The course addresses issues of historical methodology, such as sources, periodization, historical interpretation, and it investigates the core themes of modern European history. These include: Europe in the 15th and 16th century; the age of geographical discoveries and early colonialism; Humanism and the Renaissance; the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation; the expansion of the Ottoman Empire and its conflict with the European states; the “crisis” of the 17th century and The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648); the Scientific Revolution; Great Britain in 17th century; the age of Louis XIV; the Battle of Vienna (1683); European balances between the 17th and the 18th century; economy and society in 18th century; the Enlightenment; the Enlightened Despotism and the Age of reforms; the Industrial Revolution; the American and French Revolutions.