The best history documentaries. Traveling from the Middle ages to the industrial revolutions, to understand the past that shaped today's world.
A glimpse into the great ancient Western and Eastern civilizations, America's
history before and after Columbus, Indian and Chinese kingdoms and empires.
History of Canada, History Documentary: Canada, A Peoples History, Canada's Inuit History
The First Nations (French: Premières Nations) are the
various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There
are currently 634 recognized First Nations governments or bands spread
across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and
British Columbia. The total population is more than 850,000 people. Under
the Employment Equity Act, First Nations are a "designated group",
along with women, visible minorities, and people with physical or mental disabilities.
First Nations are not defined as a visible minority under the Act or by the
criteria of Statistics Canada.
Within Canada, "First Nations" (most often used in
the plural) has come into general use—replacing the deprecated term
"Indians"—for the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Individuals
using the term outside Canada include supporters of the Cascadian independence
movement as well as American tribes within the Pacific Northwest. The singular,
commonly used on culturally politicized reserves, is the term First Nations
person (when gender-specific, First Nations man or First Nations woman). A more
recent trend is for members of various nations to refer to themselves by their
tribal or national identity only, e.g., "I'm Haida," or "We're
Kwantlens," in recognition of the distinctiveness of First Nations
ethnicities.
North American indigenous peoples have cultures spanning
thousands of years. Some of their oral traditions accurately describe
historical events, such as the Cascadia Earthquake of 1700 and the 18th century
Tseax Cone eruption. Written records began with the arrival of European
explorers and colonists during the Age of Discovery, beginning in the late 15th
century. European accounts by trappers, traders, explorers, and
missionaries give important evidence of early contact culture. In addition,
archeological and anthropological research, as well as linguistics, have helped
scholars piece together understanding of ancient cultures and historic peoples.
Although not without conflict or slavery, Euro-Canadians'
early interactions with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit populations were less
combative compared to the often violent battles between colonists and native
peoples in the United States. Combined with later economic development, this
relatively non-combative history has allowed First Nations peoples to have an
influence on the national culture, while preserving their own identities.
Credits: Wikipedia
Monument to aboriginal war veterans in Confederation Park, Ottawa, Canada.
The Empire of Japan, History Documentary. History of Japan.
Samurai warriors face Mongols, during the Mongol invasions of Japan. The Kamikaze, two storms, are said to have saved Japan from Mongol fleets.
A Paleolithic culture around 30,000 BC constitutes the first
known habitation of the Japanese archipelago. This was followed from around
14,000 BC (the start of the Jōmon period) by a Mesolithic to Neolithic
semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer culture, who include ancestors of both the
contemporary Ainu people and Yamato people, characterized by pit
dwelling and rudimentary agriculture. Decorated clay vessels from this
period are some of the oldest surviving examples of pottery in the world.
Around 300 BC, the Yayoi people began to enter the Japanese islands,
intermingling with the Jōmon. The Yayoi period, starting around 500 BC, saw
the introduction of practices like wet-rice farming, a new style of
pottery, and metallurgy, introduced from China and Korea.
Japan first appears in written history in the Chinese Book
of Han. According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, the most powerful
kingdom on the archipelago during the 3rd century was called Yamataikoku.
Buddhism was first introduced to Japan from Baekje of Korea, but the subsequent
development of Japanese Buddhism was primarily influenced by China. Despite
early resistance, Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class and gained
widespread acceptance beginning in the Asuka period (592–710).
The Nara period (710–784) of the 8th century marked the
emergence of a strong Japanese state, centered on an imperial court in
Heijō-kyō (modern Nara). The Nara period is characterized by the appearance of
a nascent literature as well as the development of Buddhist-inspired art and
architecture. The smallpox epidemic of 735–737 is believed to have killed
as much as one-third of Japan's population. In 784, Emperor Kammu moved the
capital from Nara to Nagaoka-kyō before relocating it to Heian-kyō (modern
Kyoto) in 794.
