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Diderot’s Encyclopedie
With its first installment published in 1751, Diderot’s Encyclopedie can be seen as a physical embodiment of the ideas and goals of the enlightenment through the Encyclopedie’s application of scientific analysis to a wide range of fields. Taking over twenty years to publish the twenty eight volumes, the Encyclopedie came to represent the accumulation and connation of all known information. This idea and practice of the collection of data into consumable volumes is Diderot's Encyclopedie greate -
Lisbon Earthquake
On All Saints Day 1755 the Portuguese city of Lisbon was struck by a earthquake that registered between 8.5 and 9.0 on the Richter scale. The earthquake and resulting tsunami caused over 10,000 fatalities and nearly wiped the city of Lisbon off the map. The center of Catholicism in Portugal, the high rate of casualties during the earthquake were in large part to the flood of worshipers who had come to the visit the cities many churches for All Saints Day. Lisbon's destruction shook continent -
The Finding of the Rosetta Stone
Named for the village in which it was discovered by French soldiers during Napoleon's Egyptian campaign, the Rosetta Stone is a stone tablet upon which the same portion of text has been repeated in three languages, hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek. It is in this repetition that the Rosetta Stone draws its import. The presence of Greek alongside the here to for unreadable hieroglyphics made it possible for European scholars to now access thousands of years of Egyptian history. The unlocking of -
Napoleon Bonaparte
A rising star in the post-revolution French Army, Napoleon Bonaparte was able to use his newly available status and position to seize control of France in the wake of the Terror. Through his tactical innovations and military acumen Napoleon was able to extend the borders of his new French empire to encompass much of continental Europe. To maintain his empire Napoleon enacted sweeping education reforms. The lycees – high schools – were designed to train the new class of civil servants and army -
The Telegraph
This was a practical electrical telegraph system, and subsequently electrical telegraph came to refer to a signaling telegram a system where an operator makes and breaks an electrical contact with a telegraph key, which results in an audible signal at the other end produced by a telegraph sounder, which is interpreted and transcribed by a human. Morse first telegraphs used a pen and paper system to record the marks of the Morse code, and interpreted the marks visually. -
Communist Manifesto
The book contains Marxist theories about the nature of society and politics. It also briefly features their ideas for how the capitalist society of the time would eventually be replaced by socialism, and then eventually communism. This is a vital part of the European history curriculum because communism is a big part of many revolutions from many western countries. These Western countries relied on the teachings of this book to succeed. -
The Rise of Realism
While the art and culture of early 19th century Europe were rooted in the romantic, by mid-century the climate politically had shifted and the movement of Realism rose to prominence. Seeking to portray life only as it is seen without the heroic and idealistic tendencies of their Romantic predecessors, Realist artists and authors often portrayed subject matter that shocked and held no interest for the old consumers of art, but found an audience in the newly rising middle class. The new populari -
The Crimean war
Fought between Russia and Turkey, then later France & Great Britton and Russia in 1853 the importance of the Crimean War is drawn not from why it was fought but in how the war was perceived by the involved nation's citizenry, and its unceremonious outcome. With the rise of practical photography came its use as a journalistic tool, and during the Crimean War this tool was used on the battlefield to capture the true nature of 19th century warfare. This new visual evidence and the perceived lack -
The Harnessing of Electricity
While the nations on the map by the late 19th century are – for the most part – as they today, life in those countries would be wholly alien to someone today until the 1880s and the arrival of controlled productive electric power. The spread of electric power fanned out as a vanguard for the second industrial age and moving forward western culture as a whole. Managed electricity is at the heart of each technological leap forward that the west has made since inception as a power source, from th -
Credit
