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The Seven Year's War
Often regarded as a series of smaller wars, the Seven Year's War was fought across the world The war included nations such as Prussia, Great Britain and others, which were fighting against France, Spain, Russia, Austria and others. Great Britain fought The Mughal Empire in India and the French/Iroquois Confederacy in North America. In Europe Prussia fought the major powers on mainland Europe. -
American Declaration of Independance
The Declaration of Independance came about following growing resentment of the British Crown and the various penalisations enforced upon the Americans as subjects of the Sovereign state of Great Britain and that they were colonists of said Sovereign state. The words still echo today. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." -
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Simon Bolivar
Simon Bolivar is regarded as one of the most influential politicians in the history of the Americas and the liberator of Latin America from the Spanish Empire. Simon Bolivar led many South American nations including Peru, Colombia and Venezuela against the Spanish Loyalists, who were defeated by the Revolutionaries. Simon Bolivar went on to become the dictatorial president of Gran Colombia where he proved himself a capable administrator and became one of history's "enlightened dictator" -
The Metric System
The Metric System is a series of measuring systems that were introduced in France as early as 1799. It was expanded greatly under Napoleon and soon the inherent efficiency increases mean that nations that remained using the "Imperial" system soon found they were at a disadvantage in terms of economy and trade. Only nations that a large economy could be competitive with the metric system, but these economies were unable to reach their full potential. -
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The Napoleonic Era (First French Empire)
The First French Empire was born out of the Revolutionary Republic which already had a history of military success, however the Republic faltered in delivering the social changes that were necessary to securing France's stability. Napoleon led France into a position of unrivalled dominance; France prospered and crushed coalition after coalition of European nations that tried to destroy it. Battered and Spent, The First French Empire was finally beaten by the Sixth Coalition -
Darwin's Theory on Evolution
The philosophy of evolution had it origins decades before the term was expanded by Charles Darwin, though it wasn't until the latter that the theory of "Darwinism" was mechanised and spread out amongst the learned classes of the world. Darwinism met its most resistance from the Christian factions of Europe who counter the Darwinist movement by criminalising many facets of its existence. It is because of this, many speculate, that Darwinism has become synonymous with atheism. -
The Communist Manifesto
The Communist Manifesto was written by political theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Today it stands as one of the most influential texts of all time. It talks on the shortcomings and potential dangers of capitalism and the struggle for class equality. It also briefly impart their thoughts on the future, they think the world will evolve from capitalism to socialism and then on to communism. -
Invention of the minie ball bullet
The minie ball was invented in by French army officers. It primary uses were to increase accuracy and muzzle velocity, to decrease reload time and to reduce cleaning required for the barrel. All this meant the rifle became a much more efficient weapon of war as was shown in the rapid increase of casualties from actual fighting. The minie ball was one of the more well-known and more widely used bullets, seeing use in both the American Civil War and the Crimean War. -
The Discovery of Japan
After The Sengoku Jidai, the war that unified Japan under the rule of the Shogun, peace reigned for hundreds of years. Japan was ruled in theory by the Emperor in Kyoto, however true power laid with the Tokugawa Shogunate. Japan prospered under the shogun's rule and the people were content. In 1853 the arrival of American warships in Kyoto changed everything; The Shogun signed the treaty of peace and amity opening Japan’s markets to the West, which the West promptly cornered. -
The Crimean War
The Crimean War has its origins in Russian desire for territory in the weakening Ottoman Empire. France asked the Sultan to recognise the Roman Catholic Church as sovereign of the Christian populations of the Ottoman Empire, countering this; Russia sent a similar demand to the Turks, who agreed to Russia's request. From then on the tensions increased and nations such as Austria and Great Britain began getting involved. The war pitted Britain, France, and the Turks against Russia, who was beaten. -
American Civil War
