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Period: to
Political Change in European History 1648-1948
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The End of the Thirty Years’ War and the Peace of Westphalia
The Treaty of Münster, part of the Peace of Wesphalia, is a peace treaty signed on 24 October 1648 in Münster between France, the Holy Roman Empire and their allies. Its signing was part of the the first huge diplomatic congress which ended the war and settled disputes through a political reorganisation of Europe: A new order upheld by a balance of power system that would deter bigger states from getting involved in the wars of smaller ones, limiting future conflicts. -
Revolutionary and Napoleonic France (1789-1815)
The Napoleon Code of 1804 was a Revolutionary civil code made in France under the direction of Napoleon to create a harmonised and universal system of laws that touched most aspects of civil life. Significantly, it was introduced in many areas outside of France and had an influence on states after the Napoleonic Wars. As a novel republican civil code, it is noteworthy for its progressive ideals. Thus, it is anti-feudal in nature since it followed Revolutionary political beliefs. -
The Industrial Revolution - Rise of the Political Demands of the Lower Classes (1820-1871)
The Northern Star is an English Chartist newspaper founded in Yorkshire in 1837 by Feargus O'Connor. It represented the working class and British radicals. It was used as a sginificant mouthpiece in the Chartist fight for workers' political rights and reforms and could be seen as physical proof of the surge of lower class mass politics and mobilisation during the early industrialisation period in Europe. -
World War I, its Aftermath and European Politics (1918-1929)
American President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points is the epitome of a politician creating a political solution to end WWI. His plan for post-war Europe was to redraw the political map of Europe based largely (of course, not for the Allies) on self-determination, a novel concept never fully applied before which would create new nation-states such as Czechslovakia and Poland while dismantling the whole of Austria-Hungary and parts of the German Empire (Alscace-Lorraine). -
Economic Hardship, Versailles and the Rise of Totalitarianism in Germany (1920-1933)
The Twenty-five Point Program of the NSDAP (1920) was a founding document created by NSDAP Party (Nazis) to promote their agenda in post-WWI Weimar Germany. It is significant since early on it could be seen that they more than just reject the Versailles Treaty, but make further demands. Additionally, they are the future party that would make Germany totalitarian. As a result, it demonstrates the hostility of many Germans to the new political order, feelings that later benefitted totalitarianism. -
World War II, its Aftermath and Consequences in Politics (1945-1948)
The founding Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 June 1945 in San Francisco and created an organisation which exists to this very day. It is important since it was destined to ensure global peace after the chaos of WW2. Additionally, it represents globalisation since, unlike Westphalia, Versailles or the Congress of Vienna, it was not merely European-centric; the rest of the world was now important in global politics. Europe was now weakened at the expense of the USA and the world.
