MAJOR AP EUROPEAN HISTORY DEFINITIONS
Renaissance
Alexander VI - (1492-1503) Corrupt Spanish pope. He was aided militarily and politically by his son Cesare Borgia, who was the hero of The Prince.
Dante Alighieri - Italian poet wrote Inferno and Divine Comedy.
Boccaccio - (1313-1375) Wrote the Decameron which tells about ambitious merchants, portrays a sensual, and worldly society.
Botticelli - One of the leading painters of the Florentine renaissance, developed a highly personal style. The Birth of Venus
Brunelleschi - (1377-1446) Italian architect, celebrated for work during Florentine Renaissance. He was anti-Gothic. Foundling Hospital in Florence.
Michalangelo Buonarroti - (1475-1564) Worked in Rome. Painted the Sistine Chapel. Sculpted the statue of David.
Castiglione - Wrote The Courtier which was about education and manners and had a great influence. It said that an upper class, educated man should know many academic subjects and should be trained in music, dance, and art.
Leonardo Da Vinci - (1452-1519) Artist who made religious paintings and sculptures like the Last Supper.
Lorenzo de Medici - r(1469-1492) The Medici’s were a great banking family in Florence in the 15th century. Ruled government of Florence from behind the scene.
Miguel De Cervantes - (1547-1616) Spanish writer. Wrote Don Quixote.
Pico Della Mirandola - Wrote On the Dignity of Man which stated that man was made in the image of God before the fall and as Christ after the Resurrection. Man is placed in-between beasts and the angels. He also believed that there is no limits to what man can accomplish.
Donatello - (1386-1466) Sculptor. Probably exerted greatest influence of any Florentine artist before Michelangelo. His statues expressed an appreciation of the incredible variety of human nature.
Erasmus - (1466?-1536) Dutch Humanist, religious education. Wrote Praise of Folly.
Jacob Fugger - Headed leading banking, and trading house in l6th century Europe.
Giotto - (1276-1337) Florentine Painter who led the way in the use of realism.
Hans Holbein the Younger - Painter noted for his portraits and religious paintings.
Humanism - Studied the Latin classics to learn what they reveal about human nature. Emphasized human beings, their achievements, interests, and capabilities.
Individualism - Individualism stressed personality, uniqueness, genius, and the fullest development of capabilities and talents.
Julius II - r(1503-1513) Pope - very militaristic. Tore down the old Saint Peter’s Basilica and began work on the present structure in 1506.
Niccolo Machiavelli - (1469-1527) Wrote The Prince which contained a secular method of ruling a country. "End justifies the means."
Montaigne - (1533-1592) The finest representative of early modern skepticism. Created a new genre, the essay.
Sir Thomas More - (1478-1535) Englishman, lawyer, politician, Chancellor for Henry VIII. Wrote Utopia which presented a revolutionary view of society. Executed for not compromising his religious beliefs.
"New Monarchs" - Monarchies that took measures to limit the power of the Roman Catholic Church within their countries.
Pazzi Conspiracy - Conspiracy to overthrow the Medici’s.
Petrarch - (1304-1374) Father of the Renaissance. He believed the first two centuries of the Roman Empire to represent the peak in the development of human civilization.
Quattrocento - The 1400’s.
Cinquecento - The 1500’s.
Rabelais - French satirical author.Gargantua and Pantagruel.
"Renaissance Man" - A man that is multitalented and is well educated.
Revival of antiquity - The awakening from the dark ages and the focusing on the Roman’s.
Friar Girolamo Savonarola - (1452-1498) Dominican friar who attacked paganism and moral vice of Medici and Alexander VI. Burned at the stake in Florence.
Secularism - The belief in material things instead of religious things.
Lorenzo Valla - (1406-1457) On Pleasure, and On false Donation of Constantine. Father of modern historical criticism.
Vernacular - Everyday language of a specific nation.
Virtu - The striving for excellence. Humanistic aspect of Renaissance.
Reformation
Act of Supremacy - Declared the king the supreme head of the Church of England.
Anglicanism - Upholding to the teachings of the Church of England as defined by Elizabeth I.
John Calvin - Theological writings profoundly influenced religious thoughts of Europeans. Developed Calvinism at Geneva. Wrote Institutes of Christian Religion
Consubstantiation - The bread and wine undergo a spiritual change.
Council of Trent - Called by Pope Paul III to reform the church and secure reconciliation with the Protestants. Lutherans and Calvinists did not attend.
Thomas Cranmer - Prepared the First Book of Common Prayer.
Diet of Worms - Assembly of the estates of the empire, called by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
Edict of Nantes - 1598 - Granted the Huguenots liberty of conscience and worship.
