GeographicalDiscoveries Portugal was the first European

country to encourage geo-graphical discoveries.

Prince Henry, the Navigator ofPortugal encouraged sailors bymaking maps.

Bartholomew Diaz sailed downthe west coast of Africa in 1487,which came to be known as‘Cape of Good Hope’.

Vasco-da Gama followed Diaz’sroute, rounded the Cape ofGood Hope and landed atKappad in Calicut in 1498.

Vasco-da-Gama was sent to In-dia by the Portuguese king DomManual.

He reached India in a ship namedSt. Gabriel.

Christopher Columbus discov-ered West Indies and thoughtthat it was India in 1492 andcalled its people Red Indians.

Later, Amerigo Vespucci reachedthe South American coast in 1499and America was named after him.

Ferdinand Magellan of Portugalwho started his Voyage in 1519was the first circumnavigator(who sailed around the world).His circumnavigation exclu-sively proved that the Earth isround.

The name ‘Pacific’ was given tothe ocean by Magellan.

He reached Philippines in 1521and died there fighting itsaborgines.

The coast of Venezuela was ex-plored by Amerigo Vespucci.

Peru was discovered by Fran-

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was born in 1483. He was a German

priest and professor of theology who initiated

the Protestant Reformation. As a priest and

theology professor, he confronted indulgence

salesmen with his The Ninety-Five Theses in

1517. His refusal to retract all of his writings at

the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy

Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms

in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the pope and

condemnation as an outlaw by the emperor.

cisco Pizzaro. Portugal was the first country

in the field of colonialism. Sir Francis Drake (English

1540 - 1597) Circumnavigatedthe World

Sir Walter Raleigh (English 1552- 1618) The Discovery of Guianaand established the Virginiacolony of Roanoke Island in1584 .

Marco Polo (Italian 1254 - 1324)Exploration of China and Asia

Vasco Nunez de Balboa(Spanish 1475 - 1519) Firstfamous European explorer to seethe Pacific Ocean from itseastern shore.

Sir Humphrey Gilbert (English1539 - 1583) This famous explorerestablished St Johns, Newfoundland.

Sir Richard Grenville (English1542 - 1591) Voyaged to Virginiaand Roanoke Island and theAzores.

Sir John Hawkins (English1532 - 1595) Voyaged to WestAfrica and South America.

Francisco Vasquez deCoronado (Spanish 1510 - 1554)

First European to explore theSouthwest of North America inArizona and New Mexico.

Pedro Alvares Cabral(Portuguese 1467 - 1520) Thefirst European explorer to seeBrazil in 1500.

John Cabot (Italian / English1450 - 1499) Explored thecoastline of Canada thesubsequent colonization ofCanada. Cabot was the secondfamous explorer to find NorthAmerica (after ChristopherColumbus).

Henry Hudson (English 1565 -1611) discovered the HudsonRiver.

Jacques Marquette (French1637 - 1675) Discovered theMississippi River with famousCanadian explorer Louis Joliet.

Samuel de Champlain (French1567 - 1635) Famous explorerand founder of Quebec City.Known as ‘The Father ofCanada’.

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo(Spanish 1499 - 1543) FirstEuropean explorer to navigatethe coast of present dayCalifornia in the United States.

The rise of theNation State

The rise of the Nation State wasthe result of the growth of na-tional consciousness-nationalpatriotism-among the people ofEurope. The crusades hadplayed a significant part tostimulate national feeling.

The Hundred Year’s War begin-ning as a feudal conflict endedas a national crusade betweenthe French and the English. Thiswar fostered the growth of na-tional feeling in both the coun-tries.

The rise of vernacular litera-tures, in the 15th and 16th cen-turies stimulated and promotedthe feeling of nationality.

The change in the methods ofwarfare was another instrumentof monarchical absolutism.

The introduction of gunpowderand firearms which became themonopoly of monarchs left thebarons helpless in their warfarewith their medieval weapons ofspears, pikes, swords, bows andarrows.

The cause of national monarchychampioned by the great Italianthinker Niccolo Machiavelli.

The new national monarchieswhich existed at the beginningof the 16th century were En-gland, France, Portugal, Spain,Denmark, Norway, Sweden,Hungary, Poland and Lithuania.

SPAIN The rise of Spain into a strong

nation State was due to the for-tunate marriage of Ferdinand,King of Aragon, with Isabella,

the Queen of Castile in 1492. In 1492, Granada was con-

quered from the Moors. Thestruggle against the Moorsstrengthened the national spiritof the Spaniards and gave thema national character.

