The term civilization designates a condition of human society characterized by a high level of cultural and technological achievement and correspondingly complex social and political development.
The process by which a rural and largely subsistence society is transformed into an urban and largely industrialized society.
The process by which European nations gradually seized control of most of the rest of the world and then gradually lost control.
Independent nations in Asia, Africa, Latin American and the Pacific Ocean gradually appeared following World War II. The gradual development of a truly global economy based on inter-dependent developed economies began in the 1950's and continues to this day.
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