GH 20 Midterm Timeline

17th/18th century

• Age of Enlightenment (Reason/Light)

  • An intellectual movement that came from the Renaissance, Scientific Revolution, and Protestant Reformation

  • Challenged traditional ideas of the monarchy/society

1756-1763

• 7 Years War

  • First global conflict between UK and France w/ North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific

  • Increased taxes on colonies (ie. 13 Colonies) to pay for war

    • Taxation without Representation

1775-1825

• American Revolution

  • Outcome of taxation without representation + unfair treatment

  • Boston Tea Party - 1774 - Catalyst for the Revolution

1789

• Tennis Court Oath signed

  • National Assembly swears sovereignty and fights for representative government

  • King Louis XVI fired Jacques Necker (“voice” for the common man) → seen as attempt to dissolve N.A

• Bastille Day

  • July 14, 1789 - Official start of the French Revolution

  • Citizens stormed the Bastille and took control of it

    • Caused King Louis XVI to be dethroned (power transferred to the N.A)

  • Started “The Great Fear” - 3rd Estate attacking nobility preemptively

• Woman’s March

  • October 1789

  • March on Versailles about the prices of bread

  • Signaled the radical regime

• Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

  • First French document to have inalienable rights for men

1790-1793

• New Regime

  • N.A aiming for constitutional monarchy (led to King Louis XVI fleeing, eventually returned)

  • Abolishment of feudalism - equality of man

• 1792

  • Massacre of clergy/noblemen

  • France declared republic (Monarchs are powerless)

    • September 20, 1792 - N.A → National Convention

    • Investigation of King Louis XVI for anti-revolutionary beliefs → put on trial for treason

      • Condemned Jan 1793

• 1793-1795

  • Reign of Terror

    • Aimed to get rid of old traditions and make new ones (become enlightened)

    • Established Committee of Public Safety to enforce new policies with Maximilien Robespierre as defacto leader of N.C

      • Pushed radical agenda, eventually executed with other Revolutionary leaders

1795

• Directory established

  • Bourgeoisie became most powerful class, wrote new Constitution

    • Bicameral Legislature = Councill of 500, Council of Elders (similar to HoC and Senate)

    • Largely ineffective because of 1 year terms with 5 directors

    • Brought down by Napoleon with a coup d'état

1799

• November 9, 1799

  • Official end of the French Revolution

  • Various coup's planned by Sieyes and Napoleon

    • Napoleon convinces N.C. to hide, 3/5 directors step down → abolishment of directory

      • Directory defunct but not Council

• November 10, 1799

  • Napoleon dissolves Council and is appointed as Premier Counsel (ruler of France)

    • Established French Consulate (government) with Rule by Decree

1799-1815

• Napoleonic Era

  • New aristocracy in France - extensive empire with constant war victories

• Fall of Napoleon

  • 1812

    • Failed Russian Invasion → exile of Napoleon to Elba (wasn’t exiled very well because he came back)

  • 1815

    • Defeat at Waterloo

      • Seventh Coalition (European Alliance) overpowered Napoleon/Grande Armee

      • Napoleon exiled to St. Helena

• Congress of Vienna - (Sept. 1, 1814 - June 9, 1815)

  • Emergence of Liberalism vs Conservatism

  • Age of Reaction

  • Aimed to prevent future aggression in Europe (balanced military power between nations), restored power balances, stop emergence of nationalism

    • Largely successful, no major conflicts in Europe till WWI

    • Didn’t prevent spread of nationalism very well

  • Created new alliances

    • Holy Alliance

      • Pledged governing with charity, justice, peace, etc

      • Not followed through

    • Quadruple Alliance

      • Austria-Hungary, UK, Prussia, Russia, (France in 1818)

1905

• Schlieffen Plan proposed

  • Plan for Germany to fight/win on both fronts. Assumed Russia was slow to mobilize/Germany could go through Belgium to get to France

1914

• Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand + wife Sophie

  • June 8, 1914 in Sarajevo, Austria

  • Assassinated by Serbian nationalist

• July Crisis

  • Time period where decisions led to outbreak of war, caused chain reaction of nations declaring war on each other

  • Emergence of 2 main alliances

    • Triple Entente (Allied Powers) - Russia, France, UK

    • Tripe Alliance (Central Powers)- Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary

  • Official start to war: July 18, 1914

1914

• Schlieffen Plan put into action

  • Multiple faults in the assumptions

    • Russia mobilized quickly → had to split forces over Eastern and Western fronts

    • Belgium resistance to German invasion → pulled UK into war

  • Failure led to trench warfare and war of attrition on Western front

1915

• Treaty of London

  • Allied forces proposing a treaty for Italy to join them and leave the Central Powers

    • Promised more territory if successful at the end of the war

    • Goal to divert Central Power forces from the battlefield

  • May: Italy officially declared war on Austria-Hungary

  • 1 year later: Italy officially declares war on Germany

• Battle of Ypres

  • 1st major Canadian involvement in the war

1916

• Technological advances

  • Tanks - introduced during Battle of Somme

• Battle of Somme/Courcelette

  • Major Canadian involvement that introduced the “creeping barrage” tactic

1917

• US gets involved in the war

  • Britain intercepts Zimmerman Telegram and persuades US to join Allies

    • Zimmerman Telegram: Germany asking Mexico to join the war and offering territory from the US if they win

• Russian Revolution

  • Brest-Litovsk Treaty

    • Russia signs treaty with Central Powers to give it an out from the war

      • Revolution that overthrew the Tsar for the Bolshevik party (socialist/communist) - citizens wanted out of the war b/c of economic hardships

• Battle for Vimy Ridge

  • Major Canadian involvement of all 4 divisions

• 2nd Battle of Passchendaele

  • Significant war of attrition with Canadian involvement

1918

• Hundred Days Offensive/Last Hundred Days

  • Major Allied push to get Germany out of France (intending to end the war)

    • Led to armistice that went into effect Nov. 11, 1918

      • Stopped fighting, released prisoners, retreated militaries

      • Official end of the war, peace treaty not signed till next year

1919

• Treaty of Versailles

  • Peace treaty negotiated by UK, France, USA, and Italy

    • Losers of the war excluded in negotiations

  • France suffered most during war → wanted to cause maximum damage to Germany (super high reparations to rebuild France)

• Outcomes of the Treaty

  • GARGLE

  • Guilt - Germany takes full blame for war

  • Armaments - Loses all war materials and army is reduced to 100k soldiers, demilitarized Rhineland

  • Reparations - Germany had to pay ~£6,600 million

  • Germany’s lost land - Return of Alsace-Lorraine to France

  • League of Nations established

  • Extra: Prevented Anschluss (political union of Germany with Austria-Hungary)

• Effects of the Treaty on Germany

  • Initial decrease in nationalism b/c of war loss (decreased national pride)

  • Extreme hyperinflation - overprinting money in order to pay for reparations

    • Charles Dawe (American economist) brought to fix issues

      • Established Dawe plan to allow for Germany to pay more reasonable reparations

  • Eventual increase in nationalism (through anger) that led to rise of ultranationalism

• League of Nations

  • International organization focused on international peace

  • Largely symbolic - not joined by USA/USSR (2 global powers) so couldn’t enforce anything

  • Collective security for all members

    • Respect the sovereignty of all members

  • Failed at disarming members/protecting small nations from invasions