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Independence of the US
During the American War of Independence (1775), the US signed the Declaration of Independence (primarily written by Thomas Jefferson), in which they declared the US a republic. When the war ended (1783) Great Britain agreed with the US´ independence and it finally became an independent nation -
French Revolution
In France, there was a huge economic depression, which caused an uprising in the french society. The rebellion (based on the principles of liberal democracy), started in 1789 with the Storming of Bastille, and ended in 1799 with a military coup by Napoleon Bonaparte. -
Napoleon Empire
When the French Revolution ended, France lacked a king, so in 1804 Napoleon proclaimed himself the Emperor of France. His ideas were based on the principles of the French Revolution. He began trying to expand the French Empire across Europe, and quickly became the biggest empire in 1810, but in 1815, his final defeat came with the Battle of Waterloo. -
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The war of Independence
In Spain, revolts and wars started happening as a reaction to France trying to invade the country (Napoleonic forces). They managed to end those forces and finish the war. -
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Spanish-American Independence
There were numerous wars in Spanish America that wanted the independence of those countries. -
The Constitution of Cádiz
During the Spanish war of Independence, the Cortes of Cádiz reunited and promulgated the Spanish Constitution, which surprisingly expressed a lot of liberal ideas. -
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Ferdinand VII
In Spain, he tried to restore absolutism, which led to corruption, economic crisis and caused discontent in the country, so revolts, pronunciamientos and uprisings started happening and changing Spain into a liberal ideology -
Congress of Viena
In this congress (1815) they decided to:
Return the thrones to the monarchs who had been deposed.
The new divisions won´t take into account some nationalist regions.
Unify Europe´s powers in case there is a threat.
The congress formed two alliances: the Holy Alliance(Russia, Austria and Prussia), and the Quadruple Alliance (Russia, Austria, Prussia and the United Kingdom). -
1820 Revolution
In Spain, Rafael del Riego´s "pronunciamiento" in favor of the Constitution established a constitutional monarchy, which started a revolution. It quickly expanded to Portugal, Naples (Italy) and Greece, it led to Greek Independence. -
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The liberal Trillenium
The kingdom formed movements against the liberals as a reactionary movement, while liberals were introducing reformist policies, especially against the church. -
Monroe Doctrine
It was a message to the Congress from Monroe, an American president, who said that the United States will not longer accept European intervention. And later Americans used that phrase as a sign of freedom and to stop European countries. -
1830 Revolution
In France, King Charles X began to remove civil rights, and that led to his exile. Louise-Philippe d’Orléans took his place by agreeing to comply with the Charter of 1814.
In Belgium a revolution led to Independence. -
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Isabella II
The reign of Isabel II marked the end of Spain´s absolutist monarchy and established a constitutional monarchy -
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The Opium Wars
They were two wars in China between the British Empire and the Chinese Empire. China lost and had to give Hong Kong to the UK for 150 years and benefit trade to European powers -
1848 Revolution
In France, King Louis-Philippe abdicated after a revolt, and that led to the formation Second French Republic.
The revolution against absolutist monarchies turned into class struggle.
Napoleon Bonaparte became president, and he established the Second French Empire.
The revolution spreaded to other countries in Europe but failed. -
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American civil war
A conflict due to a disagreement between states because of slavery, some states voted the prohibition and others decided to keep exploiting slaves. -
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Meiji Restoration
It led to a quick modernization of Japan, the government became centralized around an emperor and the political system allowed more freedom and new opportunities. -
Italian Unification
Influenced by Mazzini’s ideas and the Resorgimiento.
In 1859 the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia annexed Lombardy after a military campaign.
Cavour, Parma, Modena and Tuscany were annexed by popular support.
In 1860 Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, and Venice anexed in 1866
The unification completed with Rome in 1870 and the integration of the Papal States.
Rome became the new capital and a constitutional monarchy was stablished, with Victor Emmanuel II as the king -
German Unification
The creation of a common economic area (Zollverein) led to unification.
Influenced by a conservative nationalism.
It began with Prussia’s 1864 defeat of Denmark and annexation of Schleswig and Holstein.
Prussia defeated Austria (1866) and the German Confederation got established.
In 1871 the Second Reich had been established and with the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War Germany annexed Alsace-Lorraine. -
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Bismarckian Alliances
International alliances made by Otto von Bismarck for isolating France and protecting Germany against a possible french revenge after their defeat in 1871 -
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The First Spanish Republic
It was proclaimed by the cortes after the Italian Amadeo I abdication. The Third Carlist war caused political instability.
