Young Pioneers Challenge

MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Y P C oung

ioneers

hallenge

120 things worth being tested on from the last thousand years of western history

MC HISTORIANS’ YOUNG PIONEERS CHALLENGE Your YPC booklet consists of 120 key facts/developments/eras in western history (Europe and the USA) from 1000 AD to 2000 AD. The challenge is to be familiar with as many of them as possible.

They are grouped in twelve categories, each containing ten facts/developments/eras, and the latter are supposed to reflect the ‘top ten’ in their category. That, of course, is up for debate; and if you know better, and I’ve left crucial critical stuff out, let me know, and let’s sort it out or just Debate or even have a full-blown Argument.

Why? Well…. (a) You’ll get a series of awards depending on how far up the system you get… (b) You’ll get a great sense of chronology (ie a sense of when things happened)… (c) You’ll be able to cross-reference things in one place with things in another, or with general movements... (d) You’ll be drawn in and inspired and follow up with major specialist studies of your own… (e) You’ll get into that frustrating ‘top ten’/‘what’s the most important fact’ game… (f) You can supplement the stuff you learn in the classroom and get a ‘broader picture’ around it. (g) You can develop useful revision techniques, and learning lists of stuff is a good life skill.. (h) You can really show off to your friends and family and everyone else…

Each fact/development/era has a date and a short description in bold. The explanation underneath just tells you why I’ve included it – why I think it’s so important.

How to go about this…

There are four levels of awards: the Pioneer Pioneer, the Bronze, the Silver, and the Gold. You must progress through each, and not skip any.

You don’t need, at least until you go for gold, to learn the explanation, just the short description in bold and the date.

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To be a Pioneer Pioneer (easy): pick 4 of the categories (ie 4 groups of 10). Learn the dates and basic facts for those 40 things.

Be tested by a history teacher (20 questions – 5 from each category) and if you get 10 right (50%) you are a MCHDYPP. To get Bronze: add another 4 categories, so that you can be tested on 8 (ie 80 facts), in the same way (40 questions). If you get more than 30 out of 40 you get your Bronze Pioneer status.

To get Silver: be familiar with all 120 facts (12 categories). The test will have 60 questions and you must get 50 right.

To arrange a test in one of these three, ask a History teacher. Each test can be spoken or written, and should only take a few minutes.

To get Gold (pretty hard), you must have a working knowledge not only of the information in bold (any of which can be asked), but also of the small print beneath. Two teachers will lead a series of short discussions, testing your understanding of at least six categories: you can pass or fail these discussions. You will also be required to produce two ‘top ten’ lists of your own (including explanatory notes), on subjects approved by history teachers (eg China 1000-2000, or Music 1000-2000). You will have to work on these lists until the teachers are content that they pass the YPC’s high standard.

All tests can be repeated, several times if necessary – you don’t have only one shot at them!

CATEGORY ONE: ‘AGES AND AGES’ – 10 IMPORTANT PERIODS These ones are only ‘rough dates’

1. c.1070-c.1250 – The High Middle Ages

Part of this period has often been called the ‘12th century Renaissance’, and though it is not as famous as the later Italian Renaissance, it was probably more momentous socially and economy. There was a gradual settling of peoples and languages, recognisable states and government bureaucracies, a boom in commerce and development in finance, large-scale building across Europe (for the first time since the Romans) and the growth of towns, the fast development of literary forms, and the first European universities.

2. 1348-late 18th century – Black Death

The Black Death of 1348 was the first of a series of plagues which bedevilled Europe until the late 18th century. It killed about a third of Europe’s population, and was arguably the single greatest human catastrophe in Western history. Its social consequences are otherwise somewhat mysterious, but it seems gradually to have resulted in more social mobility, and enriched artisans and traders. The Black Death may well have coincided with a drop in temperatures across Europe (the ‘Little Ice Age’), though this might have developed later. This cold period continued until the mid-19th century, but the plague became less and less common and disappeared after a Russian outbreak in 1770-2.

3. c.1450-c.1620s – The Age of Discovery: Europe takes over much of the Americas and becomes heavily involved in South and East Asia

The West’s dominant position in the world, which persists to this day, started with the bold development of sea routes as well as a great deal of colonisation, especially in the Americas (eg Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Florida (Spain), Brazil (Portugal)). The most important European powers involved in this were Spain and Portugal, though France, England and the Netherlands gradually became joined the race for trade colonies.

4. 1517 until c. 1650 – The Age of Reformation, Counter-Reformation and religious wars

With these events, the Roman Catholic church lost its hold upon the religious practice of much of northern Europe, and then attempted to counter the new upstart Protestant churches. This did much to define modern states (which tended to support one or other Church), and modern political and philosophical sensibilities. The subsequent wars were some of the biggest and fiercest in western history.

5. 1660s-1790s – The Age of Enlightenment

A period of very rapid development in the sciences (cf the Royal Society in England), philosophy (cf Voltaire and Rousseau in France), and politics (cf the American Constitution and the French Revolution). But it was also a period generally dominated by ‘absolute monarchs’ (like Louis XIV of France) who wielded complete power over their peoples.

6. Around 1750s to the present – The Industrial Revolution

The industrial revolution (which started in England with the growth of mines and factories and only slowly developed abroad) has seen massive technological and social changes: thanks to it, westerners have gradually become longer-lived, more urbanised and crowded, more technologically-minded, and (nowadays) capable of destroying themselves through pollution or through modern weaponry.

7. 1776-1848 – American Revolution (1776), French Revolution (1789), revolutionary wars, and age of revolution across Europe ‘Freedom from tyranny’ became the goal of most western peoples, partly in response to economic and financial pressures, and partly because of the Enlightenment. Revolutions resulting in constitutions and representational government (like democracy) occurred across Europe, though many were short-lived. Between 1792 and 1815 there were major wars between revolutionary France and most of the other European powers (the Napoleonic Wars).

8. Late 18th century-1919 – Major period of the creation of overseas empires by Britain and France

In this period European powers – chiefly Britain and France – gradually gained control of those parts of the world not already run by Europeans: eg India (late 18th-early 19th century), Algeria (1830s), sub-Saharan Africa (1870s-1912), and the Middle East (1919). Few places remained clear of European influence: Europeans even disturbed the ancient empire of China. Japan became the first powerful industrial non-western state.

9. 1914-45 – World War I, World War II, and the interwar crises

The catastrophe of World War One resulted in the collapse of the traditional governments of Europe and brought various extremist governments into play (eg Communist Russia and Fascist Germany). The result of these was World War II (the largest in history), attempted genocide of the Jews and others, and ultimately the collapse of the old European empires (Britain and France, though this occurred after the war).

10. 1945-91 – Cold War and development of EU, Nato, the Communist bloc etc

In this period the Western world was split between its wealthy, capitalist, (mostly) democratic western half (dominated by the USA), and its poor, communist, unfree eastern half (dominated the USSR (Russia)). Western Europe – through the EEC/EU and NATO – became closely linked economically, militarily, to some extent politically. Eastern Europe was forced by the USSR to become even more closely linked, but such links broke up (as did the USSR itself) between 1989 and 1991.