Excommunication - When a person is kicked out of the Catholic church.
Huguenots - French Calvinists.
John Huss - Bohemian religious reformer whose efforts to reform the church eventually fueled the Protestant Reformation.
Ignatius Loyola - Founded the Society of Jesus, resisted the spread of Protestantism, Spiritual Exercises.
Indulgences - Selling of these was common practice by the Catholic church, corruption that led to reformation.
The Institutes of Christian Religion - Written by John Calvin
Jesuits - Members of the Society of Jesus, staunch Catholics. Led by Loyola.
John Knox - Dominated the movement for reform in Scotland. Had been taught in Geneva by Calvin.
Martin Luther - 95 Thesis, posted in 1517, led to religious reform in Germany, denied papal power and absolutist rule. Claimed there were only 2 sacraments: baptism and communion.
Simony - The selling of church offices
Usury - The practice of lending money for interest
Theocracy - A community in which the state is subordinate to the church
Predestination - Calvin's religious theory that God has already planned out a person's life.
Johann Tetzel - The leading seller of Indulgences. Infuriated Luther.
Thomas Wolsey - Cardinal, highest ranking church official and lord chancellor. Dismissed by Henry VIII for not getting the pope to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
John Wycliffe - (c.1328-1384) Forerunner to the Reformation. Created English Lollardy. Attacked the corruption of the clergy, and questioned the power of the pope.
Ulrich Zwingli - (1484-1531) Swiss reformer, influenced by Christian humanism. He looked to the state to supervise the church. Banned music and relics from services. Killed in a civil war.
Baroque - Style in art and architecture developed in Europe from about 1550 to 1700, emphasizing dramatic, curving forms, elaborate ornamentation, and overall balance of disparate parts. Associated with Catholicism.
Defenestration of Prague - The throwing of Catholic officials from a castle window in Bohemia. Started the Thirty Years' War.
Peace of Westphalia - Treaty that ended the Thirty Years' War (1648) and readjusted the religious and political affairs of Europe.
St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre - Mass slaying of Huguenots (Calvinists) in Paris, on Saint Bartholomew's Day, 1572.
War of the Three Henrys - French civil war because the Holy League vowed to bar Henri of Navarre from inheriting the French throne. Supported by the Holy League and Spain's Philip II, Henri of Guise battles Henri III of Valois and Henri of Navarre.
Exploration
John Cabot - Italian-born navigator explored the coast of New England, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. Gave England a claim in North America.
Pedro Cabral - Claimed Brazil for Portugal
Entrepot; - Big commercial center for importing and exporting commodities.
Conquistadores - Spanish 'conqueror' or soldier in the new World.
Bartholomew Diaz - (1487-1488) Portuguese, first European to reach the southern tip of Africa.
Sir Francis Drake - English sea captain, robbed Spanish treasure ships; 'singed the king beard'; involved in the armada.
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella - Monarchs who united Spain; responsible for the reconquista.
Encomienda - Indians were required to work a certain number of days for a land owner, but had their own land to work as well.
Vasco da Gama - Sailed from Portugal for India.
Prince Henry the Navigator - (1394-1460) Prince of Portugal who established an observatory and school of navigation at Sagres and directed voyages that spurred the growth of Portugal's colonial empire.
Ferdinand Magellan - (1480?-1521) Portuguese navigator. While trying to find a western route to Asia, he was killed in the Philippines (1521). One of his ships returned to Spain (1522), thereby completing the first circumnavigation of the globe.
Northwest Passage - A water route from the Atlantic to the Pacific through northern Canada and along the northern coast of Alaska. Sought by navigators since the 16th century.
Sir Walter Raleigh - (1552?-1618) English courtier, navigator, colonizer, and writer. A favorite of Elizabeth I, he introduced tobacco and the potato to Europe. Convicted of treason by James I, he was released for another expedition to Guiana and executed after its failure.
Treaty of Tordesillas - Set the Line of Demarcation which was a boundary established in 1493 to define Spanish and Portuguese possessions in the Americas.
Giovanni de Verrazano - (1485?-1528?) Italian explorer of the Atlantic coast of North America.
Absolutism
Absolutism - When sovereignty is embodied in the person of the ruler.
Sovereignty - Possessing a monopoly over the instruments of justice.
Totalitarianism - Twentieth century phenomenon that seeks to direct all facets of a state’s culture in the interest of the state.
Cardinal Richelieu - Became President of the Council of ministers and the first minister of the French crown.
Louis XIII - Influenced by Richelieu to exult the French monarchy as the embodiment of the French state.
