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Hatian Revolution
Nearly 500,000 enslaved Africans worked on the French plantations. Their white masters kept them powerless.Toussaint's lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, took up the fight for freedom. In August 1791, 100,000 enslaved Africans rose in revolt against their masters. By 1801, Toussaint had taken control of the entire island and freed all slaves. General Dessalines declared the colony an independent country on January 1st ,1804. It was the first black country to free itself from European control. -
Mexican War of Independence
On September 16, 1810, Hidalgo rang the bells of his village church, and the peasants gathered. At that moment he issued a call for rebellion against the Spanish, This day is known today as "the cry of dolores." The next day, his indian army mestizo followers began marching toward Mexico City. His army consisted of 80,000 men. Agustine de Iturbride the man who defeated rebel Padre Morelos proclaimed independence in 1821. -
Latin American War (North)
Ecuador wanted independence from Spain. This war was fought from 1820 to 1822 between several South American armies and Spain. These armies were Guayaquil, Gran Colombia, Chile, Peru, and the United Provinces versus Spain. The two commanders on the South American side was Jose Joaquin de Olmedo and Antonio Jose de Sucre and the Spanish leader Melchor Aymerich. On May 24, 1822 Ecuador won its independence from Spain. -
Brazilian Independence
For 14 years, the Portugese ran their empire from Brazil. After Napoleon's defeat in 1815, King John and the Portugese government returned to Portugal. Dom Pedro which was King John's son stayed behind in Brazil. King John planned to make Brazil a colony again. However, the Brazilians could not accept. In 1822, creole declared independence from Portugal. 8,000 Brazilians signed a petition declaring Brazil to be ruled by Dom Pedro. On September 7 he officially declared Brazil's independence. -
Romanticism
Towards the end of the 18th century, the enlightenment ideas of reason gave way to another major movement in art and ideas.The movement of romanticism reflected deep interest both in nature and in the thoughts and feeling of the individual. In many ways, romantic thinkers and writers reacted against the ideals of the enlightenment. They turned from reason to emotion, from society to nature. There were many different ideals of Romanticism which made it different. -
Greek Revolution
Powerful European governments opposed revolution. However, the cause of Greek independence was popular with people around the worlds. The Russians felt a connection to Greek Orthodox Christians, who ruled by Muslim Ottomans. Eventually, as popular support for Greece grew, the powerful nations of Europe took side of the Greeks. In 1827, a combined British, French, and Russian fleet destroyed the Ottoman fleet at the battle of Navarino. 1830- Brit, France, and Russia signed independence treaty. -
Italian Unification
Nationalism destroyed many empires, however also built nations that we know of today. Italy is an example of country to form from the territory of crumbling empires. Between the years of 1815 and 1848, fewer and fewer Italians were content to live under foreign rules. In May 1860, a small army of Italian Nationalists led by a bold and visionary solider Giuseppe Garibaldi captured Sicily. In 1866, the Austrian Province of Venetian, which included the city of Venice became part of Italy. -
Latin American War (South)
Between 1865 and 1870 Uruguay allied with Brazil and Argentina in a war against Paraguay. In the war of the triple alliance (1865-1870) Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay fought Paraguay's attempts to establish its influence in Uruguay. Although the ones who allied won this war, both sides suffered heavy losses. Even after the war there were still bitter fights. -
German Unification
Otto von Bismarack pushed German unification through both blood and iron. Prussia controlled the German lands around the Rhine River in the west, and in between from Denmark to Switzerland, lay the small provinces that Bismark needed to incorporate under the Prussian crown to create a viable German Empire. In 1864, he constructed an alliance with Austria to fight Denmark over Denmark's southern provinces of Schielswing and Holstein.The German Empire was declared on January 21, 1871.
