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The Congress of Vienna
With peace restored to Europe, the coalition powers began the process of rebuilding the pre-war environment. Over the course of several years, monarchies would be restored to much of western Europe. Alliances were formed and there was a general agreement that a European war should not be fought again. The Concert of Europe was created to settle conflicts and would last a century. -
Napoleon exiled to St. Helena
After his defeat in Europe, the coalition decided to exile Napoleon to the remote island of St. Helena where he would stay until his death. This marked the end of the Napoleonic era in Europe as it began the transition to a more peaceful time. -
The Peterloo massacre
In 1819, the people of Britain started to want greater political rights. The parliament of the time was firmly against this and punished any protesters. The largest of these protests occurred in Manchester and was made up of 60,000 people. Soldiers were sent in to stop the protesters and many were killed. The protests would only continue to grow and parliament would slowly start to reform. -
Cult of Domesticity
As women slowly started to fight for greater rights, a philosophy known as the cult of domesticity was born. This philosophy believed in traditional gender roles that encouraged women to stay home. It would remain prevalent for over a century -
Greek War of Independence
The Ottoman empire had slowly begun to melt away in the 19th century and many groups within it decided to break free. The Greeks fought a decade long war against the Ottomans and with the help of other European powers, created their own Greek state. -
Trade unions legalized for the first time
Workers who were tired of miserable conditions started to form unions to fight for more rights. While they were initially repressed, unions were legalized in Britain by 1824. This would lead to massive strikes across Britain and the formation of national trade unions. -
The French revolution of 1830
After the Napoleonic wars, the Bourbon monarchy was restored to power in France. King Charles X failed to win the hearts of the people and his absolutist tendencies led to another revolution in 1830. They replaced Charles with Louis-Philippe. -
The Reform Bill of 1832
After massive protests across England, parliament decided it was time to grant more people voting rights. The Reform Bill of 1832 was the first of many bills to dramatically increase the number of eligible voters in England. It was the first step on the road to universal male suffrage. -
Creation of Zollverein
The Zollverein was a trade agreement that tied most of the German states together. It helped to eliminate the costly tariffs between the German states and encouraged the construction of infrastructure that spanned multiple German states. This brought the German states closer together. -
The Chartist movement
Workers and the poor were beginning to work together in Britain through unions and general strikes. They had secured some basic things such as minimum wage and maximum work hours, but still held little to no power in government. Chartists were a group who wanted universal male suffrage and aimed to get it through mass demonstrations. Though they had a turn out in the millions, Chartism failed to sway parliament and male suffrage would take a few more decades to come. -
Queen Victoria
Coming to power in 1837, Queen Victoria would rule 63 years and preside over the an age of massive British expansion. She would live to see the British empire at its peak and her rule would be described as the Victorian era. -
The Irish Potato Famine
Starting in America, a potato blight spread across the world resulting in massive crop failures. Ireland was a country dependent on potatoes and the blight led to a famine which would last for years. Millions would emigrate or die because of the food shortage and Britain's reluctance to help would sour relations between the two states. -
The Communist Manifesto
With the division between the poor and the rich growing after the industrial revolution, an ideology named communism grew in popularity. Communism was the idea that the working class could rise up and create a society run by workers where everyone is equal. The communist manifesto would become the foundation of communist ideology. -
The French Revolution of 1848
King Louis-Philippe had failed to improve France's economy and its people's well being and was overthrown in 1848. Tired of monarchies, the French people set up the Second French Republic. This would set off the spring of revolutions which would spread across Europe and lead to major liberal reform. -
The Great Exhibition of 1851
To display the many new innovations of the industrial revolution, Queen Victoria and her husband organized the Great Exhibition of 1851. This museum contained thousands of inventions from around the world and millions traveled to see them. It was a clear display of British power. -
Napoleon III Becomes Emperor
The Second French Republic floundered in the middle 19th century and Napoleon III rose to prominence in the French government. He became very popular thanks to his relation to the first Napoleon who was still greatly revered by the people. Using his popularity, he followed in the footsteps of his uncle and couped the government. He crowned himself emperor of France. -
The Crimean War
The Ottoman empire would spend the 19th century in decline. They were unable to fight the industrial powers of Europe and their empire was slowly divided up between the great powers. France and Britain were worried that the Russians were taking too much territory and hoped to stop them at Crimea. The Russians refused to stop and what followed was a short but deadly conflict that saw the deaths of 600,000 people. -
The Gatling gun
Weaponry in the 19th century consisted of mainly muskets and early rifles which were difficult to reload and prone to failure. The Gatling gun was created by Richard Gatling who observed the American Civil War. It was the first machine gun, capable of firing much faster then a regular musket. The Gatling gun would evolve into the deadliest weapon and other machine guns would become commonplace during the world wars. -
