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Period: Oct 12, 1492 to
Modern History
History period that starts with the discovery of America or the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, and ends with the French Revolution, the United States Independence or with the Industrial Revolution. -
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Enclosure acts
The British Parliament authorised the Enclosure Acts due to the rise in grain prices: the open field system ended, now there were enclosed properties.
Their consecuences were: concentration of land ownership; improvement in farming techniques: rise of production and productivity; and production aimed at the market. However, poor farmers couldn’t enclose land, they had to sold their property and became labourers in exchange for a wage or move to the cities. -
John Kay’s flying shuttle
In 1733, John Kay patented the flying shuttle. It was the first step for the automation of the loom. This invention allowed a single weaver to weave much larger fabrics. Before this, four spinners were needed to service one weaver, now only one worker was needed. -
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First Industrial Revolution
Period that starts in 1750 and lasts until 1880. During this period, there are some technological advancements that increased productivity, made the population to increase a lot and made peasants go live to cities, where they would work in the new factories. This led to the enrichment of the bourgoisie at the expense of the proletariat class (the workers), who worked in very bad conditions. -
James Watt's steam machine
In 1763, James Watt started designing the steam machine, and he finished it twelve years later, in 1775. It boils water, forming steam, and with the preassure the steam produces, it produces movement. To boil the water, a fuel was needed, and the main one used during all the Industrial Revolution was coal. -
Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations
In 1776, Adam Smith, economist and moral philosopher, publishes The Wealth of Nations. This book offers one of the world's first collected descriptions of what builds nations' wealth. The main topics of this book are the division of labour, productivity, and free markets. -
Invention of the power loom
In 1787 the first power loom was designed by Edmund Cartwright, but until 47 years later, the machine wasn't fully automatic. It keeped evolving, and by the year 1850, there were 260,000 power looms in operation in England. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Human civil rights document made by the National Constituent Assembly in 1789 in France. It recognises the rights, individual freedoms and equality of all citizens in law and taxation. -
Estates-General meeting
With the financial crisis, the banks forced Louis XVI to appoint Jaques Necker as the finance minister. To solve the crisis, Necker decided that Nobility and Clergy should pay taxes. They refused and they demanded that Louis XVI convene the Estates-General, who met in Versailles. The Third Estate wanted to vote per representative, but Nobility and Clergy wanted to vote per state rather than voting per representative, and the tension between the Estates was growing. -
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Contemporary History
History period that starts with the French Revolution, the United States Independence or with the Industrial Revolution, and continues up to the present day.
https://youtu.be/84p9aTs2JXY -
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French Revolution
The French Revolution was a social and political conflict in France that started in 1789 with the storm of the Bastille and ended in 1799 with the coup of Napoleon. Its causes were the financial and the social crisis. The Third Estate, inspired by the Revolution of America and the Enlightenment Ideas, revolutioned against the King, demanding more rights, more representation and less taxes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qRZcXIODNU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQmjXM4VK2U -
Tennis Court Oath (Proclamation of the National Assembly)
On the 20th of June, the King closed the doors before the Third Estate could enter, leaving only the Nobility and the Clergy in the meeting. Instead of leaving, the Third Estate went to a pavilion in Versailles, the Jeu de Paume room, and as they represented more than the 85 percent of the population, they proclaimed themselves the National Assembly and they promised to draft a constitution. -
Storm of the Bastille
During the end of June and first weeks of July, the National Assembly gained more support and the situation got more tense. The king knowing that something could happen, ordered the army to surround Paris, and then he fired Jaques Necker. The Third Estate, furious about the King'1 actions, revolted, and stole weapons to fight them. They stormed the Bastille as it was a symbol of the Feudal Lords and it kept a lot of weapons and gunpowder. They killed the governor and put his head on a pike. -
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Constitutional monarchy
It was the first phase of the French Revolution. It started in 1789 and ended in 1792. The National Constituent Assembly, formed by moderate bourgeoisie, negotiated with the king and priviliged classes how to establish a parliamentary monarchy. To do that, they first abolished the feudalism by approving the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and then they approved the first French constitution.
https://youtu.be/IxcudT0rVzU -
Women’s March on Versailles
In October 1789, thousands of angry women, boosted by Marat, marched on Versailles and forced the king to abandon his palace and go to Tuileries Palace in Paris. -
First French constitution
It was the first constitution of France made by the National Constituent Assembly in 1791. It was based on the separation of powers, national sovereignty and legal equality, though the king reserved the right of veto. Census suffrage was introduced: only male French citizens over 25 years of age who paid taxes could vote. -
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Social Republic
It was the second phase of the French Revolution. It began in 1789, triggered by the king's betrayal, when he was trying to escape to Austria, and the approaching Austrian and Prussian armies, who had already taken Verdun. On August 10th 1792, the "sans-culottes" stormed the Tuileries Palace and imprisoned the king, declaring a republic in France.