The presidents were: Figueras, Pi y Margall, Salmerón and Castelar.
It ended with a military uprising which proclaimed Alfonso XII King of Spain. -
The First Bourbon Restoration
It caused the end of the First Spanish Republic, when General Martínez Campos proclaimed Alfonso XII King of Spain, restoring the Bourbon royal family. -
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Alfonso XII
The start of his reign marked the end of the First Republic, and when he died, the "Turno Pacífico" system was strengthened. -
Berlin Conference
It was an attempt to divide the colonies in Africa and ease tensions between the British and the French. -
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Alfonso XIII
His reign started when he was born, but recieved the crown with 16 years, in 1902. The reign finished with the Second Spanish Republic. -
Fashoda Incident
While Africa was being colonized by many European forces, France and Britain tropes accidentally meet while conquering Africa. France had to retire their tropes to not cause a colonial war. -
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Boer War
The finding of gold on Sudafrica led to a war between African Republics and the UK. -
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Moroccan Crisis
It was an international crisis over the colonial status of Morocco, and resulted in France and Spain gaining control
of the country. -
Bloody Sunday
It started as a peaceful protest led by Gueorgui Gapón, with the aim of presenting a petition to the Tsar (Nicolás II), but imperial guards started shooting the protesters, killing many of them. -
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The Balkan Wars
This was a series of two wars in the Balkan states. The first one was between the four Balkan states and the Ottoman Empire (who lost). The second one was between the four previous states and Bulgaria (Romania also attacked from the north). As a consequence, the Ottoman Empire lost a lot of territory in Europe -
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First World War
There was a war going on in Europe (and other military forces) between the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance -
The February Revolution
This was the first stage of the Russian Revolution. Revolts started in St Petesburg, and the tsar was forced to abdicate. Then, a liberal provisional government was installed. -
October Revolution
This was the second phase of the Russian Revolution. The Bolsheviks (led by Lenin) took power in Russia. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
This treaty marked Russia´s withdrawal from WW1, and gave the Baltic States (previously owned by Russia) to Germany -
Treaty of Versailles
It was a peace treaty signed by Germany and the Allied Powers, which ended World War I. -
League of Nations
This was an international organisation created by the Treaty of Versailles, used to mantain peace between countries. -
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Primo de Rivera´s dictatorship
In 1923, Primo de Rivera led a coup d´etat, the parliamentary government and the constitution were suspended, and Spain fell into a dictactorship. Primo de Rivera established the Patriotic Union as the official political party and banned the PCE, and he modernised some industries. -
Wall Street Crash
The Wall Street Crash happened when the US stock market collapsed, causing worldwide panic and bank failure. It led to the Great Depression. -
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Spanish Second Republic
This Republic was a substitute to Alfonso XIII´s monarchy. It was characterised by political instability, social reforms, and ideological divisions, which led to the Spanish Civil War -
1931 Constitution
This constitution was established after Primo de Rivera´s dictatorship, and it proclaimed Spain as a democratic republic. Some of the principles the Constitution included were: The establishment of universal suffrage, the separation of powers, the granting of extensive rights and freedoms, and Spain was declared a secular state. -
Asturias miner´s strike
In this strike, the miners were protesting for better conditions, but it turned into a violent conflict with government´s forces interventions against the miners. -
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Spanish Civil War
This war broke out because of the failed coup d´etat led by generals Sanjurjo, Mola and Franco. The two sides of the war were the Republicans and the Nationalists, this last one won, imposing Franco´s dictactorship in post-war Spain. -
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Second World War
The Second World War was a global conflict involving the Axis against the Allied powers. It resulted in a major loss of life and the rise of the United States. -
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Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was a plan created by Nazi Germany to conquer the Soviet Union territory with the aim of eliminating commnism and gaining territory. It was the largest military operation in history, but failed due to poor strategic planning. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) was a surprise military strike by Japan against the United States. This attack led the US to stop being a neutral country and joined the war as an Allied country. -
Atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
This bombings (Hiroshima on the 6 of August and Nagasaki on the 9) were carried out by the US, and marked the first and only use of nuclear weapons in a war. This caused a massive loss of life, destruction of the cities and long-term health effects because of the radiation, leading to Japan´s surrender and the end of the war. -
United Nations
The UN was founded in 1945, after the war ended. It was created with the goal of promoting international peace and to avoid possible future conflicts. This organization is still present today, fighting for the protection of human rights in the world. -
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a document created by the United Nations in Paris. This document defends that everyone deserves rights, without distinction of any kind.