Fronde - 1648-53. Brutal civil wars that struck France during the reign of Louis XIII.
Jules Mazarin - Became a cardinal in 1641, succeeded Richelieu and dominated the power in French government.
"Sun King" - Louis XIV had the longest reign in European history. Helped France to reach its peak of absolutist development.
Louis XIV - King of France who ruled as an absolute monarch, even as a child.
Jean-Babtiste Colbert - An advisor to Louis XIV who proved himself a financial genius who managed the entire royal administration.
Mercantilism - The philosophy that a state's strength depends upon it wealth.
"French Classicism" - Art, literature, and advancements of the age of Louis XIV.
Nicholas Poussin - French classical painter who painted the Rape of the Sabine Women, known as the greatest French painter of the 17th century.
William of Orange - Dutch prince invited to be king of England after The Glorious Revolution. Joined League of Augsburg as a foe of Louis XIV.
Louis Pontchartrain - French controller of finance who imposed the capitation of an annual poll tax.
Peace of Utrecht - Ended Louis XIV’s attempts to gain military power and land. Marked the end of French expansionist policy. Ended the War of Spanish Succession.
Constitutionalism - Limitation of government by law, developed in times of absolutism.
Leviathan - Written by English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, maintained that sovereignty is ultimately derived from the people, who transfer it to the monarchy by implicit contract.
William Laude - Archbishop of Canterbury, tried to impose elaborate ritual and rich ceremonies on all churches. Insisted on complete uniformity of the church and enforced it through the Court of High Commission.
Oliver Cromwell - As Lord Protector of England he used his army to control the government and constituted military dictatorship.
The Restoration - Restored the English monarchy to Charles II, both Houses of Parliament were restored, established Anglican church, courts of law and local government.
John Locke - Believed people were born like blank slates and the environment shapes development, (tabula rasa). Wrote Essay Concerning Human Understanding, and Second Treatise of Government.
Thomas Hobbes - Leading secular exponent of absolutism and unlimited sovereignty of the state. Absolutism produced civil peace and rule of law. Tyranny is better than chaos. Claimed life was, "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
Bill of Rights - 1689, no law can be suspended by the king; no taxes raised; no army maintained except by parliamentary consent. Established after The Glorious Revolution.
New Model Army - Created by Cromwell.
Petition of Rights - Limited the power of Charles I of England. a) could not declare martial law; b) could not collect taxes; c) could not imprison people without cause; d) soldiers could not be housed without consent.
Eastern Absolutism
War of Austrian Succession - Conflict caused by the rival claims for the dominions of the Habsburg family. Before the death of Charles VI, Holy Roman emperor and archduke of Austria, many of the European powers had guaranteed that Charles's daughter Maria Theresa would succeed him.
Junkers - Members of the Prussian landed aristocracy, a class formerly associated with political reaction and militarism.
Pragmatic Sanction - Issued by Charles VI of Austria in 1713 to assure his daughter Maria Theresa gained the throne.
Romanovs - Russian dynasty, started with Michael Romanov after the Time of Troubles and lasted until 1917.
Frederick William the Great Elector - First man who made modern Prussia.
Boyars - Land owning aristocracy in early Russia.
Dvorianie - Established by Peter the Great, they received land and control of the peasants.
Muscovy - A former principality in west-central Russia. Centered on Moscow, it was founded c. 1280 and existed as a separate entity until the 16th century, when it was united with another principality to form the nucleus of the early Russian empire. The name was then used for the expanded territory.
Hohenzollern - German royal family who ruled Brandenburg from 1415 and later extended their control to Prussia (1525). Under Frederick I (ruled 1701-1713) the family's possessions were unified as the kingdom of Prussia.
Scientific Revolution
Aristotelian World View - Motionless earth was fixed at center of universe, God was beyond.
Francis Bacon - (1561-1626)English politician, writer. Formalized the empirical method. Novum Organum. Inductive reasoning.
Tycho Brahe - (1546-1601) Established himself as Europe's foremost astronomer of his day; detailed observations of new star of 1572.
Robert Boyle - (1627-1691) Physicist, nothing can be known beyond all doubt.
Andrew Celsius - Invented measurement of temperature - Celsius.
Nicolaus Copernicus - (1473-1543) Polish clergyman. Sun was the center of the universe; the planets went around it. On the Revolution of Heavenly Spheres. Destroyed Aristotle's view of the universe - heliocentric theory.
Heliocentric Theory - Sun is the center of the universe. Coperican
Geocentric Theory - Earth is the center of the universe. Aristotelian.
