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The long nineteenth century, defined by Eric Hobsbawm, a British Marxist historian and author, refers to the period between the years 1789 and 1914. Hobsbawm lays out this theory in three books, The Age of Revolution: Europe, 1789–1848, The Age of Capital, 1848–1875, and The Age of Empire, 1875–1914.

The period begins with the French Revolution, which established a nonmonarchial republic in Europe, and ends with the start of World War I. Upon the conclusion of World War I in 1918, the long-enduring European balance of power of the 19th century proper (1801–1900) was eliminated. These events represented such significant changes in world history as to redefine the era.

A sequel to the trilogy of histories, The Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914–1991, details the short twentieth century beginning with World War I and ending with the fall of the Soviet Union.