The Social Republic was first ruled by the moderates (Girondists) for two years. And from 1793 to 1794, the Jacobins, the most radical faction ruled. -
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Girondin Convention
During the first year of the Social Republic, the Girondin Convention governed.
During this period, the National Convention was created: a new Assembly elected by universal male suffrage. King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were executed. This enraged the other European absolute monarchies, who formed a coalition against France; it provoked counter-revolutionary revolts in the countryside and royalist plots by priviliged classes increased.
https://youtu.be/nQnBiGCqR28 -
War of the First Coalition
War between Revolutionary France and Prussia and Austria. With the first French constitution in 1791, the King Louis XVI and the priviliged classes asked other European absolute monarchies to help restore absolutism, Prussia and Austria declared their intention to fight against French Revolution. In April 1792 the Legislative Assembly declares war on Austria and Prussia. -
Storm of Tuileries Palace
With the escape attempt by the king in June 1791 (Flight to Varennes) and the approaching armies of Austria and Prussia, the republican feelings among "common people" increased.
This led to the they storming the Tuileries Palace on August 10th 1792, imprisoning the king and declaring the first French Republic. -
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Reign of Terror
Period in the French Revolution t hat started in 1793 and ended in 1794. This period is characterised by the executions under the Law of Suspects: someone that was a suspect of being counter-revolutionary or even if someone wasn't very convinced about the course that the revolution was taking, he/her would be judged and probably executed.
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Jacobin Convention
In 1793, the Jacobins seized power and the most radical part of the revolution started, leaded by Maximillien Robespierre.
This year they enacted a new constitution that declared France as a republic with popular sovereignty and social equality. The Comittee of Public Safety has now the executive power.
During this period the Jacobins attempted to neutralize their enemies with mass levy and the imposition of the Reign of Terror.
They also enacted social laws to satisfy the "sans-culottes". -
Execution of Louis XVI
The goal of the first coalition war was to return absolutism to France, putting Louis XVI back in the throne, and as their invasion was approaching Paris, fearing that an absolutist regime would be established again, the king was judged of treason and he was found guilty. The moderates wanted to deport him, but the most radicals, leaded by Robespierre, wanted to execute him. A vote took place, and, winning by only one vote of difference, the 21st January 1793, he was executed. -
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Conservative Republic
This is the third and last part of the French Revolution. It started in 1794 with the execution of Robespierre and 21 supporters and ended in 1799 with the Coup of 18th Brumaire.
In this period the moderate bourgoisie had the power.
During this period, the Jacobin laws were cancelled and a new constitution was drafted in 1795: it granted census suffrage and the Directory had the executive power. However, the Directory was unestable due to the opposition of aristocracy and common people. -
Coup of 18th Brumaire
The Directory (executive power in the conservative republic) was very unstable due to the lack of support of the aristocracy and the common people. Napoleon Bonaparte took advance from this situation and organised the Coup of 18th Brumaire This coup was supported by a large part of the bourgeoisie and the army.
He was named consul and started and authoritarian rule. The French Revolution was over. -
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The Consulate
The Consulate was the period when Napoleon was consul. It started with his coup and ended in 1804 when he was crowned emperor by the Pope. Its main objetives were: the elimination of the political instability of the French Revolution, the consolidation of some revolutionary principles and recover the economy.
During this period a new constitution was enacted (more authoritarian), some Economic Reforms and other reforms like the Civil code for all citizens took place.
https://youtu.be/WWl2LhKoeu0 -
Constitution of 1800
After the Coup of 18th Brumaire, this new constitution was enacted.
In this consitution there was no separation of powers and declaration of rights; there were very limited liberties and the public opinion was censured and the territory was organised in states divided in departaments, run by prefects. -
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The Napoleonic Empire
On May 18, 1804, Napoleon was crowned emperor by the Pope, and the Napoleonic Empire started.
Napoleon won lots of wars against the european absolute monarchies like Austria, Prussia or Rusia thanks to his large army and new military tactics. In 1806, when he won the battle of Austerlitz, he seem unstoppable.