The discovery of the New Worldby Columbus in 1492 gave con-siderable addition to the domin-ion of Spain. Ferdinand alsodefeated the French in Italy andcompelled France to recognisehis rights in Naples, Sicily andSardinia. Ferdinand completedthe unification of Spain by ac-quiring the border Kingdom ofNavarre.

FRANCE It was towards the end of the

12th century that France begato become a nation State.

A strong national monarchy wasestablished in France as a resultof the Hundred years war.

The power of the Church andthe control of the Pope over theChurch in France, were also cur-tailed.

Charles VII who was king of

France from 1422 to 1461 builtup a standing army of profes-sional soldiers who were loyaland reliable.

ENGLAND United Kingdom includes the

Islands of England, Scotlandand Ireland

First priest to rule England wasDunston.

Ceadmon was the first Englishpoet and Bede was the first En-glish historian.

The Hundred years war startedduring the period of King Ed-ward III.

The Peasants Revolt in Englandwas in 1381.

The first Tudor monarch HenryVII (1485-1509), laid the founda-tion for nation state and the su-perstructure was built by hissuccessors Henry VIII and Eliza-beth.

Thomas Wolsey revolutionisedthe foreign policy of England byintroducing the doctrine of “Bal-ance of power” in Europeanpolitics.

The reign of Henry VIII is alsomemorable for the founding of

PRODUCTS OF RENAISSANCE PERIOD

Dante .................................................. The Divine Comedy (Book)

Leonardo da vinci .......... The Last Supper & Mona Lisa (Paintings)

Raphael ..........................................................

Madonna (Painting)

Michelangelo ... The Last Judgement & The Fall of Man (Paintings)

Thomas Moore ........................................................U

topia (Book)

Machiavelli ....................................................... The Prince (Book)

Plato ..........................................................

... The Republic (Book)

Erasmus ..........................................................

... In Praise of Folly

Galileo...................... The famous scientist who made the telescope

Issac Newton .................................................. Laws of Gravitation

William Harvey... ...............................Discovery of Blood circulation

the English Royal Navy whichrendered great service instrengthening the power of Brit-ain as a nation State.

Elizabeth, the half sister of Mary,ruled England for 45 years (1558to 1603).

National glory of Englandreached unparalleled heightsduring Elizabeth’s spaciousreign.

Elizabeth established a nationalChurch which came to be knownin history as the AnglicanChurch.

Her “sea-dogs”, as the Elizabe-than sea-men were called,smashed the Spanish Armadasent by the king of Spain, PhilipII, to crush the power of En-gland.

During this period, there wasremarkable advancement in over-seas trade, particularly as a re-sult of the starting of joint stockcompanies, the most famous ofwhich was the East India Com-pany started in 1600.

The period from 1550 to 1625 hasbeen described as an “Early In-dustrial Revolution”.

The Elizabeth’s Age was alsothe Golden Age of English lit-erature, especially drama andpoetry.

Battle of Roses were the civilwars in England.

The Great Plague in Londonbroke out in 1665.

The system of Parliament origi-nated in England during the pe-riod of Henry I.

The Stuart king of England be-lieved ‘in the Divine RightTheory of Kingship’.

James I, the Stuart king wrote abook ‘‘The Law of Free Monar-chies’’.

Stuart king Charles I dissolvedthe Parliament in 1629 and didnot summon it till 1640.He resummoned the Parliamentin 1640 and ended in 1660. It isknown as Long Parliament.

Civil War in England started in1642. Oliver Cromwell led En-gland after the Civil War. Heruled with the title ‘Lord Pro-tector’.

Charles Ist was beheadedpublically in 1649.

The Petition of Rights was ac-cepted by the British Parliamentin 1628.

The Bloodless Revolution orGlorious Revolution occurred inEngland in 1688.

Through the Bloodless Revolu-tion English king JamesII wasdethroned and Mary, the daugh-ter of James II and her husbandWilliam of Orange came to powerin England.

‘Whigs’ and ‘Torys’ the politi-cal parties of England originatedduring the period of Charles II.

Habeas Corpus Act was passedin England in 1679 during theperiod of Charles II.

The Bill of Rights was acceptedin England after the GloriousRevolution in 1689.

The official name of England is‘‘United kingdom of Great Brit-ain and Northern Ireland’.

‘Pound Sterling’ is the Currencyof England.

Robert Walpole was the firstPrime Minister of England andthe first in the world to hold the

post of Prime Minister. He laidthe foundation of Cabinet sys-tem. He became the Prime Min-ister in 1721.