Samurai warriors face Mongols, during the Mongol invasions
of Japan. The Kamikaze, two storms, are said to have saved Japan from Mongol
fleets.
This marked the beginning of the Heian period (794–1185),
during which a distinctly indigenous Japanese culture emerged, noted for its
art, poetry and prose. Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji and the lyrics of
Japan's national anthem Kimigayo were written during this time.
Buddhism began to spread during the Heian era chiefly
through two major sects, Tendai by Saichō, and Shingon by Kūkai. Pure Land
Buddhism (Jōdo-shū, Jōdo Shinshū) greatly becomes popular in the latter half of
the 11th century.
Feudal era
Japan's feudal era was characterized by the emergence and
dominance of a ruling class of warriors, the samurai. In 1185, following the
defeat of the Taira clan in the Genpei War, sung in the epic Tale of Heike,
samurai Minamoto no Yoritomo was appointed shogun and established a base of
power in Kamakura. After his death, the Hōjō clan came to power as regents for
the shoguns. The Zen school of Buddhism was introduced from China in the
Kamakura period (1185–1333) and became popular among the samurai class. The
Kamakura shogunate repelled Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281, but was
eventually overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo. Go-Daigo was himself defeated by
Ashikaga Takauji in 1336.
Samurai could kill a commoner for the slightest insult and
were widely feared by the Japanese population. Edo period, 1798
Ashikaga Takauji established the shogunate in Muromachi,
Kyoto. This was the start of the Muromachi Period (1336–1573). The Ashikaga
shogunate achieved glory in the age of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and the culture
based on Zen Buddhism (art of Miyabi) prospered. This evolved to Higashiyama
Culture, and prospered until the 16th century. On the other hand, the
succeeding Ashikaga shogunate failed to control the feudal warlords (daimyo),
and a civil war (the Ōnin War) began in 1467, opening the century-long Sengoku
period ("Warring States").
During the 16th century, traders and Jesuit missionaries
from Portugal reached Japan for the first time, initiating direct commercial
and cultural exchange between Japan and the West. This allowed Oda Nobunaga to
obtain European technology and firearms, which he used to conquer many other
daimyo. His consolidation of power began what was known as the Azuchi–Momoyama
period (1573–1603). After he was assassinated in 1582, his successor Toyotomi
Hideyoshi unified the nation in 1590 and launched two unsuccessful invasions of
Korea in 1592 and 1597.
Re-engraved map of Japan
Tokugawa Ieyasu served as regent for Hideyoshi's son and
used his position to gain political and military support. When open war broke
out, he defeated rival clans in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Ieyasu was
appointed shogun in 1603 and established the Tokugawa shogunate at Edo (modern
Tokyo). The Tokugawa shogunate enacted measures including buke shohatto, as
a code of conduct to control the autonomous daimyo; and in 1639, the
isolationist sakoku ("closed country") policy that spanned the two
and a half centuries of tenuous political unity known as the Edo period
(1603–1868). The study of Western sciences, known as rangaku, continued
through contact with the Dutch enclave at Dejima in Nagasaki. The Edo period
also gave rise to kokugaku ("national studies"), the study of Japan
by the Japanese.
Modern era
On March 31, 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry and the
"Black Ships" of the United States Navy forced the opening of Japan
to the outside world with the Convention of Kanagawa. Subsequent similar
treaties with Western countries in the Bakumatsu period brought economic and
political crises. The resignation of the shogun led to the Boshin War and the
establishment of a centralized state nominally unified under the Emperor (the
Meiji Restoration).
Emperor Meiji (1868–1912), in whose name imperial rule was
restored at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate
Adopting Western political, judicial and military
institutions, the Cabinet organized the Privy Council, introduced the Meiji
Constitution, and assembled the Imperial Diet. The Meiji Restoration
transformed the Empire of Japan into an industrialized world power that pursued
military conflict to expand its sphere of influence. After victories in the
First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905),
Japan gained control of Taiwan, Korea, and the southern half of Sakhalin.
