Dedham, Massachusetts
Dedham DED-əm is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, United States. The population was 24,729 at the 2010 census, it is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest by Westwood and on the southeast by Canton; the town was first settled by Europeans in 1635. Settled in 1635 by people from Roxbury and Watertown, Dedham was incorporated in 1636, it became the county seat of Norfolk County when the county was formed from parts of Suffolk County on March 26, 1793. When the Town was incorporated, the residents wanted to name it "Contentment." The Massachusetts General Court overruled them and named the town after Dedham, Essex in England, where some of the original inhabitants were born. The boundaries of the town at the time stretched to the Rhode Island border. At the first public meeting on August 15, 1636, eighteen men signed the town covenant, they swore that they would "in the fear and reverence of our Almighty God and severally promise amongst ourselves and each to profess and practice one truth according to that most perfect rule, the foundation whereof is lasting love."
They agreed that "we shall by all means labor to keep off from us all such as are contrary minded, receive only such unto us as may be of one heart with us, as that we either know or may well and be informed to walk in a peaceable conversation with all meekness of spirit, for the edification of each other in the knowledge and faith of the Lord Jesus…" The covenant stipulated that if differences were to arise between townsmen, they would seek arbitration for resolution and each would pay his fair share for the common good. In November 1798, David Brown led a group in Dedham protesting the federal government, it carried the words, "No Stamp Act, No Sedition Act, No Alien Bills, No Land Tax, downfall to the Tyrants of America. Brown was arrested in Andover but because he could not afford the $4,000 bail, he was taken to Salem for trial. Brown was tried in June 1799. Although he wanted to plead guilty, Justice Samuel Chase urged him to name those who had helped him or subscribed to his writings in exchange for freedom.
Brown refused, was fined $480, sentenced to eighteen months in prison. It was the most severe sentence up to imposed under the Alien and Sedition Acts. Dedham is home to the Fairbanks House, the oldest surviving timber-frame house in the United States, scientifically dated to 1637. On January 1, 1643, by unanimous vote, Dedham authorized the first taxpayer-funded public school, "the seed of American education." Its first schoolmaster, Rev. Ralph Wheelock, a Clare College graduate, was paid 20 pounds annually to instruct the youth of the community. Descendants of these students would become presidents of Dartmouth College, Yale University and Harvard University; the first man-made canal in North America, Mother Brook, was created in Dedham in 1639. It linked the Charles River to the Neponset River. Although both are slow-moving rivers, they are at different elevations; the difference in elevation made the canal's current swift enough to power several local mills. In 1818, though citizens were still taxed for the support of ministers and other "public teachers of religion," Dedham set a precedent toward the separation of church and state.
Residents of the town selected a minister different than that chosen by the church members. This decision increased support for the disestablishment of the Congregational churches; the local Endicott Estate burned to the ground in 1904 after the local volunteer fire department, responding to three separate fires burning reached the Endicott fire last. By the time they arrived, only ashes remained, it is said that the estate's owner, Henry Bradford Endicott took the burning of the homestead as a divine command to rebuild. The rebuilt Endicott Estate is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the estate and surrounding grounds are open to the public, upholding Henry's stepdaughter Katherine's wish to use the house and property for "educational, civic and recreational purposes." In 1921, the historic Sacco and Vanzetti trial was held in the Norfolk County Courthouse in Dedham. Dedham Pottery is a cherished class of antiques, characterized by a distinctive crackle glaze, blue-and-white color scheme, a frequent motif of rabbits and other animals.