The Agrarian Revolution alsotook place in Britain.

‘The Commonwealth of Na-tions’ is an association of thosefree nations which were previ-ously the part of British Empire.

The delegates send each otherby Common Wealth Countriesare known as High Commission-ers and delegates send by Com-mon Wealth Nations to othercountries are known as Ambas-sadors.

The Falklands War was foughtbetween England and Argentinain 1982.

Stanley is the capital of FalklandIsland. Britain came out victori-ous in the battle. It is a Britishcolony even today.

10 Downing Street is the offi-cial residence of the British PrimeMinister.

Princess Diana died in a caraccident along with Dodi AlFayed in Paris.

Buckingham Palace is the resi-dence of British Monarch.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

America was discovered byChristopher Columbus in 12thOctober 1492.

In the first quarter of the 17thcentury some protestants fromEngland migrated to the south-ern part of North America to es-cape from the religious persecu-tion of James I. They came to beknown as ‘pilgrim fathers’.They sailed to America in a ship

named, ‘The May Flower’. Britain established its first

colony in Jamestown in Virginiain 1607.

American War ofIndependence

The American war of indepen-dence was fought between theAmerican colonies and the Brit-ain. The leader of colonies wasGeorge Washington.

The Navigation Act was passedin 1660. The Stamp Act waspassed in 1765.

The Americans raised the slo-gan ‘‘No taxation without rep-resentation’’.

The Town Shend Act was passedin 1767. These Acts were passedto control and exploit the colonies.

The Boston Tea Party of 1773was associated with the Ameri-can Revolution. To protestagainst the tax on tea, the revo-lutionaries threw tea boxes fromthe ship anchored in the Bos-ton Port. This incident is knownas Boston Tea Party.

The representatives of the 13colonies met at the First Conti-nental Congress at Philadelphiain 1774.

Third Philadelphia Congress

met in 1776 and adopted theDeclaration of Independence on4 July 1776.

The most famous ‘Monroe Doc-trine’ deals with Panama Canal.

The Declaration of AmericanIndependence was drafted by

bol of America The residence of American

President got the name WhiteHouse during the period ofTheodor Roosevelt.

George Washington is the fatherof America.

He became the President ofAmerica in 1789.

Thomas Jefferson was the thirdPresident of America.

President who abolished sla-very in America was AbrahamLincoln. He was the 16th Presi-dent of America. He worked asstorekeeper and village post-master. He abolished slavery in1862. He was assassinated in1865 while watching a drama,Thomas Jefferson.

By the Treaty of Paris in 1783,the United States of Americacame to being.

The Constitution of Americawas adopted in 1789.

The Civil War in America wasduring 1861-65

Abraham Lincoln was the Presi-dent during Civil War.

Abraham Lincoln belongs toRepublican party

The city of Chicago in Americahas the largest number of railroads.

‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’’ of HarrietBeechstowe was published forthe first time in 1852.

Statue of Liberty is situated inthe Liberty Island in theNewyork Port. It has 91 meterheight.

Eagle is the National bird ofAmerica.

Baseball is the National game ofAmerica.

Golden Rod is the National Sym-

Magna Carta (also called the Great Charter of Liberty) is anEnglish legal charter. It was written in Latin. The usual En-glish translation of Magna Carta is Great Charter.

The Magna Carta was signed by King John of England inAD 1215 at Runnymede. The Magnacarta is described as the‘Bible of the English Constitution’. It is also known as the‘Bible of English Liberty’. Innocent III was the Pope whenthe Magna Carta was signed.

‘Our American Cousin’ in theFords Theatre alongwith hiswife. He was assassinated byJohn Wilksbooth. Lincoln isknown as ‘‘Great Emanicipator’’.

First modern census was heldin America in 1790.

49th Parallel separates Americaand Canada.

William Henry Harrison wasthe President who ruled the leastterm.

Ronald Reagan was the onlyfilmstar who became AmericanPresident.

The first American President tobe assassinated was AbrahamLincoln.

Other American Presidents whowere assassinatedJames A. Garfield in 1881

William McKinley in 1901John F. Kennedy in 1963

USA has two political parties -Republicans and Democrates.

Great Depression strikedAmerica in 1930’s

There are 50 states and one dis-trict in the U.S.A.

District of Columbia (Washing-ton DC) on the banks of Potomakriver is America’s capital district.

New York is the largest city inAmerica.

Chicago is known as the City ofWinds.

Newyork city is situated on thebanks of Hudson river.