The rise in production that came from the 2nd industrial revolution lead to the push for new markets, while colonialism did its part maintaining and growing the consumer bases in the western industrial nations was key to their continued success. To this end the large untapped purchasing power of the new middle class was to be pushed and credit became the favored tool. Western culture always had a consumerist edge to it however with the popular and widespread use of credit, consumerism moved fr -
Schlieffen Plan
The Germans based their offensive on the “Schlieffen Plan”, named for Count Alfred von Schlieffen, chief of the German General staff, required France to be attacked first through Belgium and a quick victory to be secured so that the German army would fight Russia on the Eastern Front. Schlieffen and Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, modified plans several times to suit Germany’s efficient, well equipped, but increasingly outnumbered army. This plan was called for attacking Fra -
Pablo Picasso
Born in 1881 the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso would become the most important painter of the early – if not all of – 20th century. The painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is the first step Picasso took on his way to this level of renown, and it is in this piece that one of the few positive aspects of European colonialism can be seen. Seeking for a new way to express form Picasso looked towards the art of Africa and India and combined this "primitive" aesthetic with that of European painters li -
Winston Churchill
The British prime minister who led the country during World War II. He was the British first lord of the admiralty, he also argued for a naval offensive in the Dardanelles, the narrow strait separating Europe and Asia Minor. His competent leadership lacked adequate planning, supply lines, and maps to mount a successful campaign -
The Balkans (pt 1)
The Balkans lay between two empires, the Austro-Hungarian and the Ottoman. Balkan politics were a traditional center for Russian intervention in European affairs and also for German and British diplomacy. The Great Powers tried to avoid direct intervention in the region seeking instead to bring the new Balkan states into the web of coalitions. In 1912 the independent states of Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, and Montenegro launched the First Balkan War against the Ottomans. -
The Balkans (pt2)
In 1912 the independent states of Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, and Montenegro launched the First Balkan War against the Ottomans. In 1913, the 2nd Balkan War was fought over the spoils of the first. Diplomacy kept these wars contained. When it failed, the summer of 1914, the Great Powers’ system of alliances would accelerate the outbreak of a wider war. Tensions in the Balkans heightened the problems of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was hassled to survive amid increasing nationalist ambitions -
The Panama Canal Opens
One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the canal had an enormous impact on shipping between the two oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route via either the Strait of Magellan or Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America. The construction started in 1882 but failed many times due to lack of money and scandals. In 1904 the United States took over control. By the end of the project in 1914, $375,000,000 was spent and over 204,900,000 cubic meter -
Franz Ferdinand
On June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand, archduke of Austria and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, boasted through Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. As a hotbed of Serb resistance, Sarajevo was an admittedly dangerous place for the head of the scored empire to parade in public. Franz Ferdinand had escaped a previous assassination attempt; However, a nineteen-year-old Bosnian student, Gavrilo Princip shot Ferdinand and his wife at point blank range. Princip considered the assassination part of a stru -
World War I
A total war from August 1914 to November 1918. It involved armies from Britain, France, and Russia against Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. This 4-year conflict dealt a lethal blow to the 19th century ideals and institutions. WWI introduced the ugly face of industrial warfare and the grim capacities of the modern world. 19th century monarchies, European empires, and European economic hegemony didn't survive the conflict. The war strained relations between classes and generations -
Trench Warfare
While the war escalated, life in the trenches worsened. The 25,000 miles of trenches that stretched across the Western Front during World War I was where most of the fighting took place. The front line was the attack trench, lying anywhere from 50 yards to a mile away from the enemy. Behind the front lay a maze of trenches connecting back to the rear link, headquarters, railroads, munition supplies, hospitals, etc. The soldiers lived with lice and large black rats, which fed on the dead soldiers -