Dedham is sometimes called the "mother of towns" because 14 present-day communities were included within its original broad borders. Dedham is located at 42°14′40″N 71°9′55″W. On the northeast corner of High Street and Court Street the U. S. Coast & Geodetic Survey, now the U. S. National Geodetic Survey, has placed a small medallion into a granite block showing an elevation of 112.288 feet. Dedham is made up of a number of neighborhoods: In the geographical center of town is Oakdale, it is defined by East Street to the west, Cedar Street to the south and east, Whiting Ave to the north. The houses in the area around Woodleigh Road, declared to be one of the best streets in Greater Boston, have many homes designed by Henry Bailey Alden, who designed the Endicott Estate. Nearby the subdivision consisting of Morse Avenue, Fulton Street, Edison Avenue, is named Whiting Park. Riverdale is an island surrounded by the Charles Long Ditch. Greenlodge runs along the axis of Greenlodge Street and the area between Greenlodge Street a
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic, or the United Provinces, was a confederal republic that existed from the formal creation of a confederacy in 1581 by several Dutch provinces—seceded from Spanish rule—until the Batavian Revolution of 1795. It was a predecessor state of the first Dutch nation state; the republic was known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, Republic of the Seven United Provinces, the United Provinces, Seven Provinces, Federated Dutch Provinces, or the Dutch Federation. Common names for the Republic in official correspondence were: Republic of the United Netherlands Republic of the United Provinces Republic of the Seven Provinces Republic of the Seven United Netherlands Republic of the Seven United Provinces United Provinces United Provinces of the Netherlands United States of the Netherlands United Regions Seven United Regions Until the 16th century, the Low Countries—corresponding to the present-day Netherlands and Luxembourg—consisted of a number of duchies and prince-bishoprics all of which were under the supremacy of the Holy Roman Empire, with the exception of the county of Flanders, under the Kingdom of France.
Most of the Low Countries had come under the rule of the House of Burgundy and subsequently the House of Habsburg. In 1549 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction, which further unified the Seventeen Provinces under his rule. Charles was succeeded by King Philip II of Spain. In 1568 the Netherlands, led by William I of Orange, revolted against Philip II because of high taxes, persecution of Protestants by the government, Philip's efforts to modernize and centralize the devolved-medieval government structures of the provinces; this was the start of the Eighty Years' War. In 1579, a number of the northern provinces of the Low Countries signed the Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defence against the Spanish army; this was followed in 1581 by the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence of the provinces from Philip II. In 1582, the United Provinces invited Duke of Anjou to lead them. After the assassination of William of Orange on 10 July 1584, both Henry III of France and Elizabeth I of England declined offers of sovereignty.
However, the latter agreed to turn the United Provinces into a protectorate of England, sent the Earl of Leicester as governor-general. This was unsuccessful and in 1588 the provinces became a confederacy; the Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, not recognized by the Spanish Empire until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. During the Anglo-French war, the internal territory was divided into two groups: the Patriots, who were pro-French and pro-American, the Orangists, who were pro-British; the Republic of the United Provinces faced a series of republican revolutions in 1783–1787. During this period, republican forces occupied several major Dutch cities. On the defence, the Orangist forces received aid from Prussian troops and retook the Netherlands in 1787; the republican forces fled to France, but successfully re-invaded alongside the army of the French Republic, ousting stadtholder William V, abolishing the Dutch Republic, replacing it with the Batavian Republic.
After the French Republic became the French Empire under Napoleon, the Batavian Republic was replaced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland. The Netherlands regained independence from France in 1813. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 the names "United Provinces of the Netherlands" and "United Netherlands" were used. In 1815, it was rejoined with the Austrian Netherlands and Liège to become the Kingdom of the Netherlands, informally known as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, to create a strong buffer state north of France. On 16 March 1815, the son of stadtholder William V crowned himself King William I of the Netherlands. Between 1815 and 1890, the King of the Netherlands was in a personal union the Grand Duke of the sovereign Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. After Belgium gained its independence in 1830, the state became unequivocally known as the "Kingdom of the Netherlands", as it remains today. During the Dutch Golden Age in the late-16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch Republic dominated world trade, conquering a vast colonial empire and operating the largest fleet of merchantmen of any nation.
