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Period: 1500 to
Modern History
This refers to the history that follows after the Middle Ages. It goess from about 1500 to the present. It can be divided into periods:
- Early modern period (from around 1500 and 1815)
- Late modern period (from 1750–1815 to 1945)
- Contemporary history (from 1945 to the present). -
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Enclosure Acts
The Enclosure Acts were made and approved due to the rise in grain prices and to establish a new land ownership structure. This consisted in removing the open field system (subsistene farming done by peasants in common land and shared pastures) and replaced it with enclosed properties instead, which were privately owned. This had many consequences, some positive, for example the improvement in farming techniques and some negative, like poor farmers having to sell their land. -
John Kay's flying shuttle
This invention was very important to the textile industry because it increased the speed production and allowed wider fabrics to be made. -
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First industrial Revolution
The First Industrial Revolution was a series of parallel revolutions (technological, agricultural, demographic, transport, trade and financial) that were interconected. It all was driven by technological innovation. It started in Great Britain (mid 18th century). -
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First industrial revolution
This Revolution was triggered by interconnected changes (parallel revolutions) that were started by Great Britain. These were agricultural, demographic, transport, technologycal, trade and financial revolutions. -
James Watt’s steam engine
This machine burned coal, making water boil, which caused pressure , and people used it to generate continuous movement. This was transferred to machinery, it being used in spinning and weaving in the textile industrie, in agriculture, with treshing machines, in mines, to remove water, or in both acuatic transport (ships) and rail (Stephensons' steam locomotive). -
Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith, an economist father of Capitalism, publishes this famous book. On it, he descripted his oppinion on what builds nations' wealth. It tslks about topics such as the division of labour, productivity, and free markets. -
Invention of the power loom
The power loom was a mechanized loom, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early times of the Industrial Revolution. -
Estates-General meeting
The Estates-General were an assembly that represented the social states of France at the time: nobility, clergy, and Third state (peasants and the burgeoisie). It was an advisory body to the king. They had a meeting to try to solve the economical chrisis the monarchy was going through. The Third State wanted to vote by person and the nobility and clergy, by state, so the Third state was kicked out (accompanied by 2 nobles and 198 members of the church that decided to join them). -
Tennis Court Oath
The representants of the Third state were unhappy because the king (Louis XVI) closed the doors so they couldn't enter to the National Assembly meeting. They went to an empty room (the royal tennis court) and proclaimed themselves the National Assembly, which they thought represented the people better. They decided they were going to draft a new Constitution. -
Great Fear
The peasants started to burn the hauses of the nobles and killing them and their families. This soon spread all around France. These actions caused terror among the privileged people, thus the name of this event. It occoured during the summer. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
It was created and approved during the Constitutional Monarchy. Feudalism was abolished by approving it, because it had liberal ideas that were opposed to the social model of the Feudalism. -
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French Revolution
The French revolution occoured in France from 1789 to 1799. The causes of this were both long term (cultural, political, social and economical) and short term (certain events that led from one to another). It was influenced by the american Constitution and the Enlightenment.
It created worldwide known symbols, like this song which is a fragment from the musical "Les Miserables" where the citicens were advocating for their rights: https://youtu.be/1q82twrdr0U -
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Contemporary history
This period of time goes from the French Revolution (or the US Declaration of independence) to the present. This two events were so important that they marked the start of a new epoque. Thanks to them, a lot of things have changed in society, like for example the Declaration of Human Rights was made and Constitution is considered a fundamental law. -
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Constitutional Monarchy
It was the was the first phase of the Revolution. The National Constituent Assembly, formed by moderate bourgeoisie, negotiated with the king and privileged classes how to establish a parliamentary monarchy in France. -
Storming of the Bastille
The Bastille was a castle
used as a state prison by the kings of
France. There was where they kept the gunpowder and a lot of weapons, so the people of the Third Stante freed the (7) prisoners and took the resources to use them for the Revolution. -
Women's march on Versailles
From the markets of Paris, thousands of women marched to
Versailles. They were angry because of the high prices of food, specially bread. The women forced the king to abandon his palace and go to Tuileries Palace in Paris because they wanted him to be closer to the people. -
First French Constitution
It was the first written constitution in France, drafted by the National Assembly during the French revolution. It stated that all men were “born and remain free and equal in rights” and it promised to grant the right to “liberty, property, security and resistence to oppression”. It was created to replace the Absolute monarchy after the collapse of the ancient Régime. -
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Social Republic
Driven by: Radical bourgeoisie
Goals: Republican democratic liberal government
- Republic
- Democratic and equal society: universal male
suffrage, social laws -
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Girondin Convention
National Convention: new assembly elected by universal male suffrage. Execution of Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette.