CATEGORY 2: 10 WESTERN CULTURAL/ARTISTIC MOVEMENTS 1. 1000s-1180s – Romanesque in the visual arts (the greatest abbeys); in literature epic ‘chansons’ (eg. Song of Roland)

The period of the 12th century renaissance witnessed the flourishing of the arts in a huge number of centres, more or less related to one another. The visual and literary styles, though often focused on Christianity, frequently loosely ape ancient Rome (hence the terms Romanesque, and ‘romance’ for Roman-style stories). Most striking perhaps is the vast amount of stone building which occurred, and the chief cultural monuments are great abbeys like Cluny. It is hard to generalise about the style since it is so varied: some of the grandest works combine simplicity of overall form with massive complexity of detail (and indeed of ‘message’ – Romanesque sculpture is often obscure).

2. 1140s-1550s – Gothic: Dante, legends of King Arthur, the greatest cathedrals and castles, Giotto

In the visual arts the style started around Paris but spread pretty quickly around Europe. It is often romantic, technically daring, brilliantly coloured and decorated, highly emotional, and keen to express narratives and ideas (chiefly Christian ones but also secular legends) thoroughly and generally clearly, though the philosophical works of the period also deal in complex allegory.

Classic works of the period include Notre Dame of Paris, Siena’s town hall, Arthurian romances by Chretien de Troyes, and Dante’s Divine Comedy.

3. 1420s-1610s – Renaissance: Michelangelo, Leonardo, Shakespeare

The Renaissance, which started in Florence (Italy), saw a conscious revival of classical forms and ideas, not only in the visual arts but also in literature and philosophy. This enabled freer development in science, political thought and theology, with very far-reaching consequences. And religious art, though still important, became less dominant, rivalled as it was by classical ideas. Renaissance buildings often have columns, pediments and domes (like Roman ones); Renaissance painting and sculpture achieved a newly realistic representation of both figures and landscapes, and Renaissance literature is full of classical forms and figures. Renaissance received a further twist when much of northern Europe became Protestant; Reformation-period art was often expressed through the Renaissance stylistic medium.

4. 1600s-1770s – Baroque and Rococo: Bach, Bernini, Rembrandt, Milton

The dramatic and exuberant Baroque style developed in Rome under the patronage of popes and cardinals, partly as a result of the Counter-Reformation which demanded clearer and more spectacular expression of Christian ideas. The Protestant north responded in kind, with similarly rich and grand works. However, the Baroque also appealed to people who wanted beautiful and exciting non-religious art and architecture. The period saw the development of Opera, and a flourish of music both for courts and churches. Rococo is a term to describe a more playful and lightweight mood that affected style in the later period of Baroque.

5. 1660s-19th century – Enlightenment and neoclassical (no clear end date…): Voltaire, Goethe, Mozart

The Enlightenment, with its vast consequences in science, philosophy and political thought also had notable expressions in the arts, and especially in literature. There was a focus on the power of well-constructed argument and ‘reason’, and this is sometimes called the ‘Age of Reason’. In some circles there was a rejection of religion. At the same time there was a renewed neo-classicism (strongly expressed in architecture and the visual arts, but affecting all other arts including fashion!). Some neoclassicism was based on Rome, but increasingly Greece (seen as a more ‘enlightened’ culture) became the model, especially in the early 19th century.

6. 1780s onwards – Romanticism and the Gothic Revival: Rousseau, Wordsworth, Beethoven, Wagner, Pugin, Pre-Raphaelites

The Romantics for the most part rejected ‘the Age of Reason’, focusing instead on the mystical, spiritual and sometimes supernatural properties of events, objects, or people. They argued that things often were not controlled by ‘reason’, not least our own minds. One expression of this was a new love of landscapes; another the growing cult of nationalism, and the construction of semi-mythological ‘national histories’. This was often expressed through a revival of Gothic (associated with the spiritual or supernatural). There was an appreciation of ‘heroes’, and the artist himself was often depicted as a ‘hero’. Romanticism – which taps into many of our psychological needs and interests – remains exceptionally potent, at all levels, to this day.

7. 1850s onwards – Realism: Tolstoy, Flaubert, Manet

Realism, another major cultural strand, tried to express people and things as they really are, not simply by accurate description, but by a full comprehension of the context of their existence.

Many of the meaty 19th century novels attempt this, as well as a great many late 19th century painters, and this movement is very common and prominent to this day.

8. 1900s onwards – Modernism: Stravinsky, Picasso, Eliot, Joyce, the Bauhaus

Modernism is a catch-all term for a large variety of cultural movements and styles, many of which consciously rejected former styles. It is very hard to generalise, but modernism has often involved (a) a deliberate obscurity, ‘difficulty’ and abstraction, (b) an engagement with major political or social issues, often ‘taking the part’ of the poor or dispossessed, (c) a stream-lined stylistic language unencumbered with unnecessary accretions. However, in spite of its purported sympathy with ‘the masses’, modernist writing, art and classical music is often seen as esoteric and elitist, and it has arguably separated the arts from the ‘people’ more than before.

9. 1920s onwards – pop culture (as a mass commercial phenomenon): Hollywood movies, Beatles, TV soap operas

Pop culture has exploded thanks to media such as radio, cinema and television; the ‘easy-on-the-eye’, simple and accessible styles have arguably also been a response to the difficulty of much modernism. A massive rise in youth independence and spending power in the 1950s and 1960s, together with the commercial manipulation of modern capitalism has created an overwhelming culture often based on the short-term tastes and interests of teenagers and the young, though also sometimes expressing potent political and social messages. Its products are generally short-lived and ephemeral, and yet nowadays pop culture is by far the dominant cultural strand of our times.

10.

No specific dates – Folk culture and the ‘vernacular’

All different parts of the West have developed folk or vernacular culture which is more or less related to the mainstream styles discussed above. So ‘vernacular architecture’ (eg thatched cottages) might have the odd classical or Gothic feature; and folk song might reflect famous classical or religious music. Many folk tales echo major literature. However, folk culture and the vernacular have also often directly influenced the other major cultural styles, sometimes unconsciously, sometimes very selfconsciously (for instance in the pseudo-vernacular of early 20th century British suburbs, or the folk tunes that appear in some symphonic music). With the development of media, rapid communications and cheap mass-produced materials, folk culture and the vernacular has gradually declined and in many art forms nearly vanished over the last 100 years or so, though many people are keen to preserve and revive what is left of it.

CATEGORY 3: 10 TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS WITH BIG HISTORICAL CONSEQUENCES 1. 1350s - First decade in which gunpowder was frequently used in battles in the West

Gunpowder saw the gradual decline of the medieval knight as the key figure in warfare and indeed society, because the cost of artillery warfare meant that only national states, rather than individuals, could afford large armies. Moreover, gunpowder made it much easier to the West to dominate the rest of the world over the next centuries.

2. c. 1440s – First printing press (Gutenberg, Germany)

The development of printing made it much easier than it had been to spread ideas, literature, art etc. This had a huge impact on literacy and by extension popular participation in politics and culture.

3. 1450s – First decade of very long oceanic caravel voyages (Henry the Navigator, Portugal)

Before the caravel was invented there was very little scope for westerners to explore the oceans; but its invention resulted in the Age of Discovery, and it was used by explorers such as Da Gama and Columbus, with the result that western powers gradually gained footholds in the rest of the world.