The County of Holland was the most urbanized region in the world. In 1650 the urban population of the Dutch Republic as a percentage of total population was 31.7 percent, while that of the Spanish Netherlands was 20.8 percent, of Portugal 16.6 percent, of Italy 14 percent. In 1675 the urban population density of Holland alone was 61 percent, that of the rest of the Dutch Republic 27 percent; the free trade spirit of the time was augmented by the development of a modern, effective stock market in the Low Countries. The Netherlands has the oldest stock exchange in the world, founded in 1602 by the Dutch East India Company, while Rotterdam has the oldest bourse in the Netherlands; the Dutch East-India Company exchange went public in six different cities. A court ruled that the company had to reside in a single city, so Amsterdam is recognized as the oldest such institution based on modern trading principles. While the banking system evolved in the Low Countries, it was incorporated by the well-connected English, stimulating English economic output.
Between 1590 and 1712 the Dutch possessed one of the strongest and fastest navies in the world, allowing for their varied conquests, including breaking the Portuguese s
Boston Latin School
The Boston Latin School is a first build public exam school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established on April 23, 1635, making it both the oldest school in America and the first public school in the United States; the Public Latin School was a bastion for educating the sons of the Boston "Brahmin" elite, resulting in the school claiming many prominent New Englanders as alumni. Its curriculum follows that of the 18th century Latin school movement, which holds the classics to be the basis of an educated mind. Four years of Latin are mandatory for all pupils who enter the school in the 7th grade, three years for those who enter in the 9th. In 2007, the school was named one of the top 20 high schools in the United States by U. S. News & World Report magazine, it was named a 2011 "Blue Ribbon School of Excellence", the Department of Education's highest award. As of 2018, it is listed under the "gold medal" list, ranking 48 out of the top 100 high schools in the United States by U. S. News & World Report.
The Puritans placed a strong emphasis on education for their children. Puritan leaders themselves were accustomed to the highest educational standards, with most of their ministers having graduated from Oxford or Cambridge University in England, they established Boston Latin School in Massachusetts Bay Colony and modeled it after the European Latin schools which emphasized religion and classical literature. They were not funded by taxes but by donations and land rentals. A school established in nearby Dedham was the first tax-supported public school. Latin was an educational priority in the 17th century; the ability to read at least Cicero and Virgil was a requirement of all colonial colleges, to write and speak Latin in verse and prose was the first of the Harvard laws of 1642. Boston Latin prepared many students for admission to Harvard, with a total of seven years devoted to the classics. However, most graduates of Boston Latin did not go on to college, since business and professions did not require college training.
In 2015, Boston Latin School had 2,400 pupils drawn from Boston. It has produced four Harvard University presidents, four Massachusetts governors, five signers of the United States Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin and Louis Farrakhan are among its well-known dropouts; the School began as the South Grammar School and was modeled after the Boston Grammar School in Lincolnshire, England. The Latin School admitted only male students and hired only male teachers from its founding in 1635 into the 19th century. Helen Magill White was the school's first female graduate and the first American woman to earn a doctorate; the Girls' Latin School was founded in 1877, Boston Latin admitted its first co-educational class in 1972. The school appointed Marie Frisardi Cleary and Juanita Ponte as the first two women in its academic faculty in 1967. Cornelia Kelley was the school's first female headmaster, serving from 1998 until her retirement in 2007, after which Lynne Mooney Teta became headmaster.
A cadet corps was founded during the American Civil War. Boston Latin's motto is Sumus Primi, Latin; this is a double entendre, referring both to the school's date of its academic stature. Boston Latin has a history of pursuing the same standards as elite New England prep schools while adopting the egalitarian attitude of a public school. Academically, the school outperforms public schools in affluent Boston suburbs as measured by the yearly MCAS assessment required of all Massachusetts public schools. In 2006, Brooklyn Latin School was founded in New York City, explicitly modeled on Boston Latin, borrowing much from its traditions and curriculum. Admission is determined by a combination of a student's score on the Independent School Entrance Examination and recent grades, is limited to residents of the city of Boston. Although Boston Latin runs from the 7th through the 12th grade, it admits students only into the 7th and 9th grades; the higher grades have fewer students than the lower grades, as a large number of students transfer out.
