Course Readings – HS 2322 World History since 1450
Early Modern World HistoryModern World HistoryGlobal World History
Ferdinand and Isabella: The Making of the First World Power
Christopher Hohman
12/01/2018
In April of 1451, at a secluded palace in Northern Spain, a young baby by the name of Princess Isabella of Castile was born. From the moment she was born the world was aligned against her. In truth, there were very few people who cared
Sir Francis Drake: Knight and Explorer, Slave Trader and Pirate
Cameron Adelman
01/29/2017
Although the 1519 voyage of Ferdinand Magellan is openly acknowledged to be the first successful expedition to circumnavigate the globe, it is also commonly known that Magellan did not survive the undertaking, having been killed in the Philippines during a local political dispute in 1521.1
Cabeza de Vaca: Getting Lost and Captured in Spanish America
Antonio Coffee
04/02/2019
The stories of the Spanish conquistadors, of men that believed themselves to be conquerors fighting and exploring for God and gold, are well known. While many of those conquistadors may have seen themselves as bringing civilization to a savage new land, there are those who
The Golden Age of Piracy: The Real Pirates of The Caribbean
Elliot Avigael
10/07/2021
The Caribbean Islands, 1715: Blood on the water. The black flag flies proudly as pirates plunder and pillage the high seas seemingly without consequence, bringing world empires to their knees. Adventurers and swashbucklers from all over the world flock to the islands eager to pursue
“Ite et Vos”: The origins of the modern Franciscan legacy
Roberto Macias-Marin
04/13/2021
Picture yourself in medieval Rome, sitting on a balcony overlooking one of the piazzas enjoying a cup of coffee, when suddenly you start to see a large group of friars leaving one of their convents. At first you think nothing of it; it is Rome
Martin Luther: Rebel or Reformer?
Teresa Valdez
03/02/2017
In 1517, when the 95 Theses were first posted, Martin Luther had no intention of breaking from the Roman Catholic Church. Rather, he sought to reform the Church’s view on indulgences, believing that no one could buy their way into heaven. Believing that his view
Assassination on the Innocent: The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572
Maria Esquivel
02/28/2018
In the early hours of August 24, 1572, all was calm in France until an unexpected chaos struck the Protestant Huguenots gathered at the Louvre Palace in Paris. After attending the wedding festivities between the Protestant Prince Henry of Navarre and the Catholic Margaret of Valois,
Heliocentrism: Galileo’s Battle With the Church
Jose Figueroa
02/15/2018
February 13, 1633 was the final day of the trial led by the Holy Office. Galileo once again walked into the same dim, candle-lit room in one of the beautiful churches of Rome. The eyes of the paintings, statues, and members of the Holy Office
Wicked Witches of the West: Witch Hunts in Early Modern Europe
Victoria Sanchez
03/31/2017
In today’s world, when someone thinks of a witch, they normally picture one of a few things: the infamous Wicked Witch of the West that was out to get our beloved Dorothy; Bette Midler’s crazy looking character in Hocus Pocus; or a sparkly, purple and black ‘Party
Salem Witch Trials: A Pressing Time in History
Sabrina Drouin
11/19/2021
Imagine you are walking through your town, practically oblivious to the drama that is quickly unfolding, only to look up at Gallows Hill to see a supposed witch hanging from a tree. This could be enough to put someone into shock, but for the townspeople
Bloody Mary in the Mirror
Nicolas McKay
02/16/2017
Winner of the Fall 2016 StMU History Media Awards for Article with the Best Title o one can say who history will choose to remember, or for what they will be remembered. Sometimes a lifetime of achievement can be forgotten because of a single misdeed. Few historic
How Catherine II became Catherine the Great
Cameron Ramirez
12/09/2017
World history has generally been led by men, and very rarely, women. Although women have had little presence in the leadership of the great governments, when they did, they did it with an impressive force, such as Queen Victoria of England, Queen Cleopatra of Egypt,
La Malinche: Traitor or Survivor?