There was a formation of an absolutist coalition in Europe to fight against revolutionaries, and counter-revolutionary revolts in the countryside, as well as royalist plots by the privileged classes. -
War of the First Coalition
The legislative Assembly declared war to Austria
and Prussia during the time of the constitutional monarchy. -
Storm of Tuileries Palace
The sans-culottes stormed Tuileries Palace and imprisoned the
royal family, declaring France as a republic, which would be ruled by Girondists (moderate bourgeoisie) from 1792 to 1793, and the Jacobins (most radical sector) from 1793 to 1794. -
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Jacobin Convention
They drafted the 1793 constitution: republican, popular sovereignty (universal male suffrage), social equality
Executive power rested on the Committee of Public Safety, leaded by Robespierre. Absolute monarchies were invaded with a mass levy to increase army forces. There were counter-revolutionary revolts and plots Imposition of the Reign of Terror, executions
under the Law of suspects.
Social laws to satisfy sans-culottes: Law of the Maximum, compulsory education.... -
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Reign of Terror
a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First French Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, anticlerical sentiment, and spurious accusations of treason by Maximilien Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety. It was justified by the Law of Suspects. -
Execution of Louis XVI
Louis XVI was executed (using the guillotine) because they acused him of high treason. It was a major event of the French Revolution, because by killing him, a state of violent, amoral chaos had started in France. This happened during the Girondin Convention. -
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Conservative Republic
It was the third and last phase of the French Revolution. It was driven by the moderate bourgeoisie, and its main goal was to achieve Moderate liberalism. -
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The Consulate
Napoleon was proclaimed consul. He ruled in an autocratic and authoritarian way. His objectives were: avoiding the political instability of the Revolution, the consolidation of some of the
revolutionary principles, and an economic recovery through a
government that represented the interests of the bourgeoisie. -
Coup of 18th Brumaire
Napoleon Bonaparte organised
a coup, which was supported by a large part of the
bourgeoisie. This was a very important event, because he started and authoritarian rule, therefore the French Revolution was over. -
Constitution of 1800
This constitution was made during Napoleon's Consulate. Its main goal was to abolish the separation of powers and declaration of rights. The people had very limited liberties and public opinion was censured.States were now organized in departments and run by prefects chosen by Napoleon. -
Napoleon crowned emperor
Napoleon was crowned emperor by the Pope, but when he was putting the crown on the emperor, Napoleon took it and put it himself. This symbolically showed that he would not allow Rome to control him or submit to any power other than himself. This was a show of strength to reassure his allies and to avoid any potential uprisingsof the citicens because he had proclaimed himself the highest authority in France. -
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Napoleonic Empire
Napoleon was crowned emperor
by the Pope in 1804and began his conquest of Europe, defeating most of the European monarchies, thanks to his new meilitary tactics and large army. At the Napoleonic empire's zenith (1811), he ruled from Spain to Germany. -
Treaty of Fontainebleau
The Treaty of Fontainebleau allowed French troops to pass trough Spain to invade Portugal (because Portugal was ally of the British) -
Invasion of Spain+ Joseph Bonaparte crowned king
Napoleon made his brother Joseph the king of Spain. There, he was extremely unpopular, and his arrival made a Spanish revolt spark against the french ruler. -
Abdications of Bayonne
Napoleon persuaded the Bourbons to give the Spanish crown to his brother Joseph: Ferdinand VII abdicated on his father, Charles IV, he abdicated on Napoleon and he gave the crown to his brother. -
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War of Independence (Spain)
Patriots didn't recognize Joseph I as their king because he was french, so they developed their own administrations and drafted the first Spanish Constitution, La Pepa, in 1812 -
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Luddite movement
The Luddites were the first workers to protest in England, in the early C.19th. They protested by violently destroying machinery, which they said was responsible for low wages and unemployment. -
1812 Spanish Constitution
Patriots drafted the first Spanish Constitution (La Pepa) in absence of their jing (they rejected Joseph Bonaparte). -
Treaty of Valençay
Ferdinand VII signed the Treaty of Valençay became king again and the French troops withdrew from Spain. -
Manifiesto de los Persas
Ferdinand VII re-established an absolutist monarchy in Spain with the support of absolutists, who signed the Manifiesto de los Persas. In it they aked the king to return to the system of the Ancién Régime and the dissaprove of the legislation created by the Cádiz Cortes in 1812. The name came from a line in which it refers to a persian tradition of having five days of anarchy after the death of a king. They identified this five days with the liberal period while he was in France. -