The school has been described as having a sink-or-swim environment, but in recent years there have been notable efforts to create a more supportive atmosphere. Because it is a high-performing and well-regarded school, Boston Latin has been at the center of controversy concerning its admissions process. Admissions are competitive, it is not uncommon for fewer than 20% of applicants to be admitted. Before the 1997 school year, Boston Latin set aside a 35% quota of places in its incoming class for under-represented minorities; the school was forced to drop this policy after a series of lawsuits involving non-minority girls who were not admitted despite ranking higher than admitted minorities. Boston Latin subsequently defeated a legal effort to do away with its admissions process and conduct admissions by blind lottery. Since 1997, the percentage of under-represented minorities at Boston Latin has fallen from 35% to under 19% in 2005, despite efforts by Boston Latin, the Boston Public Schools, the Boston Latin School Association to recruit more minority applicants and retain more minority students.
Some advocate instituting a quota for the number of students that must be admitted from Boston's public middle schools. Declamation is the most time-honored of the school's traditions. Pupils in the 7th to 10th grade are required to give an oration, known as'Declamation', in their English class three times during the year. There is Public Declamation, where pupils from all grades, or classes, are welcomed to try out for the chance to declaim a memorized piece in front of an asse
Robert C. Schenck
Robert Cumming Schenck was a Union Army general in the American Civil War, American diplomatic representative to Brazil and the United Kingdom. He was at both battles of Bull Run and took part in Jackson's Valley Campaign of 1862, the Battle of Cross Keys, his eldest brother, James Findlay Schenck, was a rear admiral in the United States Navy. Schenck was born in Ohio to William Cortenus Schenck and Elizabeth Rogers. William Schenck was descended from a prominent Dutch family and was born in Monmouth County, New Jersey. William Schenck was a land speculator and an important early settler of Ohio, in the War of 1812 and, like his son, rose to the rank of general, he died when Robert was only twelve and the boy was put under the guardianship of General James Findlay. In 1824, Robert Schenck entered Miami University as a sophomore and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree with honors in 1827, but remained in Oxford, employing his time in reading, as tutor of French and Latin, until 1830, when he received the degree of Master of Arts.
He began to study law under Thomas Corwin and was admitted to the bar in 1831. He moved to Dayton and there rose to a commanding position in his profession, he was in partnership with Joseph Halsey Crane in the firm of Schenck for many years. On August 21, 1834, Schenck was married to Miss Renelsche W. Smith at Nissequogue, Long Island, New York. Six children were born to all girls. Three of them died in infancy. Three daughters survived him, his wife died of tuberculosis in 1849 in Ohio. His first foray into political life came in 1838 when he ran unsuccessfully for the State Legislature. In the Presidential campaign of 1840, he acquired the reputation of being one of the ablest speakers on the Whig side, he was elected to the United States Congress from his district in 1843, re-elected in 1845, 1847 and 1849. His first conspicuous work was to help repeal the gag rule that had long been used to prevent antislavery petitions being read on the floor of the house, he opposed the Mexican–American War as a war of aggression to further slavery.
He declined re-election in 1851, and, in March 1851, was appointed by President Millard Fillmore, Minister to Brazil and accredited to Uruguay, Argentine Confederation, Paraguay. He was directed by the Government to visit Buenos Aires and Asunción, make treaties with the republics around the Río de la Plata and its tributaries. Several treaties were concluded with these governments by which the United States gained advantages never accorded to any European nation; the Democratic victory in 1852 caused the treaty of commerce with Uruguay to fail to be ratified by the United States Senate. In 1854, Schenck returned to Ohio, though sympathizing in the views of the Republican party, his personal antipathy to John C. Fremont was so strong, he was building up a lucrative law practice, was President of the Fort Wayne Western Railroad Company. He became more in sympathy with the Republican party, and, in September 1859, Schenck delivered a speech in Dayton regarding the growing animosity within the country.