Nicholas II
Nicholas II was a Russian tsar, who abdicated the throne in 1917. Nicholas was unable to provide leadership but was unwilling to open government to those who could. The political and social strains of war brought 2 revolutions in 1917. 1st: in February overthrew the tsar and established a transitional government. 2nd: in October was a communist revolution that marked the emergence of the Soviet Union. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles is signed by representatives of the German Weimar Republic. Following Germany's defeat in the first World War, the republic could do little to stand against unfavorable balances of trade imposed by the victorious allies, and the German economy suffered immensely under the additional burden of reparations for her part in the war. Faith in the Weimar government among the German people is at an all time low as unemployment and inflation continue to rise. -
Occupation of the Ruhr
The Weimar government announces it is unable to afford to continue paying reparations to allied powers, and defaults on some payments. In response, French and Belgian troops occupy the Ruhr region, a critical industrial center for Germany. Most manufacturing and mining companies are forcibly taken over, leading to mass strikes among German workers. These strikes lasted a grueling eight months, further weakening the German economy and further exacerbating inflation of German currency. -
The Dawes Plan
The Dawes Plan is adopted by both Germany and the former allied powers, a financial agreement in which American banks provided loans to German banks with German assets serving as collateral to help pay reparations. In the short term, this plan played a large role in the stabilization of German currency. -
"Black Tuesday"
On October 24, 1929 all stock prices fell. On October 28, "Black Monday" more investors decided to get out of the market, and the slide continued with a record loss in the Dow for the day of 38 points, or 13%. The next day, "Black Tuesday", October 29, 1929, about 16 million shares were traded, and the Dow lost an additional 30 points, or 12%. The volume of stocks traded on October 29, 1929 was a record that was not broken for nearly 40 years. The market had lost over $30 billion in two days. -
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The Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl was when a period of intense dust storms ripped through the American Midwest and prairies. During the drought of the 1930s, without natural anchors to keep the soil in place, it dried, turned to dust, and blew away eastward and southward in large dark clouds. At times the clouds blackened the sky reaching all the way to East Coast cities such as New York and Washington, D.C. Much of the soil ended up deposited in the Atlantic Ocean. -
1930 General Election
After committing to attaining power legally after the failed coup of 1920, the National Socialist German Workers' Party takes advantage of the economic hardships of the German people by campaigning on a platform of nationalism, militarism, and radical political and socioeconomic change. This new ideology allowed the Nazi party to achieve incredible popularity and political clout, receiving 18.3% of the vote and making it impossible to form a pro-Republican majority in the Reichstag. -
Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor
After much political expansion, including twice dissolving the Reichstag in the hopes of electing a stable majority, head of the Nazi party Adolf Hitler is sworn in as Chancellor. Hitler is allowed to take this position by then President Paul von Hindenburg. Hindenburg believed that, with Nazi popularity on the relative decline, Hitler could be controlled as Chancellor and stability achieved throughout the German republic. -
Installation of Concentration Camps
The first concentration camps were originally for political prisoners. One of the first was Dachau (March 1933), that held 4,800 prisoners in the first year. Consisted of mainly German communists, socialist democrats, trade unions, & other political opponents. Other groups were eventually incorporated: Jehovah Witnesses, Roma, homosexuals, and criminal offenders. Jews were only there if they were criminal offenders. Between 1933-1945 a total of 188,000; total number of victims is unknown. -
Passage of the Enabling Act
Adolf Hitler makes a historic speech defending the Enabling Act, a piece of legislation that would give his administration the ability to pass legislation and establish him as dictator. The act removed all political power of the Reichstag, and made it impossible to impose their will upon Hitlers cabinet. -
Nazi mentality