French Revolution (1789) The century from 1750 to 1850

is known as the ‘Age of Revolu-tions’

18th century is known as the‘Age of Enlightenment’

18th century is also known as‘Age of Reason’

Voltaire, Rousseau andMontesquieu were the promi-nent philosophers who gave in-spiration to the French people.

Another famous French phi-losopher was Denis Diderot bet-ter known as FrenchEncyclopaedist. His famousworks were “The PhilosophicalThought, The Way the Skeptic

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic

comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated

mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous

states and the Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the

Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. It is one of the world's most ethni-

cally diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale

immigration from many countries.

The American Civil War(1861–1865), also known asthe War Between the Statesas well as several othernames, was a civil war in theUnited States of America.Eleven Southern slave statesdeclared their secession fromthe United States and formedthe Confederate States ofAmerica. Led by JeffersonDavis, they fought againstthe United States (theUnion), which was sup-ported by all the free statesand generally by the fiveborder slave states. Theissue came to ahead in 1861with the election of AbrahamLincoln as president.Lincoln was a firm believer inthe abolition of slavery. Thesouthern states whichwanted slavery to continuedecided to secede from theunion. This started the civilwar between them and theunionists. In 1863, Lincolnissued the emancipationproclamation which freed allthe slaves. In 1865, the warended in complete victory ofLincoln and the unionists.

On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence wasissued. Its author was Thomas Jefferson. The coloniesformed themselves into a federal republic under the nameof the United States of America. George Washingtonwas appointed the Supreme Commander of their forces.The British refused to recognise American Independence.This led to a war between the 13 colonies and Britain inwhich the latter was defeated. Britain recognised theindependence of the United States in 1783.

The first black President of USA - Barak Obama The figures of four American Presidents are engraved on the Mount Rushmor. The term of American President is four years. Only American president who got all the electoral votes - George Washington. The birth place of George Washington -Virginia George Washington died on 1799 December 14. First Vice President of America - John Adams First American Lady who advocated for the rights of women - Abey Gale Smith (Wife of John Adams) American President who was entrusted to prepare American Constitution - Thomas Jefferson James Madison is known as the ‘Father of American Constitution’. Last military officer of the American revolution to become the President of America - James Munroe First American President who was the son of a former president - John Kwinsy Adams ‘Kitchen Cabinet’ prevailed during the period of Andrew Jackson. First American President to die in harness - Wilham Henry Harrison First American President who was subjected to impeachment - John Tailor American President who is known as ‘Black Horse’ - James K. Polk First American President who was ousted from his party while in Office - John Tailor American President who chose the site for White House - Herbert Hover American President who worked as the Chairman of UN Human Rights Committee - Elenar Roosevelt American President who gave orders to drop atom bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Harry S. Truman American President who was known as Smiling President - Eisonhower First Roman Catholican born in 20th century to become the President of America - John F.Kennedy Who shot dead John F. Kennedy - Lee Harvey Oswald. John F. Kennedy’s assassination was the first live broadcast murder in the world. First Vice President to become President while the President was alive - Jerald R. Ford. Watergate incident (1972) is related to - Richard Nixon Oldest President of America - Ronald Reagon The agreement to give back Panama canal to the nation of Panama was signed during the term of Jimmy

Carter. American Presidents who got Nobel Prize for Peace - Theodor Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Wudrow

Wilson. First Bachelor President of America - James Buccanan. Tallest American President - Abraham Lincoln First to be elected for a second term as President - George Washington First to get married while he was president -Grover Cleavelend Which American President is known as ‘Human Chain’ - Benjamin Harrison First American to win Nobel Prize for Peace -Theodor Roosevelt (1906) First American President who later became Chief Justice - William Howard Taft Which American President said ‘The Chief business of America is business’’. - Kalvin Koolinch First American Citizen to become American President - Martin Von Buran

He was born after the declaration of American independence in 1776.

American Presidents

and the Unguarded Jewels andthe Better of the Blind”.

French society on the eve ofRevolution was divided intothree Estates - the Clergy, theNobles and the Commons.

Louis XV was under the tyrannyof the opportunists like Madamede Pompadour. The 18th centuryis said to be an “Age of Rea-son” and “Age of EnlightenedDespotism”. But Louis XV hasnot introduced any reforms.

Louis XVI was the king ofFrance when the revolutionbroke out (1774-1792)

His wife was beautiful but‘Empty Headed lady MaryAntoinette.