Descartes - (1596-1650) French philosopher, discovered analytical geometry. Saw Algebra and Geometry have a direct relationship. Reduced everything to spiritual or physical.
Deductive Reasoning - Descartes, doubt everything and use deductive reasoning. Reasoning based on facts. Combined with empiricism to create scientific method.
Inductive Reasoning - Baconian empiricism. Based speculations on other situations.
Discourse on Methods - Descartes (1677) espoused deductive reasoning.
Empiricism - Bacon's theory of inductive reasoning.
Gabriel Fahrenheit - Developed measurement of temperature with freezing at 32 degrees.
Galileo Galilei - Created modern experimental method. Formulated the law of inertia. Tried for heresy and forced to recant. Saw Jupiter’s moons. Wrote Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World
Gresham College - Located in England. Leading place for the advancement of science. First time scientists had a honored roll in society; center of scientific activity.
William Harvey - Englishman who announced blood circulates throughout the body.
Carl Linnaeus - System Nature- developed methods to classify and name plants and animals.
Natural Law - Universal law that could be understood by applying reason; letting people govern themselves.
Isaac Newton - English scientist. 3 Laws of motion. Mathematics Principal of Natural Philosophy (1687).
Ptolemy’s System - Last great ancient astronomer; there was a place for God. Complicated rules used to explain minor irregularities in the movement of the planets.
The Royal Society of London - Established by Charles II in 1662; purpose to help the sciences.
Discourses on the Origins of Inequalities - Rousseau, discuss the innocence of man and his corruption by society.
Voltaire - French, perhaps greatest Enlightenment thinker. Deist. Mixed glorification and reason with an appeal for better individuals and institutions. Wrote Candide. Believed enlightened despot best form of government.
Deism - God built the Universe and let it run. Clockmaker theory.
Enlightened despot - Enlightened ruler. Catherine the Great, Frederick the Great.
Humanitarianism - Promoting human welfare and social reform.
Second Treatise of Government - Written by Locke, Government created to protect life, liberty, and property.
Essay Concerning Human Understanding - Written by Locke, tabula rasa theory.
Rococo - Art style that focuses on pastels, ornate interiors, and sentmental portraits.
The Spirit of Laws - Montesquieu, about separation of powers.
The Social Contract - Rousseau, suggestions in reforming the political system and modeled after the Greek polis.
Candide - Voltaire, satirizing society and organized religion in Europe.
Montesquieu - French philosophe. Wrote The Spirit of Laws. Said "Power checks power". Separation of powers. Form of government varies according to climate.
Agricultural Revolution
Capitalism - Economic theory of maintaining balance of exports and imports. The opposite of socialism and communism.
Cosmopolitanism - Urban growth during the agricultural revolution. It dealt with the migration from rural to urban areas.
"General Will" - Betterment of the community. Founded by Rousseau, he felt that this determines a country's course in economics and politics.
William Hogarth - English painter. Marriage a la Mode.
"Natural History" - Written by Buffon, discussed scientific matters.
Physiocrats - Opponents of mercantilism and Colbertism in particular. Led by Francois Quesnay. Felt the need for a strong independent republic.
Adam Smith - Scottish professor of philosophy. Developed the idea of free enterprise, critical of mercantilism. Wrote Wealth of Nations Jethro Tull - English inventor advocated the use of horses instead of oxen. Developed the seed drill and selective breeding.
Enclosure movement - 18th century English movement, marked the rise of market oriented estate.
Revolutions
Jean le Rond D’Alembert - coeditor of the Encyclopedie.
Assignats - Paper currency, the French churches were used as collateral -the first French paper currency issued by the General Assembly.
Bastille - Medieval fortress that was converted to a prison stormed by peasants for ammunition during the early stages of the French Revolution.
Bougeoisie - Comfortable members of the 3rd estate. Basically middle class, wanted the privileges of the nobility and upper clergy.
Revolutionary Calendar - Created by the National Convention, it established after the French Revolution -day one was the first day of the French Republic
Committee of Public Safety - Established and led by Robespierre, fixed bread prices and nationalized some businesses. Basically secret police and also controlled the war effort. Instigated the Reign of Terror.
Conspiracy of Equals - Led by "Gracchus" Babeuf an attempt to renew violent rebellion after the Thermidore reaction,-communistic in nature.
Consulate - Form of government which followed the directory -established by Napoleon-ended when Napoleon was crowned emperor.
National Convention - The third estate of the Estates General -broke from the Estates because they wanted the Estates to sit as a committee and not as segregated groups.
Danton - Led the Mountains with Robespierre-also executed with Robespierre.
David - Napoleon’s painter-painted the famous portrait of Napoleon’s coronation.
