Euro Dates

1453

1453

end of Hundred Years War; fall of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire to Ottoman \n Turks (renamed Istanbul)

1492

end of "Reconquista" era in Spain; Columbus "discovers" America, \n (called "The Encounter')

1517

Martin Luther posts Ninety-five Theses on church door in Wittenberg - \n start of the Protestant Reformation

1521

Diet and Edict of Worms - Luther excommunicated from RCC

1524

German Peasants Revolt - Luther condemns it - HRE Charles V puts it down

1527

Sack of Rome - HRE Charles V proves his power over Pope Clement VII

1534

Act of Supremacy - English King Henry VIII leaves the RCC

1545

Council of Trent: Catholic "Counter-Reformation", Index of Forbidden Books created by \n RCC, Jesuits created to convert people to RCC

1555

Peace of Augsburg — Lutheranism recognized in the HRE by Charles V and RCC

1571

Battle of Lepanto - Turks stopped from invading Europe

1572

St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre (August 24) - Huguenot persecution in France

1588

Spanish Armada (navy) against England defeated

1598

Edict of Nantes passed by French King Henry IV - Huguenots win religious freedom in \n 200 towns

1603

(England) death of Elizabeth I = end of Tudor dynasty; \n coronation of James I, start of the Stuart dynasty

1618

Defenestration of Prague = start of Thirty Years War in HRE

1628

Petition of Right issued to King Charles I (England) = habeas corpus guaranteed, \n William Harvey published works on blood circulation

1648

end of Thirty Years War - Treaty of Westphalia = start of concept of "Balance of Power" \n between countries - HRE power/population crushed by the war

1683

Battle of Vienna - Ottoman Turks defeated by King Sobieski of Poland w/help from HRE

1688

Glorious Revolution in England, passage of English Bill of Rights & the Act of Toleration \n - England becomes constitutional monarchy

1701

Act of Settlement passed in England paving way for Hanoverian Dynasty to succeed; \n Brandenburg-Prussia becomes the "Kingdom of Prussia' under Frederick I; \n Jethro Tull invents the "seed drill" to improve agricultural efficiency in England

1715

death of Louis XIV ends of War of Spanish Succession with Treaty of Utrecht; \n start of Industrial Revolution in England

1740

War of Austrian Succession begins over the issues of the "Pragmatic Sanction" \n which claims the right of Maria Theresa to rule Austria alone

1748

Montesquieu publishes "Spirit of the Laws" introducing a 3 branch gov't => \n height of the Enlightenment

1789

French Revolution begins on July 14th as the Bastille is attacked in Paris

1794

Robespierre kills himself = Thermidorian Reaction; Reign of Terror in France ends

1804

Napoleon crowns himself Emperor; Napoleonic Law Code enacted

1815

Battle of Waterloo, fall of Napoleon => Congress of Vienna meets to end ideas of \n nationalism & democracy in Europe

1825

Decembrist Revolt in Russia influences Czar Nicholas I to mistrust new ideas

1832

Great Reform Bill in England allows middle class workers the right to vote in \n Parliamentary elections and have power in gov't for 1st time

1834

Zollverein created = free trade zone in the German Confederation \n - unintentionally helps spread German nationalism

1848

Revolutions of 1848 force Metternich from power in Austria & \n Prussia creates a limited democracy in the Frankfurt Assembly

1861

Emancipation Edict of Czar Alexander II in Russia frees serfs but gives them little land

1867

Austrian Ausgleich changes Austria into the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary \n - signals victory of Hungarian nationalists

1871

End of Franco Prussian War: Treaty of Frankfort & Creation of Italy & Germany

1878

Congress of Berlin => spread Slavic Nationalism in Balkans (Pan-Slavism)

1885

Berlin Conference divides Africa among Europeans to avoid war

1888

International Council for Women: Emmeline Pankhurst leads fight for women's rights

1905

Russo-Japanese War causes "Bloody Sunday" revolt in Russia \n - beginning of the end of Czar Nicholas II

1914

Start of WWI as Archduke Ferdinand (Austria-Hungary) is shot by a Serb nationalist

1917

Russia has two Revolutions and is turned Communist by Vladimir Lenin & Bolsheviks \n - Russia becomes USSR (Soviet Union)

1918

End of WWI - armistice signed on November 11 - start of Treaty of Versailles negotiations

1922

Mussolini's "March on Rome" allows him to seize power in Italy with his "Blackshirts"

1923

Munich Beer Hall Putsch - failed attempt by Adolf Hitler to seize power \n with his "Brownshirts"

1927

Stalin defeated Trotsky in power struggle, Stalin starts systematic starvation of Ukrainian \n people (Holodomor) by using collectivization farming

1933

Hitler Elected as Chancellor of Germany

1938

Munich Conference allows Hitler to seize the Sudetenland = policy of appeasement

1939

"Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact" & start of WWII as Nazi Germany invades Poland

1945

End of WWII & start of Cold War at Yalta Conference

1949

China turns communist under Mao Zedong; USSR tests a-bomb; \n US creates NATO alliance

1951

Treaty of Paris creates "European Coal & Steel Community" (ECSC) \n - birth of European "supranationalism"

1953

Stalin dies & end of Korean War; Korea divided in ½ at the 38th parallel

1956

Stalin dies & end of Korean War; Korea divided in ½ at the 38th parallel

1957

Sputnik (USSR) - first satellite orbits earth - start of “space race”

1968

protests for more democracy and civil rights spread across the Eastern Europe => causes \n protests in Poland & Czechoslovakia ("Prague Spring")

1972

S.A.L.T. I negotiated between US & USSR to equalize nuclear warheads between \n superpowers; Sino-Soviet split occurs as China is no longer ally of USSR

1989

Fall of Berlin Wall as Soviet troops are called back home; end of “Iron Curtain”

1991

death of USSR, first free elections in Russia, election of Boris Yeltsin as leader of new CIS; \n break-up of Yugoslavia causes "ethnic cleansing" (genocide) to begin

1992

Maastricht Treaty created the European Union (EU) and the Eurodollar