Welcome to our HLA blog! We explore various topics based on chronology, geography, subject and courses.
Chronology. Historical periods from Pre-History to the Present – e.g. Classical, Middle Ages, Renaissance.
Geography. China, Europe, Canada, and the United States comprise some of the geographically-based content.
Topic. These include blogs devoted to war, revolutions, political, gender and other issues listed accordingly.
Courses. Blogs related to world history and other programs. Look for tips around essay writing, research and much more.
Some history topics are very challenging! We aim to explain these topics in an accessible manner that clarifies without compromising the subjects’ complexities. Complex issues, we believe, can be accessible with patient explanation and quality writing.
Lastly, we encourage your input. If there are topics you would like us to write about, please feel welcome to contact us.
The Industrial Revolution marks the most fundamental transformation of human life in the history of the human life in the history of the world recorded in human documents. Eric Hobsbawm The mid-18th century to the first decade of the 20th century brought fundamental changes in people’s lives and thoughts. During this time, Western Europe changed…
The beginning of the twentieth century forever changed the course of Russian history. Two revolutions occurred in Russia in 1917 – the February and October Revolutions. The February Revolution toppled Tsar Nicholas II’s Russian monarchy and created a liberal-socialist Provisional government. In October, Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik Party seized power and ushered in decades…
In April 1961, an American-sponsored contingent of 1500 Cuban exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs, intent on overthrowing Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The attempt failed miserably. Most invaders were captured and imprisoned. The invasion further undermined U.S.-Cuban relations and heightened Cold War tensions, particularly Soviet-American relations. It also stands as a conspicuous blemish on…
In 1619 twenty Africans landed in Jamestown, Virginia, a budding British colony of the Americas focused on the growing and exporting of tobacco. Tobacco plantations required labour and until 1700, white indentured servants, mainly from Britain, provided most of the work. But various factors would lead plantation owners to replace indentured servitude with slavery and…
World History devotes much attention to the world’s belief systems and religions that shaped our past. One integral theme is the development and impact of monotheist religions, particularly the “Abrahamic traditions” -Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Polytheism (multiple gods) preceded these “One-God” religions that eventually came to predominance in much of the world. Historians, anthropologists, and…
From 1966 to 1976, Communist leader Mao Zedong led a “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution” that renewed the Chinese Revolution that Mao felt had lost its way. Mao and his followers drastically altered the country’s political, economic, and social structure. Historian Paul Clark calls it “the biggest non-wartime, concentrated social upheaval in world history. (1). Rhoads…
Oceans and seas make up about two-thirds of our planet, yet historical attention to such bodies has been minimal at best. Rainer F. Buschman. With the rise of world history, more people view the past through a lens that brings a broader range of global interconnections to light. Essential to these linkages are geographical features…
Cleopatra VII (69- 30 BC) ruled Egypt for twenty-two years and is one of the most recognizable figures in world history. Numerous movies, articles and books explore her life and legacy. Yet, we know very little about her. Contemporary accounts of her life, many from Roman officials who despised her, offer less than reliable information.…
After Christopher Columbus landed in San Salvador in 1492, Europeans settled and eventually conquered the Americas. How did Europeans overwhelm an Indigenous population that scholars have estimated to be between 60 and 100 million? An essential factor involves the drastic population decrease of Native Americans over the following two centuries. The estimated numbers are staggering,…
Serbian nationalist Gavril Princip assassinated Austria-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and started World War One. (1914-1918)The Illuminati orchestrated the French Revolution (1789).COVID-19 is a conspiracy facilitated by a secret society determined to create a “New Order.” What do these claims have in common? For starters, they all identify a cause of a major event – a…