In this speech, Schenck recommended that the Republican Party nominate Abraham Lincoln for the presidency. This was the first public endorsement of Lincoln for the presidency, he supported Lincoln with great ardor at the Chicago Convention in 1860 and in the campaign that followed. When the attack was made on Fort Sumter, Schenck promptly tendered his services to the President, he recalled his meeting with Lincoln: "Lincoln sent for me and asked,'Schenck what can you do to help me?' I said, ` Anything to do. I am anxious to help you.' He asked,'Can you fight?' I answered,'I would try.' Lincoln said,'Well, I want to make a general out of you.' I replied,'I don't know about that Mr. President, you could appoint me as general but I might not prove to be one.' He did so and I went to war." Schenck was commissioned brigadier general of volunteers. Many West Point graduates sneered at political generals. Schenck had not been a military man. On June 17, 1861, Union Army Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell sent the 1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment under the overall command of Schenck and the immediate command of Col. Alexander McDowell McCook to expand the Union position in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Schenck took six companies over the Alexandria and Hampshire Railroad line, dropping off detachments to guard railroad bridges between Alexandria and Vienna, Virginia. As the train approached Vienna, about 4 miles north of Fairfax Court House and 15 miles from Alexandria, 271 officers and men remained with the train. On the same day, Confederate States Army Col. Maxcy Gregg took the 6–month 1st South Carolina Infantry Regiment, about 575 men, two companies of cavalrymen and a company of artillery with two artillery pieces, about 750 men in total, on a scouting mission from Fairfax Court House toward the Potomac River. On their return trip, at about 6:00 p.m. the Confederates heard the train whistle in the distance. Gregg moved his artillery pieces to a curve in the railroad line near Vienna and placed his men around the guns. Seeing this disposition, an elderly local Union sympathizer ran down the tracks to warn the approaching train of the hidden Confederate force; the Union officers ignored his warning and the train continued down the track.
In the only response to the warning, an officer was placed on the forward car as a lookout. The Union soldiers we
India Wharf
India Wharf in Boston, flourished in the 19th century, when it was one of the largest commercial wharves in the port. The structure began in 1804 to accommodate international trade at a time when several other improvements to the Boston waterfront occurred, such as the creation of Broad Street and India Street. Funders and organizers of the construction of India Wharf in 1803 on the waterfront near Long Wharf included Francis Cabot Lowell, Uriah Cotting, Henry Jackson, James Lloyd Jr. and Harrison Gray Otis. Builders completed the wharf in 1804. Architect Charles Bulfinch designed the building atop the wharf, completed in 1807; the long stone building housed 32 stores. An observer in 1815 described: "Across from the long wharves, or in the western part of the city, the India Wharf runs from north to south. An immense stone store, 1,340 feet in length, is divided into rooms containing merchandise from the East Indies...."Merchants operating from India Wharf included China traders Russell and Company.
T. Coolidge. Storer. On the wharf were grocers Edward Keays and John Worster. Other firms included "Thomas Wigglesworth. F. Cunningham & Co.. A. Homer. Burgess. Here were the consulates of Sweden, Norway and Russia." The Norris and Baxter dining saloon maintained a presence on c. 1857. Through the mid-19th century, India Wharf became Boston's "headquarters of the trade with the Orient and many valuable cargoes from Canton, Calcutta and the Mediterranean ports were discharged there.... There were 30 stores in the block. Many Bostonians of today can recall the time when several large square riggers were moored at the wharf, unloading their cargoes of tea, coffee and fruit." Shipping activity continued on the wharf into the 20th century. Demolition of the wharf and the long building occurred in c. 1868-1962. Since 1971, the brutalist high-rise. Maritime Fur Trade Improvements at India Wharf: New Lease of Business Life of the Old Boston and Portland and Metropolltan Lines. Boston Daily Globe. July 12, 1882. P. 3.