The Emancipation Reform of 1861
Realizing that they were decades behind the rest of Europe, Alexander II decided to abolish the archaic practice of serfdom in Russia. While they were no longer forced to farm or work for their lords, the new peasantry still lived in impoverished conditions. Many of them would be forced into factories and work in poor conditions. -
Franco-Prussian war
The Franco Prussian war was a brief but bloody conflict between the French and Germans. The French army was woefully unprepared for the war and France would lose. This led to a massive amount of land in Eastern France going to Germany and the unification of the German states. It led to the collapse of the French government and the rise of the Third French Republic. -
Triple Alliance Formed
The new German state was the most powerful in Europe, but its sudden formation had tarnished relations with France and Britain. Worried that foreign intervention could lead to the end of their empire, the Germans formed an alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy. Italy would leave but Austria-Hungary would stay in the alliance until the first world war. -
Airplane invented
In 1903 the Wright brothers flew the first powered flight. The first airplane was basically a glider with a tiny propeller attached. As time went on the basic craft evolved into being able to travel vast distances and become a powerful weapon. It would see widespread use during the world wars. -
Russian Revolution of 1905
After the disaster that was the Russo-Japanese war, workers decided to march on the winter palace to deliver a petition to the Tsar. They were fired upon by Russia soldiers in what became known as Bloody Sunday. A massive string of protests spread across Russia and were met with violence. The Tsar managed to maintain control but this revolution was only the first to come. -
World War 1
The Triple alliance's aggression against Serbia after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand led to a series of events which left almost all of Europe at war. This war was the first modern war and saw the deaths of millions. It would last four years and the war devastated Europe. The economic damage the war did would lead to the rise of radical ideologies such as communism and fascism. -
The October Revolution
Tired of the provisional government's failure to win the war in Europe, the growing communist party staged a revolution and established a communist state. The country had a civil war between the two governments which led to millions of deaths. The communists would win. -
The Treaty of Versailles
After four years of brutal war, the Central powers capitulated to the Entente. The Treaty of Versailles was harsh on the Central powers. It completely dismantled the Ottoman empire and the Austro-Hungarian empire. Germany lost large amounts of territory and had to pay a massive amount of money as reparations. This would inhibit economic growth in Europe. -
The Irish War of Independence
After centuries of cruel oppression, the Irish banded together and rose up to free themselves from the British. Seeing Irish independence as an inevitability, the British didn't fight much and facilitated the transition of Ireland into a dominion. -
The League of Nations
The first World War had destroyed much of Europe and left millions dead. Hoping to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again, the nations of Europe came together to form the League of Nations. The hope was that the league would mediate on major issues and prevent another world war. It was a weak advisory body and failed at its purpose. -
Mussolini
Mussolini was one of the main founders of Fascism and believed it was the cure to Italy's many problems. In 1922 he led a massive force of like minded Italians to Rome and forced the government to appoint him as prime minister. He dismantled the democratic and created Europe's first fascist dictatorship. Mussolini's coup would inspire others to overthrow their government across Europe. -
Stalin
Stalin succeeded Lenin in 1922 and became head of the communist party. Stalin had manipulated his former position of secretary to give himself power at every level of government. By the time he became the leader of the party, no one could stop him. He would brutally suppress human rights and create a cult of personality around himself. -
Mein Kampf
Hitler was a rising figure in German politics during the late 1920s. One of his most famous works was Mein Kampf. In this book, he laid out in detail his plan to deceive the German people, blame the Jews, and take complete control of Germany. It served as a warning for things to come. -
The Great Depression
After surprising economic growth in the 1920s, the world fell into the the worst period of economic stagnation it had ever seen. High international tariffs, bank failures, and other factors led to mass unemployment worldwide. These economic failures would lead to the rise of radical ideologies in Europe. -
Hitler
Having become massively popular in Germany, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany and began the transition to a Fascist totalitarian state. He would radicalize the German people and begin a campaign to restrict the rights of Jews and other minorities. He would rule Germany for over a decade, cause the holocaust, and start the second world war. -
World War 2
After years of preparation, Germany was ready to enact its vengeance on the allies and the Jews for the first world war. In a long a deadly conflict, tens of millions across the world would die from Europe to Africa to Asia. This war would dwarf all other wars in terms of casualties and would leave Europe in ruins. The catastrophic death toll and economic damage would lead to the end of European imperialism and the rise of two superpowers. -
The Tripartite Pact
As the war in Europe raged on, Japan decided to align itself with the Axis powers because of their shared fascist ideology. The Tripartite pact was intended to serve as a deterrent against the US joining the war. It also guaranteed support for Japanese conquests in Asia where there were large amounts of European owned territory. -
