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Watt's 1769 patent of the Steam Engine
Thomas Newcomen invented the steam engine, but it was highly ineffective. James Watt then upgraded the system and at the end of the century, almost one-fifth of Britain's mechanical production was powered by steam. James Watt's invention is still in effect now, as trains are used for transportation of people and goods, so it is an important achievement in history. -
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The French Revolution
King Luis XVI took over France and was a bad king who listened to whoever gave him an idea last. The French citizens stormed the Bastille, creating the official start of the French Revolution. January 21, 1793, King Luis XVI was guillotined, and Maximilien Robespierre led the Reign of Terror. He ended up headless with Napoleon in charge. This revolution deferred feudalism for a while and showed that people can overthrow the Government, which helped inspire other revolutions later on. -
Haitian Revolution
Haiti was a French Sugar cane Colony. Sugar cane was possibly the hardest thing to farm, so in 1791 there was a slave revolt led by Toussaint L'ouverture. Eleven years later Napoleon captured Toussaint but doesn't stop the rebellion. Haiti gained its freedom in 1804. This is a big event in history because another rebellion took place, allowing a new country to be formed. -
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Congress of Vienna
September, 1814 to June, 1815. The purpose of this congress was to settle issues from the French revolution and Naploeon's wars. The European powers came together to rebuild and they reset up Feudalism. The Congress of Vienna is a big event because it restored the balance of power in Europe and
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Independence of Mexico
In the summer of 1810 the Creoles agreed to start a revolution. On September 16, 1810, Hidalgo told the people of Dolores to rebel. The revolution failed as did José Morelos 's attempt.
Augustín de Iturbide, a conservative Creole, wanted independence with creoles on top. September 27, 1821 Spain recognized Mexico's independence. Another case of successful enlightenment, but in this case it is the US’s southern neighbor. The revolution has given Mexicans freedom, and got the US the stat -
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Opium War
Britan had a 17 million trade deficit with China because China mostly exported to Britan and didn't import nearly as much. Britan then smuggled 8 million pounds of opium into China in 1836. That cleared their debt, but opium is addictive and they had to keep smuggling opium. China grew angry over this and it led to a war in which Britan's superior force defeated China. The Treaty of Nanjing ended the war and hurt China’s trust of Europe and their pockets in tributes to them. -
Communist Manifesto
It was written by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and published in London. The communist manifesto outlines communism and the ideas of equality in possessions.
The Communist Manifesto changed the world forever because it introduced the idea of communism. It is now known as the farthest left idea of government. The creation of this new type of government shouldn't be forgotten because it led to the more extreme government types. -
Matt Perry Goes to Japan
Matt Perry's U.S. fleet went to Japan and met the imperial commissioners at Yokohama. Japan only accepted one Dutch trade ship a year, but Matthew Perry wanted to trade. He forced the Japanese to trade and that opened them up to modern ideas which led to the abolishment of Feudalism for Japan. Matt Perry coming to Japan led to Japan's rise in military power and was the first step toward Japan fighting the US in WW2. -
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Sepoy Mutiny
The British Indian Army had about 40,000 British soldiers and around 232,000 sepoys. They had to use the Enfield rifle, but the sepoys would have to bite off the end of the cartrige lubricated with animal lard, which was offensive to Hinduism and Islam. The rebellion began as mutiny at Meerut and spread to Delhi, Lucknow, and Cawnpore. Peace was declared on July 1858. The Indian Rebellion wrecked the control of the East India Company, leading to direct British control with greater Indian voi -
Unification of Germany
Otto von Bismarck tried to united German states under Prussia in 1862 by manipulating the creation of a war against France as an excuse to unite Germany. He also beat France and that caused the Treaty of Frankfurt giving Germany $ 1 billion and crowed the Kaiser. Wilhelm II became Kaiser in 1888 and made Germany an industrial power. Germany is one of the strongest countries in the world, and defiantly up there in efficiency. It becoming a country is an extremely critical event. -
Zulu uprising
The Boers took the Great Trek into South African's interior to establish their own states away from British rule. The Zulu, who was pretty much the last free standing Africans, tried to resist the Boer, and were successful for a few years. Then the British invaded in January 1879 and were defeated at the Battle of Isandhlwana. Six months later the British defeated the Zulus at the Battle of Ulundi in July 1879. Following their defeat by the British, the Zulus declined as a people for decades, -
Berlin Conference
The conference divided up Africa for colonization. There was no African representation at Conference. King Leopold II of the Belgins gave himself the entire Kongo. This single event changed history because it divided up Africa into countries, which was terrible for the tribes there. It also led to colonization and its effects; exploitation of natural recourses, education being an assimilation tool, and, a currency, and cash crops instead of domestic -
Russo-Japanese War
Russia got a 25-year lease of Port Arthur from China. It was a strategic warm water port that was at the southern end of the Liaotung Peninsula.
February 8, 1904 the Japanese Navy attacked Port Arthur. Two days later Japan declared war on Russia. The Battle of Tsushima ended the war for Russis. The loss hurt Russia so the czar made the October Manifesto that changed Russia into a constitutional monarchy. This was the first time a non-European country beat a non European country. -
Dr. Sun Yat-sen takes over China
Dr. Sun Yat-sen was born during the Quin dynasty. He traveled and spread his idea that revolution must ensue and sought monetary contributions from Chinese living overseas. On October 10,1911, a rebellion called the Double Tenth overthrew the idea of dynasties in China. Sun went back to China when this happened and on January 1, 1912 the Republic of China was born, as was the Chinese Nationalist Party. His actions led to what is now the fastest growing superpower, who controls much of the world.
