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Unit 2: Liberal and National Revolutions

1750 – 1914 CE

The old world order started to unravel as radical ideas took hold. Explore how revolutionaries and nationalists challenged authority—and reimagined what nations could be.

Lesson 2.1

Liberal and National Revolutions
Between 1750 and 1914, people across the world questioned who should rule and what it meant to belong to a nation. What pushes people to rise up, and what happens when they do?

Ingredients for Revolution

Lesson 2.2

The Enlightenment
What if reason—not tradition—was the best guide for how to run a society? Enlightenment thinkers asked bold questions that changed how people saw power and rights, and the world is still grappling with the answers they proposed.

Lesson 2.3

What Causes Revolutions?
No single cause explains every revolution. Some begin with ideas while others start with hunger, injustice, or fear. Understanding why they happen means asking deeper questions about power and possibility.

Liberal Revolutions

Lesson 2.4

Atlantic Revolutions
The age of revolution wasn’t limited to one place or one story. The revolutions of the Americas, France, and Haiti were linked by shared ideas about freedom, but each movement had its own goals and its own struggles.

Lesson 2.5

An Age of Revolution?
Not all revolutions delivered what they promised. Comparing them shows just how complicated the idea of revolution can be.

Nationalism

Lesson 2.6

Origins of Nationalism
As people challenged old rulers, new ideas about belonging began to take hold. Nationalism helped people imagine communities that went beyond kings, empires, or borders.

Lesson 2.7

Nationalism Spreads
Nationalism spread like wildfire during the long nineteenth century, from Europe to Asia, leaving a legacy of successes and failures in its wake, and radically transforming the world.