri 17 Fossil of Cladoselache 18 Sharks and Ganoids of the Devonian Period 19 A Carboniferous Swamp 22 Skull of a Labyrinthodont, Capitosaurus 23 Skeleton of a Labyrinthodont: The Eryops 24 A Fossil Ichthyosaurus 27 A Pterodactyl 28 The Diplodocus 29 Fossil of Archeopteryx 32 Hesperornis in its Native Seas 33 The Ki-wi 34 Slab of Marl Rich in Cainozoic Fossils 35 Titanotherium Robustum 38 Skeleton of Giraffe-camel 40 Skeleton of Early Horse 40 Comparative Sizes of Brains of Rhinoceros and Dinoceras 41 A Mammoth 44 Flint Implements from Piltdown Region 45 A Pithecanthropean Man 46 The Heidelberg Man 46 The Piltdown Skull 47 A Neanderthaler 49 {xii} Europe and Western Asia 50,000 years ago Map 50 Comparison of Modern Skull and Rhodesian Skull 51 Altamira Cave Paintings 54 Later Palæolithic Carvings 55 Bust of Cro-magnon Man 57 Later Palæolithic Art 58 Relics of the Stone Age 62 Gray's Inn Lane Flint Implement 63 Somaliland Flint Implement 63 Neolithic Flint Implement 67 Australian Spearheads 68 Neolithic Pottery 69 Relationship of Human Races Map 72 A Maya Stele 73 European Neolithic Warrior 75 Babylonian Brick 78 Egyptian Cylinder Seals of First Dynasty 79 The Sakhara Pyramids 80 The Pyramid of Cheops: Scene from Summit 81 The Temple of Hathor 82 Pottery and Implements of the Lake Dwellers 85 A Lake Village 86 Flint Knives of 4500 B.C. 87 Egyptian Wall Paintings of Nomads 87 Egyptian Peasants Going to Work 88 Stele of Naram Sin 89 The Treasure House at Mycenæ 93 The Palace at Cnossos 95 Temple at Abu Simbel 97 Avenue of Sphinxes at Karnak 98 The Hypostyle Hall at Karnak 99 Frieze of Slaves 101 The Temple of Horus, Edfu 103 Archaic Amphora 105 The Mound of Nippur 107 Median and Chaldean Empires Map 110 The Empire of Darius Map 111 A Persian Monarch 112 The Ruins of Persepolis 113 The Great Porch of Xerxes 113 {xiii} The Land of the Hebrews Map 117 Nebuchadnezzar's Mound at Babylon 118 The Ishtar Gateway, Babylon 120 Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser II 124 Captive Princes making Obeisance 125 Statue of Meleager 128 Ruins of Temple of Zeus 130 The Temple of Neptune, Pæstum 132 Greek Ships on Ancient Pottery 135 The Temple of Corinth 137 The Temple of Neptune at Cape Sunium 138 Frieze of the Parthenon, Athens 140 The Acropolis, Athens 141 Theatre at Epidauros, Greece 141 The Caryatides of the Erechtheum 142 Athene of the Parthenon 143 Alexander the Great 146 Alexander's Victory at Issus 147 The Apollo Belvedere 148 Aristotle 152 Statuette of Maitreya 153 The Death of Buddha 154 Tibetan Buddha 158 A Burmese Buddha 159 The Dhamêkh Tower, Sarnath 160 A Chinese Buddhist Apostle 164 The Court of Asoka 165 Asoka Panel from Bharhut 165 The Pillar of Lions (Asokan) 166 Confucius 169 The Great Wall of China 171 Early Chinese Bronze Bell 172 The Dying Gaul 175 Ancient Roman Cisterns at Carthage 177 Hannibal 181 Roman Empire and its Alliances, 150 B.C. Map 183 The Forum, Rome 188 Ruined Coliseum in Tunis 189 Roman Arch at Ctesiphon 190 The Column of Trajan, Rome 193 {xiv} Glazed Jar of Han Dynasty 197 Vase of Han Dynasty 198 Chinese Vessel in Bronze 199 A Gladiator (contemporary representation) 202 A Street in Pompeii 204 The Coliseum, Rome 206 Interior of Coliseum 206 Mithras Sacrificing a Bull 210 Isis and Horus 211 Bust of Emperor Commodus 212 Early Portrait of Jesus Christ 216 Road from Nazareth to Tiberias 217 David's Tower and Wall of Jerusalem 218 A Street in Jerusalem 219 The Peter and Paul Mosaic at Rome 223 Baptism of Christ (Ivory Panel) 225 Roman Empire and the Barbarians Map 228 Constantine's Pillar, Constantinople 229 The Obelisk of Theodosius, Constantinople 231 Head of Barbarian Chief 235 The Church of S. Sophia, Constantinople 239 Roof-work in S. Sophia 240 Justinian and his Court 241 The Rock-hewn Temple at Petra 242 Chinese Earthenware of Tang Dynasty 246 At Prayer in the Desert 250 Looking Across the Sea of Sand 251 Growth of Moslem Power Map 254 The Moslem Empire Map 254 The Mosque of Omar, Jerusalem 255 Cairo Mosques 256 Frankish Dominions of Martel Map 260 Statue of Charlemagne 262 Europe at Death of Charlemagne Map 264 Crusader Tombs, Exeter Cathedral 268 View of Cairo 269 The Horses of S. Mark, Venice 271 Courtyard in the Alhambra 273 Milan Cathedral (showing spires) 278 A Typical Crusader 280