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Period: 1492 to
Modern History
It is the third of the historical periods into which universal history is divided. The values of modernity stand out: progress, communication and reason. This period of time is characterized by the passage from theocentrism to anthropocentrism. -
John Kay's flying shuttle
It increased the speed of production and made it possible to weave wider fabrics and spinning machines, which significantly increased productivity. -
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First industrial Revolution
It began in Great Britain in the mid-18th century and spread across Europe, the USA and Japan in the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution interconnected changes (parallel revolutions) driven by innovation. This Revolution led to an increase in food production and in population. It also created new machinery and energy sources for industry and new systems for financing companies and facilitating payments. Markets were bigger. -
James Watt's steam engine
James Watt adapted the steam engine to power industrial machinery. Its role in the mechanisation of the textile industry led to a rise in productivity and total production. This made it possible to lower costs and reduce the sale price of the product. Steam engines were also used in agriculture, mills, flour mills, etc. and were very important in mines, where they were used to remove water from the galleries. -
Adam Smith publishes ''The Wealth of Nations''
Adam Smith was one of the liberal British authors of the Manchester School. He wrote The Wealth of Nations, probably the most influential book on market economics ever written, in which he explains his economic theories. -
Invention of the power loom
It was created by Edmund Cartwright. It's a mechanized loom system driven by a transmission shaft. It dramatically increased fabric production and lowered its cost. -
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Constitutional Monarchy
It was driven by the moderate bourgueoisie who establish a moderate liberal monarchy. They aspired to abolish the Ancien Régime, elect a parliament by selective suffrage and establish a constitution. The clergy and nobility opposed this monarchy and there was a financial crise. The invasion of France and the fled of the kings were the main causes of why it ended. -
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French Revolution
It is one of the most significant events in the history of humanity, and marked the beginning of the late modern period. It started an era in which western society began the construction of a future based on respect for fundamental and basic human rights, and on the principle that all citizens had the same rights and should choose representatives to govern their nation. -
Estates-General meeting
The Estates-General met in Versailles. The meeting was chaired by the king and made up of representatives of the nobility, clergy and the Third Estate. The Third Estate representatives decided to leave the meeting when the privileged classes refused to allow them greater representation and insisted on one vote per estate rather than one per representative. -
Tennis Court Oath
The members of the French Third Estate met in a pavilion in Versailles and took the Jeu de Paume, vowing "not to separate and to reassemble wherever require, until the Constitution of the kingdom is established". It was a pivotal event in the French Revolution. -
Storming of the Bastille
The people of Paris supported the Assembly's proposals and they stormed the Bastille. The revolution spread to the countryside, where the nobles' homes were burnt (The Great Fear). Louis XVI was frightened by the situation and, in the autumn of 1789, accepted the National Assembly, which made France a constitutional monarchy and ended the Ancien Régime. -
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Contemporany History
It is a stage in history that has suffered two World Wars and the consolidation of a capitalist system that continues to this day. It is characterized by the Enlightenment that was one of the triggers for the change of thought of a society represented mainly by the bourgeoisie class. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
It recognised the rights, individual freedoms and equality of all citizens in law and taxation. -
Women’s March on Versailles
From Paris’ markets, thousands of angry women (due to high prices of food), marched to Versailles. They forced the king to abandon his palace and move to the Tuileries Palace in Paris. -
First French constitution
The National Assembly drew up a constitution in 1791 based on the separation of powers, national sovereignty and legal equality, though the king reserved the right of veto. Census suffrage was also introduced, giving the vote to people with a certain level of wealth. -
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Girondin Convention
Between 1792 and 1793, the Girondins, the more moderate bourgeoisie, controlled the Republic. A new assembly, the National Convention, was elected by universal male suffrage. Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were convicted of treason and exeuted. In response to the king's death, monarchies in Europe formed an absolutist coalition against France. Inside the country, counter-revolutionary revolts broke out and the former privileged classes organised royalist plots. -