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Reign of Ferdinand VII
The Reign of Ferdinand VII had three phases: Six years of Absolutism (1814-20), the Liberal Triennium (1814-20), and the Ominous Decade (1823-33) -
Battle of Waterloo
France's imperial armies lost the battle of Waterloo (1815) to
Great Britain and Prussia: Napoleon was finally defeated. -
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Restoration of Absolutism
The Restoration was a movement that strived to go back to having absolute monachies ruling Europe. Its main goals besides from this one were:
- Denial of national sovereignty
- Balance of power
- Right of intervention
The countries who participated on it were Russia, Prussia, Austria and Great Britain. It ended because it was too late for going back, the people had strong nationalist feelings and wanted freedom, so they revolted. -
Pronunciamiento of Colonel Rafael del Diego
One of the pronunciamientos of 1812 was led by
Colonel Rafael del Diego in Sevilla. It was successful: the king was forced to reinstate the Constitution of 1812. -
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Greek War of Independence
Greece was a part of the Ottoman Empire for
centuries, but they had to pay high taxes, they were excluded from state administration jobs, and they were dominated by people with different religion and culture than theirs.
In 1822, the greeks declared independence (not recognized by the Turks). Later, in 1827, they won thanks to French and British military intervention help. In 1830 the Ottomans finally recognized Greece's independence. -
Holy Alliance intervention: Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis
Ferdinand VII appealed to the Holy Alliance to sent troops to
defend the absolutism in Spain. In 1823 the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis, commanded by Duke of Angoulême, restored absolutism in Spain. -
Abolishment of the Combination Acts
These laws first prohibitedn and then restricted the workers' rights to form trade unions and to strike. In Engalnd in 1824, the people achieved the abolishment of these laws that were oppresing them. -
Stephenson’s Steam locomotive
This invention was part of the transport revolution, and it was so remarcable because it could transport more passengers and goods in less time and with a lower cost. It worked by constantly burning coal, using the steam engine (invented in 1669 by James Watt). Thanks to inventions like this one, trade developed a lot and a large domestic market was made and there was faster transatlantic crossing. -
Revolutions of 1830
Insurrections spread all over Europe, with a significant popular support and a revolutionary wave took place. Some of the relolutions were succesful, like in France, whose absolutist monarch (Charles X) was replaced by a constitutional one and some were unsuccesful, like in Poland, were a revolt broke out against the autocratic Russian rule but was harshly suppressed and went back to absolutism. -
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The Belgian Revolution
The Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed by the Kingdom of Holland, that were protestants and absolutists, and Belgium, who werw catholics and liberals. Belgium wanted to be its own coutry. There was an armed conflict from 1830 to 1839 after Belgium’s declaration of independence. Later, in 1839: Recognition of
independence. Belgium was a liberal monarchy ruled by Leopold I. -
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The Age of the Revolutions
The Congress of Vienna did not respect the
liberal principles or the nationalist aspirations of
some European peoples. Insurrections
spread all over Europe, with a significant popular support. The two main waves were the one of 1830 and the one of 1848. -
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Reign of Isabella II
Isabella II, daughter of Ferdinand VII and Maria Christina, started to reign at the age of 3, in 1833, when her father died (but her mother was the regent). She actually started ruling at the age of 13, when she was declared of age. During her reign, she always tried to favour the moderate liberals, since they werer the people she was raised by. She was forced into exile after the battle of Alcolea. -
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First Carlist war
The absolutists supported Carlos, Fernando's younger brother, so Isabella had to please liberals although she didn't agree with them and she started a constitutional monarchy. Carlists didn't like this and they started a war. It began in the Basque Country, leaded by a commander named Zumalacárregui. He was defetated by General Espartero's Liberal army. Peace was signed at the Convention of Vergara, in 1839. -
Zollverein
In 1834, Prussia created a customs union named Zollverein. It made it free to trade between the borders of the Germanic Confederation, but not with and Austria. -
Grand National Consolidated Trades Union
The Grand National Consolidated Trades Union brought together different types of workers to try and make their lifes better, giving them some essential rights. The wanted to defend the right of association, to improve wages and to regulate child labour. -