Hostilities opened with shots being fired on the Union fort Sumter. The Confederate States of America mobilised 900.000 men and the Union some 2,100,000 men, by the war's end more than 600,000 men had died. The South wasn't outfought, but outlasted and bankrupted when the European support the South assumed would materialise didn't and the superior industrial capabilities of the Union began to show. The war brought years of tension to a head and showed the Union's strength to the world. -
The Boshin War
In 1858 the Emperor of Japan issued a decree that all foreigners be expelled from Japanese soil and also issued a decree abolsihing the house of Tokugawa. In response to this, the Shogun took military action in an attempt to seize the Emperor's court. The Imperial forces defeated the Shogunate forces in a series of battles that led to the Shogun himself surrendering to the Emperor. In all, 120,000 soldiers were mobilised (1/4 were Imperial) and upwards of 3000 died. -
Franco-Prussian War
The War between France and Prussia has its origins in the Austro-Prussian war of 1856, in which Prussia annexed many states in the south of Germany. Otto Von Bismark knew that the French didn't want a powerful state on its border and through political manipulations made France declare war against Prussia. The French had a modern, large army, but they were still inferior to the Prussians, The Second French Empire was defeated, Germany and the Third Republic were formed out of the war. -
The End of The East India Company
The East India Company represented the capitalist government of Great Britain to a tee and it prospered as both a company and a governmental authority. The Company can draw its success from the monopoly it had been granted by the British Crown that it had direct control on the goods that left India and eventually India itself. Met Its end in 1874 following an act passed by the British government, a year prior, that nationalised all the property and armies of the Company for the Indian governmen -
Spanish-American War
The Spanish-American War came about as a result of the sinking of the US battleship ‘Maine’ under mysterious circumstances and the exaggerated presentation by the American press to the United States people. it was fought in Cuba mainly between Spanish colonial troops and Cuban revolutionaries and American soldiers. Spain lost the provinces of Guam, Cuba, Puerto Rico and The Philippines. This defeat caused a large change on the world stage. Spain lost influence, America gained it. -
The Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese war came about because of the separate imperial ambitions of the Russian and Japanese Empires. The war is well remembered as the first time Europeans were beaten in a war against a people from Asia and decisively at that. The war caused a major shift in the balance of things; Asians, more specifically Japanese, were no longer seen as inferior in terms of strength. In Japan this sparked an era of militant nationalism that would continue until the end of the Second World War. -
The founding of The Republic of China
After two thousand years of imperial rule the Chinese people rebelled. The Qing Dynasty, which had suffered nearly a century of discontent and civil disorder, had settled into a period of societal regression. The rebels formed out of the "Wuchang Uprising" on the 10th of October, 1911. On January 1st 1912, The ROC's first President was inaugurated and declared itself a nation in the eyes of the world. Though the Republic stood on shaky ground for its existence, it was a rising power until 1937. -
Sinking of the Titanic
The Titanic was seen as the culmination of over a century of rapid development in the West. A ship that could overcome nature, though in the end it became a symbol of broken dreams and a reality check that you can never overcome nature. The social changes are more important than the fact that riveting was rarely used afterwards; some of the choices were that the accident served as a reality check in that we weren't as advanced as we believed and that we were very much at the mercy of nature. -
The Great War
The Great War began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Throne. The Empire than invaded Serbia, believing that they sponsored the assassins, bringing Russia into the war. In turn Austria, Germany, Bulgaria and The Turks formed the Central Powers and Russia, Serbia, Greece, Belgium, Italy, Britain, France, The US and others formed the Entente. The war resulted in the end of the Empire and the Ottomans and the loss of territory for Germany and Bulgaria. -
The October Revolution
Growing disenchantment with the Tzar and the ridiculous wealth of the Romanovs and Ruling classes culminated in the October Revolution. The Marxist Lenin and his Bolshevik forces overthrew Nicholas II. The war led to the death of Nicholas and all the Romanovs (Anastasia?) as well as the formation of The Soviet Union.
This heralded in a new age of socialist and fascist governments that took control of many nations around the world which would, in turn, lead to WWII.
