Contemporary – we’re talking about the present, current, most recent started to look for foreign colonies; reasons
lonies; reasons of Europeans
events, and the near future.
 things that come into our mind, examples are
Artificial Intelligence, robotics, Internet, Modern
Technologies, modern architectural designs etc.
 may have different definitions for different
disciplines
 for history (discipline), contemporary is a discipline
History – is divided into different periods:
1. Modern History
 Early Modern Period – it began right after or succeeded late
middle ages period
- 16th Century
- Different events that took place:
 Renaissance – a French word meaning rebirth; Europeans
became interested on classical arts (Greco-Roman
cultures and arts) again; also about the changes that
happened in economic and political situations in Europe;
was an important event in humanity because it brought a
lot of changes, not only in arts and culture, but also in
politics and economics; Niccholo Macchiaveli – lives
during the Renaissance period and his concept is: The end
justifies the need
 Age of Discovery – Europeans started sailing in the world
to look for territory, trade routes, gold, and spices; the
“new world” was not named after Christopher Columbus,
even if he was the one who discovered it, because it was
named after Amerigo Vespucci; this is the year, when the
Philippines was discovered by Ferdinand Magellan but a
lot of historians, do not agree that the Philippines was
discovered by the Spaniards because even before they
came, people are already living in the Philippines and
they already have their own living and civilizations in the
Phil.; during this age, Europeans decided to leave Europe
and the places that they knew; during this time, Europeans
for starting the Age of Discovery: God (Age of
Reformation; Europeans left Europe because of their
desire to look for new converts, they wanted to spread
Christianity all over the world, and they also wanted to
convert people to make them Christians because during
this age, Age of Reformation is also happening. That
time, madaming umaalis na Catholics kaya ang mga tao
ay naghahanap ng mga bagong tao na marerecruit nila to
be Catholics), Gold (Europeans look for other territories
because they are after gold, not only literal gold but also
spices (used to preserve food without making the food
dull; before, they used salt but it gets the nutrients of food
and make the foods dull)), Glory (Europeans were
fighting for supremacy, especially the Spain and Portugal
because they wanted to become the most powerful state or
kingdom in Europe since during this period, the more
colonies you have, the more powerful you become); 3Gs
summarizes the Age of Discovery
 Age of Reformation – Protestantism (came from the word
protest), a branch of Christianity that emerge out of
protest; 95 Theses includes all the things that Martin
Luther protested; many Europeans left Catholic church
and join other religions, especially Protestantism; the
most famous figure during this age is Martin Luther; He
became an instrument that was used by different people
and himself to question the teachings of Catholic
Churches, especially the concept of indulgences that is
used for corruption but in reality, the church are telling us
na ito ay ginagamit for temporal punishment lamang
(ginagamit kasi ito to buy forgiveness for your sins or
your neighbor’s sins through money, pero mali ito kasi at
the end of the day, God is the judge. Ito ring indulgences
ay ginagamit para bayaran ng malaking pera ang
kasalanan ng kamag-anak na kamamatay pa lang para
makaakyat ito sa langit. Tapos lahat ng pera na malilikom
ng simbahan sa mga indulgences ay pampatayo ng
 magagandang simbahan since nangyayari rin ang
Renaissance nung time na ito); it lefts an imprint in
religious, economic, and political lives of people;
madaming wars na nangyari dahil sa age na ito; during
this time, Catholic church was more powerful than
monarchs
Note: These three events happened simultaneously
 Late Modern Period – started in the mid of 18th Century
- major events:
 Age of Enlightenment – also known as the Age of
Reasons; this is also called reason because this is the time
when people started using their intellectual capacity and
reason to explain different phenomena scientifically; may
scientific explanation na kasi ang mga bagay-bagay; made
people realized that they are the center of the society and
not the monarchs and the church.
 American Revolutions – erupted because the people living
in that colony realized na grabe na ang ginagawang
kasamaan ng British Empire sa kanila kaya nagdecide sila
na magrebel sa kanilang colonial masters and fortunately,
they won kaya nabuo ang United States of America.
 French Revolution – happened because of the abuses or
oppression brought by different monarchies towards the
French people (known as subjects before).
 Age of Industrialization or Industrial Revolution – one of
the most important invention during this age is the steam
engine; important event for the rest of the world because
it brought a lot of changes in many aspects; because of
this, the economic life of people changes; if before they
are in the countryside, when this age arose, they decided
to move from rural to urban areas; factories started to
emerge
 Age of Imperialism – not that similar in the Age of
Discovery (main purpose: to colonize lands); in this age,
states were not simply looking for colony, but they are
looking for markets where they can sell their products and
at the same time they were also looking for territory that
can supply them with raw materials na icoconvert nila
into finish product na ibebenta rin nila sa mga teritoryong
kanilang nakita; connected with Industrial Revolution
because prior to age of industrialization, may mga certain
states na hindi nag-aanchor ng kanilang influence like
British and China (Opium Wars) pero nang nagarise ang
industrialization, it made western powers more
demanding, developed, advance, and powerful kasi
nagkaroon sila ng mga bagong kagamitan at military
technologies na wala ang ibang country.
 Contemporary Period – started in 1945 to present
- events that happened from 1945 up to present
 The Cold War – first event that happened in this period;
the event that made the world bipolar because it is divided
into two (ang mundo na pinangungunahan ng America
(capitalism) at USSR (communism); proxy wars
(examples: Korean War, Vietnam War, Afghan War
(talliban – American is the one who empowered this))
(proxy wars meaning mayroon lang nagrerepresent sa
bawat country na involved)
 Decolonization – is about “cultural, psychological, and
economic freedom” for indigenous people with the goal
of achieving indigenous sovereignty (Belfi, E &
Sandiford, N (2021)); Hargreaves (1996) stated that it is
about the creation of self-governing nation-states;
Delavignette (1977) said that is about the rejection of the
civilization of the white men; in short, it is removing the
presence of your former colonial masters from your
nation kaya it is called ‘de’ means to remove; one of the
important events with regards to decolonization is the
Bandung Conference (the desire of newly independent
states in Africa and Asia to remove all the manifestations
of colonialism from their states) that happened in
Indonesia in 1950; Bandung Conference principles
(under Decolonization):
 1. Respect for fundamental human rights and for
the purposes and the principles of the Charter of
the United Nations
2. Respect for the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of all nations
3. Recognition of the equality of all races and of the
equality of all nations large and small
4. Abstention form intervention or interference in
the internal affairs of another country
5. Respect for the right of each nation to defend
itself singly or collectively, in conformity with
the Charter of the United Nations
6. (a) Abstention from the use of arrangements of
collective defense to serve the particular interests
of any of the big powers
(b) Abstention by any country from exerting
pressures on other countries
7. Refraining from acts or threats of aggression or
the use of force against the territorial integrity or
political independence of any country
8. Settlement of all international disputes by
peaceful means, such as negotiation, conciliation,
arbitration or judicial settlement as well as other
peaceful means of the parties’ own choice, in
conformity with the Charter of the United
Nations
9. Promotion of mutual interests and cooperation
10. Respect for justice and international obligation

Note: In short, the states (African and Asian states)

that participated in the Bandung Conference express
their desire to remove all remnants of colonialism
from their state.

 Globalization – is about the creation of borderless world