Japan's population grew from 35 million in 1873 to 70 million in 1935.
Chinese generals surrendering to the Japanese in the
Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895
The early 20th century saw a brief period of "Taishō
democracy" overshadowed by increasing expansionism and militarization.
World War I enabled Japan, on the side of the victorious Allies, to widen its
influence and territorial holdings. It continued its expansionist policy by
occupying Manchuria in 1931; as a result of international condemnation of this
occupation, Japan resigned from the League of Nations two years later. In 1936,
Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany, and the 1940 Tripartite
Pact made it one of the Axis Powers. In 1941, Japan negotiated the
Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact.
Japanese officials surrendering to the Allies on September
2, 1945 in Tokyo Bay, ending World War II
The Empire of Japan invaded other parts of China in 1937,
precipitating the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). The Imperial Japanese
Army swiftly captured the capital Nanjing and conducted the Nanking
Massacre. In 1940, the Empire then invaded French Indochina, after which
the United States placed an oil embargo on Japan. On December 7–8, 1941,
Japanese forces carried out surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor, attacks on
British forces in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong and declared war, bringing
the US and the UK into World War II in the Pacific. After the Soviet
invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in
1945, Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender on August 15. The war cost
Japan and the rest of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere millions of
lives and left much of the nation's industry and infrastructure destroyed. The
Allies (led by the US) repatriated millions of ethnic Japanese from colonies
and military camps throughout Asia, largely eliminating the Japanese empire and
restoring the independence of its conquered territories. The Allies also
convened the International Military Tribunal for the Far East on May 3, 1946 to
prosecute some Japanese leaders for war crimes. However, the bacteriological
research units and members of the imperial family involved in the war were
exonerated from criminal prosecutions by the Supreme Commander for the Allied
Powers despite calls for trials for both groups.
In 1947, Japan adopted a new constitution emphasizing
liberal democratic practices. The Allied occupation ended with the Treaty of
San Francisco in 1952 and Japan was granted membership in the United
Nations in 1956. Japan later achieved rapid growth to become the second-largest
economy in the world, until surpassed by China in 2010. This ended in the
mid-1990s when Japan suffered a major recession. In the beginning of the 21st
century, positive growth has signaled a gradual economic recovery. On March
11, 2011, Japan suffered the strongest earthquake in its recorded history; this
triggered the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, one of the worst disasters in
the history of nuclear power.
The Russian Empire (Pre-reform Russian orthography: РоссійскаяИмперія, Modern Russian: Российскаяимперия, translit: Rossiyskaya Imperiya) was a state that
existed from 1721 until overthrown by the short-lived liberal February
Revolution in 1917. One of the largest empires in world history, stretching
over three continents, the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the
British and Mongol empires. It played a major role in 1812–14 in defeating
Napoleon's ambitions to control Europe, and expanded to the west and south. It
was often in conflict with the Ottoman Empire (which in turn was usually
protected by the British).
Peter the Great officially renamed the Tsardom of Russia the Russian Empire in 1721, and himself its first emperor. He instituted the sweeping reforms and oversaw the transformation of Russia into a major European power.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Russian Empire extended
from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea on the south, from the
Baltic Sea on the west to the Pacific Ocean, and (until 1867) into Alaska in
North America on the east.[3] With 125.6 million subjects registered by the
1897 census, it had the third largest population in the world at the time,
after Qing China and the British Empire. Like all empires, it included a large
disparity in terms of economics, ethnicity, and religion. There were numerous
dissident elements, who launched numerous rebellions and assassination
attempts; they were closely watched by the secret police, with thousands exiled
to Siberia.
Economically, the empire was heavily rural, with low
productivity on large estates worked by serfs, until they were freed in 1861.
