Category History & Events

The last tsar, Nicholas II, ruled from 1894 until his abdication in 1917. In the early years of his reign there was increasing discontent amongst ordinary Russians. Many people, including the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Illyich Lenin, followed the teachings of Karl Marx, the founder of communism. In 1905 this discontent boiled over when troops fired on thousands of striking workers outside the tsar’s Winter Palace in St Petersburg. The rebellion was quickly put down, but hundreds of workers were killed and wounded.

In early 1917 riots broke out again and this time the troops supported the rioters. Nicholas II abdicated, and a provisional government was put in place.

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The Manchus ruled China for more than 250 years, from 1644 until 1912. This time is known as the Qing dynasty. In the early 1800’s, British merchants started to trade opium illegally from India to China. Despite the fact that the additive dangers of opium were well known, the British government backed the merchants. They wanted to force China to accept more open trade.

The first Opium War broke out in 1839, and was started when Chinese officials seized 20,000 chests of opium in Guangzhou. It ended with the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842. Under the terms of this treaty, Hong Kong became a British colony and more Chinese ports were opened up to European trade. A second Opium War (1856 to 1860) extended the trading rights of European nations in China. Under Manchu rule, all Chinese males had to follow the tradition of wearing their hair in a pigtail. It was seen as a sign of loyalty to the Qing dynasty.

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During the 1700’s the slave trade brought misery to thousands of Africans, who were transported across the Atlantic Ocean and forced to works as slaves on plantation in the Americas. This trade also brought huge wealth to those who ran it – the shipbuilders, shipowners, merchants and traders.

Many people began to condemn the slave trade and to call for it to be abolished. The slave trade came to an end in the British Empire in 1807 and was finally abolished within the empire in 1833. Slavery continued elsewhere, however. It did not come to an end in the United States until after the American Civil War in 1865, and continued in Brazil until 1889.

In 1788 an association was formed in London to encourage British exploration and trade in Africa. Many British explorers set out to explore Africa along its rivers. Probably the most famous of all the expeditions was led by David Livingstone, who set out to look for the source of the River Nile. After being out of contact for almost three years, he was eventually found by the American journalist Henry Stanley.

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The Industrial Revolution, which begun in Europe in the early 1700’s, saw dramatic improvements in travel and carrying of cargo.

In Britain, private roads called turnpikes were built in the 1750’s and travellers had to pay tolls to use them. But these soon became rutted and in need of repair. In about 1810, a Scottish engineer called John Macadam developed a new type of hard-wearing road surface that drained easily.

As industry expanded, greater loads of heavy goods such as coal and iron had to be taken across country. Rivers did not always go in the right direction, so canals were dug instead. The first modern canal system opened in France in 1681, and was copied later in Britain and the USA. By about 1800, there were nearly 7,000 km of canal in Britain. Steam power was the driving force of the Industrial Revolution. In 1804 an Englishman, Richard Trevithick, built a steam engine which could pull itself along on iron rails. His idea was later developed by George Stephenson, whose locomotive Rocket, was used to pull trains from 1829.

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French troops fought alongside American colonists in the American War of Independence. The cost of these wars left France virtually bankrupt. To try to raise money, the French king, Louis XVI, proposed an increase in taxes. However, most of the country’s richest people – the clergy and the noblemen – did not pay taxes. So the burden fell on the ordinary peasants. On July 14, 1789, a mob attacked the royal prison in Paris, the Bastille. Although few prisoners were released, this event marked the end of royal power in France and the beginning of the Revolution.

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By the year 1763 more than two million British colonists were living in North America. Their main ambition was to be able to govern themselves. Britain, however, had different ideas about her colonies, because they were an important market for trade. The British government were concerned about who was going to pay for the forces that were still stationed to protect North America. The answer was the colonists themselves through new and increased taxes.

The Americans had never been taxed before and protested loudly. They had no-one to put their case to the parliament in London, so they took direct action. By 1775 the whole colony was in a state of rebellion. This was the opening of America’s struggle for freedom.

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In 1768, the British government sent an expedition to find the mysterious southern continent. Its leader was James Cook, and his ship was a small but tough vessel called Endeavour. After visiting the island of Tahiti, Cooked sailed southwards and then west until he sighted an unknown land. It turned out to be New Zealand. The Endeavour sailed on, searching for the east coast of Australia. By 1770 Cook reached the coast of what he knew to be Australia. He followed it northwards until he found a suitable place to land. He called this Botany Bay.

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Peter the Great was a giant figure, well over 2 m tall, and full of violent energy. When he became tsar of Russia in 1696, he was determined to use all his energy to make Russia a strong and modern state.

After many years of civil war, invasion and bloodshed, Russia had just begun a slow progress out of its backward and primitive past. Under the new tsar, this progress became far more rapid.

Peter himself spent years touring western Europe to find out for himself how other countries were won. He was also a great builder. He built roads, canals and introduced modern methods to mining and other industries.

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In the year 1603, Britain had a new king James I. He was the first of the Stuart monarchs, and ruled not only England and Wales, but also Scotland. James believed strongly that God had given kings their right to govern, and no one could question this authority. James’s arrogant views and conduct made him very unpopular with his subjects. His son Charles I, who followed him to the throne in 1625, was even less popular. Soon Britain was split by civil wars.

Charles wanted to rule without consulting parliament but he was faced with enormous rebellion. Enraged by this, Charles tried to arrest five members of parliament for treason. The action made him hated all the more and he was forced to flee to London. By August 1642 he had declared war on the parliamentary supporters (known as ‘Roundheads’).

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The Vikings came from Scandinavia (Norway, Denmark and Sweden). Their homelands offered little spare farmland for a growing population, so many Vikings went abroad in search of new lands. The Vikings were farmers, but also fierce warriors, and their first impact on western Europe was a violent one. They began to sail across the North Sea in the late AD 700’s, raiding the coasts of Britain and mainland Europe. They raided churches and towns, carrying off loot and slaves, their raids caused panic, and rulers tried to buy off the invaders with gold. This, however, only encouraged the Vikings to come back for more.

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