Although arch-rivals England and France had fought three wars between 1689 and 1748, the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) was different since it originated in North America. Actually, it could be better described as the first world war since the conflict spread to Europe, the Caribbean, the Indian sub-continent and South-east Asia. By the end of the war, France had lost almost all of its North American colonies and the Royal Navy ruled the ocean. (Please click here for a detailed chronology with a listing of all movies related to the Seven Years' War)
American Revolution
British attempts to increase taxation in the American colonies to help pay the debts run up during the Seven Years War led to increased discontent. Believing that a firm display of force would show the colonists their place, the British were shocked when open warfare erupted in 1775. A huge army was sent to bring the rebels under control but it did not prevent the colonies from declaring independence on July 4, 1776. (please click here for a detailed chronology with a listing of all movies related to the American Revolution)
The War of 1812
Although the United States had won its independence, the British had spent the intervening years making excuses, like they were tired from fighting on several fronts and they had not used their full power, to reassure themselves that they had not actually lost. As a result, the Royal Navy happily boarded American ships to press sailors for its war against Napoleon. Anger at impressment and desire for British controlled land on the other side of the Appalachian Mountains drove the United States government to declare war. (please click here for a detailed chronology with a listing of all movies related to the War of 1812)
The Texan Revolution
The American republic had only existed for fifty years, but its aggressive colonists had already tamed a number of frontiers: Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois. The newest frontier was Texas and while it may have been part of Mexico, they felt that it belonged to whoever would tame it. When the Anglo settlers revolted in June 1835 it prompted Santa Anna to lead a powerful army to regain control. (Please click here for a detailed chronology with a listing of all of the movies related to the Texan Revolution)
The American Civil War
Conflict had been brewing between the anti-slavery Northern states and the slave-owning Southern states for over a decade but when Abraham Lincoln was elected president, it was feared that he would prevent the spread of slavery to new states, thus dooming the Southern way of life to extinction. A total of 11 states seceded in 1861, leaving 23 states in the Union. Both sides expected a quick and glorious victory but those expectations disappeared after a series of increasingly savage bloodbaths. (Please click here for a detailed chronolgy with a listing of all of the movies related to the American Civil War)
The French Intervention in Mexico
After defeating a conservative government that had seized power in a coup, Mexcican President Benito Juarez refused to honor the foreign debts accumulated by his predecessor. Emperor Napoleon III of France used this refusal as an excuse to invade Mexico in 1862 and install Archduke Maximilian, younger brother of the Habsburg Emperor of Austria, as Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico in 1864. Napoleon hoped to exploit Mexico's rich mineral resources and counterbalance the American republic with a Catholic Mexican monarchy. Maximilian proved to be more fixated on court etiquette than ruling the country, so when American pressure forced Napoleon to recall his army, forces loyal to Juarez restored the Mexican Republic in 1867. (Please click here for a detailed chronology with a listing of all the movies related to the French Intervention in Mexico.)
The Mexican Revolution (1910-1920)
Tired of Porfirio Diaz's suffocating rule, Francisco Madero, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata led a successful revolution in 1910. However, the revolutionaries were not united, so Mexico would experience a bloody decade of factional in-fighting, reactionary rebellions, coup attempts, civil war and two separate military interventions by the United States before an exhausted nation would finally know peace. (please click here for a detailed chronology with a listing of all of the movies related to the Mexican Revolution)
The Public Enemy Era
When outlaws like the Barker-Karpis Gang, the Clyde Barrow Gang, John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd began to attract national attention in 1933, the FBI was an under-funded, amateurish organization. A series of celebrity kidnappings and the massacre of four law enforcement officials in Kansas City in June 1933 led to calls for a national police force. In 1934, the many bank robbers would be divided into five groups: the family of kidnappers, the lovers on the run, the charming escape artist, the psychotic killer and the misunderstood country boy. A year later, almost none of them were still alive and the FBI was a national institution. (Please click here for a detailed chronology with a listing of all movies related to the Public Enemy Era)
The Korean War
North Korea invaded South Korea (The Republic of Korea-ROK) on June 25, 1950 and the ROK army collapsed almost overnight. An amphibious landing at Inchon enabled American and ROK forces to push deep into North Korea, but China's warnings that it would not permit American troops near its border were ignored, so Chinese "volunteers" crossed the Yalu River in late 1950. After a series of offensives and counter-offensives, the lines remained unchanged from October 1951 until a final armistice was signed on July 27, 1953. (Please click here for a detailed chronology with a listing of all the movies related to the Korean War)
