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Independence of the United States
The Declaration of Independence was signed, which separated the 13 colonies completely from Great Britain's control -
French Revolution
The working class rebelled against the upper classes with the intention of improving their rights -
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Napoleonic Empire
Napoleon governed France for ten years in which he conquered a big part of Europe and turned it into his empire -
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Spanish American Independence
Various wars happened in South America that led to the independence from Spain of multiple countries -
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Ferdinand VII
This king governed Spain when the Napoleonic invasion ocurred and abdicated in favour of Napoleon's brother -
The Spanish War of Independence
The Spanish started rebelling against the Napoleonic forces that were invading the country and in the end managed to get them to exit the country -
Constitution of Cádiz
This was the first ever approved constitution in Spain, and one of the more liberal ones of its time -
Congress of Vienna
This congress aimed to return Europe to the Ancien Regime and created two alliances to maintain the balance: the Holy Alliance and the Quadruple Alliance -
Revolutions of 1820
Spain turned into a constitutional monarchy
There were also revolutions in Portugal and Naples
Greece turned into an independent country -
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The Liberal Triennium
In this period of time, reformist policies against the church were introduced -
Monroe Doctrine
This doctrine was elaborated by James Monroe, 5th President of the US and stated that any European country that tried to colonise America would be considered an agression and that the US government would intervene. -
Revolutions of 1830
In France, Louis-Philippe d`Orléans became king
A revolution in Belgium led to independence -
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Isabella II
The first governor in Spain that established a constitutional monarchy -
Revolutions of 1848
The king Louis-Philippe of France abdicated and the Second French Republic is formed
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte became president
Revolutions in other places of Europe happen, but fail -
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Opium Wars
The Opium Wars were two conflicts that happened after the Chinese government banned opium, a drug that was causing great harm to the Chinese society.
This prohibition caused problems to the British, that had been gaining a lot of money by exporting opium to China. This led to Britain, and later also France declaring war on China.
The wars ended when China made opium legal again -
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American Civil War
The American Civil War was a war that happened in the United States between the northern states (the Union) that wanted to abolish slavery and the southern states (the Confederacy) that wanted to maintain the ability to own slaves.
The Union, led by President Abraham Lincoln won the war and gained control of the US -
Italian Unification
The revolutions in Italy led to the annexation of Naples, Venice, Sicily, Lombardy and other territories.
The first king of Italy was Victor Emmanuel II -
German Unification
This unification relied on military forces and was designed by Otto von Bismark. The German Confederation included not only Germany, but Prussia, Austria and parts of France -
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Bismarckian Alliances
The Bismarckian Alliances (or Bismarckian Systems) were a series of alliances between European countries that were designed and ideated by Otto von Bismarck.
It consisted in an alliance between Germany, Austria, Russia and Italy. Later, Great Britain made a pact with this alliance.
The alliance system ended when Otto von Bismarck was fired by the German Emperor Wilhelm II -
Meiji Restoration
The Meiji Restoration was a political event in Japan that returned all militar and political power to the Emperor Meiji after the military government of the Tokugawa clan. -
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First Spanish Republic
Started with the abdication of the King Amadeo I and ended when the Bourbon monarchy was restored -
Bourbon Restoration
Happened at the end of the First Spanish Republic, when General Arsenio Martínez Campos came out in favour of restoration of the throne for the Bourbon family -
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Alfonso XII
Alfonso XII was the first king of Spain after the First Republic.
One of the most important things he did while he was king was allowing the Liberal Party into the government, ending the single party system of Isabel II -
Berlin Conference
This conference was organized by Otto von Bismarck and it had the objective of regulating the African colonization that was happening at the time -
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Alfonso XIII
Alfonso XIII was the son of Alfonso XII and was king since his father's death until the Second Spanish Republic.
He was called "the African" because of his interest in colonizing Africa. He was also the king during the first World War, in which he remained neutral. -
Fashoda Incident
During the African colonisation, French and British expeditions both met in Fashoda, in the Upper Nile and threatened one another because they both wanted the territory. This almost started a war between France and Britain, but the French ended up letting the British conquer the territory. -
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Boer War
The Second Anglo-Boer War, also known as the Boer War, was a conflict that happened between the British Empire and the Boer people of South Africa.
In the end, the Boer Republics were annexed to the British Empire. -
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First Moroccan Crisis
Also known as the Tangier Crisis, this was an international crisis that happened when Germany wanted to get control over Morocco, that was governed by France. This aggravated both France and the British Empire. -
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Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were a series of conflicts that happened in the Balkan region between 1912 and 1913. In the first war. Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Greece fought against the Ottoman Empire. Then, in 1913, Bulgaria turned against its allies and initiated the Second Balkan War. -
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First World War
The First World War was a conflict that happened between the Allied Powers (most countries in the world, including France, Britain and the US) and the Central Powers (the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria) -
February Revolution
The first of the two revolutions that happened in Russia in 1917. The discontent among the population caused waves of protests against food rationing until Nicholas II, the last emperor of Russia, abdicated from the throne.
