The Revolutions of 1848 began in France at the beginning of the year, but promptly spread to almost sixty countries around Europe, South America, and the Pacific. The revolutionaries desired, amongst other things, greater political participation at the expense of the entrenched ruling aristocracy and national independence from the few massive empires; however, the revolutions were very disorganized and were soon defeated at the hands of reactionary forces. The system of empires and monarchies would last for another century until the chaos and destruction of World Wars One and Two ended the age of empire seemingly forever.

The Taiping Rebellion was a civil war fought in Southern China from 1850 to 1863. The war was fought between the ruling Qing Dynasty and the rebelling millennial movement lead by Hong Xiuquan. The Boxer Rebellion occurred in China from 1898 to 1900. It was fought in opposition to foreign interference in Chinese affairs. The November Revolution in Russia occurred in 1917. It witnessed the overthrow of the Russian provisional government by Lenin and the Bolsheviks. The Arab Revolt occurred in Palestine between 1936 and 1939. It was an uprising of Palestinians who objected to British and French control of the region. The Easter Uprising occurred in British-controlled Ireland in 1916. The Uprising intended to ensure Irish independence from the British empire and the establishment of an Irish Republic. Aside from the November Revolution, all these rebellions failed.

The Holy Alliance was created in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. The Napoleonic Wars and the preceding revolution in France offered a powerful challenge to the status quo in Europe. Much of the next fifty years of European history revolves around the various European powers’ efforts to reinforce stability and uphold the monarchies. The Holy Alliance was signed by Prussia, Russia, and Austria, and its primary goal was to work against democratic and nationalistic reform in Europe. In this regard, it was very successful for a long time. 

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 occurred in Beijing, China. The protests were primarily lead by students and other pro-democracy groups. The event is often called the Tiananmen Square Massacre because of the nature of the response of the Chinese government; troops were ordered to fire on unarmed civilians and many hundreds (possibly thousands) of people were slaughtered. The protests exemplified the major divide in China between communist loyalists and democratic sympathizers, a divide that remains largely unresolved to this day.

The Reform Bill of 1832 was passed in the British parliament to “amend the representation of the people of England and Wales.” Prior to the Reform Bill, only a very small percentage of the population was able to vote, roughly five hundred thousand out of a population of thirteen million. The Reform Bill extended voting rights to an additional few hundred thousand men from the emerging industrial middle class. Although the percentage of the British population who could participate in government was still lower than ten percent, the Reform Bill represents the first step in Britain towards truly representative democracy.

Legalism first arose during the Warring States period of Chinese history in approximately 240 BCE. It was subsequently entrenched during the reign of Qin Shi Huang and the Qin Dynasty. Legalism was a strictly pragmatic philosophy that encouraged strict obedience to customs and legal systems.

The Storming of the Bastille took place on July 14^th, 1789. In the months and years building up to this incident, anger at the abuses of the French government, particularly the monarchy, had been building in intensity. The Bastille was a medieval prison and castle that represented, to many Parisians, the height of royal abuse and extravagance. The Storming of the Bastille was the flashpoint that many historians consider to be the beginning of the French Revolution.

The first of these countries to formally abolish slavery was Russia, in 1723; however, it is extremely important to note that Russia’s economy had little use for slavery and retained the institution of serfdom far into the nineteenth century. The United States abolished slavery in 1865, at the end of the Civil War; Brazil abolished slavery in 1888, at the end of the reign of Pedro II; Haiti declared independence from France and immediately abolished slavery in 1804; and the Ethiopian empire abolished slavery in 1902 (and then again in 1942).

The Feminist movement in the Western world began to pick up steam toward the end of the Enlightenment era, highlighted by Mary Wollstonecraft’s 1792 essay titled A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. In the nineteenth century, the movement progressed slowly but steadily and was almost exclusively dominated by upper class elites (highlighted by the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention). It was almost constantly opposed by the federal governments of the United States and Britain, which of course were dominated exclusively by men. In the twentieth century, the expansion of the role of women during World War One greatly encouraged the movement towards female equality—a movement that is still ongoing.

Legalism is a Chinese philosophy that rose to prominence during the Qin Dynasty of Chinese history. It demanded complete obedience to social customs and the legal codes of the era. It openly distrusted human nature, believing that people required strict laws in order to keep their nature from being detrimental to the state.