1861
Serfs Emancipated in Russia
Alexander II, humiliated by defeat in the Crimea and convinced Russia could not modernize with forty million human chattels, freed the serfs by imperial decree. They got their personal freedom and a crushing debt for the land. It was the largest single emancipation in Europe's history, and it satisfied almost no one.
Fort Sumter
Confederate batteries in Charleston harbor opened fire on the federal garrison at Fort Sumter. The fort surrendered after thirty-four hours. No one was killed in the bombardment. Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand volunteers; four more states seceded. The American Civil War had begun, and nobody imagined it would last four years.
Cixi Becomes Co-Regent
After the young Xianfeng Emperor died of illness in exile at Chengde, his concubine Cixi - mother of the new five-year-old emperor - joined with the senior dowager in a palace coup that removed the regent princes. For the next forty-seven years, Cixi would be the effective ruler of Qing China, charming, cunning, and increasingly outmaneuvered by the world.
Kingdom of Italy Proclaimed
In Turin, a parliament elected by the newly unified provinces declared Victor Emmanuel II king of Italy. Rome and Venice were still missing; the south was in open revolt against its new government. But the peninsula, split since the fall of the Roman Empire, had, at last, a state. Cavour died three months later.
First Bull Run
A Union army marched out of Washington expecting a Sunday stroll to Richmond. At a Virginia creek called Bull Run, Confederate reinforcements arriving by rail turned the tide. Stonewall Jackson earned his nickname. The Yankees ran. Spectators who had brought picnic baskets ran with them. The war would not be short.
Texas Secedes
Texas became the seventh state to leave the Union, over the veto of its elderly governor Sam Houston, who refused to swear an oath to the Confederacy and was removed from office. The old hero of San Jacinto, exhausted, warned his fellow Texans that they were bringing ruin on themselves. They did not listen. He was right.