-
Period: to
Unit 6 Events
-
The Movable Steam Engine
The steam engine was the greatest invention of the Industrial Revolution. Before the steam engine, factories and mills were powered by the water wheel. The water wheel worked, but it had to be on a river and it was not the most powerful mechanism. James Watt had perfected the steam engine in 1769 and by the end of the century one-fifth of Britain's mechanical production was run by it. -
French Revolution
The French Revolution lasted from 1789 to 1799. It was a great turning point in French History. It started when King Louis XVI was crowned king of France. The people were not being treated right so they stormed the Bastille in Paris. The king tried to escape, but was killed by the revolutionists. The radical leader Robespierre had gone to far when he launched the "Reign of Terror" and killed many people. He was soon killed by the other Revolutionists. Eventually, Napoleon I took over as emperor. -
Haitian Revolution
The Revolution started in 1794 with uprisings of slaves against there masters. High tesions were already set. Things got worse when a law was passed that any man born of free parents was a free man. This applied to some of the slaves, but the white slave owners refused to comply to the new law. The slaves were outraged and started a war. By the turn of the century the former slaves were winning. They were led by Toussaint L'Ouverture. By January 1804, France had ended slavery and Haiti was free. -
Congress of Vienna
Lasting from September 1814 to June 1815, the Congress of Vienna was a council that was formed to resolve boundry issues after the fall of Napoleon I. It was made up of many European coutnries. Some countries came out of it like The Kingdom of the Netherlands. Russia and Prussia were a couple of the countries that were given more land. These decisions lasted until the Italian War of Unification in 1859. -
Independence of Mexico
Under Spain, the people of Mexico had been taxed heavily and treated poorly. There was a caste system in Mexico. The Spainards were highest, followed by the Creoles, then the Mestizos, and finally the Mullatoes. Miquel Hidalgo and the Creoles led the revolution. It was this class because they were educated and thought they deserved better than what they had. Mexico finally won its independence in 1821. -
The Opium War
The Opium War was a dispute between Great Britain and China. Great Britain had for many years wanted Chinese goods, but they had nothing China wanted in return. Because of this, Great Britain had sent imports of Opium, a dangerous drug, into China. This drug was outlawed in China at the time. Many people in China became addicted to the dangerous drug. China was furious and war broke out in 1839. Great Britain quickly defeated China. As a result, Great Britain controlled all of China's trade. -
Communist Manifesto
The Communist Manifesto was a book written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that set up the basis of a Communist government and how to run a Communist nation. The book was originally written for a group of German workers in London called the Communist League. The book was soon published and translated into many different languages. The Communist Manifesto had the most influence in China and Russia. -
Matt Perry goes to Japan
In the mid-19th century, the U.S. had been trading and had diplomatic contacts with many Asian nations, but not Japan. The United States wanted this contact with Japan so Matthew Perry was sent with two steam boats to "nogotiate" trading options with the leaders of Japan. After Perry left Japan, the Emperor had the Tokugawa Shogunate overtrown and had Japanese ports open to trade. -
Sepoy Mutiny
The Sepoy Mutiny was an uprising in India that later turned into a war between the indeginous Indians and the British. The rebellion started because of the British not being sensitive to Indian beliefs and customs. For example, the British introduced a new weapon to the sepoy army members that required them to bite into cartriges that contained pork and beef. This was against their customs, but the British didn't care. Tensions rose higher and soon war broke out. Peace was made in 1858. -
Unification of Germany
Wilhelm I, the Kaiser of Prussia, had issued a proclamation declaring the unification of Germany. For the past two years before this, The Prussians had been fighting the Franco-Prussian War. They had defeated France in this war. It had been Prussia's goal for many years to unite all of the German states. They had finally succeeded and formed the new Germany. Otto Von Bismark became Germany's first Chancellor. -
Zulu Uprising
The Zulu people of Southern Africa had had contol of their territoy for many years. Their reign of this land was disrupted when the British started colonizing southern Africa for themselves. The Zulu leader, King Cetshwayo, demanded arbitration over this land dispute. The British accepted, but had very harsh terms. The Zulu didn't want to comply to these terms and war broke out. The British eventulally defeated the Zulu in July 1879 and took full control of southern Africa. -
The Berlin Conference
The Berlin Conference was meeting between many European countries and the United States to settle disputes over land in Africa. It was held in Berlin, Germany. The disputes between the European countries were resolved. The leaders, however, paid no attention to land disputes between the tribes in Africa. Because of this many African tribes were forced to live together in the same country. These disputes were very dangerous and some still have not been resolved today. -
Russo-Japanese War
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, tensions had risen between Japan and Russia over land in northern China. Japan declared war in 1904. The Russians sailed for 9 months around Europe, Africa, and Asia just to loose the war after one battle. They were forced to surrender. This was a great victory for Japan because it showed them that they had some power in the world. It was also an important defeat for Russia because it showed the weakness of the Monarchy government in Russia. -
Dr. Sun Yat-sen takes over China.
After many years of failed revolts, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, along with the people of China, had finally overthrown the Qing Dynasty in 1912. He also formed the Kuomintang which is the Chinese Nationalists Party. Sun had established many military bases in his first few years of being in control of the Nationalists party. He also had tried to modernize China as much as he could by updating the transportation system and by educating the people of China. Sun merged his party with the Communist party.