In 1808 the invasion of Spain started and in 1811 the Napoleonic Empire had reached its zenith, but, the failed invasion of Russia in 1812 marked the start of its decay. It ended in 1815 -
Napoleon crowned emperor
On May 18, 1804, Napoleon was crowned emperor by the Pope at Notre-Dame de Paris, starting the Napoleonic Empire. -
Treaty of Fontainebleau
A treaty was signed in October 1807 between Spain and France in Fontainebleau. According to its terms, Spain would allow French troops to pass through its territory to launch a joint invasion of Portugal, which was refusing to implement the blockade against Britain. It would be divided in three occupation zones, one of which was to be awarded to Manuel Godoy. However, the whole operation was to end in a massive uprising by the Spaniards and the defeat of the French at Vimeiro and Bailen. -
Invasion of Spain and Joseph Bonaparte crowned king
In 1807/08, under the pretext of invading Portugal, Napoleon moved his troops across Spain. The Spanish people revolted against the already unstable regime, and the royal family and Godoy had to flee to Bayonne, in France. There, Napoleon blackmailed Fernando VII into giving his brother Joseph the Spanish Crown.
Despite the failure at Bailén, Napoleon took command of his troops and quickly neutralized the Spanish armies. However, he would be forced to abandon Spain to stop a conspiracy in Paris. -
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War of Independence
In the treaty of Fontainebleau of 1807, Spain agreed to give passage to a French army as part of a joint invasion of Portugal, which had refused to implement the "Continental System". However, after the Aranjuez Mutiny and the May 2nd uprising, Napoleon decided the Spanish Monarchy was too weak and replaced it with his brother Joseph as King. The subsequent Spanish rebellion, supported by British and Portuguese, would only end with the expulsion of the French from Iberia after six years of war. -
Abdications of Bayonne
In early 1808, the French occupation gave place to a rise in popular mistrust, leading to the success of the Mutiny of Aranjuez, organized by Prince Ferdinand against his father Charles and the hated "valido" Manuel Godoy. To prevent the situation from deteriorating further, Napoleon recalled the Royal family and Godoy to Bayonne, where, after the 2 de mayo uprising, he forced Ferdinand and Charles to relinquish their rights to the Throne, which the Emperor later gave to his own brother, Joseph. -
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Luddite movement
This was movement of English textile workers in the 19th century, a radical faction which destroyed textile machinery as a form of protest. They protested against the use of machines in the manufactures, what they called "a fraudulent and deceitful manner" to get around standard labour practices. -
1812 Spanish Constitution
The absence of the Ferdinand VII meant that there was no central legitimate authority for the Spanish who refused to obey the new administration. This resulted in a number of local Juntas, which, after unifying in Seville and moving to Cadiz in sight of the French advance, convened Courts. In early 1812, after much political maneuvering, these drafted a liberal Constitution, which affirmed National Sovereignty, civil liberties and universal male suffrage, all under a Parliamentary Monarchy. -
Treaty of Valençay
The Treaty of Valençay was signed in December 1813 between the French Empire and Spain. After the numerous defeats suffered both in Spain and elsewhere in Europe, Napoleon agreed to evacuate Spain and recognised Ferdinand VII as King, in exchange for keeping the country out of the Coalition. However, the Treaty ended not having much real influence, as the Spanish Cortes refrained from ratifying it, and the war continued well into 1814. Napoleon eventually decided to let the King return in March. -
Congress of Vienna and Holy Alliance Treaty
The Congress of Viena was a series of meetings organised by the Austrian Chancellor Metternich. They took place between 1814 and 1815. In these meetings Austria, Prussia, Rusia, Great Britain and France decided how to restore absolutism in Europe and what the new borders would be like.
At these meetings the Holy Alliance Treaty was signed: absolute monarchs (Russia, Prussia and Austria) would unite against any threat of liberal revolution. -
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The Restoration of absolutism
Between 1814 and 1815, the absolute monarchies of Europe (Prussia, Austria and Russia), Great Britain and France met at the Congress of Vienna. The main objectives of these meets were to bring back absolutism to all Europe, have a balance of power (Concert of Europe), to have the right of intervention and to deny national sovereignty.
The four great powers also reshaped the European map to their advantages, leaving France the borders that it had in 1792.
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Battle of Waterloo
In 1805, during the Waterloo campaign, after victories of Quatre-Bras and Ligny, Napoleon lost in Waterloo, in Belgium, against an Anglo-allied army commanded by the Duke of Wellington with reinforcements of the Prussian army commanded by Blücher.