4. 1709 – First blast furnace capable of smelting iron using coke (Darby, UK)

This development meant that coal, rather than wood, could be the main fuel in the production of iron: it was more accessible, more efficient, and more common. The result of this was a boom in the iron and (later) steel industries and the vast development of coal fields: this had enormous consequences in the development of power, machinery, weaponry, transport (trains, ships, cars and planes), construction etc., as well as a huge demographic impact.

5. 1712 – First atmospheric steam engine (Newcomen, UK)

This invention resulted in pumps that could empty mines of water, engines that could drive factory machinery, and eventually (from the 1820s) steam-powered railways that revolutionised the development of industrial, social and commercial infrastructure.

6. 1831 – First electrical power generator (Faraday, UK)

This opened the door to the development of electricity (light bulbs in the 1860s, telephone 1870s, radio in 1890s, electrical fridges 1927), which has been such an essential foundation to modern life.

7. 1837 – First commercially successful electrical telegraph system (Cooke and Wheatstone, UK)

The telegraph system, allowing the transmission of information (by electrical signal) across large areas in next to no time, made the world a ‘much smaller place’, and completely changed the possibilities available to governments, news-reporters and all others wishing to spread information. A related development which expanded this potential of communication yet further was the telephone (1876).

8. 1878 – First commercially successful internal combustion engine (Otto, Germany)

The internal combustion engine was quickly followed by massively influential developments such as the invention of automobiles (cars) in 1885 (Benz – also Germany), early planes (from the beginning of the 20th century) and most rockets.

9. 1945 – First nuclear bomb (Manhattan Project, USA)

The development of nuclear bombs has resulted in a new age in which major states are aware that if they fight one another, civilisation as we know it – and even human life itself – may end.

Arguably this has had a beneficial effect in averting wars. A nightmare for the future is the prospect of a proliferation of these weapons, and their possession by terrorists and rogue states.

10.

1991 – First public internet (Berners-Lee, UK)

At the moment it is hard to ascertain how influential the internet has been/will be: effects include instant access to a vast range of information and learning; dissemination of news, views and events (including lies) – all this could have huge political results; a revolution in banking, trading, and retail; a revolution in working practices.

(This section has been the hardest to compile: too many things are fighting for attention! I’ve found it hard to omit the telephone, the light-bulb, the microchip, plastic, cars, Crompton’s mule, the various early refinements of artillery, key moments in agricultural improvement, key medical improvements. Ah well.)

CATEGORY 4: 10 BIG IDEAS BECOMING REALITY 1. 1095 – Papacy preaches the First Crusade at Clermont, France

About 100,000 people responded and marched towards Jerusalem (in 1099 the few thousand survivors from the gruelling campaigns captured Jerusalem). This event is a key moment in that it shows (a) the Papacy’s assertion of massive power in Europe (a theme of the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods), (b) a newly militant, aggressive and popular approach to religious war, (c) a development in philosophy and theology: death fighting in a religious war could result in a ticket to heaven. A heroic historical mythology rapidly grew around the crusades, and this contributed to the development of medieval western society (chivalry) and culture (through contacts with the East).

2. 1150 – Oldest recorded ‘official’ public debt (Genoa)

A ‘public debt’ is when the state/government borrows from money-lenders and bankers. It sounds bad (and can indeed lead to bankruptcy!), but also gives the state much more financial, economic and military leeway than it would otherwise have – it is argued that Genoa and other Italian cities punched well above its weight because of this. Some historians suggest that Britain’s ascendency over France in the 18th century was due to its ability to ‘raise credit’ by borrowing massively. I’ve also chosen this development as being a huge moment in the history of banking and finance, which has been an essential feature in modern western history.

3. 1525 – John the Constant declares Saxony to be a Protestant state Before this time, the main parts of Europe had almost always followed the Roman Catholic church, answerable spiritually (and to a large extent non-spiritually too!) to the Pope, bishops and monasteries. After Martin Luther challenged the Roman Catholic church in 1517 with his 95 Theses, alternative Protestant churches developed, leading to the Reformation in much of Europe. Saxony (Germany) was the first Protestant Lutheran state. The importance of this lies not only in the momentous religious changes, but also in the assertion of a prince’s political independence from the Church, and the right of a prince to determine the religion of his subjects. It ushers in a period of more-or-less autocratic ‘confessional states’, in which kings and princes around Europe developed strongly centralised governments often based around religion. England gradually developed along these lines a few years later.

4. 1649 – Execution of King Charles I of England

This occurred after due legal process, and represents the victory of parliamentary power over the king, who believed in his ‘divine right’ to rule, and had attempted to override the concerns of his parliament. The result of this was a massive Civil War, which he lost. Kings and rulers had often been deposed and murdered in the past, but never had the law been brought into action to criminalise them: Charles was put on trial by representatives of the people, so ‘power from below’ triumphed over ‘power from above’. When the English monarchy was restored after a phase of republicanism, a similar tension developed, with a similar outcome: the deposition of King James II, and his replacement (in the Glorious Revolution in 1688) by the more parliament-friendly William and Mary. This tension has existed through modern history and is broadly reflected in the modern dichotomy of ‘democracy’ versus ‘dictatorship’.

5. 1789 – Adoption of the American Constitution

‘All men are created equal’ and their ‘inalienable rights’ include ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’. The enlightened values expressed in the American Constitution, which was adopted after the USA had won independence from Britain in the war of 17751783, became a major influence for later reformers and revolutionaries. In particular, the emphasis and conjunction of freedom, equality and individual rights marks a new departure in western government. Almost at once, the revolutionaries in France attempted to enshrine similar values. In practice, it has proved hard for any state to live up to these ideals (the USA itself had a system of slavery even as the constitution was adopted).

However, the ideal has been potent and inspirational, and it has helped to enhance and give stature to democratic and legal developments.

6. 1792 – Establishment of the French Republic: democratic elections, legalized terror, state atheism, and nationalist dictatorship

In this phase of the French Revolution, the ancient monarchy of France was abolished in 1792 (the king was executed in 1793), and a Republic (kingless state in which the ‘people’ are sovereign) was declared. Such developments echoes those in England in 1649 (see above). But the nature of the new government in France mark other particularly important and influential developments. It was elected by universal male suffrage – the most democratic election up to that date in history, and borrowed lots of ideals fuelled by Enlightenment philosophers as well as the recent constitution in America. But soon power was wielded by a small group, increasingly dominated by Robespierre. It rejected, undermined and attacked the Church, becoming the first actively atheist government in the West. It was also the first militantly nationalistic state, identifying the government with France itself. Moreover, much about the short period of Robespierre’s rule seems to foreshadow modern dictatorships, including (a) the personality cult developed around Robespierre, and (b) the reign of terror which resulted in the destruction of many of his enemies (whom he called ‘Enemies of the People’). Many reflections of all these developments have been evident since, not least in the extremist states of the 20th century.