Mariana Sandoval
09/02/2016
Winner of the Fall 2016 StMU History Media Award for Best Article in the Category of “People” Best Article in the Category of “World History” Largely due to the importation of disease and use of superior weapons, the Spaniards were able to conquer the Aztec capital
Cuauhtémoc: The Last Aztec Emperor
Citlalli Rivera
11/17/2020
Cuauhtémoc, although murdered in defeat, left a legacy as the last Aztec emperor who led Tenochtitlan in defense against Hernán Cortés and the Spanish invaders. The young warrior was initially selected to serve as emperor because of his fierce opposition to the Spanish invasion, which
“Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe”: How the Apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe Changed the Catholic Faith and Mexican Culture
Nicole Ortiz
10/06/2019
Imagine waking up one day and going about your regular routine, when suddenly something happens that will not only change your life but the lives of Catholics and Mexicans forever. At dawn on December 9, 1531, Juan Diego, who was a young Aztec Indian from
How the Nahuatl Language Survived the Spanish Conquest of Mexico
Emilia Caballero Carmona
04/14/2021
Many of us know that the Spanish conquest of Latin America brought tremendous change to those regions. In Mexico specifically, Spanish conquest ended one of the most powerful and developed empires in Latin America, which was the Aztec empire. This led to many changes and
Rebecca Rolfe: How Pocahontas Got Her New Identity
Maria Luevano
10/31/2021
We all know Pocahontas as the Disney princess who fell in love with John Smith and lived happily ever after. However, her actual story is nothing like the Disney movie. The first we hear of the historical Pocahontas was in 1607, when John Smith, the
Queen of all Trades: Nzinga Mbande, Queen of Ndongo and Matamba
Rosario Moreno
05/10/2019
Queen Njinga was the ruler of the Kingdom of Ndongo and the Kingdom of Matamba, a Queen of two nations, an enemy of the Portuguese, and a warrior to her people. Through a long-standing conflict between the Kingdom of Ndongo and the Portuguese, Queen Njinga
The Battle of a Nation, and the Rise of a New Shogun
Raul Colunga
02/19/2020
The Battle of Sekigahara took place in Japan near the end of the Sengoku Jidai or The Warring States Period (1467-1615). These nearly 150 years were the most violent times in Japanese history, where warlords battled each other for land and power. Since this period
Power To The People: Abbè Sieyès And The Third Estate
Bailey Rider
04/29/2017
Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, also known as the Abbè Sieyès, was a major player of the French Revolution. During this period he challenged the ancien régime system of unequal representation in the Estates-General and fought against the traditional privileges held by the aristocracy and clergy. He believed that
Painting the Town Red: Jacques Louis David and Revolutionary France
Teresa Valdez
04/16/2017
The French Revolution is perhaps the most famous revolution in all of history. In 1789, the French people, suffering from starvation, excessive taxation, and governmental bankruptcy, began a process that led to the overthrow of the French monarchy. The years that followed marked a violent, bloody period
The Execution Of Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen Of France
Amelia Hew
10/06/2019
t eleven in the morning on October 16, 1793, the prison gate of the Conciergerie opened and the Widow Capet strode out. The armed force had been mobilized, cannons lined the squares and intersections; patrols scoured the street. Thirty thousand men accompanied the Queen of
Slave Revolt: the Creation of Haiti
Ana Gonzalez
04/03/2017
The success of the American and the French Revolutions echoed through the people of the new and the old world. These events, powered by the Enlightenment ideas of popular sovereignty, individual freedom, and equality, proved that parting from powerful and oppressive rulers was possible.1 For
The Birth of a New Republic: The Story of How Mexico’s First President Came to Power
Maria Ferrer
11/21/2021
It was 1823, and the people of Mexico had chosen Agustín de Iturbide as their First Emperor after the long fight for independence finally came to an end. It seemed that many of the people were thrilled to have him as their monarch, all but
The Iron Chancellor Otto von Bismarck: A Quest for German Unity
Alexis Soto
04/21/2017
Otto von Bismarck was arguably the most dominant political figure in Europe during the latter half of the nineteenth century. He orchestrated a series of European wars that culminated in the creation of a unified German Empire with himself as the new Chancellor and Prussian
Children without a Childhood: Child Labor During the British Industrial Revolution
Bailey Rider
03/30/2017
Children today spend five days a week going to school for eight hours. During the first half of the nineteenth century in Britain, this was not the case. Instead, children even as young as five or six would toil all day long in factories or
The British Working Class Participation in the Cult of Domesticity
Teresa Valdez
05/12/2017