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Social Republic
The Social republic was the second phase of the French Revolution. The radical bourgeoisie, encouraged by the working classes, proclaimed the Republic and began a transformation into a democratic and equal society with universal male suffrage and social laws. -
War of the First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition is a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 against initially the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that succeeded it. They were only loosely allied and fought without much apparent coordination or agreement; each power had its eye on a different part of France it wanted to appropriate after a French defeat, which never occurred. -
Storm of Tulleries Palace
The betrayal by the king and the military invasion led to the revolt by the common people (sans-culottes). They stormed Tuileries Palace and imprisoned the royal family. A republic was declared and the second phase of the Revolution began. -
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Reign of Terror
It was imposed to stop conspirators. Freedoms were suspended and people opposed to the government were either imprisoned or revolutionary courts ordered their execution by guillotine (Law of Suspects). -
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Jacobin Convention
The Jacobins, the most radical sector of the bourgeoisie, endorsed the demands of the popular sectors and seized power. The Revolution had now entered its most extreme phase. A new constitution that recognised popular soveregnity (universal male suffrage) and the right to social equality was enacted. The executive was led by a Committee of Public Safety, which gave power to the Jacobin leader Robespierre. -
Execution of Louis XVI
King Louis XVI was convicted of treason and executed. In response to the king's death, monarchies in Europe formed an absolutist coalition against France. Inside the country, counter-revolutionary revolts broke out and the reformer privileged classes organised royalists plots. -
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Conservative Republic
Despite the radicalisation of the French Revolution, the moderate bourgeoisie took power and implemented a new moderate liberalism. The aristocracy opposed this republic and it ended by the Coup d'état by Napoleon. -
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The Consulate
Napoleon was named consul, and the Consulate's rule began. This was a period of autocratic and authoritarian rule. Napoleon aspired to put an end to the political instability of the Revolution, consolidate some of the revolutionary principles and promote economic recovery through a government that represented the interests of the bourgeoisie. -
Coup of 18th Brumaire
The general Napoleon Bonaparte organised this coup that ended the Directory in this context of crisis and war against the absolutist powers. The Directory was permanently unestable because it faced opposition from the aristocracy, which sought to re-establish the monrchy and recover its privileges, and the common people, who supported the return of the Jacobins. -
Constitution of 1800
It established a form of government known as the Consulate, which had 95 articles regulating the right to universal suffrage. It didn't include the separation of powers or a declaration of rights. Liberties were very limited and public opinion was censured. -
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The Napoleonic Empire
Napoleon began his conquest of Europe in 1803. After France's victory over Austria and Russia at Austerlitz, in 1806, the French troops seemed unstoppable, so in 1808, the French invaded Spain and Joseph Bonaparte, one of the emperor's brother, was made king. In 1811, the Napoleonic Empire had reached its zenith: it extended from Germany to Spain. France now controlled most of Europe. The invasion of Russia and the revolt in Spain against the king marked the decline of the Napoleonic Empire. -
Napoleon crowned emperor
Napoleon is crowned emperor by the Pope at Notre Dame in Paris. Napoleon centralized all power in his hands and established a new social order based on the defense of order and property. -
Treaty of Fountainebleau
A treaty that allowed French troops to pass through Spain to invade Portugal, an ally of the British. -
Abdications of Bayonne
By which Napoleon persuaded the Bourbons to give the Spanish crown to his brother Joseph. -
Invasion of Spain and Joseph Bonaparte crowned king
In 1808, the French invaded Spain and Joseph Bonaparte, one of the emperor's brothers, was made king . In 1811, the Napoleonic Empire had reached its zenith: it extended from Germany to Spain. France now controlled most of Europe. -
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War of independence
A popular revolt began in Madrid on 2 May 1808 and it started the War of Independence.
- Popular resistance (1808): Irregular troops began guerrila warface and the Spanish army stopped the French advance at the Battle of Bailén.
- French offensive (1808-1812): Napoleon controlled the army and occupied most of Spain.
- Anglo-Spanish victories (1812-1814): The British army commanded by General Wellington defeated the French in The Battle of Salamanca.