7. 1883 – Germany adopts the ‘Sickness Insurance Law’, making the first important steps towards a welfare state

Most western countries now have developed ‘welfare states’, through which citizens – through tax and insurance payments – receive cheap or free healthcare, education, and other vital services; welfare can also be extended to support those too poor, ill, or old to work. The system first developed in Germany, under the leadership of Kaiser Wilhelm I’s Chancellor Bismarck. The ‘Sickness Insurance Law’ – a precursor to national health systems – was followed by the ‘Accident Insurance Law’ (1884) and the ‘Old Age and Disability Insurance Law’ (1889). The idea – influenced partly by the growing number of people who could vote, and fuelled by socialist theories – has powerfully affected the West, and governments as diverse as Lenin’s (in Russia), Hitler’s (in Germany), and Johnson’s (in America) have all subscribed to this fundamental plank of modern government and society. The scale and function of the welfare state as at the root of a great many debates between the socialist left and capitalist conservative right, and is an important part of all modern western politics.

8. 1907 – Finland holds the first European election in which all adult citizens (men and women) could vote

Finland adopted universal suffrage (in which all adult citizens could vote) in 1906 and its elections in 1907 were the first in fully democratic ones in European history. New Zealand and Australia had introduced universal suffrage in the 1890s; several western states followed, including Russia (1917 – though the Russian democratic system was soon overthrown), and Britain (1918).

France only adopted it in 1944, and the USA (where local laws in many places barred blacks from voting) only achieved it in 1965.

There have been several landmark moments in the development of fully democratic elections; notable ones before this include the 1792 French Republic (which had universal male suffrage), and the 1832 English Reform Act. When considering the potency of this development, we must also think of the actual power of the institutions or individuals elected.

9. 1917 – Russian Revolution and the first modern Communist state

The second of two revolutions in Russia in 1917 occurred in October when the Bolshevik Party, who were Marxist Communists, rapidly took control. They imposed a dramatically new political system which attempted to change the whole social order, by favouring social, legal and political equality under the control of ‘Soviets’, run by industrial working class. This followed the maxims of Karl Marx. Soviet Russia had massive ambitions, seeking to modernise itself very rapidly and spread Marxism over the rest of the developed world. In practice, it soon succumbed to an especially grim dictatorial system of government, and found itself at loggerheads with most of the Western world for the rest of the 20th century. But it influenced Communist revolutions all over the world, and possessed a massive ideological, political and military domination over dozens of other countries, especially after 1945 when Communist Russia defeated Germany. Less extreme forms of socialism, sometimes inspired by developments in Soviet Russia, influenced most other states (including Britain, France and the USA too).

10.

1933 – Beginning of the Nazi Holocaust

‘Genocide’ – the removal and/or destruction of a race is a vastly emotive term and highly controversial. There were arguably European genocides before the Holocaust; and Europeans have arguably brought about genocides elsewhere. However, the Holocaust, in which the Nazis persecuted and then set about systematically murdering all Jews that they could, stands out because Nazi genocidal intentions were absolutely clear, and because of its vast scale (about 6 million Jews were killed). The roots of this genocide come from a poisonous mix of ancient antiSemitism, rampant nationalism, and modern ‘race theory’, by which Darwin’s evolutionary theories (of the ‘survival of the fittest’ were applied to whole races). The Holocaust is a central and defining event for so much of modern European history; however, its horrors have not brought an end to genocide, and there have been others all over the world (including in Europe) since.

CATEGORY 5: GREAT BRITAIN 1. 1066 – Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of England

The result of William of Normandy’s conquest was the creation of a ruling class with continental (specifically Norman French) culture, customs and language. This also affected large parts of Wales, Ireland, and Scotland (the latter through invitation rather than invasion). England also became more politically integrated with the Continent.

2. 1295 – Model Parliament, and Scottish resistance to English aggression

The principle of ‘parliament’ – a formal representative body giving advice to the king – had developed over the 13th century (Magna Carta of 1215 bound the king to uphold rights for his subjects; parliaments themselves had been held since 1258). The Model Parliament was an important milestone in the formal development of the institution. At the same time, Scotland violently rejected English attempts at over-lordship, resulting in three centuries of conflict and the creation of much Scottish national mythology.

Also in 1295 the English defeated a major Welsh uprising, setting their seal on the recent conquest of Wales.

3. 1534 – Acts of Supremacy: Henry VIII becomes Head of the Church in England

Before this, England was a Roman Catholic country; transition to Protestantism was a slow business, but the Acts of Supremacy, which rejected the Pope’s authority in England, represent a key moment. Such a shift had enormous political, social and cultural consequences.

4. 1649 – Execution of Charles I; ascendency of parliamentary, Protestant rule

Charles I’s efforts to ride rough-shod over Parliament resulted in the English Civil Wars; there was an equally fierce war in Scotland. Parliament’s victory led to the first legal execution of a king in the West, and the creation of the English Republic, under Oliver Cromwell.

5. 1707 – Union of England and Scotland

England and Scotland had been governed separately, and often at war with one another (though from 1603 they shared the same king). They had developed along different cultural, political and religious lines. With the Act of Union they joined, and Edinburgh lost its status as a capital city and Scottish MPs sat at Westminster. Social and cultural connections increased thereafter.

6. 1763 – Victory over France in the Seven Years War; subsequent naval and imperial ascendency It’s hard to pick a single date representing the onset of Britain’s ‘ruling of the waves’ and the vastness of the British empire in the late 18th-early 20th centuries, but this victory in 1763 paved the way for Britain’s uncontested control of India, and general domination of the seas. The resulting vast trade, coupled with industrialisation (which needed it to thrive!), ensured a ‘great power’ status far beyond what Britain had before.

7. 1771 – Opening of Cromford Mill, Derbyshire (first water-powered cotton mill)

Another hard date: so many crucial developments took place in the industrial revolution, which started in Britain and which – together with its trade – rapidly made it the world’s wealthiest power in the 19th century. However, I’ve chosen this mill because it is arguably the first modern factory, ie with large-scale machinery worked by hundreds of people. Technologically, socially and culturally this represents a key moment in the shift from the pre-industrial to the industrial world.

8. 1832 – Reform Act

This was the first attempt to broaden the franchise (those who could vote) and rationalise parliamentary seats for centuries: it resulted in more voters, less corruption and more accountability, and – eventually – a series of acts increasing the franchise until in 1918 universal franchise was achieved and all adult men and women could vote.

9. 1918 – British victory in World War One, and universal suffrage

Britain’s decision to enter the war ended a long period of relative isolation. The many results of this victory included the temporary crushing of a threatening Germany, (b) a central role for Britain in the subsequent European crises after the war, (c) heavy involvement in World War Two, (d) gradual economic exhaustion and loss of empire, (e) long-term partnership with France, (f) the decline of the ruling class and the gradual rise of the welfare state, (g) the traumatic loss of a high proportion of young men, (h) the creation of much ‘national mythology’ from both wars. Also in 1918 British developed universal suffrage; women were given the right to vote.

10.

1947 – India becomes independent from Britain

Britain’s exhaustion after two world wars, together with rising nationalism, resulted in the gradual collapse of the British empire; India, the most important colony, was also the first major nonwhite colony to go free. One result of the loss of empire was Britain’s greater economic and political engagement with its European allies, and its close military connection with America.

CATEGORY 6: FRANCE 1. 1095 – Preaching of the First Crusade

The majority of the crusaders were French, and they were known as the ‘Franks’. The French formed colonies in the Holy Land.

Several crusades followed this one, most involving France.

Crusading became an important part of both religious and secular society.