The Manhattan Project
Of all the things to come out of World War 2, the Manhattan project would produce the worst of them all. After three years of effort, America developed the world's first atomic bomb. Two of these bombs were dropped on Japan and played a major role in ending the war. These weapons were capable of causing massive destruction and warfare would change dramatically so that they would never have to be used again. -
The Paris Peace Treaty
After 6 years of war, the Allies successfully defeated the Axis powers. The French, Americans, British, and Soviets were the dominant powers in Europe. The Victorious nations decided to split Europe between them with the Soviets taking territories East of Germany and the Allies freeing territories West of Germany. The Soviet Union would have direct control over countries to the East and soon began a conflict with the U.S to hold onto its new power. This was known as the Cold War. -
The Berlin Blockade
In an attempt to remove the western powers from Berlin, the Soviet Union cut off all access to the city by road and train. The western powers responded to this by flying supplies into Berlin in what became known as the Berlin airlift. The Soviet's would eventually lift the blockade. This was the first direct conflict between the new superpowers and it would mark the beginning of the cold war. -
Soviet Union Develops Its Own Atomic Bomb
Shortly after World War 2, the Soviet Union created its own atomic bomb. This was done to take away America's nuclear monopoly and give the Soviets the ability to counter American aggression. This now meant that the two strongest nations in the world who were also rivals now had atomic bombs. This meant that if a war broke out, it would mean the end of the world. -
The Korean War
After the withdrawal of the Japanese after World War 2, Korea was left divided between a communist and democratic regime. In 1950 this division erupted into a full blown civil war. American troops would move in to help South Korea while the Chinese would help the North Koreans. The war would end in stalemate and the country is still divided today. -
Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union had successfully created a group of communist states in the East by 1955. With the west uniting against them through NATO, the Soviet Union decided to create the Warsaw pact to formally tie all the communists in Europe together in an alliance. The Warsaw pact allowed the Soviet Union to freely move its army in Eastern Europe and crush any democratic rebellions. -
The Vietnam War
The Vietnam war was a brutal conflict between the communists and anti-communists in Vietnam. The Americans would send large amounts of soldiers to help the anti-communists while China would support the communists. The war led to millions of civilian deaths and became a symbol of the Cold War. -
The Hungarian Revolution
The communist governments in the east were mostly unsuccessful and only survived through terror. Some governments such as Hungary would attempt mild reform in order to improve the lives of the people, but if the reforms went to far, the Soviets would shut it down. In 1956, the people of Hungary attempted to revolt against the harsh government but were brutally repressed by Soviet troops. -
Launch of Sputnik
In order to gain an edge over the U.S, the Soviet Union launched the world's first satellite into orbit. This satellite called Sputnik would shock the U.S and create a fear that the Soviet Union would get ahead in space technology. This started the space race which would culminate with the moon landings. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
After a brief revolution in Cuba which turned the country communist, the U.S expressed a desire to invade the country and even attempted to arm rebels in the failed bay of pigs landing. The Soviets decided to defend Cuba and sent large amounts of Soviet troops and nuclear weapons. This led to a tense confrontation as the world prepared for a nuclear war. The situation was eventually defused by the Americans withdrawing from Turkey. -
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties
The Cold War had drained much of both superpower's resources and there was a desire to reduce the amount of military spending on both sides. This led to the signing of SALT I and SALT II. These treaties limited certain amounts of weapons and eliminated large amounts of nuclear weaponry. -
Soviet Afghan War
The Soviets saw Afghanistan as a way south into Asia and the Middle East. They launched a massive invasion into the country but soon became bogged down by insurgents. Muslims from across the Middle East were called to fight and millions would die during the war. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
Years of decline and a complete failure to match the west's power left the Soviet Union and its many satellite states on the brink of collapse. Across eastern Europe, uprisings became increasingly common and the Soviets no longer wielded the power to stop them. In 1989, after a bit of a chaotic announcement, Germans on both sides of the Berlin Wall came together and began to tear it down. By complete accident, the East German government had lifted the travel restrictions. -
End of Soviet Union
Despite its best efforts, the Soviet Union could no longer stand up to the democratic powers of the west. Its satellite states in Europe had mostly broken free and their economy was in ruins. Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union, tried to move the country towards a democracy and found that most people were against the existence of the Soviet Union. In 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved into several countries. This marked the end of the Cold War. -
Formation of The European Union
The Cold War was over and Europe was no longer divided down the middle. In an attempt to boost their economies, western European nations created several trade agreements that eliminated tariffs. This soon evolved into the European Union which has a single currency and allows free movement between its member nations.