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

Impact of Enlightenment and American Revolution

The **Declaration of Independence of the USA** and its **Constitution (1787)** championed the inalienable rights of citizens and the separation of powers. Enlightenment principles and the **American Revolution** provided the bourgeoisie with new ideas to confront absolutism and the stratified social system.

Social and Economic Crisis

The crisis had two main facets:

• Economic Crisis: Resulting from a series of poor harvests since **1760**. The rise in food prices generated a spirit of rebellion among the people.
• Financial Crisis: Caused by the monarchy's severe lack of money.

1789: Rebellion Erupts

The **Estates-General** met in **Versailles** in **May 1789**. This meeting was chaired by the King and comprised... Continue reading "Transforming Europe: The French Revolution's Legacy" »

The Enlightenment: Ideas and Impact

The Enlightenment was based on Sapere Aude (Latin for "Dare to Know"), a call for individuals to use their own reason and understanding.

Key Enlightenment Thinkers

• Montesquieu
• Voltaire
• Rousseau
• John Locke (in England)

Core Enlightenment Ideas

• National Sovereignty: Power resides with the people.
• Division of Powers:
  • Legislative: Makes laws.
  • Executive: Governs and enforces laws.
  • Judicial: Interprets laws and administers justice.
• Equality of Citizens: All men are born free and equal.

Enlightened Despotism in Europe

Some monarchs in Europe adopted new Enlightenment ideas into their governments. However, they retained absolute power, caring for the welfare of their people but without their direct participation. Their motto was:... Continue reading "Enlightenment to Revolution: Shaping Modern Europe" »

• Ten Percent Plan: Lincoln's plan that allowed a Southern state to form its own government if ten percent of voters swore an oath of loyalty to the US.
• Wade-Davis Bill: An 1864 plan for Reconstruction that denied the right to vote or hold office for anyone who had fought for the Confederacy.
• Black Codes: Laws denying most legal rights to newly freed slaves.
• Freedmen's Bureau: Provided clothing, shelter, education, food, and medicine to former slaves.
• Civil Rights Act of 1866: Law that authorized federal action against segregation in public.
• Fourteenth Amendment: Guarantees equal protection of the law and rights of citizenship to all people born in the USA.
• Reconstruction Act of 1867: Act passed that set up 5 temporary military districts run by Union

Key Events & Figures of the French Revolution

The Storming of the Bastille

The storming of the Bastille represents the revolution, the end of the Ancien Régime, and the beginning of the French Revolution. The people (representing the 98% of the population) rose against the king's power, provoking a huge social movement in France. The Bastille, the king's prison, symbolized royal power. This event occurred on July 14, 1789, and its impact is still felt today, as the French celebrate their National Holiday every year on this date.

The Tennis Court Oath

This event, which took place on June 20, 1789, during the French Revolution, symbolizes freedom, equality, and fraternity. It represents an inverted social pyramid where the people (98%) have... Continue reading "Understanding the French Revolution: Key Moments and Influential People" »

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.

Stalinism in the USSR (1924-1953)

Stalinism defined a totalitarian government system in the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953, with Joseph Stalin as its paramount political leader.

Key Characteristics of Stalinism

Stalin's Absolute Political Power

• Gained control of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) as Secretary General.
• Served as the head of the government.
• Approved the Constitution of 1936, which established rights and universal suffrage.
• Maintained the CPSU as the sole political party.
• Utilized propaganda and repression to enforce his dictatorship.
• Aimed to spread communism across Europe through the Comintern.

State Control of the Economy

• Land and factories became state property.
• Stalin introduced the Five-Year Plans, which included:
  • Collectivization

The Role of Congress and the President

22. In the United States, the executive branch, separate from Congress, is not dependent on majority support.

23. In the United States, it is more difficult for a government to fall, resulting in early legislative elections.

Parliamentary Systems

24. In a parliament, leaders can obtain ministerial jobs, but could fail to re-nominate disloyal members.

25. In the United States, congressional members have less party loyalty and do not risk losing their seats.

Presidential Elections

26. From the 1820s to the 1850s, presidential elections would be temporary and weaker.

27. Roughly from the 1830s to the 1850s, the Democratic Party was elected by popular vote and supported a stronger national government, a national bank,

UNIT 1: The Spanish Constitution of 1812

As the principal aim of the new constitution was the prevention of arbitrary and corrupt royal rule, it provided for a limited monarchy which governed through ministers subject to parliamentary control. Suffrage favored the position of the commercial class. The constitution set up a rational and efficient centralized administrative system. So the 1812 Constitution established the principles of universal suffrage, national sovereignty, constitutional monarchy, freedom of the press, and supported land reform and free enterprise.

UNIT 2: The Rise of Liberalism in Spain

The liberals of this period were divided into two sides:

Divisions within Liberalism

• Sovereignty: Parliament and Monarch / National Sovereignty
• Setting

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013)

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election.

Early Life and the Path to Law

Nelson Mandela had a very happy childhood. He went to the local school and was a good student. But when he was ten years old his father died, and his cousin King Jongintaba told Nelson to come and live with him. When Nelson was nineteen he went to Healdtown College in Fort Beaufort and then he went to live in Johannesburg, where he worked... Continue reading "Nelson Mandela's Fight for Freedom and Equality in South Africa" »