1. History 20: How to Think About History
Unit 2: Growth of Democracy & the Triumph of Nationalism

2. Causation Events are the products of other events
The American and French revolutions along with the various revolutions of 1848 were the result of decades of challenges to traditional power by reform-minded individuals
In the 16th century, Martin Luther (and the Protestant Reformation movement) challenged the Catholic Church’s authority encouraging people to question all traditional authority and Western society subsequently become more secular
Reform movements of the 18th and 19th centuries focused on secular and democratic objectives, e.g. self-government, self-determination, fundamental liberty, e.g. freedom of religion, conscience, speech; human rights; individualism; the rule of law (reason) over the rule of caprice (monarchs)

3. Change Change is ongoing and ever present
Britain started the 19th century as the world’s most powerful empire but Germany and the United States caught up and passed the British by the latter 19
Nationalism created problems for the Austrian and Ottoman empires, e.g. Slovaks and Poles wanted to leave the Austrians and have their own country and Greeks and Albanians wanted to leave the Ottoman Empire
Russian czars and Austrian emperors believed in the Divine Right of Kings, i.e. just like Louis XVI of France before them, Russian rulers like Alexander III and Nicholas I failed to see that their country was changing and people wanted democratic reforms

4. Continuity
Continuity connects different historical periods and developments
Nationalism continues to shape and change the map of the world today:
A region known as Catalonia voted to separate from Spain in October, 2017
Around 2016 the Kurds in northern Iraq carved out a state for themselves as they pushed back ISIS
In July 2011 Sudan split into two new countries during a brutal civil war, e.g. North Sudan and South Sudan
In January of 1993 the country of Czechoslovakia split into two countries, e.g. Slovakia and the Czech Republic
In 1992 the country of Yugoslavia broke up into five new republics, e.g. Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, etc.
In 1991 the Soviet Union dissolved turning into 15 brand new states, e.g. Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, etc.
In 1989 East and West Germany were reunited

5. Perspectives & Biases
History is not a science but a perspective or story
Canada and the United States are not countries built upon a single history or shared ethnicity like the majority of countries in the world
Instead, Canada and the United States are countries created upon the simple idea of personal freedom and liberty
Both countries relied and continue to rely upon immigration for population growth
and the United States are nations of immigrants, e.g. there have been multiple major immigration events to both countries over the past 150 years:
There were two major waves of Irish immigration during the 19th century (1830s and 1840s)
There was a major wave of immigration from Central and Eastern Europe 1890s and early 1900s
There was a significant wave of immigration from China and Japan in the 1880s and 1890s
There was another significant wave of immigration following World War II of peoples fleeing war torn Europe
A significant number of Syrians immigrated to Canada in 2016