The economy slowly industrialized with the help of foreign investments in
railways and factories. The land was ruled by a nobility called Boyars from the
10th through the 17th centuries, and then was ruled by an emperor called the
"Tsar". Tsar Ivan III (1462–1505) laid the groundwork for the empire
that later emerged. He tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance
of the Golden Horde, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of
the Russian state. Tsar Peter the Great (1682–1725) fought numerous wars and
built a huge empire that became a major European power. He moved the capital
from Moscow to the new model city of St. Petersburg, and led a cultural
revolution that replaced some of the traditionalist and medieval social and
political system with a modern, scientific, Europe-oriented, and rationalist
system.
Catherine the Great (1761–1796) presided over a golden age.
She expanded the nation rapidly by conquest, colonization and diplomacy. She
continued Peter the Great's policy of modernisation along West European lines.
Tsar Alexander II (1855–1881) promoted numerous reforms, most dramatically the
emancipation of all 23 million serfs in 1861. His policy in Eastern Europe was
to protect the Orthodox Christians under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. That
involvement by 1914 led to Russia's entry into the First World War on the side
of France, Britain, and Serbia, against the German, Austrian and Ottoman
empires. Russia was an absolute monarchy until the Revolution of 1905 and then
became a constitutional monarchy. The empire collapsed during the February
Revolution of 1917, largely the result of massive failures in its participation
in the First World War.
The Normans (French: Normands; Latin: Nortmanni) were the
people who in the 10th and 11th centuries gave their name to Normandy, a region
in France. They were originally Viking raiders and pirates from Denmark, Norway
and Iceland, who under their leader Rollo agreed to swear fealty to King
Charles III of West Francia. Through generations of assimilation and mixing
with the native Frankish and Roman-Gaulish populations, the Northmen's
descendants ("Norman" comes from "Norseman") would
gradually merge with the Carolingian-based cultures of West Francia. The
distinct cultural and ethnic identity of the Normans emerged initially in the
first half of the 10th century, and it continued to evolve over the succeeding
centuries.
Victorian interpretation of the Normans' national dress, 1000–1100
The Norman dynasty had a major political, cultural and
military impact on medieval Europe and even the Near East. The Normans
were famed for their martial spirit and eventually for their Christian piety,
becoming exponents of the Catholic orthodoxy into which they assimilated.
They adopted the Gallo-Romance language of the Frankish land they settled,
their dialect becoming known as Norman, Normaund or Norman French, an important
literary language. The Duchy of Normandy, which they formed by treaty with the
French crown, was a great fief of medieval France, and under Richard I of
Normandy was forged into a cohesive and formidable principality in feudal
tenure. The Normans are noted both for their culture, such as their
unique Romanesque architecture and musical traditions, and for their significant
military accomplishments and innovations. Norman adventurers founded the
Kingdom of Sicily under Roger II after conquering southern Italy on the
Saracens and Byzantines, and an expedition on behalf of their duke, William the
Conqueror, led to the Norman conquest of England at the Battle of Hastings in
1066. Norman cultural and military influence spread from these new European
centres to the Crusader states of the Near East, where their prince Bohemond I
founded the Principality of Antioch in the Levant, to Ireland, Scotland and
Wales in Great Britain, to the coasts of north Africa and the Canary Islands.
The legacy of the Normans persists today through the
regional dialects of France, England and Sicily, as well as the various
cultural, judicial and political arrangements they introduced in their
conquered territories, the long endurance of which contrasts with the
developments in many continental areas of Europe.
In search of the Zoroastrians an ancient people who have tended a holy flame for the last 2500 years.