2. 1214 – Victory over the Holy Roman Empire (Germany) at the Battle of Bouvines

Up to this time, the French kings had struggled to assert their power over France, which was fragmented and partly dominated

by England, Germany and lots of semi-independent lords. The battle also confirmed the French king’s takeover of Normandy and other French lands (previously held by the English king until 1204). Around this time France became generally the strongest state in Europe, and its culture was also increasingly dominant (Gothic, Paris University, chivalric romances etc.)

3. 1453 – Victory over England in the Hundred Years War

Wars with England since 1337 had frequently created chaos in France, which had suffered serious defeats. In 1453 England was expelled from all of France except Calais. This paved the way for a much stronger, more centralised state. After this, France remained the dominant and most influential state of Continental Europe until the 19th century.

4. 1682 – Court moves to the palace of Versailles, under Louis XIV

Louis XIV (‘the Sun King’) is the most famous French king, the pivot of European affairs, and the epitome of the ‘absolute monarch’. The removal of his government to Versailles marks a new level of centralised, bureaucratic government. The sumptuous Baroque culture of Versailles was much imitated by other European princes.

5. 1789 – Start of the French Revolution, fall of the Bastille, and mob control of the monarchy

France’s revolutionary ‘Constituent Assembly’ swept away the traditional social foundations of the country, in the name of freedom and equality. Crowds of angry people stormed the Bastille prison-fortress (a symbol of tyranny), stormed Versailles and brought the royal family back to Paris, where they were under the control of ‘the people’. This eventually led to the trial and execution of the king (1793), the setting up of a nationalistic republic, and then Napoleon’s dictatorship and the Napoleonic wars.

6. 1815 – Defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo

This marked the beginning of the end of France as Europe’s greatest power, its final failure militarily to dominate the Continent (which operated until 1914 as a ‘Concert of Nations’ in balance), and indeed the world (Britain had the ‘lion’s share’ of colonies and trade routes).

7. 1871 – Defeat by Prussia, and temporary establishment of revolutionary ‘Commune’

Prussia’s 1871 victory (which led to the creation of Germany), was a major humiliation for France: it also resulted in the final triumph of French republicanism over kings or emperors, and the rise of militant, vengeful nationalism. There was also a brief and influential experiment with socialism in the uprising of the Paris ‘Commune’. The complex political whirlwind of these years was mirrored for decades by France’s explosively vigorous cultural life.

8. 1914 – German invasion in World War One

France survived the German invasion of August 1914 by the skin of its teeth: in the subsequent war the anger and fear caused by the immense damage inflicted upon France (including 1.3 million dead) fuelled the imposition upon Germany of a fractious peace settlement (the Treaty of Versailles, 1919), which in turn fed the instability of inter-war Europe.

9. 1940 – Defeat by Germany

France was the first major European country to be completely defeated and occupied by another power since Napoleonic times.

This disaster exposed serious rifts in French society and politics; it also exhausted France economically, so that after the war its North African and Far Eastern empire gradually broke away.

10.

1957 – Founder member of the EEC

Post-war France made an ‘about turn’ in its relations with Germany and won a measure of European leadership again: it teamed up with Germany and other powers to create the EEC (which became the EU), which is sometimes described as being ‘a French jockey on a German horse’! It also integrated more-orless closely with NATO, the western military alliance. At the same time, the key French colony, Algeria, was attempting to break free.

CATEGORY 7: SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 1. 1031 – Collapse of the Muslim Caliphate of Cordoba (which had until then dominated Spain)

Spain had been conquered by Muslims in the 8th century, and the Caliphate of Cordoba was a powerful and highly cultured state.

Its collapse resulted in much weaker, fragmented Muslim kingdoms, which were picked away and gradually taken over by the various Christian kingdoms which were developing in northern Spain (including Portugal). Without this development, Spain might well be a Muslim country today with more in common with North Africa than with France.

2. 1212 – Christian victory over the Muslims at Las Navas de Tolosa This was probably the most decisive moment of the Christian ‘Reconquest’ of Muslim Spain: a great field battle, with much of the atmosphere of a ‘holy war’. Fifty years later, only the land around Granada was left in Muslim hands. Meanwhile, the Christian kingdoms of Aragon and Castile became some of Europe’s strongest and richest powers.

3. 1492 – Fall of Muslim Granada to the Catholic Monarchs; discovery of the Americas (Columbus); expulsion of the Jews from Spain.

The fall of Granada marked the end of the Christian Reconquest of Spain, and ushered in a period of more aggressive Catholicism which was intolerant of other religions (hence the expulsion of the Jews, and religious persecution under the Inquisition). In the same year Columbus sailed to the West Indies (with enormous future consequences for Spain and the world). And soon afterwards Castile and Aragon formally united to become the kingdom of Spain.

4. 1497 – Vasco da Gama sails to India from Portugal

The kingdom of Portugal remained separate from Spain, and expanded into the Atlantic from the 1450s. However, enormous wealth and power were won by Portugal after its discovery of a sea route to India (around Africa), and the establishment of trading bases and colonies in the East.

5. 1519 – Union of Spain, Austria, Netherlands, part of Italy under Charles V; Cortes campaigns in Mexico The widespread inheritance of the Hapsburg Emperor Charles V included Spain: from this date until the 17th century Spain was a major power not only in the Mediterranean but also in northern and central Europe. In the same year the ‘Conquistador’ Cortes landed in Mexico with his small band: he conquered the Aztec Empire two years later, and in the following decades Spain gained control of much of central and south America, with colossal consequences for the history of the world.

6. 1588 – Defeat of the Spanish Armada

Spain’s attempts to remain in command of the Netherlands and to interfere in northern European affairs received a major blow when the Armada fleet was destroyed by England. The defeat of the Armada also reflects the gradual ascendency of other European powers to rival Spain’s trans-Atlantic trade and control. Spain itself became increasingly insular, and went into a long and gradual economic decline.

7. 1812 – Constitution of the Cortes of Cadiz

This Cortes (‘courts’/parliament) of Cadiz, formulated during the Napoleonic wars which had devastated Spain, promised much more liberal government, including an end to the Spanish Inquisition, and a system of rights for Spanish subjects. In fact, conflicts between Liberal and non-Liberal forces resulted in conflicts and instability culminating in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.

8. 1821 – Loss of Mexico

Many Spanish colonies rejected the liberal constitution put forward by the Cortes of Cadiz, and several became independent of Spain over the next few decades, including Peru, Argentina, Chile and Mexico.

9. 1939 – Establishment of right-wing dictatorship in Spain by Franco

This occurred immediately after Franco’s victory in the Spanish civil war. A few years earlier, Salazar had established a similar right-wing dictatorship in Portugal. Franco represented the conservative parts of Spanish society: rural, Catholic, monarchist, and illiberal, as opposed to his republican, cosmopolitan, radical and socialist enemies. His government was grim and repressive, and Spain became more insular and economically stagnant.

10.

1986 – Spain and Portugal join the EU

The entry of these countries into the European Union allowed them to boost their struggling economies and to join much more closely with European and world affairs. The move also reflected the success and stability of democracy, which had only been developed since the death of their dictators in the 1970s.

CATEGORY 8: ITALY 1. 1071 – Norman victory over Byzantines at Bari, and establishment of north European control of southern Italy

Unlike northern Italy, the South (including Naples and Sicily) spent most of its history until the 19th century being directly ruled by foreign kings or emperors. The capture of Bari marked the end of Byzantine Greek rule over the area (dating from the Roman Empire), and resulted in the cultural ascendency of Catholicism, as well as the social and political systems of the West and North.

