Rise of Nation-States and Empires
The nation-state as we know it today is a fairly recent development. Before the 16th century most people didn’t think of themselves as residents of a nation. They identified much more with the local town or village that they lived in. The local leader was the only person they had to answer to and people rarely thought of leadership beyond the … Keep Reading → local powers. The rules of law were often very different from one village to another. With the victory in the War of the Roses, Henry VII consolidated power in England and started one of the first nation-states where power was consolidated in the monarchy. Late in the 16th century Ivan the Terrible consolidated power in Russia and created the first nation-state in that country. The Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years War officially put all power in the leaders of the state.
