Revolutions and New Nations {1825-1900}

{Previous history posts: The Rise of the Dutch, Islamic Empires in the Renaissance, The French Revolution, Italy in the Renaissance, South Africa, The Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties in China, Medieval Japan , Russia-Expanding and Modernizing }

We have been going through world history in a bit of a whirlwind, as we are trying to wrap up last year's studies and begin our new year of history and geography.

The inspiration for this map-timeline combination came from Sybille of  Buntglas and Buntmund (Colorful Moon). Ours is not as good as hers yet, but we are working toward it.

I vaguely sketched out the continents on a two page spread in a timeline book. Then the boys and I went through their history text and picked out the details and applied them to the map. They colored the area and wrote beside it the dates and what happened.
This was a family project, each adding a bit to it. We basically covered all the major world events from 1825 up to right before World War I.

South America's Independence

In the early 1800's Simon Bolivar and San Martin helped to win independence for many countries in South America, that had previously been ruled by Spain and Portugal. Portugal allowed Brazil to become a separate country but the Spanish fought for control of the land in South America. By 1830 all the South American colonies became independent.

Europe in Unrest

In 1827 the Greeks who lived in the Ottoman Empire decided to fight against the Turkish rulers. The defeated the Turks and formed the country of Greece.

Beginning in the year 1848, there began many revolutions in Europe, one seemingly sparking another.

It began in France because there weren't enough jobs and enough food, and thinking about the French Revolution, they attempted to solve their problems with a revolution.

Count Cavour took over and united northern states of Italy and Garibaldi took over southern states of Italy. In 1860 Cavour and Garibaldi agreed to join their countries together to form the nation of Italy.

Also in the 1860's, the ruler of Prussia, King Wilhelm I (with Otto Von Bismark) gradually took control of a greater area, winning victories against Austria and France. Germany was born with Wilhelm as the first kaiser.

Dividing Up Africa

The new nations of Italy and Germany were eager to build up empires for themselves and began taking over areas of Africa. The rest of Europe also began dividing up Africa, leaving only Ethiopia and Liberia under native African rule.

In 1841 David Livingstone began to explore and map Africa. 

The African people whose land the Boers seized to form Transvaal and the Orange Free State were called the Zulus. For many years the Zulus tried to win back their homeland from the Boers but the British helped the Boers and the Zulus were defeated in 1879.

In 1889 war broke out between Britain and the Boers over the land they had taken, and in 1902 Britain won the Boer war.

Raj in India, or a Rebellion That Did Not Succeed

The East India Company had taken control of India but in 1857 some Indian soldiers in Bengal began a rebellion. The English defeated the rebels and India became an important part of the British Empire. The British built roads, railways and schools in India, and lots of British families began to live in India.

The Ch'ing Dynasty

The Opium War

Prior to the 1720's, Europe, eager to get Chinese goods, were paying the Manchus silver, but then they began paying them with a drug called Opium instead. Many Chinese people smoked opium, but the Manchu Dynasty disapproved and in 1813 the drug was banned. The British, however, continued selling opium to the Chinese merchants and the Manchu government banned all trade with Britain. Britain retaliated by attacking China, easily defeating them. Soon other European countries began forcing the Chinese to trade with them. Christian missionaries began to enter China. 

The Taiping Rebellion

The Manchu dynasty became weak and a violent revolution known as the Taiping Rebellion broke out. The peasants were eventually defeated and the Manchu emperors regained control in 1864. 

The Boxer Rebellion

In 1900, a secret society of warriors known as the Boxers stared attacking Europeans and Chinese Christians. The Manchu government supported the Boxers, hoping the would get rid of the foreigners. The European soldiers defeated the Boxers, making the government even weaker.

In 1911 a revolution broke out with the Kuomitang taking over and setting up a republic in China.

Meii Restoration in Japan

Japan had also been cut off from the world since the mid-1600's. In 1854 Commodore Perry forced the shogun to sign a trading agreement with the United States. Other nations followed suit and Japan began trade with several western countries. Most of the samurai hated the western traders and blamed the Tokugawas for allowing it. In 1868 the samurai helped the Japanese emperor to take control of Japan.

Japan Takes Over Korea

In 1894, Japan fought and won Korea from China, but then had to fight the Russians for its control in 1904. They won again, and also gained some land in China.

 Usborne Encyclopedia of World History

The Russian Revolution Begins

Russia had been ruled by the tsar who lived in wealth while the common people were in poverty. Many unhappy Russians wanted a change but could not agree as to how the change should go. One group of revolutionaries was led by Lenin. In 1903 workers marched to the tsar's palace to protest. The army fired on the protesters killing over a hundred people. Workers across Russia went on strinke. Tsar Nicholas set up a parliament to appease the protesters, but make sure it had very little actual power.

books:

• Simon Bolivar, Frank De Varona
• David Livingstone: Africa's Trailblazer, Janet Benge
• The Zulus, Robert Nicholson
• Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun, Rhonda Blumberg (age 8 and up)
• Shipwrecked! The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy, Rhonda Blumberg (4th grade and up)
• Usborne History of the World