Sailor's body evidently: Picked Up in the Dock at India Wharf... Mangled. Boston Daily Globe. April 22, 1901. P. 2. Not for her: Lucky Penny Brought No Good Fortune. One of the Few Things Found in Miss Cahill's Pocket, she Committed Suicide Wednesday Night. Body Found Yesterday Off India Wharf. Owed Her Landlady and Had Been Out of Work. Out of Work. Spoken Of. Boston Daily Globe. June 7, 1901. P. 6. Five rounded up: Italians and Others in a Fight on India Wharf—Stinson Cut—Some Had Revolvers. Boston Daily Globe. June 5, 1906. P. 6. Samuel Eliot Morison, The maritime history of Massachusetts, 1783-1860, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Last tribute paid to 176 lost on ship: kin of those on the Portland in 1898 cast flowers from India Wharf in Boston. New York Times. Nov 27, 1948. P. 28. 5-Alarm Fire Sweeps Boston's Historic India Wharf. New York Times. March 4, 1955. P. 16. Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress. India Wharf Stores, 306-308 Atlantic Avenue, Suffolk, MA
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city and, after Leipzig, the second-largest city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated near the border with the Czech Republic. Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendor, was once by personal union the family seat of Polish monarchs; the city was known as the Jewel Box, because of its baroque and rococo city centre. The controversial American and British bombing of Dresden in World War II towards the end of the war killed 25,000 people, many of whom were civilians, destroyed the entire city centre. After the war restoration work has helped to reconstruct parts of the historic inner city, including the Katholische Hofkirche, the Zwinger and the famous Semper Oper. Since German reunification in 1990 Dresden is again a cultural and political centre of Germany and Europe; the Dresden University of Technology is one of the 10 largest universities in Germany and part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative.
The economy of Dresden and its agglomeration is one of the most dynamic in Germany and ranks first in Saxony. It is dominated by high-tech branches called “Silicon Saxony”; the city is one of the most visited in Germany with 4.3 million overnight stays per year. The royal buildings are among the most impressive buildings in Europe. Main sights are the nearby National Park of Saxon Switzerland, the Ore Mountains and the countryside around Elbe Valley and Moritzburg Castle; the most prominent building in the city of Dresden is the Frauenkirche. Built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed during World War II; the remaining ruins were left for 50 years as a war memorial, before being rebuilt between 1994 and 2005. Dresden has nearly 560,000 inhabitants, the agglomeration is the largest in Saxony with 780,000 inhabitants. According to the Hamburgische Weltwirtschaftsinstitut and Berenberg Bank in 2017, Dresden has the fourth best prospects for the future of all cities in Germany. Although Dresden is a recent city of Germanic origin followed by settlement of Slavic people, the area had been settled in the Neolithic era by Linear Pottery culture tribes ca. 7500 BC.
Dresden's founding and early growth is associated with the eastward expansion of Germanic peoples, mining in the nearby Ore Mountains, the establishment of the Margraviate of Meissen. Its name etymologically derives from meaning people of the forest. Dresden evolved into the capital of Saxony. Around the late 12th century, a Slavic settlement called Drežďany had developed on the southern bank. Another settlement existed on the northern bank, it was known as Antiqua Dresdin by 1350, as Altendresden, both "old Dresden". Dietrich, Margrave of Meissen, chose Dresden as his interim residence in 1206, as documented in a record calling the place "Civitas Dresdene". After 1270, Dresden became the capital of the margraviate, it was given to Friedrich Clem after death of Henry the Illustrious in 1288. It was taken by the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1316 and was restored to the Wettin dynasty after the death of Valdemar the Great in 1319. From 1485, it was the seat of the dukes of Saxony, from 1547 the electors as well.
The Elector and ruler of Saxony Frederick Augustus I became King Augustus II the Strong of Poland in 1697. He gathered many of the best musicians and painters from all over Europe to the newly named Royal-Polish Residential City of Dresden, his reign marked the beginning of Dresden's emergence as a leading European city for technology and art. During the reign of Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland most of the city's baroque landmarks were built; these include the Zwinger Royal Palace, the Japanese Palace, the Taschenbergpalais, the Pillnitz Castle and the two landmark churches: the Catholic Hofkirche and the Lutheran Frauenkirche. In addition significant art collections and museums were founded. Notable examples include the Dresden Porcelain Collection, the Collection of Prints and Photographs, the Grünes Gewölbe and the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon. In 1726 there was a riot for two days after a Protestant clergyman was killed by a soldier who had converted from Catholicism.
