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Thirty Year's War
How the event happened: This event began in Bohemia, present-day Czech Republic, when the Catholic Hapsburg king of Bohemia tried to suppress Protestants and to assert royal power over nobles.
What happened during the event: Roving armies of mercenaries (soldiers for hire) burned villages, destroyed crops, and killed without mercy. Murder and torture were followed by famine and disease. Maybe 1/3 of the people in the German states died.
Importance?: Austria and Prussia were created. -
English Bill of Rights
How the event happened: Before William and Marry could be crowed rulers of England they had to accept the English bill of rights.
What happened during the event: The Bill of Rights ensured the superiority of Parliament over the monarchy. A king or queen could no longer interfere in parliamentary debates or suspend laws.
Why is this event important: The legal ideas contained in the English Bill of Rights would later have a strong influence on the United States. -
War of the Austrian Succession
How the event happened: Shortly after Charles VI's death in 1740, Frederick II of Prussia seized the rich Hapsburg province of Silesia.
What happened during the event: Charles VI's daughter, Maria Theresa, got military help from Hungarian nobles, Britain, and Russia.
Why is this event important: Maria Theresa, an absolute monarch, reformed Hapsburg Austria. -
American Revolution
How the event happened: In April 1775, the crisis between the colonists and the British exploded into war.
What happened during the event: In 1776, Congress declared independence from Britain. In 1777, the French, the Netherlands, and Spain helped the Americans. In 1781, the British surrendered. In 1783, the treaty of Paris was signed.
Why is this event important: From the beginning the new republic was a symbol of freedom for many. -
Stamp Act
How the event happened: The French and Indian War had drained the British treasury. Parliament passed new taxes on the colonies. The Stamp Act of 1765 taxed items such as newspapers and pamphlets.
What happened during the event: Colonists protested the new taxes.
Why is this event important: “No taxation without representation” caused Parliament to repeal the stamp act, but growing tensions and discontent continued in the colonies. -
Treaty of Paris
How the event happened: In 1781, with the help of a French fleet, Washington forced the surrender of a British army. With that defeat, the British war effort crumbled.
What happened during the event: Two years after the surrender of the British army, the Americans, the British, and the French diplomats signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the war.
Why is this event important: The Treaty of Paris ended the war and the independence of the United States of America was formally recognized by Britain. -
French Revolution
How the event happened: On April 28, 1789, a rumor had spread that the factory owner was planning to cut wages even though bread prices were soaring. By July, the people of Paris were taking up arms against the government, a move that would trigger the French Revolution.
What happened during the event: Storming the Bastille and The Reign of Terror happened.
Why is this event important: By 1799, the French Revolution removed the old social order, the monarchy, and the Church under state control. -
Storming of the Bastille
How the event happened: On July 14, 1789, the city of Paris seized the spotlight from the National Assembly meeting in Versailles. More than 800 Parisians assembled outside the Bastille.
What happened during the event: The commander of the Bastille refused to open the gates and opened fire on the crowd. The enraged mob broke through the defenses. Many people were killed.
Why is this event important: The storming of the Bastille signaled the end of the absolute monarchy and a step toward freedom. -
Tennis Court Oath
In May 1789, delegates were deadlocked over the issue of voting. The Third Estate wanted all three estates to meet in a single body, with votes counted “by head.”
In June 1789, delegates took their famous "Tennis Court Oath" at a nearby indoor tennis court. They swore “never to separate and to meet wherever the circumstances might require until we have established a sound and just constitution.”
The Tennis Court Oath publicized that political authority came from the people and not the kingdom. -
Reign of Terror
How the event happened: In 1793, danger threatened France on all sides. The country was at war with Europe, including Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, and Prussia.
What happened during the event: During the Reign of Terror, about 300,000 citizens were arrested. About 17,000 were executed. They included nobles and clergy, peasants, and sans-culottes, and middle-class citizens who had once supported the Revolution.
Why is this event important: Reign of Terror protected France from the Revolution.