The Industrial Revolution changed the world in many ways. It brought capitalism and consumerism into being, changing the world’s outlook on wealth creation. It revolutionized technology, allowing the innovation of mass production to expand exponentially. Jobs in factories shifted labor from farming to factories. With
Luddites: Victims of the Industrial Revolution
Mario Sosa
04/28/2017
The early nineteenth century brought drastic change to manufacturing. As the Industrial Revolution moved into full swing, factories and industries boomed and there was a sharp increase in jobs.1 Although many people in England were adapting to this industrial lifestyle, one group, known as the Luddites,
The Unrecognized Soldier of the Mexican Revolution: Petra Herrera and the Adelitas
Regina De La Parra
03/24/2018
Winner of the Spring 2018 StMU History Media Award for Best Article in the Category of “Gender Studies” “La Adelita” was one of the most popular corridos, or songs of romance, during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920).1 This song is the love story of a young woman who
The Mysterious Death of David Crockett
Kenneth Gilley
12/13/2019
Cannons roar, rifles crack, and bayoneted soldiers scream. It was March 6, 1836, and the Alamo was about to fall under the viscous assault of Mexican president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. He had declared that he would take no quarter: every soldier in the
San Antonio Royalty: The Reign of the Chili Queen
Sara Ramirez
04/07/2019
the nightly encampments upon the historic Alamo Plaza, in the heart of the city, had been a carnival, a saturnalia that was renowned throughout the land.1 In the town of San Antonio, the Alamo Plaza transforms from a daytime marketplace into a lively nighttime fiesta.
Charles Darwin: What He Really Said
Tyler Sleeter
05/12/2018
Charles Darwin was a naturalist that proposed the theory of natural selection and the theory of evolution still studied and widely accepted as true today. He wrote many books during his life, but the two most well-known books, The Origin of Species by Means of
The Struggle against Colonialism: Ethiopia’s Experience to Virtual Loss of Independence
Arsema Abera
03/04/2020
1871 was the year for Italy. After so many ups and downs, Italy had finally managed to unify its independent states and was successful in establishing the Italian kingdom. It was also the same year when Italy had felt the anguish and anxiety from not
“For the Good of Belgium”: King Leopold II’s Blood-Drenched Reign over the Congo
Aneesa Zubair
04/05/2021
“Village set on fire. Dinner then return.” These cold words come from the diary of a Belgian officer in the Congo Free State.1 He provides a haunting image of daily life in the colony: Village after village burned, one family after another dead. The Belgian
Murder for a Cause: Gavrilo Princip’s Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Bailey Rider
04/17/2017
This is not a story about the start of World War I, or the consequences of it. This is the story of how a young man, Gavrilo Princip, was enthralled by a terrorist group called The Black Hand, a terrorist organization that wanted the unification
What Motivated Kaiser Wilhelm II to go to War With Russia, France, and Serbia?
Antonio Holverstott
04/23/2020
n the summer of 1914, the European continent entered a new and significant era of its history: the Great War. Scholars have discussed the factors that motivated the German state to enter the Great War, with many scholars attributing this event to the behavior of
For a moment there was peace: The Christmas Day Truce of 1914
Edgar Ramon
04/08/2018
The chilling cold was inescapable and constant along the trenches. This was only worsened by the rain-water flooding the muddy walls and floors. Some months had passed since the beginning of World War I, and it was now December of the year 1914. Being “home
Triumph and Tragedy: The Loss of the Lusitania
Christopher Hohman
09/21/2018
The 1890s was a remarkable time for transatlantic travel. For the better part of a century, the British had ruled the waves both militarily and commercially. All this, however, changed in the blink of an eye. In September of 1897, the German vessel Kaiser Wilhelm
Tsarina Alexandra: The Unintentional Contribution to the Fall of Imperial Russia
Paulina Gonzalez
11/19/2021
When German Princess Alix of Hesse met Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia at her sister’s wedding in 1884, it was love at first sight. The two fell deeply in love as they got to know each other, and they hoped to marry. Nicholas stated in
The Life and Death of Edith Cavell: A War Heroine
Karla Fabian
11/04/2021
In the cold, dark cell of St. Gilles prison, Edith Cavell waited for a decision on whether she would live or die. After a lifetime of virtuous deeds, service work, and taking care of those most in need, Edith Cavell never expected to end up
Manfred von Richthofen: Der Roten Baron
Seth Roen
05/06/2020
Imagine the western front during the spring of 1917. The sound of the whistleblowing indicated the start of an assault. Masses of soldiers crawled out of their trenches and into No Man’s Land. They rushed across the field full of mud, craters, and remnants of
The Failed “Beer Hall Putsch” of 1923 in Bavaria
Dayna Valdez
10/19/2017
