What period in history do you think the most influential changes took place?

The period in history that most influential changes took place was during the later part of the century, when Great Britain transformed from manual labor to machine based manufacturing. This period is historically known as the industrial revolution, it originate in Britain and spread throughout Europe. This period is considered to be the main turning point in the history of human development.

I would have to say that the most influential changes, as far as the history of Western Civilization, at any rate, took place in the 4th century. Constantine I, Emperor of the Roman Empire, accomplished many things during his reign, and some of them have had had wide ranging consequences, some of which effect us to this very day. By the early to mid 4th century, the Roman Empire faced a vast labor shortage, and the massive latifundia (landed estates) granted to important partisans of the Emperor, lacked the requisite numbers of coloni (peasants, pretty much) to work them.In 332 A.D. , Constantine I, likely drawing inspiration from the example of the Helots of classical-era Sparta, decreed that coloni were to be tied to the lands of these huge estates, and thus, he built the framework for serfdom, an institution which, though it has changed its face a bit over the centuries, is still with us in some form to this very day.

As the Western Roman Empire crumbled and finally was overcome tribes of the Gothic nation, this concept of a peasantry bonded with the land, indeed, a peasantry which had come to be considered as PART of the land itself, solidified, and by the time of the collapse of the Carolingian Empire in the 10th Century, it had evolved into what is generally considered to be the classic example of Serfdom, the medieval European serf. Of course, after the so-called Great Plague, or Black Death, had wiped out as many as 3/5th of the total population of Europe, the resulting labor shortage resulted in a new evolution in the nature of serfdom. The peasantry, who had long been tied to the land, now had not enough numbers to support the medieval European style of massive agrarian economy, and thus, began to migrate together to form great Towns, this occurring about the same time as the rise of strong central Monarchies in Western Europe, which indeed accomplished the purpose of shifting European economic focus from agriculture to commerce, which, in turn, eventually made possible the growth of industry culminating in the Industrial Revolution.

According to a historical treatise on the Renaissances of Europe, published on Sparknotes. Com: "As the trade of agricultural and manufactured goods grew in importance, cities also became more important. Strategically located and wealthy cities became populous and modern, and some cities even boasted factories.

" As a consequence of this, the serfs now were paid in monetary wages rather than in a percentage of the agricultural yield, and thus, the wage-earner became the standard characteristic of the developing economic system. However, though the method of pay had changed, the essential role of the peasant in all successive western economic systems remained fundamentally the same...bonded servitude. Now, they were tied to the "paycheck", as it were, rather than to the lands of their Lord.

Another important feature of the reign of Constantine I is that of his theological position. Constantine I was the first openly-Christian Roman Emperor, and it was under his reign, (Edict of Milan, 313 A.D. ) that religious tolerance was granted to all the Roman world. According to Wikipedia.

Org: "The reign of Constantine established a precedent for the position of the emperor in the Christian Church. Constantine himself disliked the risks to societal stability, that religious disputes and controversies brought with them, preferring where possible to establish an orthodoxy.201 The emperor saw it as his duty to ensure that God was properly worshipped in his empire, and what proper worship consisted of was for the Church to determine..." (/wiki/Constantine_I) This, of course, cleared the way for the transformation of Christianity from a relatively small, embattled sect into the full-fledged theological force it is today, and the eventual establishment of Europe as "Christendom", the vast Ecclesiastical Empire, if you will, of the Papacy in Rome which would take shape during the Medieval Era, and which would endure until the Age of the Reformation during the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras.So from the reign of Constantine I, the western world inherited not only an economic institution that would prevail in some form to the very day (the coloni of late Rome were the direct ancestor of the modern-American "Blue-Collar worker". ), but also a theological powerhouse who would shape the course of events over the next 16 or 17 centuries, and it could be said with some degree of truth that everything from the growth of capitalism to the War on Terror are consequences of the social, political, economic, and theological frameworks that Constantine I put into place.

Therefore, I nominate the reign of Constantine I (306 - 337 A. D) as the period in history in which the most influential changes took place.

I think many people would agree with you, but simply because this is the 'age' you are living in, it does not make it the most influential in terms of changes taking place. If one is to determine the most influential period, one must look at what had the greatest long term affects after it occured. Under such circumstances, such concepts as The Roman Republic-Empire would not be the most influential - while we use Latin today for a basis of our languages throughout the Western World, other languages did exist - although not as scripted and thorough.

Indeed, their influence seemed to disappear with their Empire and 'The Dark Ages' sank in, whereby there were over 800 years with nomadic peoples living their own way. Indeed, much architecture was left; however this did not stand the test of time. I believe that the British imperialist expansionism has had the largest affect on the world, influencing everything from Global language, to economic superpowers, to political ideals.

Indeed, the United States was born out of Yorkshiremen, Scotsmen, Cornishmen and Londoners all breaking away from their mother nation. Their new nation then went on in the late 20th and 21st Centuries to reinforce what the British had been paving into cultures for many years - Anglicanism. I do not mean the religion, but the culture.

India's influence politically and economically is still extremly present today, as well as Chinese corporations learning fluent English. Every nation on earth has fluent English speakers, as it is the world language. British cuisine, although not being as popular, has influenced other diets as much as the British diet has been influenced by those it colonised.

English Literature, such as the infamous Shakespeare is studied in Chinese, Arabic, Latin American and Russian schools as mainstream. The Industrialisation of countries began in the small island kingdom of Great Britain - and today's Apple, Microsoft, McDonalds and Coca-cola (to name the biggest) would arguably not have sprung up due to this first industrialisation. Republicanism surged for the first time since Ancient Greece and Rome - and democracy indeed is the most popular and stable form of government in the world.

The gradual constitutionalisation of the British democracy came about without revolution or civil war (not taking into account the English Civil War - as Cromwell rapidly became a dictator, or 'Lord Protector'), such as other countries have done - and indeed the model for most constitutions and legal systems throughout the world have been modelled on that of the United States - which itself was modelled on the Empire's seperate constitutions and laws. And as the Commonwealth decolonised after the Second World War, this paved the way for the US influence to grip the world - although this was significantly thwarted due to Communism existing as a conflicting ideal. Imperialism had no conflicting ideology, and all the Great Powers were Great Empires - there was no alternative.

All of this change started when the Jamestown colony was established, and from there onwards, the British colonies flourished, spreading Anglicanism and industrialisation throughout the world - if they hadn't, then the world could be a very different place today.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.