Like the Stuart kings of England,the Bourbons of France alsoruled by the Divine RightTheory of Kingship. Louis XIV(1643 - 1715) who fully exploitedthe theory said ‘‘I am the state’’

The French Parliament wasknown as ‘Estates General’.

The Bastile Prison which wasthe symbol of monarch’s crueltywas broken by the Third Estateon 14th July 1789. Thus beganthe French Revolution.

July 14th is observed as a na-tional holiday in France everyyear in memory of this incident.

The Central Government wastransferred from Versailles toParis.

The National Constituent As-sembly proclaimed the indi-vidual rights and libertiesthrough “The Declaration of theRights of Man and of the Citi-zen”. which reflected the spiritof Rousseau’s philosophy.

Napolean BonaparteNapolean Bonaparte was born in Corsica, an

island in the Meditteranean sea in 1769. He proclaimedhimself the emperor of France in 1804. He was defeated by

the English in 1813 and deported to Elba. But later he recap-tured power. But after his final defeat in the Battle of Water Loo

he was deported to St. Helena Island. There he died in 1821.The government formed by Napolean in France was known

as Consulate. The Bank of France was established byNapolean. Napolean Bonaparte (1769-1821) is

known as the ‘‘Child of the FrenchRevolution’’.

The most important work ofMontesquieu is ‘‘The Spirit ofLaws’’

French Revolution resulted inthe destruction of feudalism inFrance.

Elysee Palace is the official resi-dence of French President.

Now the term of French Presi-dent is five years, earlier it wasseven years.

Franc is the French currency In 2006 there was a racial con-

flict between the African immi-grants and the natives.

The IndustrialRevolution

The Industrial Revolution is thename given to a series ofchanges that brought about atransition from production byhand to production by machine,from small scale production tolarge scale production, handmade goods to machine madegoods.

Industrial Revolution started in

Marat, Danton and Robespierrewere the major revolutionaries.

"The Reign of Terror” (1793 –94) the awful incident (LouisXVI, Danton, Robespierre andso many people were guillo-tined) is regarded as the centralfeature of the revolution.

The French Revolution, thetrumpee call of liberty, soundedthe death-knell of the autocracyof the king, the clergy and thenobles everywhere. It gave riseto independent nation-states.

Liberty, Equality and Fraternitythe slogan of the French Revo-lution was given by Rousseauthe French Philosopher and theauthor of ‘‘The Social Con-tract’’.

The Eiffel Tower is situated onthe banks of river Seine in Paris.It was built in 1888 by GaustaveEiffel.

His famous saying is ‘‘Man isborn free but everywhere he isin chains’’.

French Philosopher Rousseau isthe author of books such asEmile, Confessions, SocialContract etc.

England in the second part ofthe 18th century and in the firstpart of the 19th century.

The first Industrial Revolution,which began in the 18th century,merged into the Second Indus-trial Revolution around 1850,when technological and eco-nomic progress gained momen-tum with the development ofsteam-powered ships, railways,and later in the 19th centurywith the internal combustionengine and electrical power gen-eration.

Industrial Revolution first influ-enced the Cotton Textile Indus-try.

In 1733, John Kay invented theFlying Shuttle for weaving clothoperated by hand, it increasedthe speed of the weaving ofcloth.

James Hargreaves invented theSpinning Jenny in 1764 (Jennywas the name of his wife)

In the Iron industry, coke wasfinally applied to all stages ofiron smelting, replacing charcoal.This had been achieved muchearlier for lead and copper aswell as for producing pig iron ina blast furnace, but the secondstage in the production of bar

iron depended on the use ofpotting and stamping or pud-ding.

Also important was the 1756 re-discovery of concrete (based onhydraulic lime mortar) by theBritish engineer John Smeaton,which had been lost for 13 cen-turies.

There were publications de-scribing technology. Encyclopaedias such as Harris's LexiconTechnicum (1704) and DrAbraham Rees's Cyclopaedia(1802–1819) contain much of

value. Cyclopaedia contains anenormous amount of informa-tion about the science and tech-nology of the first half of theIndustrial Revolution.

The major change in the metalindustries during the era of theIndustrial Revolution was thereplacement of organic fuelsbased on wood with fossil fuelbased on coal.

The large scale production ofchemicals was an important de-velopment during the IndustrialRevolution. The first of thesewas the production of sulphuricacid by the lead chamber pro-cess invented by the English-man John Roebuck (JamesWatt's first partner) in 1746.

Water Frame was invented byRichard Arkwright.

Samuel Crompton inventedmule in 1779.

Power Loom was invented byEdmund Cartwright in 1785.

