French Revolution and 1820-1848 Revolutions: Rise of Liberalism and Nationalism
The Radicalization of the French Revolution
The French Revolution radicalized, leading to the formation of a new bourgeois regime that ultimately ceded power to Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Girondin Convention (1792-1793)
At the dawn of the Republic, the September Massacres occurred, where Parisian sans-culottes stormed prisons, killing aristocrats and religious prisoners. The French victory at the Battle of Valmy temporarily eased tensions. Elections were called for a new National Convention, controlled
Read MoreBourbon Reforms: Reshaping the Spanish Colonial Empire
The Bourbon Reforms: Redefining Colonial Ties
The Bourbon reforms attempted to redefine the colonial relationship. Their objectives were to liberalize trade, stimulate the economy to increase Crown revenues, and reorganize the administration of the vast American territories to prevent corruption and smuggling. This policy also aimed to combat the encroachment of other European powers on Spanish possessions.
Economic Reforms
The Bourbons implemented several changes. The galleon system was replaced by
Read MoreConquest, Crisis, and the Fall of Islamic Spain: Al-Andalus
Conquest, Emirate, and Caliphate of Cordoba
The Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula stemmed from two concurrent historical factors: the internal crisis of the Visigothic monarchy and the expansion of Islam from 634.
Visigothic King Witiza had designated his son, Agila, as his successor. However, upon Witiza’s death in 710, the Duke of Andalusia, Rodrigo, led a successful revolt, seizing the throne and sparking a civil war. Witiza’s supporters sought help from the Muslims in North Africa. Muza,
Read MoreThe Rise and Fall of Empires: From Imperialism to Global War
Imperialism and the Road to War
The Rise of Imperialism (1875-1914)
From the turn of the 20th century, expeditions explored the Earth’s surface, culminating in the arrival at the Poles in the early 1900s. The Industrial Revolution empowered certain industrialized nations to exert control over vast regions of the world. Imperialism, a historical phenomenon occurring between 1875 and 1914, saw European powers, along with the U.S. and Japan, embark on conquests, primarily in Africa and Asia.
Causes of
Read More20th Century Europe: Wars, Revolutions, and Cultural Shifts
1. Imperialism and Colonialism
As you can see from this map, since the sixteenth century, Spain and other European countries had colonies. We often hear about this stage as “exercising economic control over territories.” While colonies existed and were studied in another unit, the colonization of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries differs from that of the modern age, as explained below:
Early Modern Colonization vs. Late 19th/Early 20th Century Colonization
- Ancient Roots: Greece
- Starring
A Journey Through History: From Ancient Civilizations to the Liberal Doctrine
Ancient Civilizations
Old age began with the appearance of writing and ended with the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Urban civilization developed along the 4th millennium BC in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The step from village to city is known as the urban revolution. Classical civilization is considered to be Greek and Roman. In Greece, they organized into polis, or city-states. The Roman era had independent, centralized organizations. In Athens, democracy was a highlight. In Rome, the Republic and
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