On November 8, 1923, at around 8:30 pm, Adolf Hitler and his armed bodyguards of the SA surrounded the Bürgerbräukeller Beer Hall in Munich, Germany. Along with his bodyguards, when Hitler barged into the Beer Hall, he immediately fired his gun into the ceiling and
Cold. Red. Fear. Death: Holodomor
Madeline Chandler
04/18/2021
Crunch: the sound of cracking frozen ground underneath one’s foot walking in subzero temperatures. Burning wood: the smell escaping chimneys in the distance where people struggle to keep warm. White clouds around anyone who dares to step outside when their breath freezes in the air
Remilitarizing the Rhine: Adolf Hitler’s Reasoning for the Remilitarization of the Rhineland
Aaron Sandoval
10/31/2021
In the year 1936, Adolf Hitler made a decision that laid the foundation for the Second World War. The remilitarization of the Rhineland is viewed among historians as one of the first major violations of the Treaty of Versailles committed by Adolf Hitler, and it
Guernica 1937
Daniel Gimena
11/04/2020
It was 4pm in the Spanish city of Guernica. It was another day in that Spanish civil war that seemed to not have an end. Suddenly, the noise of airplanes approaching from the north, hopefully only war planes crossing the city on their way to
Fighting Soviet Socialism With Music: Shostakovich
Amanda Uribe
11/02/2019
What really happened on December 11, 1936 will forever be a mystery to the music world. At the height of Soviet oppression of the arts, Dmitri Shostakovich, a very influential composer in the early twentieth century, took a strong stance against the Soviet Union and
The Man Who Would Not Be King: The Abdication of Edward VIII of Great Britain
Christopher Hohman
02/21/2019
Winner of the Spring 2019 StMU History Media Award for Best Article in the Category of “World History” As the year 1936 dawned in the United Kingdom, a dark cloud hung over the British people. Their king, George V, the man that embodied British stoicism
Che Guevara: Road to Radical
Alexander Manibusan
10/28/2018
His face is known all over the world. With his long thick hair and charismatic stare, Che Guevara is globally recognized as a symbol for revolution and rebellion. He was the young medical student who sought to free the world not only from disease but
Quem era Carmen Miranda? Who was Carmen Miranda?
Gabriela Medrano
04/16/2017
Does the name Carmen Miranda sound familiar? What about “the lady in the tutti-frutti hat?” If not, do not feel ashamed, for many have forgotten the excellent Brazilian performer. No Brazilian artist, however, has achieved the international recognition that Carmen Miranda has, especially in Latin
Diego Rivera the Muralist: A Different Working Mexican
Gabriela Medrano
04/17/2017
Winner of the Spring 2017 StMU History Media Awards for Best Article in the Category of “Culture” When entering a Mexican restaurant today, one takes notice of the different aromas, both sweet and savory; one notices the patrons often speaking their language of Spanish; one hears the
“Whither Thou Goest I Shall Go:” Harry Hopkins’ Adventure in the United Kingdom, 1941
Christopher Hohman
12/15/2021
Many issues troubled Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s mind in the waning days of 1940. Most importantly, the state of the war in Europe was exceedingly bleak. The United Kingdom stood alone against the might of Nazi Germany, which had already brought much of Western Europe to
The U.S. Key To Victory: The Navajo Code Talkers Of WWII
Lorenzo Rivera
11/04/2018
“Jó áádóó Laman bidineʼé ałdóʼ tʼáá bí ałkʼiijééʼ; dóó díí kéyah tʼáá ałtso bikááʼgóó diné ndaʼahiltseedgo hahoolzhiizh; doo díí daʼahijigą́ ndootʼihígíí éí doo bił bééhózin da.”“And behold also, the Lamanites are at awar one with another; and the whole face of this land is one
Alan Turing: His Mathematical Turning Point with Enigma
Nathan Castillo
11/09/2020
The dark cloud of war was glooming over Britain in the year 1939; Germany had recently begun its assault on Poland after Hitler and Stalin had signed their non-aggression pact, dividing Poland between them, as Hitler continued his rise to power.1 In 1940, the war
A Dreaded Nightmare: Reinhard Heydrich and the Start of the Holocaust
Amelia Hew
11/12/2019
Winner of the Fall 2019 StMU History Media Award for Best Article in the Category of “World History” In the evening of November 9, 1938, the state-sponsored pogrom on the German-Jewish community occurred throughout Germany that would subsequently be called Kristallnacht. It occurred under the
The Red Crown: The Story of Saint Maximilian Kolbe’s Sacrifice
Alexander Avina
10/01/2019
n September 1939, Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany, an event that marked the beginning of one of the most devastating periods in human history. The Polish people witnessed the brutality of a war that quickly made its way to Warsaw, and those who were
Sophie Scholl and the White Rose Student Resistance Movement
Brianda Gomez
12/10/2017
Have you ever thought, why didn’t anyone try to stop Adolf Hitler? Were any Germans ever against him? Was the German community aware of the harm that Hitler was causing to innocent people? Indeed, there were. But who were the people behind these courageous acts?
