also changed. New devices to torture and execute criminals were invented. The number of criminals executed by gibbeting increased, as did the total rate of executions during the early modern period. End of the early modern period The end of the early modern period is usually associated with the Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain around 1750, but began to make substantial changes in many European countries by around 1800. The Age of Revolutions starts at the end of the early modern period and continues into the late modern period, denoting in the decline of absolutism in Europe. Near the end of the early modern period were the Second Treaty of Paris which ended the American Revolution, the French Revolution in 1789, and the Napoleonic Wars. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 marked the end of this period of political upheaval and frequent war, with the rise of new concepts of nationalism and reorganization of military forces. 1815 is the latest year commonly reckoned as the end of the early modern period. The French Revolutions Toward the middle and latter stages of the Age of Revolution, the French political and social revolutions and radical change saw the French governmental structure transform. It was previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy. It changed to forms based on Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights. The first revolution led to government by the National Assembly, the second by the Legislative Assembly, and the third by the Directory. The changes were accompanied by violent turmoil, which included the trial and execution of Louis XVI, vast bloodshed and repression during the Reign of Terror, and the French Revolutionary Wars involving every other major European power. Subsequent events that can be traced to the Revolution include the Napoleonic Wars, two separate restorations of the monarchy, and two additional revolutions as modern France took shape. In the following century, France would be governed at one point or another as a republic, constitutional monarchy, and two different empires. See also Price revolution Proto-globalization Early modern warfare Periodization Atlantic history Timeline of early modern history Cuisine in the early modern world Notes References Further reading Excerpt. online review; 904pp; short articles on Britain by experts. A highly influential statement. excerpt. excerpt. External links Internet Modern History Sourcebook, fordham.edu Websites Discussion of the medieval/modern transition from the introduction to the pioneering Cambridge Modern