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Age of Revolutions Resources
Information
The Age of Revolutions is a period in history between c.1775-1848. Over the course of these years, society underwent a series of revolutions in almost all theatres of life: political, war, social and cultural, and economic and technological. Revolutionary ideas and revolutionary actions swept across the world, and historians still discuss and...
Age of Revolutions Resources
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Introductory film: Brezhnev - Interpretations
Part of the HA Interpretations Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
Log in below to preview the introductory film - available to all registered users of the website.
This open access introductory film forms part of our ongoing film series on Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union. All the films are available through the Student Zone with corporate secondary membership. ...
Introductory film: Brezhnev - Interpretations
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Film: Power and freedom: Introduction – 1714 to 1785
Film Series: Power and freedom in Britain and Ireland: 1714-2010
In Episode 1, Dr Robin Eagles (History of Parliament), discusses the development of power and freedom in Britain and Ireland from the reign of Queen Anne to the beginning of the Georgian Age.
This was a period of strict hierarchy where the monarchy and aristocracy retained significant control over both...
Film: Power and freedom: Introduction – 1714 to 1785
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Film: Power and Protest in Ireland – 1714 to 1785
Film Series: Power and freedom in Britain and Ireland: 1714-2010
In Episode 12, Professor Michael Brown of the University of Aberdeen discusses who held power in Ireland in 1714 and how the protestant ascendancy developed following the fall of James II and the rise of the Hanoverian dynasty. This is a period increasingly defined by the exclusion of Ireland’s Catholic and...
Film: Power and Protest in Ireland – 1714 to 1785
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Film: Stalin - World War II
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
In this film, Professor James Harris (University of Leeds) examines Stalin and the Soviet preparations for global war. The reasons why Stalin agreed the Nazi-Soviet pact are explored as are Stalin’s response to invasion in 1941. Professor Harris addresses the impact the war had on the USSR and how that...
Film: Stalin - World War II
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'The end of all existence is debarred me': Disraeli's depression 1826-30
Historian article
During the years from 1826 to 1830 Benjamin Disraeli went through the slough of despond. His first major biographer,William Flavelle Monypenny, observed the ‘clouds of despondency which were now settling upon Disraeli's mind'. In his magisterial life of the great tory leader Robert Blake commented that ‘after completing Part II...
'The end of all existence is debarred me': Disraeli's depression 1826-30
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Film: The Two German Economies
Film series: Power and authority in Germany, 1871-1991
The speed at which both sides in Germany recovered economically is re-examined in this film. Professor Matthew Stibbe describes how the West Germany economy recovered and became a magnet for migrants as well as East Germans. However, he also examines how East Germany’s economy compared more successfully to some of...
Film: The Two German Economies
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The Tale of Two Winstons
Historian article
Winston Churchill is generally regarded as one of the most prominent figures of the twentieth century. As Prime Minister he led Britain to victory against the Nazi war machine, leading Time to name him ‘Man of the Year' in 1940 and ‘Man of the Half Century' in 1949. As recently...
The Tale of Two Winstons
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The Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Strait 1898-1899: The birth of social anthropology?
Article
Dr John Shepherd reviews the history of a major anthropological expedition one hundred years ago. On 10 March 1898 The Times reported that Cambridge Anthropological Expedition led by Alfred Cort Haddon had sailed from London, bound for the Torres Strait region between Australia and New Guinea. In Imperial Britain, the...
The Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Strait 1898-1899: The birth of social anthropology?
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Brazil and the two World Wars
Article
Brazil and the outbreak of the First World War At the beginning of the twentieth century Brazil was on the periphery of a world order that revolved around decisions made by the great European powers. Although it was the largest and most populated nation in South America, Brazil possessed an...
Brazil and the two World Wars
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Minority rights and wrongs in Eastern Europe in the 20th century
Article
Mark Cornwall reflects on past and present attempts by the international community to protect national minorities in Eastern Europe. On 19 March 1995, the Prime Ministers of Hungary and Slovakia met in Paris to sign a ‘Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation’ between their two countries; on 13 June it was...
Minority rights and wrongs in Eastern Europe in the 20th century
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Film: Rethinking the origins of the Cold War
Churchill's Great Game
In this HA Virtual Branch talk Professor Richard Toye explores Churchill’s response to the USSR and how his actions during the early Cold War years intersected with his views of traditional Anglo-Russian tensions and the legacy of the ‘Great Game’.
Richard Toye is Professor of Modern History at the University...
Film: Rethinking the origins of the Cold War
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The Uses of History in the Twenty First Century
Historian article
During the last century or so there has developed a new ‘public role’ for history: the past as personal history, a vital element in the nourishing of people in society. During the past decades a new perception of what history is has manifested itself on two levels: first a shift of...