2. 1077 – Papacy under Gregory VII forces the Holy Roman emperor Henry IV to kneel in the snow outside Canossa Castle

Medieval Italian history is dominated by a struggle for control between the Holy Roman Empire (with its German emperors) and the Papacy. Indeed the struggle was played out across Europe between the Papacy and kings. This event in 1077 reflects the new power of the vigorous ‘reform papacy’, which declared its precedence over all other European rulers and launched the First Crusade (in France) eighteen years later.

3. 1176 – Battle of Legnano and assertion of citystate control of the north, against the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa

Many of the rich cities of northern Italy wished to be independent from German imperial rule, and they often sided with the Pope (whose influence in their governments tended to be less direct).

At this battle the imperial cause was badly damaged, and the system of independent city states that dominated Italy until early modern times was consolidated.

4. 1439 – Council of Florence

This church council (which started in Basel, then moved to Ferrara before ending up in Florence) was not in itself outstanding (though the eastern and western churches were united briefly). But it marks a moment in which Florence took centre stage culturally – the artistic and philosophical innovation and developments of the Florentine renaissance (which had been developing apace) had enormous repercussions in Italy and then across Europe. The Renaissance itself was also given new impetus by the Byzantine (Greek) scholars who came to the council.

5. 1494 – Invasion of Italy by France; beginning of Italian wars Between 1494, when France invaded, and the 1850s Italy was largely dominated by external powers: its old city states were mostly gobbled up and passed around between France, Spain and Austria. Even Rome was sacked, by German troops (in 1527).

6. 1545 – Council of Trent opens

The papacy responded to the Protestant Reformation that had gripped northern and central Europe by launching a ‘CounterReformation’, at the Council of Trent, which forcefully asserted Roman Catholicism and sought to renew the church through education, forms of worship, religious orders such as the Jesuits, and political guidelines for Catholic states. Most involved in the Council were from Italy or Spain; this helped to broaden the religious, cultural and political gulf between northern and southern European states.

7. 1797 – Treaty of Campo Formio

The treaty cemented Napoleon’s gains in northern Italy; over the next years Napoleon subdued the various parts of Italy which turned into French puppet states. The details are complex, and most were reversed after Napoleon’s defeat in 1815 – however, the importance of all this lies in the upheavals he caused to ancient political structures (the Republic of Venice was finally ended, and the city given to Austria), and also the introduction of French revolutionary ideas to Italy. Some of these were picked up by revolutionaries after 1815, and they contributed to the eventual Unification of Italy.

8. 1861 – Foundation of the state of Italy, after the unification of most component Italian states

Italy had not been ‘unified’ since early Byzantine times (except briefly under Napoleon), and had never been a single political entity ruled by Italians. It was welded together through the 19th century (and especially the 1850s) in the tortuous, complex (and in large part mythological!) Risorgimento, which resulted from political opportunism, nationalism, and the conflicts of France and Austria. It was been a coherent state ever since.

9. 1922 – Mussolini becomes Prime Minister, and gradually Fascist dictator of Italy

Mussolini, who had cemented his rule and banned all opposition by 1925, brought an end to the chaos and instability of post-war Italy by establishing a brutal police state based upon his own cult of personality and run by his Fascist party. He was also nationalistic and imperialist, invading Ethiopia in 1935 but then being overwhelmed in World War II (in which he was allied to Hitler) by Britain and America. Severe conflict engulfed the whole of Italy in World War II.

10.

1949 – Founder member of NATO

After Mussolini’s dictatorship and the poverty and instability of the war years there were fears that Italy might turn Communist.

However, a centrist party won the 1948 election and the Italian economy was greatly helped by American loans (part of the Marshall Plan). Italy’s place in the western capitalist camp was assured by its joining the American-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, and in 1957 it was a founder member of the EEC.

CATEGORY 9: GERMANY 1. 1226 – Teutonic knights invited to fight crusading wars in north-east Poland

This resulted in the expansion of German cultural and political influence in Prussia, parts of Poland, Lithuania and the Baltic area, known as the ‘Drang nach Osten’ (the ‘desire to push east’).

The Teutonic knights were military monks, a crusading order like the Templars. Prussia became a German heartland (and yet was contested until it was lost in 1945), and eventually became the most important German power, and the knights’ Drang nach Osten inspired much later German policy, especially in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

2. 1250 – Death of Emperor Frederick II

Since the 9th century Germany had generally functioned as the major part of a powerful empire (the Holy Roman Empire), which also ruled much of Italy and central Europe. Frederick II, described in one account as ‘stupor mundi’ (the wonder of the world) was the last really powerful medieval German emperor.

After his death, smaller German political units (which had already been rearing their heads) became increasingly independent and Germany remained fragmented until the mid-late 19th century.

3. 1517 – Martin Luther’s 95 theses

These complaints at the abuses and corruption of the Roman Catholic church were posted upon the door of All Saints’ Church, Wittenberg. They struck a chord in much of Germany, and their rejection by the Roman Catholic church sparked Lutheran Protestantism, and the Reformation. This divided Germany, exacerbating political divisions and creating cultural ones; the same revolution subsequently spread across Europe, and much of northern and central Europe was mired in severe religious wars until the mid-17th century.

4. 1648 – Peace of Westphalia

Between 1618 and 1648 the most bloody of all the religious wars, the Thirty Years War, was fought between European powers on German soil. At the end of it Germany remained politically and religiously very divided, but the Peace accorded respect to the sovereign of each area, thereby diminishing the role of external powers such as Habsburg Austria or Sweden.

5. 1815 – Prussia and Britain defeat Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo; Congress of Vienna concludes

Prussia had become the most powerful German state, a kingdom and a ‘great power’ in the 18th century. Its ascendency and status were confirmed with its victories over Napoleon at Leipzig (1813) and Waterloo, and it played a major part in the post-war organisation of European affairs at the Congress of Vienna, from which it benefited greatly.

6. 1871 – Prussian victory in the Franco-Prussian War, Unification of Germany and creation of the German Empire

Prussian victory over Austria in 1866 gave it undisputed leadership in Germany, and after France was defeated it unified Germany, its king now becoming the German Kaiser Wilhelm I. As a single nation Germany became one of the world’s biggest economies and its biggest military power. It played a central role in European affairs, and its ambitions, unpredictability and aggression helped to cause World War One.

7. 1919 – Treaty of Versailles after Germany loses World War One; collapse of German Empire

After the enormous physical, economic and psychological losses of World War One, Germany was left poor and very unstable, and many felt humiliated, betrayed, and vengeful. A series of crises eventually resulted in the collapse of democratic government and takeover by the extreme nationalist Hitler in 1933.

8. 1941 – German invasion of the Soviet Union (Russia) for ‘Lebensraum’; acceleration of mass murder in the Holocaust; declaration of war upon the USA

In this year Hitler turned the serious European war he had started in 1939 into a World War, by invading the Soviet Union and declaring war on America. The particular ingredients of the invasion of the Soviet Union had been present in Nazi ideology from the first: a desire for more ‘living space’ for the German people, and the ruthless enslavement or destruction of other peoples (including Russians and other Slavs and especially Jews, the murder of whom accelerated massively in this year). By declaring war on the Soviet Union and the USA Hitler also probably sowed the seeds of his own destruction – they were too big for him.