The Treaty of Valençay was signed (1813) -
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Luditte movement
The difficult working conditions under the industrial system and the poverty of the workers caused social unrest. The first workers to protest against industrialisation were the Luddites. This Luddite movement started in England in the early 19th century. It consisted of the violent destruction of machinery in the belief that it was responsible for low wages and unemployment. -
1812 Spanish Constitution
The Cortes, drafted the first Spanish Constitution, La Pepa, establishing: the separation of powers, universal male suffrage and individual freedoms and rights. -
Treaty of Valençay
This treaty ended the War of Independence in December 1813.
Ferdinand VII became king again and the French troops withdrew from Spain. -
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The Restoration of absolutism
The Congress of Vienna established the ideological principles of the Restoration such as the legitimacy of the absolute monarchs and the denial of national soveregnity. It also called for a balance of power between the victors trough periodic meetings and the right of intervention. In 1815, the Holy Alliance Treaty was signed. This stipulated that the absolute monarchs would unite against any threat of liberal revolution. -
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Reign of Ferdinand VII
Ferdinand VII returned to Spain after the French troops withdrew 1814. His aim was to re-establish an absolutist monarchy. However, the spread of liberal ideas during the War of Independence made the restoration of absolutism difficult. His reign ended in 1833, with the rise to the throne of his daughter Isabella. -
Manifesto de los Persas
The Manifiesto de los Persas was a document signed by 69 deputies of the Spanish courts on April 12, 1814, by which they asked King Fernando VII to suppress the Constitution of Cádiz of 1812 as well as all the decrees approved by this. -
Battle o Waterloo
The imperial armies were finally defeated in Waterloo by Great Britain and Prussia. Napoleon abdicated after the defeat and was sent into exile on the island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821. -
Congress of Vienna and Holy Alliance Treaty
The Holy Alliance Treaty was signed at the Congress of Vienna by the crowned heads of Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Its purpose was to re-establish the principle of hereditary rule and to suppress democratic and nationalist movements, which sprung up in the wake of the French Revolution. -
Pronunciamiento of Rafael del Diego
On January 1, 1820, the military pronunciamiento of Colonel Rafael del Riego took place in the Sevillian town of Las Cabezas de San Juan. This pronunciamiento was succesful and the king was forced to reinstate the Constitution of 1812. -
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Greek War of Independence
In 1822, The Greeks declared independence in Epidaurus, but it was not recognised by the Turks, and resulted in the beginning of a war. The European liberals supported the Greeks. They wanted to help the region they considered the cardle of European culture. In 1827, with the help of French and British military intervention, T¡the Greeks defeated the Ottoman Empire. Greece gained its independence in 1830. -
Holy Alliance intervention: Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis
Ferdinand VII felt intimidated by the liberals and appealed to other European absolute monarchs to defend Spain against them. In 1823, a coalition of European monarchs called the Holy Alliance sent troops, known as the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis, that restored absolutism under the command of the Duke of Angoulême. -
Abolishment of the Combination Acts
The Combination Acts or Combination Laws were English laws that initially prohibited and later regulated workers' associations and strikes. They were promulgated in 1799 and 1800 before the boom that the labor movement was taking and declared the Trade Unions illegal. la presión popular y obrera, y la intensa actividad de un lobby dirigido por Francis Place, hizo que el Parlamento derogara estas leyes en 1824. Popular and labor pressure, caused Parliament to repeal these laws in 1824. -
Stephenson's Steam locomotive
It used a steam engine to generate continuous motion of the wheels. This new transport system could carry more passangers and goods in less time and at a lower cost. This improvement boosted trade and helped create a large domestic market. -
Revolutions in 1830
The Revolutions of 1830 were a revolutionary wave in Europe. It included two romantic nationalist revolutions, the Belgian Revolution in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the July Revolution in France along with revolutions in Congress Poland, Italian states, Portugal and Switzerland. Ended the restoration of absolutism. -
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The Age of revolutions
Liberalism and nationalism became the two main opposition forces, prompting the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 that ended de restoration of absolutism. When the insurrections were successful, absolutism was replaced by liberal political systems governed by a constitution in which the bourgeoisie held power. This movement began in France. -
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The Belgian Revolution
