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Thirty Years War
By the seventeenth century, the Holy Roman Empire had become a mix of several hundred small, separate states. The emperor had little power over the many princes of the states. This power vacuum led to a series of brutal wars that are together called the Thirty Years’ War, a widespread European war.
It is important because it changes the geopolitical face of Europe and the role of religion and nation-states in society. -
English Bill of Rights
Before they could be crowned, William and Mary had to accept several acts passed by Parliament in 1689 that became known as the English Bill of Rights. The English Bill of Rights was important because The Bill of Rights ensured the superiority of Parliament over the monarchy. It required the monarch to summon Parliament regularly and ensuring that the House of Commons kept control overspending. A king or queen could no longer interfere in parliamentary debates or suspend laws. -
War of the Austrian Succession
Maria Theresa was intelligent and capable, but no woman had yet ruled Hapsburg lands in her own name. Shortly after Charles's death in 1740, Frederick II of Prussia seized the rich Hapsburg province of Silesia. This action sparked the eight-year War of the Austrian Succession. The War of the Austrian Succession challenged Maria Theresa's right to rule the Holy Roman Empire. In 1745, French forces defeated British and Austrian troops at the Battle of Fontenoy, shown here. -
Stamp Act
Stamp Act of 1765 taxed items such as newspapers and pamphlets. Although the new taxes were not burdensome, colonists bitterly resented them as an attack on their rights. “No taxation without representation,” they protested. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act but asserted its right to tax the colonists. The Stamp Act is important because it was a tax that helps the British pay the French and Indian war and all American colonists had to pay taxes on every printed paper they used. -
American Revolution
The American Revolution was principally caused by colonial opposition to British attempts to impose greater control over the colonies and to make them repay the crown for its defense of them during the French and Indian War. The American Revolution was important because the colonies got their rights of freedom and the United States became an independent country. -
Treaty of Paris
In 1781, with the help of a French fleet, Washington forced the surrender of a British army at Yorktown, Virginia. With that defeat, the British war effort crumbled. American, British, and French diplomats signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the war. The Treaty of Paris is important because Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States of America. Britain also accepted the new nation's western frontier as the Mississippi River. -
French Revolution
The French Revolution was a period of time in France when the people overthrew the monarchy and took control of the government. The French Revolution is important because it spread the most amazing Enlightenment ideas across Europe which brought nationalism. -
Tennis Courth Oath
In June 1789, claiming to represent the people of France, they declared themselves to be the National Assembly. Fearing the king planned to dismiss them, the delegates moved to a nearby indoor tennis court and took their famous Tennis Court Oath. They swore, “never to separate and to meet wherever the circumstances might require until we have established a sound and just constitution.”Tennis Court Oath was important because it showed that authority came from nation people and not a monarchy. -
Storming of the Bastille
In June 1789, claiming to represent the people of France, members of the Third Estate declared themselves a National Assembly. The situation in France was so tense that more than 800 Parisians challenged the power of the king when they stormed the Bastille, a prison in Paris. More than 800 Parisians assembled outside the Bastille, a grim medieval fortress used as a prison for political and other prisoners. The Storming of Bastille is important because it was the start of the French Revolution. -
Reign of Terror
By early 1793, danger threatened France on all sides. The country was at war with much of Europe, including Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, and Prussia. In the Vendée (Vahn DAY) region of France, royalists and priests led peasants in rebellion against the government. Robespierre was one of the chief architects of the Reign of Terror, which lasted from September 1793 to July 1794. The Reign of Terror was important because it was France against enemies of the revolution to protect their country.