Zoroastrianism or Mazdaism is the religion ascribed to
the teachings of the prophet Zoroaster, whose Supreme Being was Ahura Mazda. It
is one of the world's oldest religions, "combining a cosmogonic dualism
and eschatological monotheism in a manner unique... among the major religions
of the world." For a thousand years, forms of Zoroastrianism (including
a Mithraic Median prototype and Zurvanist Sassanid successor) were the world's
most powerful religion, serving as the state religion of the pre-Islamic
Iranian empires from around 600 BCE to 650 CE. Zoroastrianism was suppressed or
otherwise integrated into Islam from the 7th century onwards following the
Muslim conquest of Persia. Recent estimates place the current number of
Zoroastrians at around 2.6 million, with most living in India and Iran. The
change over the last decade is attributed to a greater level of reporting and
open self-identification more so than to an actual increase in population;
however, precise numbers remain difficult to obtain in part due to high levels
of historic persecution in Islamic regions.
Leading characteristics, such as messianism, the Golden
Rule, heaven and hell, and free will influenced other religious systems,
including Second Temple Judaism, Gnosticism, Christianity, and Islam.[4]
Liberality is emphasized in the scripture, and—like the Roman religion—the
religion generally showed tolerance to conquered peoples, with Cyrus the Great,
who is though to have been a Zoroastrian, annexing Babylonia in the name of its
God Marduk. In Zoroastrianism, the purpose in life is to "be among
those who renew the world...to make the world progress towards
perfection". Its basic maxims include:
Humata, Hukhta,
Huvarshta, which mean: Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds.
There is only one
path and that is the path of Truth.
Do the right thing
because it is the right thing to do, and then all beneficial rewards will come
to you also.
The most important texts of the religion are those of the
Avesta, which includes the writings of Zoroaster known as the Gathas, enigmatic
poems that define the religion's precepts, and the Yasna, the scripture. The
full name by which Zoroaster addressed the deity is: Ahura, The Lord Creator,
and Mazda, Supremely Wise. He proclaimed that there is only one God, the
singularly creative and sustaining force of the Universe. He also stated that
human beings are given a right of choice, and because of cause and effect are
also responsible for the consequences of their choices. Zoroaster's teachings
focused on responsibility, and did not introduce a devil, per se. The
contesting force to Ahura Mazda was called Angra Mainyu, or angry spirit.
Post-Zoroastrian scripture introduced the concept of Ahriman, the Devil, which
was effectively a personification of Angra Mainyu.
By the 3rd century, Zoroastrianism and Zoroaster's ideas had spread throughout the Middle East. Zoroaster pointing to the sky.
Babylon (Akkadian: Bābili or Babilim; Arabic: بابل,
Bābil) was a significant city in ancient Mesopotamia, in the fertile plain
between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The city was built upon the Euphrates
and divided in equal parts along its left and right banks, with steep
embankments to contain the river's seasonal floods.
Babylon was originally a small Semitic Akkadian city dating
from the period of the Akkadian Empire c. 2300 BC. The town attained
independence as part of a small city state with the rise of the First Amorite
Babylonian Dynasty in 1894 BC. Claiming to be the successor of the more ancient
Sumero-Akkadian city of Eridu, Babylon eclipsed Nippur as the "holy
city" of Mesopotamia around the time Amorite king Hammurabi created the
first short lived Babylonian Empire in the 18th century BC. Babylon grew and
South Mesopotamia came to be known as Babylonia.
The empire quickly dissolved after Hammurabi's death and
Babylon spent long periods under Assyrian, Kassite and Elamite domination.
After being destroyed and then rebuilt by the Assyrians, Babylon became the
capital of the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 609 to 539 BC. The Hanging Gardens of
Babylon was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. After the fall of
the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the city came under the rules of the Achaemenid,
Seleucid, Parthian, Roman and Sassanid empires.
It has been estimated that Babylon was the largest city in
the world from c. 1770 to 1670 BC, and again between c. 612 and 320 BC. It was
perhaps the first city to reach a population above 200,000. Estimates for
the maximum extent of its area range from 890 to 900 hectares (2,200
acres).
The remains of the city are in present-day Hillah, Babil
Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers (53 mi) south of Baghdad, comprising a
large tell of broken mud-brick buildings and debris.
Credits: Wikipedia
The first farmers from Samarra migrated to Sumer, and built shrines and settlements at Eridu.