James Watt invented Steam

The Industrial Revolution proved to be a silent revolution. The

Industrial Revolution was period of from the 18th to the 19th

century where major changes in agriculture, industries, mining,

transport and communication had a profound effect on the

socio-economic and cultural conditions starting in the United

Kingdom, then subsequently spreading throughout Europe,

North America, and eventually the world.

Power driven machines began to produce large amount of

goods to satisfy the needs of the community. Mass production

increased not only the wealth of the country like in Britain where

Industrial Revolution began but also improved the standard of

living of the people. Through improved means of transport and

communication, man has been able to build a new society and

civilization. Thus, Industrial Revolution made it possible for

man to build a civilized world.

Watt steam engine,the steam engine

fuelled primarily bycoal that propelled

the IndustrialRevolution in Great

Britain and the world.

Engine in 1769. ‘Safety Lamp’ or ‘Davis Lamp’

was invented by HumphreyDavy in 1816.

Elias Home invented sewingmachine in 1846.

‘The Warrior’ was the first war-ship built with iron plates.

Abraham Derby invented themethod of smelting iron withcoke in 1709.

Bersemer invented the steelfurnace in 1856.

First Steam Locomotive was in-vented by Trevithick in 1800.

In 1814 George Stephenson in-vented an improved steam loco-motive called Rocket. It was fi-nally used in opening the firstpassenger railway fromLiverpool to Manchester. Thatis why Stephenson is called thefather of Steam Locomotive.

Steam Boat was invented byRobert Fulton in 1807.

First steam ship sailed fromGlasgow to Liverpool in 1857. Aship first crossed the Atlantic in1833.

The method of sending messageby wire was invented by Morsein 1835.

Electric Telegraph was in-vented by Graham Bell in 1876.

John Macadam, an engineer ofScotland made the first strongroads in England with the helpof small stones.

The developments in the fieldof engineering, iron founding,textiles and chemical industriesled to a mass scale productionof machinery, iron and coal. This

demanded the development ofbetter means of transport andcommunication.

The agricultural revolutionwhich had already taken placeensured the availability of rawmaterials and labourers.

Increased production throughdivision of labour, rise of indus-trial and finance capitalism, ex-pansion of trade and commercewere the economic effect of in-dustrial revolution.

The growth of new cities, slums,the exploitation of women andchildren workers, the division ofsociety into the capitalists andthe workers were the social im-pact of this revolution.

Colonisation of Asia, and Africa,division of the countries into thedeveloped and the under devel-oped, Europeanisation ofAmerica and Australia were thepolitical effects.

It also boosted the reform move-ment in England by the introduc-tion of factory laws.

First important Trade UnionMovement in the world wasChartist Movement originated inEngland as a result of the Indus-trial Revolution.

Japan was the first Asian coun-try to be industrialised.

The Steam Engine invented byJames Watt was calledBeelzebub.

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1917

was the first successful Commu-nist Revolution in the world. Itwas the result of political, eco-nomic, social and intellectualcauses.

Russia was united into an em-pire in the 9th century AD bythe Rurichs.

Russians belonged to theSalvonic race.

The Romanov Dynasty of Rus-sia was founded by MichaelRomanov in 1613.

Romanov Emperors were knownas Czars. They ruled Russiafrom 1613 to 1917.

While the French Revolutionwas for the middle class calledthe ‘bourgeoise’, the RussianRevolution of 1917 aimed at thebenefit of the working classcalled the ‘proletariat’.

Tsars like Nicholas I, AlexanderIII and Nicholas II were opposedto all reforms who stood for“One Tsar, One Church and OneRussia”.

The government of Russia wasan autocracy with the Tsar asthe absolute ruler of the RussianStates and the Russian Church.

The Tsarist government hadbecome extremely unpopularwith the defeat of the giant Stateof Russia by the pigmy State ofJapan in 1904-1905.

James Watt

A rising of the people broke outin 1905, and to pacify the people,the Tsar agreed to the establish-ment of an elected Parliamentcalled Duma.

In 1914 the Russian governmentwas under the grip of an irre-sponsible clique of nobles. TsarNicholas II, supposed to be all-powerful weakminded and wascontrolled by an inner circle inthe imperial court. Most notori-ous among his advisers wasRasputin, a monk.

Feudalism in Russia was rottento the core. The bulk of the Rus-sians were suffering from pov-erty, insecurity and deep-rootedinjustice. Socially there wasgreat inequality in Russia.

Russian Revolution was startedin 1917 and it was led byVladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin.

