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Steam Engine
Thomas Savery was an English military engineer and inventer who created the earliest steam engine. Newcomen improved Savery's steam engine around 1712. In 1765, James Watt perfected the steam engine. This is important because it served as a relatively cheap, easy way to transport people and goods. It also gave way to the modern train engine. -
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The French Revolution
The poor people of France were treated miserably by the rich. The Third Estate was not nearly as important as the other two estates. King Louis XVI, needing assistance with debt payments, summoned the Estates-General without the Third Estate. Outraged, they formed the National Assembly and wrote a new Constitution. Louis put soldiers around the capital. The people raided the Bastille and savagely attacked them. Louis was forced to move to Paris after refusing to support the peoples' bills. -
Causes of the French Revolution
As King Louis XVI was facing major economic tumult with France in debt from the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution, the peoples' aggrivation was growing from the poor living conditions, shortage of food, and unfair political status of the 3rd Estate. This led to the revolt of the people. -
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Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution was one of the most successful African rebellions. It eliminated French control of the colony. It was aroused by poor treatments of slaves by the white enslavers. Led by former slave Toussaint L'Ouverture, it made Haiti the first black, free state. -
French Revolution begins
The storming of the Bastille was the beginning of the revolution. -
Storming of the Bastille
The angered people battered down the doors of the Bastille, raided the weapon stash, and forced the king and queen to move from their palace in Versaille to Paris. -
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Independence of Mexico
Mexico gained its independence from Spain and became its own country. The rebellion was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who wanted to be free from their colonial masters. -
Congress of Vienna
Beginning in Novermber and ending in June of 1815, the Congess of Vienna reorganized Europe. Its "Final Act" was completed in mid 1815 after the Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. The committee was made up of five countries - Austria, Prussia, Russia, Great Britain, and France. It was important because it restored a monarchy to Napoleon-captured colonies, balanced powers in Congress, and reorganized Europe. -
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Unification of Germany
The Congress of Vienna failed to unite Germany, and the leading German state was Prussia. Prussia organized German economics by removing tariffs and standardizing currency. In 1862, Otto von Bismarck wanted to unite Germany under Prussia. The Franco-Prussian War took place, and after the Treaty of Frankfurt, Wilhelm II controlled Germany and dismissed Prussia as prime minister, making Germany an industrial power. The unification is important because it gave Germans a sense of national unity. -
Communist Manifesto
The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, expresses the intentions and ideas of the Communist party. Marx believed that the working class would eventually consume the other classes; one class, no class struggle. He thought that workers would take over the labor force and eliminate Capitalism. Marx is nowadays proved wrong. He did not see that social aspects of society would bring the working class up to entrepreneurs instead of bringing everyone else down to its level. -
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Opium Wars
The Opium Wars were long standing conflicts between China and Great Britain over opium trade. The Opium War hurt the Chinese because they were far behind the British in technology. When they made peace, the British were able to remain in China with much power and influence. -
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Commodore Mathew Perry goes to Japan
The United States mainly wanted to send Perry to Japan for US ships to restock their supply of coal. They also wanted shipwrecked sailors to be treated well, as well as trade revenue to America. On March 8th, 1854, during his second visit, Perry settled for a peaceful negotiation to get the Japanese to open trade ports to Americans. They gave in after intense negotiation and signed the Treaty of Nakagawa. This disrupted Japanese currency and sparked western interest in Japan. -
Sepoy Mutiny
The rage against the British from the British-trained Indian Sepoy soldiers boiled over and led to a mutiny. Although they took over the cities of Delhi and Kanpur, their mutiny was brutally destroyed by the British. That same year, the British recaptured both cities and withstood a Sepoy attack of Lucknow. The defeat of the Sepoys was important because thousands of Indian armymen were ruthlessly slaughtered, and Indians turned against the British for their lack of moral prowess in their rule. -
Conference of Berlin
Because of Africa's valuable physical traits, it was a prime target for Europeans. To prevent bloodshed and violent conflict, Europe, North America and Asia created the Berlin Conference to divide up Africa. Europeans already had established colonies in Africa, and conflict still arose sometimes. German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck led the conference. It did not have respresentation of Africa, nor did it in the least consider how Africans felt about the whole issue. -
Zulu Uprising
This war, fought between Great Britain and the African Zulu tribe, ended Zulu independence as a unified state. The Zulus were having boundary disputes with the Dutch Boers, and Britain intervened. They defeated the Zulus, and dispersed their lands amongst 11 different Zulu chiefs. -
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Russo-Japanese War
Russia and Japan both wanted control over Korea. The Japanese defeated Russia and stopped Russian eastern expansion. -
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Dr. Sun-Yat Sen takes over China
Sun Yat-Sen was frustrated by the Qing government's style of rule, so he led a revolutionary group against the government. He plotted revolts and succeeded in 1911 when he overthrew the provincial government. He was elected leader of that government in 1912. Also in 1912, Sun turned over the government to General Yuan Shikai. In 1924, he reorganized his Nationalist Party when he returned to China from Japan. He established the "Principles of the People". His ideas fueled Nationalists later.