In 1729, by decree of King Augustus II the first Polish Military Academy was founded in Dresden. In 1730, it was relocated to Warsaw. Dresden suffered heavy destruction in the Seven Years' War, following its capture by Prussian forces, its subsequent re-capture, a failed Prussian siege in 1760. Friedrich Schiller wrote his Ode to Joy for the Dresden Masonic lodge in 1785. During the decline of Poland Dresden was site of preparations for the Polish Kościuszko Uprising; the city of Dresden had a distinctive silhouette, captured in famous paintings by Bernardo Bellotto and by Norwegian painter Johan Christian Dahl. Between 1806 and 1918 the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony. During the Napoleonic Wars the French emperor made it a base of operations, winning there the famous Battle of Dresden on 27 August 1813. Following the November Uprising many Poles, including writers Juliusz Słowacki, Stefan Florian Garczyński, Klementyna Hoffmanowa and composer Frédéric Chopin, fled from the Russian Partition of Poland to Dresden.
National poet Adam Mickiewicz stayed several months in Dresden, starting in March 1832. He wrote the poetic drama Dziady, P
French Revolution
The French Revolution was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France and its colonies beginning in 1789. The Revolution overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, catalyzed violent periods of political turmoil, culminated in a dictatorship under Napoleon who brought many of its principles to areas he conquered in Western Europe and beyond. Inspired by liberal and radical ideas, the Revolution profoundly altered the course of modern history, triggering the global decline of absolute monarchies while replacing them with republics and liberal democracies. Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history; the causes of the French Revolution are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution, the French government was in debt, it attempted to restore its financial status through unpopular taxation schemes, which were regressive.
Leading up to the Revolution, years of bad harvests worsened by deregulation of the grain industry and environmental problems inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the aristocracy and the Catholic clergy of the established church. Some historians hold something similar to what Thomas Jefferson proclaimed: that France had "been awakened by our Revolution." Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates General in May 1789. During the first year of the Revolution, members of the Third Estate took control, the Bastille was attacked in July, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was passed in August, the Women's March on Versailles forced the royal court back to Paris in October. A central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime; the next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the monarchy intent on thwarting major reforms.
The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy. In a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. External threats shaped the course of the Revolution; the Revolutionary Wars beginning in 1792 featured French victories that facilitated the conquest of the Italian Peninsula, the Low Countries and most territories west of the Rhine – achievements that had eluded previous French governments for centuries. Internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins; the dictatorship imposed by the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror, from 1793 until 1794, established price controls on food and other items, abolished slavery in French colonies abroad, de-established the Catholic church and created a secular Republican calendar, religious leaders were expelled, the borders of the new republic were secured from its enemies. After the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795.
They suspended elections, repudiated debts, persecuted the Catholic clergy, made significant military conquests abroad. Dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. Napoleon, who became the hero of the Revolution through his popular military campaigns, established the Consulate and the First Empire, setting the stage for a wider array of global conflicts in the Napoleonic Wars; the modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution. All future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor, its central phrases and cultural symbols, such as La Marseillaise and Liberté, fraternité, égalité, ou la mort, became the clarion call for other major upheavals in modern history, including the Russian Revolution over a century later. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day; the Revolution resulted in the suppression of the feudal system, emancipation of the individual, a greater division of landed property, abolition of the privileges of noble birth, nominal establishment of equality among men.
The French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not only national, for it intended to benefit all humanity. Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of democracies, it became the focal point for the development of most modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism and secularism, among many others. The Revolution witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France and the lives of its citizens towards the objective of military conquest; some of its central documents, such as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, continued to inspire movements for abolitionism and universal suffrage in the next century. Historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Ancien Régime that led to the Revolution. Rising social and economic inequality, new political ideas emerging from the Enlightenment, economic mismanagement, environmental factors leading to agricultural failure, unmanageable national debt, political mismanagement on the part of King Louis XVI have all been cited as laying the groundwork for the Revolution.
Over the course of the 18th century, there emerged what the philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the "public sphere" in France and elsewhere
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Motley, John Lothrop". Encyclopædia Britannica. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 909–910.
Austrian Empire
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Republic of Austria