The climate for Revolution hadalready been created by the writ-ings of radical thinkers likeTolstoy, Maxim Gorky, Turgenevand Dostoiev sky, which hadchallenged the values of the OldOrder.

The Social Democratic Party es-poused Marxian and socialismand worked not only for the de-struction of the autocratic gov-ernment of the Tsar, but also forthe destruction of capitalisticsociety in Russia.

The influence of Lenin and hisable lieutenants like LeonTrotsky and Joseph Stalin, wasone of the important factorswhich contributed to the Revo-lution.

The Bolsheviks after securingpower in Russia, encouraged

world revolution for the estab-lishment of Communism.

China became a CommunisticRepublic mostly under the influ-ence of Russia.

Lenin was the leader of the Rus-sian Social DemocracticLabour Party.

Lenin is known as the architectof Soviet Union.

Lenin was born in 1870 April 10.in Simbrisk, Russia.

He received the name Lenin in1901.

Lenin started a newspaperknown as Iskara in 1900.

Lenin was the leader of the Bol-shevik section of the party.

Lenin was the first person toutter the term “World Revolu-tion”.

Lenin ruled from 1917 to 1924.The civil war (1918 – 1920) andthe First World War were thetwo great incidents during hisperiod. Lenin tried to apply theideology of Karl Marx.

Lenin died in 21st January 1924of cerebral stroke.

After Lenin’s death, Stalin andTrotsky struggled for succes-sion. Stalin came to power in

The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolu-

tions in Russia in 1917. It occurred March 8–12 (February 23–27 Old

Style) and its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II,

the collapse of Imperial Russia and the end of the Romanov dynasty.

Members of the Imperial parliament or Duma assumed control of the

country, forming the Russian Provisional Government. The non-Com-

munist Russian Provisional Government under Prince Georgy Lvov

replaced the Tsar. After the July Days, Lvov was succeeded by

Alexander Kerensky.. The February Revolution took place in the

context of heavy military setbacks during the First World War.

The October Revolutionhappened on 7 November

1917 (because old RussianCalendar was 14 days

backward). The OctoberRevolution also known as the

Russian Revolution, GreatOctober Socialist Revolution,Red October or the BolshevikRevolution. It was the secondphase of the Russian Revolu-

tion, after the FebruaryRevolution of the same year.

The October Revolution inPetrograd overthrew the

Russian Provisional Govern-ment and gave the power to

the local soviets dominated byBolsheviks. As the revolution

was not universally recog-nized outside of Petrograd

there followed the struggles ofthe Russian Civil War (1917–1922) and the creation of the

Soviet Union in 1922. Bolshe-vik Red Guards forces under

the Military RevolutionaryCommittee began the takeover

of government buildings. On25 October, the Winter Palace

(the seat of the Provisionalgovernment located in

Petrograd, then capital ofRussia), was captured.

1927. Dange, Chittaranjan Das and

Subhash Chandra Bose (the leftwing nationalists of India) wereinvited to the Fifth Congress ofthe Communist International.

The earlier political parties werethe Nihilists and the populists.(later ‘Social Revolutionaries”)The former were against tradi-tions and institutions. Thepopulists (go to the people)aimed at a social revolution work-ing through the peasants.

Bolsheviks, the majority partyand Mensheviks, the minorityparty were the two division ofthe Russian Social DemocracticLabour Party.

USSR came into existence in1922 December

Czar Nicholas II was the reign-ing Czar of Russia when theRevolution occurred.

Russian Parliament is known asDuma.

The new form of workersorganisation formed on the eveof the Revolution was known as‘Soviet’.

February Revolution was on 12March 1917.

Provisional Government whichformed after the February Revo-lution was led by AlexanderKerensky.

The Red Army played an impor-tant role in war communism. Itconsisted of voluntary recruitsof peasants and workers.

War communism dampened theenthusiasm of the producers andthey tended to produce at theminimum level.

The New Economic Policy (1921

- 24) of Lenin restored economicfreedom within the framework ofthe socialist economy.

The accelerated programme ofindustrialization introduced byStalin in the Party Congress iscalled the First Five Year Plan(1929 – 1933) in Russia.

The transformation of the indi-vidual peasants into collectivefarmers during this period is de-scribed as the ‘Second Revolu-tion’.

In 1991 the Communist rule inRussia came to an end and theUSSR collapsed. Russia andother Soviet Republics becameindependent nations.

Grand Cremlin Palace was theResidence of Czars.

Rasputin was a crooked witch,who had an influence over theCzarina.

