What a great photo of the Kremlin with the bell tower rising in the distance! It's a fitting way to end HIS 111 with Russia plunged into turmoil in the Смутное время (Time of Troubles) after the death of tsar Ivan IV the terrible (1530-1584).
Over the course of the five millennia studied in HIS 111 (to the end of the sixteenth century CE), the world changed dramatically. It's unclear whether those changes were for the better or the worse. Over time, distinct societies had arisen and fallen in different areas of the world. In addition, individual societies changed in size, nature and complexity over that period of time. Certain societal characteristics, such as religion, political forms and cultural standards also changed much over time. There is little agreement among historians about the general outlines of the historical processes that took place or even about many of the individual details, such as who built Machu Picchu. That is what makes studying history interesting.
As historians, we are left asking difficult questions about
- what exactly is a civilization?
- what is "progress?"