Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for History

Origins of the European Union

Several key forces drove the formation of the European Union:

• Traditional Federalism: Thinkers like Rousseau and Victor Hugo envisioned a united Europe.
• Post-WWII Rebuilding: The devastation of World War II, both in human and economic terms, spurred a desire for cooperation and recovery.
• The Marshall Plan: This U.S. initiative provided significant financial aid to Western Europe, accelerating economic recovery and fostering cooperation.

The Marshall Plan and European Recovery

The Marshall Plan, officially the European Recovery Program, was a U.S. initiative that provided $12 billion in economic assistance to Western Europe after World War II. Its goals included:

• Rebuilding war-torn regions
• Removing trade barriers
• Modernizing

The new Bourbonic Monarchy: The decrees of the new plant. Reforms. (Cádiz)

Government and Administration Reform.
The reorganization of the State (Felipe V, Fernando VI, and Carlos III) established a strong, centralized, and unified absolute monarchy, following the French model.
The Councils are relegated (except for Castilla) by the Secretaries of Dispatch.
The Decrees of New Plant: they suppressed the fueros and institutions of Aragon, being respected Navarrese and Basque.
The Courts were unique, keeping Navarre.
State intervention in the economy. Unique tax in Castilla.
The State created real manufactures.

-Church:
Control of the Church – applied the regalism and obtained the universal patronage.
Regalism: Doctrine that defends the primacy of real...

Colonial Regions of America

• New England: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire
• Middle: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware
• Southern: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia

Freedoms in Colonial America

• Religious Freedom: The right to choose a religion (or no religion) without interference by the government.
• Political Freedom: The right to express one’s views about public matters and the right to support or oppose public policies.
• Economic Freedom/Opportunity: The right of every human to control his or her own labor and property.
• Social Mobility: A person's ability to move to a different social class (higher, middle, lower).

Timeline of the American Revolution

1754: French and Indian War

Fighting between...

George ORWELL.Eric (George) was A middle-class Indian. Hi father was an officer in Burma. His mother Took him to England and there he was vrey happy. At the age of 8 he Was sent to a boarding school and it was very traumatic because he Was alone. Being middle-class, Orwell's family could afford to send Him to a boarding school. George was a smart child. In theory, the Boarding school trated all children gool, but in practise the Threatment depended on their status. Orwell felt discriminated, Undervalued by rich people. They gave him his first social injustice. They beat and called cynic for not being like the others. Eric wanted To go to University, but what he did was to be a policeman in India. He returned to Burma, which was under the power...

Lot of people were killed during the war, but the killings did not stop and a period of official state reprisal began. Those suspected of affiliation with pro-republic ideologies were summarily rounded up and executed. Many people fled the country.

The new Francoist state officially branded Biscay and Gipuzcoa as ‘traitorous’ provinces. This served to legitimize the state terror imposed on the inhabitants of the two provinces. Inhabitants were terrorized for being Basque.

Measures:

• Total suppression of the Basque language
• Only university in the Basque Provinces was closed
• Libraries of social and cultural associations were seized by troops and there was mass burning of books in Basque
• Teaching of the language was prohibited in all schools
• The use

China's Political Continuity: Dynastic History and Communism

Parallels Between Dynastic History and Communism

Values (Similarities)

• Respect for elders, cult of personality, and resistance to progress.
• Confucianism: Emphasis on harmony and backwards approaches of never challenging tradition or moving forward.

Centrism (Similarities)

• Strong unitary central authority and bureaucracy chosen on the basis of merit (e.g., Han Dynasty, Qin).
• Deference to party and state leadership.

Patterns of Change

• Historical cycle: Rulers become jaded or corrupt, losing sight of their values.
• An outsider is forced to take over and re-establish old traditions and values.

The Transition of Power: From Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping

• In 1921, the Communist Party (CCP) was formed,

Causes

• The Treaty of Versailles signed: Germany was obliged to reduce military, pay reparations, and renounce territories.
• Hitler writes 'Mein Kampf': Aims to make Germany great again and plan for the Jews.
• The Global Depression begins: Mode dictators come to power.
• Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany democratically.
• Hitler begins to rebuild his army in secret.
• Abyssinia Invasion: Mussolini invades Abyssinia, leading to the League of Nations' downfall.
• Rhineland reoccupied.
• The Spanish Civil War: Germany rehearses arms and aircraft.
• Rome Berlin Axis: Hitler Mussolini Alliance.
• Anschluss with Austria: Annexation of Austria into Germany.
• The Munich Agreement: Sudetenland returned to Germany.
• 1939 Nazis invade Czechoslovakia, breaking the Munich Agreement.

The Late Victorian Era: Society and Education (Second Half of the 19th Century)

During the second half of the 19th century, British society was deeply divided and imbalanced. On one hand, there was the Great Famine in Ireland, while on the other, powerful elites held sway. For example, in the field of education, only 8% of all children in the United Kingdom received secondary education. Yet, this was also the golden age of public schools such as Rugby, Eton, Winchester, and others. These elitist schools were entirely private and served as the primary educational institutions for the elite. These public schools played a very important role, and this continues to be the case today. With the exception of John Major, all British prime ministers...

The Reign of Charles I (1516-1556)

Charles I had to tackle serious domestic and foreign conflicts.

Domestic Conflicts Under Charles I

• The domestic conflicts broke out following his arrival in Spain in 1517, at which time he did not even speak Castilian. He asked for enormous sums of money from the Cortes to finance his election as Holy Roman Emperor, and he also left the government of his Hispanic territories in the hands of Flemish advisors. The two main revolts were that of the Comuneros in Castile (1520-1521); and that of the Brotherhoods in Valencia and Mallorca (1519-1523), which was a confrontation between the urban guilds and the nobility. Both sides revolted against Charles I, as he did not respond to their petitions; they were subjugated