After this battle Napoleon abdicated and he was sent to the island of Saint Heena, where he died in 1821. -
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Greek War of Independence
The Greeks were part of the Ottoman Empire, who had different religion and culture, for centuries, and they had to pay high taxes but they were excluded from state administration jobs. With this situation, they revolutionized against the Ottoman Empire:
First, in 1822 Greeks declared independence, although it wasn't recognized by the Turnks. Five years laters, the Greeks won thanks to French and British military intervention. In 1830 the Ottoman Empire recognized the independence of Greece. -
Abolishment of the Combination Acts
In 1824, the English Combination Acts, that forbade workers to organize for the purpose of obtaining higher wages or controlling work-place conditions, were abolished. They were repealed as the result of a campaign led by Francis Place and Joseph Hume. -
Stephenson’s Steam locomotive
This was one of the first locomotives invented. It was created for the Rainhill Trials, in which the winner locomotive would be the motive power for the then nearly-completed Liverpool and Manchester Railway. It won that competition. It used the steam machine to produce the movement, so it needed a lot of coal and water to work. -
Revolutions of 1830
As the Congress of Viena did not respect the liberal and nationalist principles of some European nations, a revolutionary movement that begun in France spreaded through Europe.
Although it had a significant popular support, most of the revolutions were unsuccessful and continued with Absolutism, for example in Poland. But where they were successful the absolutism was replaced by liberal political systems governed in which bourgeoisie had the power, an example of this occurred in France. -
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The Belgian Revolution
In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, the Kingdom of the Netherlands was created, unifiying two nations that were separated for a lot of time and had different ideologies and religions: The Kingdom of Holland was protestant and absolutist and Belgium was catholic and liberal.
In 1830, Belgium declared their independence and a war started. It ended nine years later when the Kingdom of Holland recognized the independence of Belgium as a liberal monarchy ruled by Leopold I. -
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The Age of Revolutions
During this time, a series of revolutions against the abolutist regimes stablished by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. First in 1830 and later in 1848. They ended the absolutism imposed in 1815 and represented the democratic ideals and political importance of workers. Despite most of the revolutions were suppresed, democratic reforms and many nationalist aspirations were consolidated later in the second half of the 19th century.
https://youtu.be/F9xYHCVpSqs -
Zollverein
Zollverein was a customs union created by Prussia in 1834 in which tariffs between all German States except Austria were removed. -
Grand National Consolidated Trades Union
In 1834 in the United Kingdom, the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union brought together different types of workers to defend the right of association, improve wages and regulate child labour. -
Revolutions of 1848
In this time, there were lots of people that lived under the rule of an empire (Austrian, Russian and Ottoman) or were fragmented into various states (Germany and Italy), and withh the incresing nationalist feelings and liberalism ideas they revolutionized and made independent nations that were free from the control of absolutist empires. -
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French Second Republic
In February 1848 in France, a popular uprising proclaimed the Second Republic. It adopted a some democratic measures such as universal male suffrage, press freedom, abolition of the death penalty and recognition of certain rights for workers.
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Invention of the Bessemer converter
The Bessemer converter was patented by Henry Bessemer in 1856. It was used to mass produce steel from molten pig iron. The key principle is removal of impurities from the iron by oxidation. But this process was already discovered in an independent way in 1851 by William Kelly, and it was also used outside Europe for hundreds of years. -
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Unification of Italy
Italia was divided into several states, one of them, Lombardy-Venetia was annexed by Austria at the Congress of Vienna.
With the increased nationalist feelings in all Europe, in 1859, the liberal monarchy of the Kingdom of Piedomnt decided to start the unification of Italy.
They quickly gained more territories: as Lombardy, Naples...
In 1861 Victor Manuel II was proclaimed king of Italy, five years later Austria left Venetia and in 1870 the Papal states were annexed and Rome became the capital. -
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Unification of Germany
Gernamy was divided into 36 states, associated with the German Confederation, where Prussia and Austria were competing for power.
In 1834, Prussia created a customs union (Zollverein), later in 1848 the first freely elected parliament offered the crown of Germany to the king of Prussia, who refused it. In 1861 King Wilhelm I was crowned king and Otto von Bismark as chancellor.
in 1871, after winning three consecutive wars, the Second German Empire (Reich) was proclaimed with Wilhelm I as Kaiser. -
First International
The International Workingmen's Association (First International) was an international association which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and trade unions. It was created at the initiative of Marx in 1864. However, ideological differences between Marxists, anarchists and trade unions made it unworkable and it dissolved in 1876. -
Karl Marx publishes Das Kapital
In 1867 Karl Marx publishes "Das Kapital" (Capital), in which he exposes his analysis on capitalism from a historical materialist point of view. -
Second International
The Second International (1889–1916) was an organisation of socialist and labour parties in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second International continued the work of the dissolved First International, but it excluded the powerful anarcho-syndicalist movement and trade unions.
It established symbols of the labour movement: the anthem “The Internationale”, and the International Workers’ Day.