9. 1945 – Germany loses World War Two

Much of Germany was physically destroyed by Allied invasions from East and West. Germany was left shrunken and divided at the peace settlements at the end of the war, and soon become two countries: the Communist East Germany (an oppressive and poor country under the thumb of the Soviet Union), and the capitalist, democratic West Germany (a rich country which became part of the EEC/EU, and NATO). Germany lost its military force, and became a crucial strategic platform for NATO (in the West) and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pack (in the East).

10.

1990 – Unification of East and West Germany

The two Germanys united after Communism collapsed in 1989.

The fall of the Berlin Wall, which had divided Berlin into the Communist east and the capitalist west, became a symbol of the end of the Communist empire, and – for some – even of an ‘end of history’ (though this proved premature!). The new Germany became by far Europe’s biggest economic power, and increasingly offers leadership across Europe.

CATEGORY 10: AUSTRIA AND SOUTH-EAST EUROPE 1. 1204 – Temporary conquest of Constantinople in the 4th Crusade; fragmentation of the Byzantine Empire

The 4th Crusade (chiefly French and Italians) had meant to reconquer Jerusalem, but a series of events led to its conquest of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire (which was all that was left of the Roman Empire). The Byzantines had already been battered by the Turks, but the crusader victory led to temporary French and Italian rule in much of the area, and the empire never again recovered its strength; gradually the Turks picked away at it.

2. 1278 – The Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph I becomes duke of Austria (beginning of Habsburg Austria)

Austria was one of a large number of Germanic duchies and principalities, but its connection of its ruling family (the Habsburgs) with the Holy Roman Empire would prove lasting: from the 15th to the 19th centuries the Habsburgs were nominal overlords of Germany. They also gradually developed their own Austrian Empire in central and south-eastern Europe.

3. 1453 – Conquest of Constantinople by the Turks; end of the Byzantine Empire The Ottoman Turks had already conquered lands in Europe, as well as most of modern-day Turkey, when they finally extinguished the Byzantine Empire in 1453. After this date their objectives broadened: domination of Egypt, of the Mediterranean world, and indeed of much of Europe (they conquered Hungary and most of the Balkan states and besieged Vienna, the Austrian capital, in 1529).

4. 1683 – Battle of Vienna – Turks defeated by Hapsburg Emperors

From the late 16th century Turkish power, which was highly threatening to central and southern Europe, began to wane. Their last major effort to expand was the 1683 siege of Vienna, in which the city was saved by an international coalition. The Turks were never so frightening again, and the Austrian (Habsburg) empire conquered large territories from them, including Hungary.

5. 1774 – Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji: Ottomans give Russia the Crimea and the right to interfere with Orthodox Christians in their Empire This treaty gave Russia a naval presence on the Black Sea, and set a precedent for Russian interference with Slav Orthodox populations in areas like Bulgaria and Serbia. Russian ambitions in the area weakened the Ottomans and frightened much of Europe, especially Britain: Russian aggression was checked in 1853-6 (the Crimean War) and after the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-8 (Congress of Berlin). Russia’s promise to protect Serbia from Austria in 1914 contributed to the outbreak of World War One, and related crises flare up to this day.

6. 1815 – Congress of Vienna concludes

The Austrian capital was the setting for the settlements that followed the Napoleonic wars: Prince Metternich, the Austrian Foreign Minister, called many of the shots and engineered a stable ‘balance of power’ between the main European states.

Metternich’s approach was conservative and reactionary, rejecting revolutionary principles: this suited the sprawling Austrian Empire, which was made up of a great mix of nationalities and religions.

7. 1878 – Congress of Berlin: dismemberment of much of the European Ottoman Empire and creation of new states including Romania, Bulgaria and Macedonia

The crumbling Ottoman Turks had already lost control of Greece and Serbia, and at the Congress of Berlin they lost most of the land they still possessed in south-east Europe. New countries such as Romania and Bulgaria were recognised, and an effort was made to bring stability to the area but to keep Russia at bay.

Another important legacy was that Bosnia (with its large Serb population) was given to Austria. The new states were aggressive and fought wars with the Ottomans and with one another; a quarrel between Austria and Serbia over Bosnia sparked World War One.

8. 1918 – Defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire in World War One

The two great empires which had dominated south-eastern Europe were both defeated at the end of World War One, and destroyed by treaties and conflicts thereafter: their emperors forced into retirement, and their land dismembered. Austria became a small state; its empire several more small states (Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia etc); the rump of the Ottoman empire became the Turkish Republic (after a fierce war with Greece).

9. 1945 – Occupation of most south-east European states by the Soviet army

Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938 and took control of southeastern Europe in 1940-1 (several countries in the area joined the German side in the war). At the end of the war the Soviet (Russian) Red Army occupied most south-eastern European countries, and over the next few years pro-Soviet Communist governments, repressive and economically incompetent, were installed. These cut the area off from the western capitalist world.

Exceptions included Greece (where Communists were defeated in a civil war) and Turkey.

10.

1989 – Collapse of Soviet authority in the area

Soviet authority collapsed in 1989, and the countries mostly had more-or-less peaceful revolutions and transitions to democracy, though wars were fought between Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and other areas which made up Yugoslavia (a country created after World War One. Several joined the EU between 2004 and 2013.

CATEGORY 11: RUSSIA AND ITS SATELLITES 1. 1051 – Ilarion becomes first Slav (ie not Greek) Archbishop of Kiev

The first kingdom of ‘Rus’ developed along the trade route of the River Dvina and Dnieper which linked Viking Scandinavia with the Byzantine Empire. Kievan Rus (the historical core of Ukraine) converted to Orthodox Christianity under Byzantine (Greek) tutelage in 980 (a bigger date! – but before 1000 so it doesn’t qualify…); Ilarion’s appointment as Archbishop marks a key step towards the development of a home-grown governmental structure, and a step away from Greek culture.

2. 1240 – Sack of Kiev by the Mongols

Kievan Rus developed under Byzantine and increasingly western influence until it was overwhelmed by Mongol invasions.

Thereafter, until the end of the Middle Ages, much of old Russia was dominated by the Mongol ‘Golden Horde’; the result was that it was mostly cut off from engagements with western culture.

However, the kingdom of Muscovy (Moscow) developed to the north-east, and this became the core of a future Russian state.

3. 1547 – Coronation of Ivan IV (‘the Terrible’) as Tsar of All Russia

This reflects the development of autocratic rule in Muscovy; and unbridled autocratic rule has been a feature of Russian rule for almost the whole period since! Ivan was crowned emperor (Tsar) by the Orthodox church; he crushed the power of his nobles, and ruled by terror. He created a remarkably centralised system quite unlike the fragmented lands of much of the West.

4. 1703 – Peter the Great founds St Petersburg

Russian remoteness and extreme traditionalism meant that western political, philosophical, cultural and scientific developments left it well behind in the 17th century. Peter the Great, a Tsar with astonishing energy and ambition, did his utmost to force Russia into modernity, by copying western ways.

The new city of St. Petersburg, based on western cities like Amsterdam, close to sea routes to the West, became capital of Russia.

