Famous Peeps

Victor Hugo
(1802-1885) He was a French poet, playwright, human rights activist, and played an important role to the Romantic movement in France. He is most known for his Notre-Dame de Paris and Les Misérables. The latter, meaning "The Poor," was about the times leading up to the June Rebellion. 

Victor

Les Misérables is still popular today,
and even was made into a Broadway musical

Leo Tolstoy
(1828-1910) He was a Russian writer who wrote primarily novels and short stories. He is known for his two novels, Anna Karenina and War and Peace (1863-1869) which is about the Napoleonic war.

Leo

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky was born of November 11^th, 1821 in Moscow. He originally studied engineering, but realized he was meant to be a writer. At the age of 27, he was imprisoned, which changed his whole perception of life, leading him to create aggressive works such as “Crime and Punishment,” which challenged Russian society. In this book, he speaks of the harsh conditions in Russia, the idea of transcending the moral law, which was very controversial, as well as finding peace with oneself.

Dostoevsky

Charles Darwin 

He was born on February 12^th, 1809. In his book “On the Origin of Species,” he proposed the idea that all species of life came from a common ancestor. Different species themselves adapted overtime so that the strongest would survive and reproduce offspring with the most successful traits, a process called “natural selection.” However, Darwin’s ideas were twisted by imperialists to a new term, “social Darwinism.” This new idea allowed Europeans to think they had the right to take over less advanced countries, as they were the strongest, and exploit them as much as they wanted. 

Chucky Darwin

Otto Von Bismarck

Otto was born on April 30, 1815. He was the Prussian minister president and imperial chancellor from 1862-1890 and is credited with uniting many German States into the great German Empire in 1871. He believed in Realpolitik, and entered power with the Junker interest in mind. However, he later tried to satisfy socialist interests in order to avoid revolt. Overall, he was an extremely influential figure in causing Germany to rise as a Great Power. 

Otto

Dreyfus

In 1894, Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish French officer, was accused of crossing his country by giving their military secrets to Germany. He was convicted and placed in jail. However, evidence later came out proving Dreyfus’s innocence, as Walsin Esterhazy was found to be the real criminal. Instead of automatically releasing Dreyfus, the French military were too proud to admit they had made a mistake, and kept him in custody. There was tension all over France as many people were upset, and nationalism fell.

Dreyfus

Napoleon III

Napoleon III was born on April 20, 1808. After being exiled by King Louis-Phillipe, he returned to Paris in 1848 and was elected to the National Assembly. He became the president of the Second Republic, and in 1852, he made himself emperor of the Second Empire. He led France during the Crimean war, and supported Italian unification against Austria. Napoleon advocated for liberalism. In 1870, his reign fell when he was captured and France lost the Franco-Prussian way. 

Nappy III

Karl Marx

Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818. He studied in Berlin, but was kicked out and went to Britain to continue his studies on human society. Marx believed that people trying to obtain wealth drove historical progression, and that the proletariat class would eventually level out with the bourgeoisie. He was upset that workers were in his mind alienated from what they produce and essentially from themselves; he believed that workers should revolt to create a completely equal society. His ideas led to the birth of communism. 

Karl Marx

Edmund Burke
(1729-1797) He was an Irish statesman, author, orator and political theorist. After he moved to England, he joined the House of Commons and was a member of the Whig party. He was praised by both liberals and conservatives, and he can be seen as a modern conservative or classic liberal. 

Eddie

Friedrich List

(1789-1846) Was a German economist who developed the National System. He created the Zollverein, in which the many German states could enforce free trade and such. 

Friedrich List

Mary Wollstonecraft

(1759-1797) She was a British writer, philosopher and women's rights advocate. She wrote "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" (1792), in which she explained that women only look inferior to men, because they are not naturally inferior to them, but that they lack the education. She suggested that both men and women should be treated the same, and as rational human beings.  

Mary Wollstonecraft

Garibaldi 

(1807-1882) He was an Italian general, politician and patriot, and is one of Italy's "Fathers of the Fatherland." He was a central leader in the Italian Risorgimento, because of his dealings with leading and commanding and fighting in many military movements which led to the unification of Italy.  

Garibaldi

Benjamin Disraeli

(1804-1888) Was a British Prime Minister, and a conservative statesman. He held a major role in the foundation of the Conservative Party, which was founded after the schism caused by the Corn Laws of 1846. There was a feud between him and Gladstone, who was the leader of the Liberal Party. In 1876, Disreali was put in the House of Commons through peerage, a hereditary privilege. 

Ben Disraeli

William Gladstone

(1809-1898) British statesman, and was the Prime Minister of Britain during 1868 to 1874, 1880-1885, 1886, and 1892-1894. He was a very conservative leader at the beginning of his term, but he moved more towards the liberal side, and in which he even led the Liberal Party in 1867. He reformed the Irish lands, and the Third Reform Acts, the campaign for a home Irish rule, and made new policies for schooling.  

William Gladstone

David Lloyd George

(1863-1945) Was a British Prime Minister and was a Leader of the Liberal Party during the years of 1926 through 1931. 

Georgy

Emile Zola

(1840-1902) A French novelist, who was very influential during his time. He was a firm believer in naturalism and was quite important with the theatrical naturalism movement. He was also a defender of Alfred Dreyfus. 

Emile Zola

Sigmund Freud

(1856-1939) An Austrian neurologist, and focused on psychoanalysis. He believed in the Oedipus Rex Complex, saying all boys secretly wanted to have sexual relations with their mothers and kill their fathers. He also came up with the "Iceberg" theory, where one has a conscious, a preconscious or super ego, and an unconscious ID. 

Sigmund Freud 

Friedrich Nietzsche

(1844-1900) A German philosopher, who believed that some men were more superior than other men, also known as the Übermensch theory. His ideals would be used in various forms, such as literature, Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, and in the first and second world wars. He was also a nihilist, and believed in the Death of God, and the Eternal Return.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Cecil Rhodes

(1853-1902) An English born South African businessman, politician, and imperialist. He was the founder of the state Rhodesia, which its name comes from. He promoted his business interests with those of the British empire, preventing the Boers, Germans and Portuguese from moving into south and central Africa.