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A series of discoveries beginning around the turn of the century challenged the established certainties of Newtonian physics. Building on the discoveries of other scientists, [BLANK-1] showed in 1900 that subatomic energy is emitted in uneven little spurts, which this scientist called “quanta,” rather than in steady streams. This discovery led to the study of Quantum Physics.

While European imperialism in Africa had, on the balance, a decidedly negative effect on African populations, there were some positive impacts of Neo-imperialism. For instance, Europeans improved standards of living, brought medical advances and hospitals, improved infrastructure, built schools and universities, and provided paths to citizenship for African subjects. While admittedly few Africans rose through imperial ranks or achieved citizenship, some did. [BLANK-1] was one of the first people to do so. He was a Senegalese French colonial subject who exemplified France’s mission to civilize. He received a French-style education, converted to Christianity, achieved French citizenship, and rose through the ranks of local politics, becoming the mayor of Dakar (the capital of French Senegal). He became the first African-born person to be elected to the French Chamber of Deputies in 1914 and thus held real power within the French Empire.

During the interwar years, capitalism and democracy were threatened globally with the rise of authoritarian states, socialists, communists, fascists, and faux democracies. The United States and the United Kingdom were the only world powers that consistently maintained a strong commitment to capitalism and democracy throughout the era. The countries upheld their commitment to those principles when British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt secretly met in August of 1941 to sign [BLANK-1]. Their agreement reaffirmed their commitment to capitalism, democracy, and national sovereignty, and it signaled American support for the British war effort prior to the United States’ official involvement in World War II. Many of the principles of their agreement would serve as the foundation for the post-war order; it influenced the creation of the United Nations, NATO, GATT, and others.

In the early decades of the twentieth century, Europeans attempted to use their superior technology and modes of transportation to legitimize their rule of Africa. Mobility became intimately linked to modernity, and in the 1920s both the French and the British launched expeditions that sought to traverse the entire continent of Africa with automobiles. As there were many areas without any semblance of roads and there were many river crossings, this was oftentimes a much slower and onerous journey than simply walking across the continent would have been. These expeditions had enormous support staffs and required the use of dozens to hundreds of indigenous guides and porters (at times, local Africans had to carry the cars across rivers and gorges). Nevertheless, the 1924-1925 French expedition led by Louis Audouin-Dubreuil & Georges-Marie Haardt and the 1924 British expedition led by [BLANK-1] successfully crossed the continent.

The latter half of the twentieth century was generally a period of European integration. One aspect of this trend was the creation of [BLANK-1] in 1995 that created a zone that eliminated the need for passport checks and visas among signatory areas. This diplomatic treaty had a significant overlap with the European Union, but was signed independently of it. Since its adoption, some non-members of the EU have joined and it has significantly reduced internal border checks in Europe.

As it contained quinine (a prophylaxis against Malaria), [BLANK-1] became the “imperial cocktail” and was widely used by British imperialists in tropical colonies in Africa and Asia. By regularly consuming this cocktail, European colonizers were protected from tropical disease in ways that they had never previously been, which allowed them to expand deeper into the interior of Africa.

In 1946, following WWII, the upper echelons of Nazi leadership were accused, tried, and executed for crimes against humanity at [BLANK-1]. Justice was swift and targeted, and the ordinary rank-and-file Nazis did not experience much in terms of punitive actions. Ordinary Nazis were just forced to go through de-Nazification training.

[BLANK-1] was the figure most responsible for modernizing and secularizing Egypt. This Egyptian leader built a nationalist regime embodying elements of Arab Socialism after executing a coup against the British-supported government in 1952. He ordered the building of the Aswan Dam and nationalized the Suez Canal. His willingness to ally with the Soviets and then to accept a U.S.-backed resolution to the Suez Canal Crisis demonstrated his success at being able to achieve national gains by playing the two superpowers off one another.

The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe during the late 1980s and early 1990s was generally very peaceful. That was not true in Romania, where the revolution turned exceedingly violent. Communist dictator [BLANK-1] refused to step down or cede power to protestors seeking democratic reforms and an end to the communist government. He unleashed his security forces on protestors, where they killed more than 100 in Timișoara. More than 1,100 were killed by police and soldiers in Bucharest in the following days, before the dictator’s forces were overwhelmed by the protestors. The communist dictator and his wife were publicly executed by the military on Christmas Day, 1989. They were the last people to be executed in Romania, as the new government outlawed capital punishment two weeks later.

What does the term “heptarchy” refer to?