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Athenian Democracy 700-350 BCE
Ancient Greeks had the first Democracy
507 BCE Athenian leader Cleisthens introduced a system of
political reforms he called “demokratia” or RULE BY
THE PEOPLE!
The System had three Branches:
Ekklesia: a sovereign body who wrote laws and dictated foreign policy
Boule: council of representatives from all ten of the
Athenian tribes
Dikasteria: the popular courts where citizens argued cases
before a group of lottery selected jurors -
Rome 509 BCE
Rome was declared a republic after the people
rebelled against the king and he was exiled.
Rome was never a democracy as we know it today
or even the ancient Greeks new it
In the early days all the power belonged to the upper class who ruled over the common people (the Plebs)
Plebes rebelled and won more rights including
there being a “written law”
Plebes helped create a new democratic institution. -
Magna Carta 1215
King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta.
Magna Carta outlined a number of provisions
where the power of the monarchy would be
restricted and the rights of the citizens
safeguarded.
The King Could not:
*Steal firewood from other lands
*Force widow to re-marry
*Force knights to pay money to excuse them from
guarding the castle
*Confiscate horses and/or carts
*Force villagers to build bridges over rivers. -
Parliament 1215-1600's
Comes from the word Parler (to speak)
British Parliament evolved slowly between
1215 when the magna carta was signed and
the early 1600s
A lot of the systems developed are still in use today. -
American Revolution 1775-1781
The American Revolution created the first true democracy Americans could vote and the
powers of the government were
restricted so that every branch had equal power. -
French Revolution 1789
Rooted in the spirit of Democracy, the people of France overthrew King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette who were promptly beheaded.
However, in the end those who
championed liberty ended up seeing themselves get corrupted and become the new villains and the new
Leaders used the guillotine to eliminate all
opposition
Power fell to the military dictator Napoleon who tried to use his new power to conquer Europe. -
Communism 1848-1917
The Beginning
1848 Karl Marx wrote the Communist
Manifesto outlining Communism
The Next Step:
1917 Vladamir Lenin was able to over
throw the Russian Tzar.
Although Lenin followed Marx’s teaching’s he adapts it to suit his own purposes
The Results
Through purges and starvation, the KGB and the Gulag, Stalin kills between 20-30 million Russians.
Stalin plummets the world into the Cold War which lasted until the early
90s -
Fascism January 30, 1933
The Beginning
After WWI, Benito Mussolini formed a
fascist government in Italy He used brute force and his newly formed Black Shirts to strike fear into the hearts of the people.
In the 1920s a young ex army corporal and former homeless Austrian named Adolf Hitler rallyed the people.
He spewed racial hatred against the Jews and Communists and promised to reverse the effects of the Treaty of Versaillesa and Germany gave him total power.
With total power Hitler waged WWII. -
Militarism 1930s
After a short period of democracy, Japan
moved into a nationalistic direction in the
1930s. Frustrated by what they felt was unfair
treatment by the West, Japan became a military state and very aggressive.
Emperor Hirohito of Japan led his country (and army) to war
and Tried to dominate the Pacific during WWII which lead to some very tragic consequences like the infamous "rape of nankang". -
Modern Democracies 1867-Present
Democracy continued to evolve as more and more
groups fought for equality
Slavery was abolished in Russia in 1867 and the USA
in 1865
Women got the federal vote in Canada in 1918
The first ½ of the 20th century saw the worst
depravation and human rights abuses in human
Many of the political laws used today started to be made and enacted into government. -
United Nations 1948-Present
The tragedies witnessed during WWII made the
world realize that if Human Rights were not
protected these atrocities would only continue.
During 1948 the United Nations created the declaration of
Human Rights
UN pledged that human beings have a right to
live and work without abuse from governments.
Many Global issues are sorted and discussed by the UN
