Pied-noir was a term used to describe French citizens living in Algeria before the Algerian War befan in 1954. One million pied-noirs left Algeria prior to independence in 1962. Many members of this group would ultimately end up between nations, alientated both from the newly independent Algeria from which they fled, and mainland France, the country of their cultural origin, to which they were strangers.

Bohemia remained within the Austrian Empire at the time of German unification. Baden and Bavaria were both incorporated into Germany in 1871 as a condition of the Treaty of Frankfurt.

British Prime Minister Robert Peel attempted a program of public works. He tried to repeal the Corn Laws and failed initially, but ultimately succeeded. Prime Minister Lord John Russell maintained that laissez-faire would feed the Irish and ended food and relief works. He would later also attempt a program of public works. Irish food exports, in particular the export of corn as a money crop, continued during the worst of the famine years.

Anti-Semitism was on the rise in Germany in the 1870s. Notable examples of Anti-Semitic sentiment include when Wilhelm Marr wrote the popular "The Victory of Judaism over Teutonism" in 1873 and Richard Wagner's condemnation of Jewish musical influences.

During his reign, Napoleon significantly bettered the lots of the peasant class by both lowering their taxes and re-distributing land for their use. While he was a harsh and uncompromising conqueror, Napoleon was also a thoughtful and forward-thinking public administrator, and was responsible for setting up many of the civil service institutions and laws that are still in use, and of benefit to French society, today.

The French Estates-General was the legislative body that advised the King of France on various issues and was called or dismissed only by the King. This body did not have real power like other bodies, such as the British Parliament, and therefore it was not able to help bring relief to the French people when they were struggling under the monarchy. The Estates-General represented the three major estates, or classes, in France. The First Estate consisted of the Catholic clergy, the Second Estate was the nobles, and the Third Estate was made up of commoners who were elected by other commoners to represent their interests. The Estates had as much influence as their respective ranks, meaning that the clergy were more important than the nobles and the nobles than the commoners The Estates-General was dissolved permanently after the French Revolution.

Russian nobles were very traditional, and part of that tradition was that the men of the nobility had very long beards to signify their manhood and wisdom. Peter ordered that the nobility would no longer have beards so as to look like the clean shaven men of wester courts. This did not go over well with the nobility, and led many to question the rule of Peter.

The Danish Vikings first began raids on England around 800 AD and held control over large parts of England for over 200 years.

The Merchant class grew and become more power during the reign of Elizabeth I. Catholics and nobles remained strong throughout Elizabeth's reign, but the merchant class grew.

The driving force of the Industrial Revolution's early years was the English textile manufacturing industry, which gained phenomenal success on the back of a number of innovations to the production methods used for textiles. Included among such British inventions were the spinning jenny, the water frame, the power loom, and the flying shuttle, all of which mechanized and sped up the process of weaving and producing cloth. The cotton gin, which sped along the process by which cotton was separated from its seeds, was an American invention of the 1790s.