1837 Constitution
It was a liberal constitution made during Maria Christina's regency. It stablished that the sovereignty was national, with census suffrage. There was a Separation of powers and the governments was structured in two chambers: the Congress of Deputies and the Senate. In comparison to how people used to live, this constitution granted many rights and individual liberties. -
1845 Constitution
As it was made when the Moderate liberals were in power, with Narváez, the constitution was moderate, so, more restrictive of people's freedom than the last one. It highly restricted suffrage and civil liberties. Sovereignty was shared between the Cortes and the Crown. The State and municipal administration suffered a reorganization. Only the Basque Country and Navarre maintained their foros. -
Revolutions of 1848
Another revolutionary wave, The Spring of Nations, took place. The people lived under the rule of an empire (Austrian, Russian and Ottoman) or were fragmented into various states (Germany and Italy), but they had strong nationalist feelings and they freed themselves from the control of absolutist empires. -
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French Second Republic
In France, Charles X, who was an absolute monarch, was overthrown and substituted by the constitutional monarch Louis Philippe I, also known as the “Citizen King”. -
invention of the Bessemer converter
The textile and iron industries were the dominant forces of industrialisation. In the iron industry, they started to use coke instead of coal because it was cheaper and more effective. The Bessemer converter was used to melt iron that was put into molds and made into inots. That material was later used for construction, for example. -
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Italian Unification process
In 1859, the Kingdom of Piedmont, which was ruled by the liberal
monarchy of Savoy with Cavour as Prime Minister,
started the unification.
They declared the war on Austria and annexed Lombardy
Popular uprising lead 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, in 1870, The Papal states were
annexed and Rome became the capital. -
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German Unification process
Germany was divided into 36 states, where Prussia and Austria were competing for power.
In 1834, Prussia created Zollverein. In 1848, the 1st freely elected parliament offered the crown of Germany to the king of Prussia, but he refused it. Later, in 1861, new political figures appeared in Prussia: King Wilhelm I and Otto von Bismarck as chancellor. They declared wars on Denmark, Austria and France. 1871- Proclamation of the Second German
Empire. -
First international
Both marxists and anarchists were advocating for the need for workers of the world to unite so they could achieve social emancipation. They created the First International of International Workingmen’s Association, at the initiative of Marx in 1864. The ideological differences between Marxists, anarchists and
trade unions couldn't make it work and it split twelve years after. -
Karl Marx publishes Das Kapital
Both the communists, like Karl Mark, father of this ideology, (who wrote this Das Kapital) and anarchists said there was a need for a revolution to end capitalism and build a new egalitarian society. The book talks about economics and politics. He aimed to reveal the economic patterns underpinning the capitalist mode of production. -
Start of the monarchy of Amadeo I of Savoy
The people voted and Amadeo I was elected as the new spanish king. Just when he was going to arrive, they assasinated Prim, his main supporter. At this time, a lot of problems were happening, Spain was bankrupt, a carlist war was going on and Cuba wanted to independice. For these reasons, Amadeo decided to leave and stop ruling the country. -
Proclamation of the first spanish republic
Amadeo of Savoy abdicated and the Cortes voted to form a republic. However, most of the deputies were monarchist, but they agreed because they had no other choice for a king and because they wanted to prove that a republic wouldn't work. Lower social classes were happy with the result and the republicans prepared a programme of social and economic reforms. -
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Reign of Alfonso XII
Alfonso XII, Isabella's son, started governing on 1874, after the first republic, initiating the bourbon restoration. -
Second International
In 1889, the Second International was founded by the Marxists to
coordinate the various socialist parties.It established symbols of the labour movement: an anthem “The Internationale” and International Workers’ Day, which we still celebrate to this day (it had a big social impact).
Worker's Day is celebrated on the 1st of May
This is the athem: https://youtu.be/PPExpmtdMEw -
Congress of Vienna+ Holly Alliance Treaty
The Congress of Vienna was a meeting that occoured at the end of the Napoleonic Empire, where Austria, Prussia Russia, Great Britain ( the winners) and France (the losers) met. Their main goals were to stop the spread of liberal ideas and Restore absolutism. One fo the consecuences of it, along the change of borders of Europe wa the Holly Alliance Trinity (Russia, Prussia and Austria). They stated that their absolute monarchs would unite against any threat of liberal revolution.