5. 1812 – Battle of Borodino; the sting removed from the French invasion of Russia

Napoleon’s invasion of Russia ended with the destruction of Napoleon’s Grand Army, and indeed was a major cause of his ultimate defeat. The Battle was a ‘draw’, but France was badly weakened by it. From Russia’s point of view, it represented a moment of major national pride, and encouraged national mythmaking and distrust of the West. The golden age of Russian literature and music – and much of Russian identity – dates from the decades following this.

6. 1861 – Great Emancipation Act, the serfs freed

Most Russians had been serfs (slaves), at least since the system was consolidated in the 17th century; without incentives or wealth, Russian agriculture was failing to keep up with a rising population, and without freedom and fluidity in the workforce, Russia failed to trade or industrialise as the West was. The freeing of the serfs, though in some ways limited, eventually opened the door to such developments. The freeing of the serfs also led to massive changes in the law, in army organisation, and in education.

7. 1891 – Beginning of construction of the TransSiberian railway; major famine

Russian industrial development was extremely fast in the 1890s and 1900s, and the construction of the railway allowed much quicker access across Siberia (full of natural resources and geopolitical potential in the Far East). Russia had long nominally controlled the area; now it could mine it properly and fight Far Eastern wars. In the same year there was a major famine, which brought into focus the need for Russia to develop.

8. 1917 – Russian Revolutions and establishment of Communism in Russia

The human and economic cost of World War One, together with rising dislike of an incompetent government caused the collapse of the monarchy in February 1917 and its replacement by a liberal Provisional Government. However, in the very stressed circumstances it collapsed in October in the face of a wellorganised coup by the Bolshevik Communists under Lenin. Lenin introduced a very radical new system focusing on rapid Communist modernisation. His harsh and repressive methods were echoed and augmented by Stalin, under whom Russia industrialised very quickly, but at great human cost (perhaps 15 million lives, but no one knows).

9. 1943 – Soviet Russian victories over the Nazis at Stalingrad and Kursk

The positive aspect of Stalin’s industrialisation was that he could defeat Nazi Germany, which invaded in 1941 with plans to enslave and gradually to destroy the Russian population. The massive victories at Stalingrad (1942-3 and Kursk 1943) saw Soviet Russia drive the Germans away: the Russians proceeded to occupy half of Germany and most of eastern and southeastern Europe, whose populations were subjected to harsh Communism. These victories heralded Soviet Russia’s status as one of two ‘super-powers’. The other was the USA, and the military and political rivalry called the Cold War occurred between them.

10.

1991 – Collapse of the Soviet Union

In the Cold War (see the last entry), Soviet Russia spread its form of repressive and dictatorial Communism over half of Europe and several other countries. In the 1980s its economy (far behind that of the West) started to collapse; efforts to improve the economy, partly through more liberal politics, resulted in the rapid departure of most countries from the Soviet sphere of influence, and the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union and Communism itself. The Russian empire fragmented, and a fragile democracy developed, though it was weakened by incessant corruption and has now mostly collapsed itself. Watch this space.

CATEGORY 12: USA 1. 1565 – Foundation (by the Spanish) of St Augustine, Florida; the first permanent European settlement in the area of the present USA Though the Vikings had a short-lived colony in the area, and the Spanish had explored large parts of it in the early 16th century, the little town of St Augustine was the first permanent European settlement.

2. 1607 – Foundation of Jamestown, first permanent English settlement in the area of the present USA

Though the Spanish, the French and the Dutch also developed colonies in the area, the most important (the Thirteen Colonies) were English, and hugged the east coast. The earliest colony (Virginia) contains Jamestown and dates from 1607 – the last (Georgia) from 1733. They were autonomous units, but nominally under the English government, to whom they owed tax. Other famous colonies included New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. They are now thirteen of the modern ‘states’.

3. 1776 – American Declaration of Independence

Growing resentment towards the British government, which demanded tax but gave no parliamentary representation to the colonists, resulted in a declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America. Britain fought hard to keep the colonies (American War of Independence), but was defeated in 1783, partly because France which came to the aid of the colonists. The American Constitution, drafted in the years afterwards, was adopted in 1789.

4. 1803 – Louisiana purchase

The United States of America, which was before this time limited to the east coast and its hinterland, nearly doubled in size when the huge central part of the area (including the Mississippi Valley and the plains as far as the Rockies) was bought from Napoleon (some of the area had been colonised by France, hence New Orleans). This purchase immeasurably increased the USA’s potential power and wealth, and opened the door to further westward expansion.

5. 1848 – USA gains California and the south-east states from Mexico; gold rush starts in California The USA’s victory over Mexico resulted in the latter ceding California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and other areas; after this, they were fully incorporated into the USA. They had been thinly populated and generally poor, but in 1848 gold was discovered in California, leading to a tremendous gold rush, an economic boom and mass immigration, not only from the eastern USA, but from China. Since this time, California has been one of the world’s richest areas.

6. 1865 – Union victory in the American Civil War

In the American Civil War the Union (northern states) defeated the Confederacy (southern states), which had been attempting independence. The latter retained a system of slavery for its vast black population and believed that it was economically essential and socially desirable; the Union (with President Lincoln in charge) was opposed to this, and slavery was abolished by law in 1863 and in practice after the Union victory. However, two tier legal systems and massive discrimination existed against blacks (especially in former Confederacy states) until major inroads were made by the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

7. 1917 – Declaration of war on Germany

Though the USA (by this time the world’s largest economy) enjoyed a massive trade with Britain and other states, and developed its own informal empire in the Far East, it had remained militarily aloof from the other major powers. However, Germany foolishly provoked it into joining the western allies in World War One. Not only did this tip the balance in favour of the Allies, who subsequently won, but for the first time the USA was brought into play as the world’s biggest and most dominant military power, with resultant influence at the peace conferences of 1919. However, the USA chose isolationism again immediately afterwards.

8. 1941 – The bombing of Pearl Harbour, Hawaii: Japan and Germany make war on the USA

Since the Japanese attack upon the US fleet at Pearl Harbour the USA has abandoned isolationism and been closely involved in world affairs. The attack resulted in the massive deployment of American military power in several Continents, and the eventual defeat of Germany and Japan. Involvement in the war also heralded a vast economic boom which pulled the USA out of the deep Great Depression it had suffered since the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

9. 1945 – Atomic bombs dropped on Japan

The advent of the nuclear warfare marked a further crucial turning point in US and world history. With such military and economic might, nobody could now militarily seriously threaten the USA (the first ‘super-power’), which was able to defend and rebuild western Europe, Japan and much of Korea after the war, and to exert military control in much of the world. However, Soviet Russia also possessed nuclear bombs in 1949, and the subsequent arms race resulted in the potential for world destruction in a military conflict between the USA and the Soviets – I think that this potential, more than anything else, kept the ‘Cold War’ cold.

10.

1990 – Opening of McDonalds on Red Square, Moscow

The post-war USA saw unprecedented economic growth, and no major state has ever experienced such massed wealth (though there is still a massive division between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’). More or less unbridled capitalism and an aggressive consumer-based economy has flooded almost the whole world with American culture and goods (Hollywood and pop music, coca-cola etc etc.). A symbol of this economic domination (reflecting the victory of US capitalism over Soviet Communism in the Cold War) was the opening of McDonalds burger bar on the main square in Moscow.

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