This revolution is called the February Revolution even though it happened in March. This is because in that moment, Russia used a different calendar than the rest of the world. -
October Revolution
The second revolution that took place in Russia in the year 1917. It started with an armed insurrection in Petrograd led by Vladimir Lenin and it was the detonant of the Russian Civil War. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed between the Soviet Russia and most of the Central Powers, which made Russia withdraw from WWI. -
Formation of the League of Nations
The League of Nations is an international organisation that was created to maintain world peace. The establishment of the League happened in January 25 1919 at the Paris Peace Conference. The League was also established by the Treaty of Versailles. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was the most important treaty in WWI, because it ended the war by starting a state of peace between Germany and most of the Allied Powers. The rest of the Central Powers signed different treaties and the US also signed another treaty with Germany because they didn't recognize the legitimacy of the Versailles Treaty. -
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Primo de Rivera dictatorship
Primo de Rivera came to power through a coup d'etat in Barcelona with the army's support. Primo de Rivera's dictatorship was only supposed to last 90 days and he said it would only be a temporary government that would take all of the corrupt politicians away from the government. In the end, it lasted 9 years until his resignation. -
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Chinese Revolution
The Chinese Revolution and civil war started when the CCP, the Chinese Comunist Party was repressed and a lot of its members were assasinated by the Kuomintang, the nationalist party. This started a war that lasted 20 years and ended with the proclamation of the People's Republic of China and with the nationalists being sent to the island of Taiwan. -
Wall Street Crash
The Wall Street Crash was a stock market crash that happened in the US in 1929. This was caused by excessive speculation in the stock market during the Roaring Twenties. The Wall Street Crash marked the start of the Great Depression. -
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Spanish Second Republic
The Spanish Second Republic was started after the Primo de Rivera dictatorship was overthrown. Multiple republican political parties joined forces and signed the Pact of San Sebastián, which turned Spain from a monarchy to a republic. The Republic ended with a coup d'etat that led to the start of the Civil War. -
Spanish Constitution of 1931
This was the day the constitution of the Second Spanish Republic was approved. It introduced measures such as women suffrage, civil marriage and divorce and free obligatory education for all. -
Asturian miners' strike of 1934
This was a strike done by miners in Asturias with the objective of protesting against the new conservative government. The protesters took over Asturias until the Republican army crushed the rebellion.
This revolt is considered the "prelude" to the Spanish Civil War. -
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Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War was a conflict between two sides that happened in Spain:
The Republican faction, that was the one who governed at the time.
The Nationalists or the insurgents were the ones who wanted to overthrow the Republican government and reinstate the monarchy.
The war was won by the Nationalist faction and it marked the beggining of the Franco dictatorship. -
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Franco Dictatorship
After the Spanish Civil War and the victory of the nationalist side, the general Francisco Franco started a dictatorship in Spain that lasted around 40 years. This dictatorship limited the rights of the Spanish people and abolished the Constitution and all the reformist changes introduced during the Second Republic. The dictatorship ended with the death of Franco. -
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Second World War
The Second World War was a global conflict that happened between two militar alliances:
- The Axis: Germany, Italy and Japan
- The Allies: France, the UK, the US and the USSR -
Operation Barbarossa
This was the Nazi plan to conquer the USSR with the objective of having more "living space" for the germans and more resources that Germany needed -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
During the Second World War, Japan launched a surprise attack on the american naval base located in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The US was a neutral state at this point, but the attack caused it to enter the war on the Ally side -
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Cold War
The Cold War was an ideological conflict that happened between the communist Oriental bloc, led by the USSR and the capitalist Occidental bloc, led by the United States. The US created NATO to stop the communists from influencing Europe and the USSR responded by establishing the Warsaw Pact. It lasted from the end of the Second World War and the fall of the Soviet Union. -
Atomic bomb on Hiroshima
In August 1945, Germany had already surrendered and the only Axis power left fighting was Japan. US President Harry Truman allowed the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These bombs caused the destruction of both cities and led to Japan's surrender in 2 September 1945, which ended the Second World War. -
Atomic bomb on Nagasaki
In August 1945, Germany had already surrendered and the only Axis power left fighting was Japan. US President Harry Truman allowed the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These bombs caused the destruction of both cities and led to Japan's surrender in 2 September 1945, which ended the Second World War. -
Foundation of the United Nations
The UN was founded at the San Francisco Conference, and it had the goal of replacing the League of Nations as an international organization whose main objectives were preserving peace and security -
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
One of the first achievements of the United Nations was the establishment of a series of rights that every human in the planet should have, such as the right to life, freedom or association -
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Korean War
The Korean War was a conflict that happened between North Korea, supported by the USSR and China, and South Korea, supported by the US and Europe. After the Second World War, Korea had been split between North Korea, property of the USSR and South Korea, property of the US. Eventually, both became sovereign states and Pyongyang, capital of North Korea, launched an invasion in 1950. The war ended in 1953 after an armistice. -
Bandung Conference
The Bandung Conference was a meeting of representatives from multiple Asian and African states, mostly ones that were newly independent. The conference aimed to promote cultural cooperation between Africa and Asia and to oppose colonialism. This meeting was the first step toward the creation of the Non-Aligned Movement. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
This was a conflict between the US and the USSR during the Cold War. The US had deployed missiles in Italy and Turkey, and the USSR responded preparing missiles in Cuba. When the US found out about these missiles, they started a "naval quarantine" around Cuba to stop more missiles from entering the country. After 13 days, both the US and USSR agreed to dismantle their weapons.
This is considered the closest the Cold War was to a nuclear global conflict.