World History Notes

Have you ever wondered what is the significance of the American Revolution? The main significance is that the war ended the “Divine Right of Kingship”. America overturned Monarchy (rule by kings) and it became a Republic (head of the state is not hereditary). And finally, America became the United States …

The Colonization of Africa: During the 19th-20th centuries, the African continent was colonized mainly by European powers like Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, and Russia. What was colonization? Colonialization is the action by which a foreign power occupies another country, and then exploit the economic resources of the occupied country for benefit of …

China is a nation with ancient culture and heritage. Unlike many other nations, almost whole of China was under a single authority for many centuries. Several dynasties ruled China like Xia, Shang, Han, Tang etc. The last dynasty which ruled China was Qing Dynasty (also known as Manchu Dynasty). Manchu …

The Great Depression of the 1930s was a severe economic problem which affected the whole world, and United States of America (USA) in particular. This was a significant event between two world wars. Great Economic Depression started in 1929 and lasted until the 1940s. What is a Depression? Depression is …

In this post, we discuss the causes, course, and significance of the American Civil War (1861-1865). We will also see how Abraham Lincoln made a difference in history, in-spite of the opposition he faced. The American Civil War: The Background When American won Independence from England in 1776, there were …

We have seen the causes and consequences of the First World War in the last post. The first world war itself sowed the seeds for Second World War, primarily because of the humiliating Treaty of Versailles. We shall see the causes and consequences of the Second World War (WWII) in this …

First World War (World War I) is considered as one of the largest wars in history. The world’s great powers assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (British Empire, France and the Russian Empire) versus the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary). WWI lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. The Two Groups: Allies vs …

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was a loose confederation of 15 republics with Russia as the leader. USSR was a strong bloc with great control over global politics from 1922 to 1991, when it was disintegrated into smaller units. In this post let’s analyse the reasons and impact of …

The Berlin Wall was a barrier that existed from 1961 through 1989, constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany). Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) is a major event in European History. The policies of restructuring and openness initiated by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev paved way for the …

Communism – during the period from 1920s to 1980s – remained as a prominent alternate philosophy to Capitalism of the West. USSR (a confederation of 15 republics) was the leader of the Soviet Bloc. But around 1989, almost all on sudden, many nations which leaned towards communist ideologies separated from it. …