The economic and political re-forms started by Gorbachev in1985 was known as ‘Peristroika’which means restructuring. Forfreedom of press and freedomof expression he also introduced‘Glasnost’ which means openapproach.

The Crimean War (1854-56)The Crimean War was foughtbetween Russia on the one sideand Turkey, France and Englandon the other.

Florence Nightingale estab-lished the first nursing school.Florence Nightingale is knownas ‘‘Lady with the Lamp’’.

Chinese Revolution(1911)

The Chinese Revolutiontookplace in 1911.

The founding members of theChinese Communist Party wereMao Tse-tung, Liu Shao-Chi,Chou-En-Lai and Chu Teh.

With a view to establish a Chi-nese Soviet, Mao-Tse-Tungorganised the Chinese RedArmy (Communists).

The reactionary nationalistsunder Chiang Kaisheklaunched massive onslaughtsagainst the Communists.

Thus the Red Army fought andmarched for one year fromKiangshi to Shensi (6000 miles)– the famous Long March.

The ideals formulated by MaoTse-Tung came to be known as“The New Democracy”.

“The Great Leap Forward” is theprogramme adopted by Mao toaccelerate the ChineseEconomy.

Ching dynasty or the Manchuswere the last ruling dynasty ofChina.

Puyi, a six year old boy was thelast Manchu Emperor.

The Republic of China wasformed in 1912 and Sun Yat-Senbecame the first Chairman andfirst President of the ChineseRepublic.

Sun-Yat-Sen was a leader of theKuomintang Party MilitaryHeadYuan Shikai assumed power byreplacing Sun-Yat-Sen in 1912March 10.

The Chinese Communist Partydefeated the nationalists andformed the ‘‘Peoples Republicof China” on October 1, 1949.

The Opium Wars were foughtbetween Britain and China.

The first Opium War, was foughtduring 1839-42 and the second

was during 1856-60. Opium Wars were fought to get

open the ports of China to tradeopium from British India.

As a result of the first OpiumWar the Chinese province ofHongkong came under the con-trol of Britain in 1844.

Hong Kong became a specialadministrative region of Chinaon July 1, 1997 when the colonywas handed over by Britain toChina.

Macao, which was a colony ofthe Portugal was restored toChina on 20th December 1999.

Shanghai is the biggest city inChina. Beijing is in the secondplace.

China was admitted to the UNin 1971. Now she is a PermanentMember of the UN SecurityCouncil.

92% of the Chinese people be-longed to the Han race.

The Tianen Square in Beijing isdescribed as the ‘Naval ofChina’. The name means ‘thegate of heavenly peace’.

The highest Court in China is

the Supreme People’s Court. China’s leading newspaper is

‘Renin Ribao’ (People’s Daily)of Beijing, which is the officialnewspaper of Chinese Commu-nist Party.

China is the first Asian countryto launch a space shuttle.Zhenshou V was the Chinesespace shuttle and Yang Liwei wasits first space traveller.

China is the world’s most popu-lous country. It has about afifths of the world’s population.

China has the oldest livingcivilisation.

Chinese were the first to makecompasses, paper, pottery, andsilk.

Chinese Mandarin is the mostwidely spoken language of theworld and it is the mothertongue of the largest number ofpeople. Chinese call this lan-guage ‘Putoghua’ (Commonlanguage)

China has the world’s largestfishing industry.

The Grand Canal world’s long-est artificially created water wayextends more than 1600 Kilome-ters from Hangzhou in the southto Beijing in the north.

Mao Tse-Tung declares the People'sRepublic of China

The Chinese Revolution in1949 refers to the final stage

of military conflict (1946–1950) in the Chinese Civil

War. In some anti-revisionistcommunist media and

historiography, as well as theofficial media of the Commu-

nist Party of China, thisperiod is known as the War of

Liberation.

Chinese People’s LiberationArmy is the world’s largest Armyin number.

China is the largest producer ofpaddy, silk and coal in the world.

China has the largest Commu-nist Party in the world.

World’s largest dam ThreeGorges Dam is built across theYangtse river in China.

China opened world’s highestand longest highland railway on1st July 2006 The Qinghai-Ti-bet Railway (1, 1142 Km)

Karakkoram highway is the onlyoverland connection betweenChina and Pakistan.

Communist China’s first interna-tional religious gathering wasconducted in April 2006.In that World Buddhist Forum,Buddhists from more than 30countries participated.

2008 Olympics was held in China. Den-Sia-O-Ping brought liber-

alist policies in China in 1970.