Category: History Essay Examples
See our collection of history essay examples. These example essays are to help you understanding how to write a history essay. History is a fascinating puzzle with both personal and cultural significance. The past informs our lives, ideas, and expectations. Historians study the past to figure out what happened and how specific events and cultural developments affected individuals and societies. Also, see our list of history essay topics to find the one that interests you.
In 1952 a group of Free Officers led by Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew the corrupt monarchy of King Farouk in a bloodless coup. After World War II and the loss to Israel in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Egypt gradually slid into political chaos. The king was known internationally …
In the 1980s the small Central American country of El Salvador made world headlines as a key site of struggle in the cold war, and in consequence of its leftist revolutionary movements and civil war (conventionally dated 1980–92) that left some 70,000 dead and the economy and society …
Several major environmental disasters, those that are man-made rather than naturally occurring, have taken place after the World War II due to the emphasis on heavy industrial development. In developed countries in the late 1960 s, environmental movements led the public to be more concerned about the pollution …
From the 1950 s, with the massive rise in the human population, the expansion of cities and towns, and the increasing use of natural resources, some scientists such as Rachel Carson have written about impending problems. However, most people only became aware of major environmental problems from the …
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), first proposed in the U.S. Congress in 1923, guarantees the equality of rights for all people in the United States. The amendment has been pushed by women’s groups since 1920. Following the Great Depression and World War II, the rise of a second, …
Eritrea is an African country lying along the southwestern coast of the Red Sea and to the northeast of Ethiopia. Its capital and largest city is Asmara. Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993. The country’s diverse population speaks many languages and reflects many cultures. About half …
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is situated in the east of Africa in the region known as the Horn of Africa. Its capital is Addis Ababa. This country is bound to the west and northwest by Sudan, to the south by Kenya, to the east and southeast …
The European Economic Community (EEC), also known as the Common Market, was established by the Treaty of Rome among France, Italy, West Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. It was the core of what would become the European Community in 1967 and the European Union after the ratification …
The European Union (EU), founded with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, represents a large project of economic and political integration between an ever-growing group of European countries. The EU quickly became the world’s major trading power and enjoyed fast economic growth. Free internal trade and …
The Falklands War was a short war between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), occurring between March and June of 1982. The Falklands consist of two large—and many small— islands in the South Atlantic Ocean east of Argentina, rich in subaquatic offshore oil …
Falun Gong is a system of meditation exercises, termed qigong, introduced by Li Hongzhi in 1992. Falun Gong, translated as Practice of the Wheel of Law, grew quickly after its public introduction and is also known as Falun Dafa. In 1999 the Chinese government suppressed Falun Gong in …
Frantz Fanon, born of the descendants of African slaves, was raised on the French Caribbean island of Martinique; he was French-educated and became a practicing psychiatrist as well as an influential writer and spokesperson for Third World revolutions during the 1950s–1960s. Fanon influenced an entire generation of revolutionary …
The phenomenon of feminism worldwide in the latter part of the 20th century reflects the diversity of social and cultural theories, political movements, and moral and religious philosophies shaped by the experiences of women. There is no universally accepted form of feminism that represents all of its advocates, …
The intellectual guiding light of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, or FSLN) from its founding in 1961–62 until his death in battle in 1976, Carlos Fonseca Amador ranks among the most influential figures in modern Nicaraguan history, and one of the era’s most …
Gerald Ford was the president of the United States from 1974 to 1977, following a vice presidency of about eight months. He is perhaps best known as the successor to disgraced president Richard Nixon, whom he pardoned, and as the American president during the fall of Saigon. A …
The Free Speech Movement (FSM) began in 1964 at the University of California, in Berkeley. It was the catalyst for student protest in the United States and in the world during the 1960s–1970s. The movement began as a protest by students, teaching assistants, and faculty against the university’s …
FRELIMO, founded in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on June 25, 1962, is the result of a merger among three regionally based nationalist organizations—the Mozambican African National Union, the National Democratic Union of Mozambique, and the National African Union of Independent Mozambique. Eduardo Mondlane, its first president, settled its …
Remembered mainly for the tragic manner of his death and the convulsions of violence sparked by his assassination on April 9, 1948—an event precipitating an explosion of popular outrage in Bogotá (the Bogotazo), and soon after, La Violencia (The Violence), which wracked Colombia through the 1950s and after—Jorge …
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (November 19, 1917–October 31, 1984) was the third (1966–77) and sixth (1980– 84) prime minister of India and the first woman to hold that office. Her legacy is very complex. Gandhi was the daughter of the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964). She …
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the seventh prime minister of India, following in the footsteps of both his grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) and his mother, Indira Gandhi (1917–84). After finishing high school in India, Rajiv, like most children of prominent Indian families, went to England for further education. He …