All Roads Lead to Rome: General Mark Clark’s Journey to the Eternal City
Santos Mencio
03/30/2021
It was 1943, and the Allies were ready to invade the soft underbelly of Europe, the Italian peninsula. They hoped that by pressing Germany’s ally, they might isolate Germany by forcing them to retreat into the German homeland north of Italy. Among all of their
A Company of Heroes: The Story of the Band of Brothers
Amanda Gutierrez
11/30/2020
World War II began in September of 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany after its invasion of Poland. Although other allied nations, such as Canada and Australia, joined Britain and France in their battle against Germany, the United States remained uninvolved.
Eisenhower’s Yes: Operation Overlord
Antonio Coffee
04/06/2019
General Dwight D. Eisenhower knew he was fast approaching a crucial moment in the Western theater of the Second World War. In the early morning hours of June 5, 1944, Eisenhower was faced with one of the hardest decisions of his life, and one of
The Candy Bombers of the Berlin Airlift
Tyler Sleeter
04/21/2017
“Remember us children and we will remember you our whole life” -ten year old Helma Lurch 1 Near the end of World War II, the Allied Powers had to decide what to do with Germany and its largest city, Berlin. At the Potsdam Conference in
The Pacification of My Lai
Sterling Henarie
11/28/2020
A Buddhist monk, donning a stark-white robe with graying hair on his face, was bent over a sick elderly woman, praying, when he heard the gruff voice of an American soldier demand, “VC Adai?” Not knowing where they could find the Viet Cong (VC), he
Words from the other side of the wall: Did socialism really destroy the Soviet Union?
Josemaria Soriano
12/07/2017
December 25, 1991. It is not a usual Christmas day. That day would be a Christmas that no history book could forget. There it is, the red flag, waving in the middle of the cold winter over the Russian capital, and suddenly, it has fallen.
“Ab Sofort”: The Fall of the Berlin Wall
Eduardo Foster
10/19/2017
The evening of November 9, 1989 quickly became a historical one as Günter Schabowski, an official of the Socialist Unity Party of East Germany, announced in a press conference that the inhabitants of East Germany could now travel to the West German side of the
A Dangerous Request: Mother Teresa’s Call to Calcutta
Edith Santos Sevilla
11/09/2019
On September 10, 1946, Mother Teresa felt her second vocational calling. She had been doing missionary work with the Loreto Sisters for eighteen years. But on this day, she felt what she called “a call within a call.” It was the moment when she received
The Season Of Reform – The Prague Spring of 1968
William Ward
11/30/2018
“In the service of the people we followed such a policy that socialism would not lose its human face” –Alexander Dubcek 1 The Prague Spring began earlier in the year, but in August 1968, this season of reform in Czechoslovakia came to a screeching halt.
The Corpse Without Peace: Evita
Marina Castro
10/23/2018
Winner of the Fall 2018 StMU History Media Award for Best Descriptive Article The echo of her name still resonates in the hearts of Argentinians and others inspired by her. In life and in death, she was the vivid fire and image of revolution that
A Deadly Path Towards Sainthood: The Assassination of Monsignor Oscar Romero
Daniela Duran
10/06/2018
Winner of the Fall 2018 StMU History Media Award for Best Overall Research It was March 24, 1980. At 6:30 PM, Monsignor Oscar Romero was officiating his daily mass, just as any other day. Believers were lined up on the benches of the small hospital