The spread of liberal ideas helped the Belgian Revolution, and Belgium became a liberal monarchy ruled by Leopold I. An armed conflict followed Belgium's declaration of independence. It finally endend when the Netherlands recognised Belgium's independence in 1839. -
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Reign of Isabella II
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First Carlist War
It began In Basque Country lead by the experienced commander Zumalacárregui, who was defeated by the Liberal army of General Espartero. Peace was signed at the Convention of Vergara. -
Zollverrein
It was a customs union created by Prussia that united the majority of Germanic states. In 1848, Germany's first freely elected parliament met and offered the crown of Germay to the king of Prussia, who refused it because its parliament was liberal. -
Grand National consolidated Trades Unions
The Grand National Consolidated Trade Unions, which brought together different types of workers, was founded in 1834. Its first tasks were to defend the right of association, to reduce the working day, to improve wages and to regulate child labour. -
1837 Constitution (Progressive)
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1845 Constitution (Moderate)
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Revolutions in 1848
The revolutions of 1848 were characterized by the importance of nationalist demonstrations and by the beginning of the first organized demonstrations of the labor movement. Initiated in France, they spread rapidly throughout almost all of central Europe and Italy. Ended the restoration of absolutism and represented democratic ideas and the political importance of workers. -
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French Second Republic
In France, a popular uprising proclaimed the Second Republic, which adopted a number of democratic measures, such as universal male suffrage, press freedom, abolition of the death penalty and recognition of certain rights for workers. -
Invention of the Bessemer converter
It made possible to manufacture steel. This was a more flexible material, ideal for constructing machinery, tools, buildings and public works. The key principle is the removal of impurities from the iron through oxidation produced by blowing air into the cast iron. Oxidation causes the temperature of the mass of iron to rise and keeps it molten. -
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Italian Unification process
In 1859, Piedmont started a unification process. They declared war on Austria and annexed Lombardy. At the same time, a popular uprising led by Garibaldi overthrew the absolute monarchies in central and southern Italy. In 1861, Victor Manuel II of Savoy was proclaimed king of Italy. In 1866, Austria left Venetia, and in 1870, the Papal States were anexed by Italy. The newly unified state established its capital in Rome -
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German Unification process
In 1861, the first moves towards a united Germany were made as Wilhelm I became king of `Prussia and made Otto von Bismarck chancellor. Prussia declared war on Denmark in 1864, on Austria in 1866, and on France in 1870. Prussia was victorious in all three wars, making the unification of Germany possible: in 1871, Wilhelm I was proclaimed Kaiser (emperor) of the Second German Empire (Reich). -
First International
The First International was an international organisation which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and trade unions that were based on the working class and class struggle. It was founded in 1864 in a workmen's meeting held in St. Martin's Hall, London. -
Karl Marx publishes ''Das Kapital''
Das Kapital is a foundational theoretical text in materialist philosophy, economics and politics published by Karl Marx in 1867. Marx aimed to reveal the economic patterns underpinning the capitalist mode of production in contrast to classical political economists. -
Start of the monarchy of Amadeo I of Savoy
Amadeo I was chosen to take the throne, supported by progressives, unionists and democrats.
Meausures to help economic recovery and democratisation process.
- A few days before its arrival, his main supporter, General Prim, was assasinated
- Strong opposition:
Moderates
Some representatives of the Church loyals to the Bourbons.
Republicans.
- Second Carlist War (1872-76), Carlists declared Charles VII as king.
- War on the Island of Cuba (1869)
- In 1873, Amadeo I abdicated. -
Proclamation of the First Republic
The Cortes voted for a Republic.
Lower social classes were happy and republicans wanted social and economic reforms. Presidents: Figueras, Pi y Margall, Salmerón and Castelar.
- Division between unitary and federal republicans and between moderates and intransigents.
- Cuban insurrection.
- New Carlist War (1872-76)
- Social unrest and cantonalism
- Conspiration to restore the monarchy.
1874: Acoup led by General Pavía disolved the Cortes and made General Serrano head of state. -
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Reign of Alfonso XII
General Martínez Campos proclaimed Alfonso XII king of Spain. -
Second International
The Second International (1889–1916) was an organisation of socialist and labour parties, formed on 14 July 1889 at a Paris meeting in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second International continued the work of the dissolved First International, though excluding the powerful anarcho-syndicalist movement and trade unions.