The Uses of History in the Twenty First Century
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Film: Lenin and the 1917 Revolutions
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
You wait a lifetime for a revolution and then two come along at once! Such was 1917 in Russia. As the world seemed in chaos and Russia and the Russian people began to collapse, Lenin and the Bolsheviks saw their opportunity and overthrew the government to create the first communist...
Film: Lenin and the 1917 Revolutions
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Film: Economic and social change – 1714 to 1785
Power and Freedom in Britain and Ireland: 1714–2010
The 18th century represents a pivotal moment bridging early modern Britain with the social, economic and technological transformations of the Industrial Revolution.
In Episode 3, Professor Emma Griffin (Queen Mary University of London), explores this period of invention, innovation and entrepreneurialism, how it affected ordinary families, and its role in the...
Film: Economic and social change – 1714 to 1785
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Two Babies That Could Have Changed World History
Historian article
'At last have made wonderful discovery in Valley; a magnificent tomb with seals intact; re-covered same for your arrival. Congratulations.’ This telegram was sent from Luxor on the 6th November 1922 by Howard Carter to his coarchaeologist Lord Carnarvon in Britain. It started the Tut·ankh·Amen story which led to a...
Two Babies That Could Have Changed World History
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The death of a hero: Vice-Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson
Historian article
Michael Crumplin comments on the injuries and illnesses that Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson suffered during his shortened career. His bold leadership style, much admired by his naval companions, inevitably led to a series of wounds. Using a combination of contemporary accounts and current clinical, anatomical and physiological interpretation, this article...
The death of a hero: Vice-Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson
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My grandfather's recollections of the invasion of Normandy
Historian article
16-year-old Daisy Black of Newcastle-under-Lyme School in Staffordshire was the Senior Award winner in the Spirit of Normandy Trust Young Historian competition in 2007. Having been judged the winner by the Young Historian panel, the Spirit of Normandy Trsutees were so taken with her entry that they gave her an...
My grandfather's recollections of the invasion of Normandy
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Film: Bricks and the making of the city - London in the 19th century
Virtual Branch
In this HA Virtual Branch talk Peter Hounsell drew on his recently published book Bricks of Victorian London, exploring the crucial role brick production played in the creation of Britain's capital and why the important place of bricks in the fabric of the city isn't always obvious.
Peter Hounsell has published...
Film: Bricks and the making of the city - London in the 19th century
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Harriet Kettle, Victorian rebel
Historian article
Harriet Kettle had a remarkable life. She was on the receiving end of everything that the institutions of social control in Victorian England could throw at her, but resisted, survived and fought back.
Harriet’s defiance earned her references in the records of a workhouse, two prisons, two asylums and, in...
Harriet Kettle, Victorian rebel
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Film: Germany 1945-1991: Introduction
Film series: Power and authority in Germany, 1871-1991
Germany as a divided and defeated nation is explored through the lens of how the two new Germanys rebuilt their States politically and culturally. Professor Anna Saunders reflects on the different inequalities that existed between the two states and how stability was established between political leaders, even when political dissent...
Film: Germany 1945-1991: Introduction
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Film: Lenin, the 1905 Russian Revolution and WWI
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
The founders of Communism, Marx and Engels, had created a set of social structures and industrial developments that were believed necessary for Communism to be achieved. Imperial Russia did not fit these conditions and yet at the start of the twentieth century Russian revolutionaries were some of the most active...
Film: Lenin, the 1905 Russian Revolution and WWI
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History Abridged: Language and the African continent
Historian feature
History Abridged: This feature seeks to take a person, event or period and abridge, or focus on, an important event or detail that can get lost in the big picture. Think Horrible Histories for grownups (without the songs and music). See all History Abridged articles
Africa is a huge continent...
History Abridged: Language and the African continent
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Chamberlain Day and the popular meaning of Tariff Reform
Historian article
Few Conservative institutions appealed to the Tory rank-and-file activist like the Tariff Reform League did in the opening two decades of the Twentieth Century. From its foundation in 1903, the League spearheaded Joseph Chamberlain’s crusade to grant tariffs on imported goods, acting as his grassroots organisation. This article attempts to...
Chamberlain Day and the popular meaning of Tariff Reform
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The Urban Working Classes in England 1880-1914
Historian article
On reading the title of this article, any reader at all familiar with the social history of late Victorian and Edwardian England is likely to think of the revelations at the time of the extent of urban poverty. Two major enquiries, one into London poverty, and the other into poverty...
The Urban Working Classes in England 1880-1914
