This is the most comprehensive study guide for the course History of the Modern World since 1750. The notes include the lectures readings. This study guide is effective in particular for visual learners as I have color coded and included special photos and diagrams to grasp the information quicker.
History of the Modern World Since 1750
Chapter 8: The Age of Enlightenment
Topic: The Age of Enlightenment
Summarize key ideas/ main Notes
points (Tips: Skip a space between ideas/topics and use abbreviations)
The Enlightenment Introduction
● The Enlightenment took place in the 18th century
● The Enlightenment took place before the French Revolution of 1789
○ The leading ideas of the Enlightenment were in: reason, science,
education, social reform, tolerance and enlightened governance.
■ The Enlightenment has often been challenged by other
influential cultural movements, such as, romanticism,
postmodernism and religious revivals.
■ The Enlightenment has also been challenged by modern
political movements, such as, fascism [one-party
dictatorship] and ethnic nationalisms [a nation is defined in
terms of ethnicity].
● The Enlightenment has influenced modern society in both political and
cultural ways
○ At the end of the 18th century, the Enlightenment had caused
explosive political revolutions in America and Europe.
■ The Enlightenment has shaped ‘modernity’
35. The Philosophers - and Others ● The ‘Spirit of Progress’ during the Enlightenment was derived from the
scientific and intellectual revolutions of the 17th century
● The Enlightenment shed light on the ideas of Bacon, Newton, Locke,
, Descartes, Bayle and Spinoza.
○ John Locke’s Natural Law
● The Enlightenment is the first time when people believe in progress [the
idea that each next generation is better of than the last generation].
, History of the Modern World Since 1750
Chapter 9: The French Revolution
Topic: The French Revolution
Summarize key ideas/ main Notes
points (Tips: Skip a space between ideas/topics and use abbreviations)
The French Revolution Introduction
● In 1789 France fell into revolution [the revolution lasted 10 years]
○ The revolution changed the ‘old regime’ into ‘modern society’
○ The French revolution extended beyond France and provokes
debates about social reform, political radicalism and
revolutionary violence.
■ The French Revolution was a transformation from a
collection of privileged groups to a nation
How the French Revolution
impacted the rest of the world
● The revolution in France also contributed to other revolutions in the
Atlantic world.
○ E.g. The great slave uprising in the French colony of Saint
Dominique, which began in 1791 and led eventually to the creation
of the Independent Republic of Haiti, was inspired in part by reports
of the recently declared “rights of man” in France.
, How the French Revolution was
different from the 20th century
Russian and Chinese revolutions
● During the French Revolution, France was the most advanced country of
the day and the centre of the Enlightenment.
○ French science led the world
○ French books were read everywhere and hardly needed to be
translated
○ Before 1789 and after 1793, France was the most powerful country
in Europe
The Old Regime: The Three Estates
41. Social and Cultural
● Before the French Revolution came about, the population was divided into
Backgrounds
three estates:
○ 1. Clergy
○ 2. Nobility
○ 3. Everyone else [around 97% of the population]
● The Clergy and nobility would have privileges such as tax exemptions
● Under the king there are three estates [clergy, nobility and everyone else]
The Agrarian System of the Old ● More than ⅘ of the people were rural
Regime ○ Peasants worked for themselves on either their own land or rented
land or they rented themselves out to lords or other peasants
○ The French Revolution abolished feudalism
○ The French Revolution also established the institutions of private
property in the modern sense which brought economic benefits to
the landowning bourgeoisie and peasants.
■ Feudalism: was used to describe how society was structured
● All the land in the country belonged to the King
● The King then passed parts of these lands to Tenant
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