The Nazis saw the Jews and other religions/races as inferior, often referring to the Jews as “vermin”. That kind of propaganda made it easier for people and officers to hand over or kill them. It was also a desensitizing tactic. The Jewish people were a scapegoat for the Nazi regime: the Jews were responsible for the downfall of Germany, and were “culture destroyers”. Anyone else who wasn’t the Nazi idea of the “Aryan” race was genetically “unfit” and had to be eliminated. -
Kristallnacht & invasion of Poland
After Kristallnacht the Nazis arrested a mass amount of Jewish men and put them in camps. After the invasion of Poland (September 1939), forced-labor camps were opened; prisoners died from exhaustion, starvation & exposure. -
Battle of Midway
This was the first time in naval warfare that there was a naval battle without any ships seeing each other. A bunch of American bombers stumbled upon a whole fleet of Japanese carriers and destroyers by accident. After reporting their location the Americans launched an offensive. It was a turkey shoot. The Americans destroyed four aircraft carriers, one cruiser, and 250 aircraft. It was a critical blow to the Japanese fleet. This left the Japanese running and weak. -
“The Angel of Death”
Josef Mengele started at Auschwitz in the Spring of 1943. He was known for his search for twins. He used both kinds of twins, and with full license to kill, the Jewish and Roma victims underwent excruciating and lethal experiments. He also collected the eyes of the victims for “research”. He inflicted gangrene, surgeries w/o anesthesia, blood transfusions between twins, germ injections, sex changes, the removal of organs and limbs and incestuous impregnations. -
Harvest Festival at Majdanek
German invasion of Soviet Union, number of POW camps increased, Majdanek established Autumn of 1941 was POW then concentration camp; thousands of Soviet POW’s were shot & gassed there. On November 3rd, 1943, operation “Harvest Festival" was put into action; was caused by Jewish resistance and killed the remaining Jews in Lublin. 18,000 Jews were murdered in one day. During the mass murder, music was played over loudspeakers to cancel out the noise of murder. Largest killing day in Holocaust -
Ebensee in Austria
It was intended for slave labor, but as the workers were dying, the solution was to put their bodies into hunts around the camp. The smell of decomposing bodies, mixed with human waste and sickness was neausiating. Prisoners were tortured by hanging by their hands &having a dog attack them. Otto Riemer was diabolical because of his bloodlust: he would kill prisoners for sport. He also tortured, beat, &killed prisoners himself. Towards the end of the war, up to 350+ people were being killed daily -
Medical Experiments
In other concentration camps, German doctors conducted experiments on 1000’s of camp prisoners without consent. Some experiments were for the survival of Axis military personnel. Some experiments conducted were treatments for hypothermia, how to make saltwater drinkable, pharmaceutical experiments, and treatments of illness/injury and infectious diseases. Ravenstock was where bone-grafting took place; Natzweiler & Sachsenhausen, mustard gas & phosgene to test for antidotes. -
D-Day
General Eisenhower of the United States and Field Marshall Montgomery of Britain needed to find a way to invade Europe. They needed to breach Hitler’s Atlantic Wall and liberate Europe. The Generals decided to assault a beachhead in France. They chose Normandy. The original date was June 5th but the weather on the English Channel was too rough for the boats, so it was rescheduled for June 6th. On June 6th, 12,000-planes, 7,000 vessels and nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel. -
Josef Mengele
Mengele forced medically trained prisoners to perform heinous tasks. He also tried making siamese twins: he would sew twins together. After Auschwitz was liberated, he escaped to South America, settled in Sao Paolo and died there after a stroke and drowned in a pool in 1979. About only 200 out of 1,500+ twins survived him. -
Atomic bomb on Hiroshima
On the morning of August 6, 1945, Colonel Paul Tibbets of the Enola Gay set course for Hiroshima, Japan with a 9,700 bomb known as “Little Boy”. At 8:15, “Little Boy” exploded over the city of Hiroshima. With an estimated yield of 16 kilotons of TNT, creating temperatures of 7,200 degrees and a fireball 1,200 feet in diameter. Everything within two miles of ground zero was vaporized. Between 70,000 and 80,000 people died instantly. -
Atomic bomb on Nagasaki
Major Charles Sweeney of the Bockscar loaded up a second atomic bomb named “Fat Man” headed towards Nagasaki, Japan. At 11:01 the second bomb exploded unleashing 21 kilotons of TNT creating 7,000 degrees and winds over 624 miles per hour. Between 40,000 and 70,000 people died. This is the only time in history that the use of a nuclear weapon has been used against people. The use of the atomic bombs thrust the United States and the Soviet Union in to the nuclear era.