Declaration of the Rights of Man - Written by the National Convention -declared all men could do anything as long as it did not harm others.
Directory - Group of five men who served as liaisons between Robespierre and the Assembly. Overthrown by Napoleon.
Encyclopedie - Collection of works compiled during the Enlightenment -explained many aspects of society.
Estates General - Not called since 1614-finally called by Louis XVI at the advice of his financial minister-demanded control over the King’s finances -he refused and dismissed them-sat as three segregated groups.
Gabelle - Tax on salt during pre-revolutionary France-included in the Estate’s list of grievances.
Girondists - One of the two halves of the divided National Convention.
Great Fear - Followed the storming of the Bastille-people were scared of outlaws and reprisals-fanned flames of rebellion.
Guillotine - Fast and relatively humane-used for mass executions.
Intendants - Created by Napoleon-kept watch over their own area of France -allowed Napoleon not to have to worry about petty problems.
Levee en Masse - Law that obligated all French men between certain ages to enlist in the army.
Louis XVI - King of France-executed for treason by the National Convention-absolute monarch-husband of Marie Antoinette.
Marie Antoinette - Louis XVI’s wife -executed.
Robespierre - Member of the National Assembly-led the Mountains-began and led the Committee of Public Safety-began the Reign of Terror.
Sans-culottes - Petty laborers and laboring poor-wore pants not knee breeches-became a major political group in revolutionary France.
Tennis Court Oaths - Taken by the National Assembly-stated that they would not disband until they had made a new constitution. Met here because they were unable to go to their meeting place.
First Estate - Clergy.
Second Estate - Nobility.
Third Estate - Artisans etc. Everyone not in the First or Second Estate.
Thermidorean Reaction - A reaction against the violence of the Reign of Terror. Robespierre was executed.
Ancien Regime - The old order before the Revolution in France
Regicide The killing of the king
Versailles - Site of palace outside Paris. Women marched there to demand action from Louis XVI.
Mary Wollstonecraft - Wrote Vindication of the Rights of Man and A Vindication of the Rights of Women.
Berlin Decree - 1806-issued by Napoleon, instituted the Continental System, in the response to British blockade of commercial ports under French control.
Joseph Bonaparte - Napoleon's brother, made king of Spain but unable to control the Spanish which led to the costly Peninsula War.
Confederation of the Rhine - League of German States organized by Napoleon in 1813 after defeating the Austrians at Austerlitz. The league collapsed after Napoleon's defeat in Russia.
Continental System - (1806-12)French economic plan to cripple Britain. Russia's refusal to conform led to the Russian campaign.
The Grand Army - Combined French armies under Napoleon. Virtually destroyed during Napoleon's ill-fated Russian campaign.
Louis XVIII - (1814-24) tried to issue a Constitutional Charter which accepted many revolutionary changes and guaranteed civil liberties
Napoleonic Code - Passed by Napoleon. Took away many of the rights gained by women, aimed at reestablihing the "family monarchy". Modified after Napoleon's defeat.
Peninsula War - France was forced to invade Spain after the failure of Joseph Bonaparte. Very costly for Napoleon. The Duke of Wellington helped the Spanish.
Plebiscite - A vote of the people.
Rosetta Stone - Found by one of Napoleon's officers during the Egyptian campaign. Allowed people to decipher hieroglyphics.
Talleyrand - French representative at the Congress of Vienna and limited the demands of other countries upon the French.
Saint Helena - South Atlantic island. Napoleon's final home after the Battle of Waterloo.
Trafalgar - (October 1805) Britain's Admiral Nelson destroyed the combined French and Spanish navies. Nelson was killed but invasion of Britain now became impossible.
Metternich - Austrian foreign minister who basically controlled the Congress of Vienna. Wanted to promote peace, conservatism, and the repression of libaral nationalism throughout Europe.
Castlereagh - British representative at Congress of Vienna.
The Hundred Days - The time from Napoleon's return from exile on Elba to defeat at Waterloo.
Industrial Revolution
Sir Richard Arkwright - Invented water frame at almost the same time as the spinning jenny was invented.
Jeremy Bentham - Believed that public problems should dealt with on a rational scientific basis. Believed in the idea of the greatest good for the greatest number. Wrote, Principles of Morals and Legislation.
Edmund Cartwright - Inventor of the modern power loom.
Chartism - Agitation against poor laws-working class discontent.
Combination Acts - 1799 and 1800-made trade unionism illegal.
The Communist Manifesto - Pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels-basis of Socialism.
Corn Laws- 1815 tariff on imported grain to protect domestic producers. Never worked well.
Henry Cort - Refined pig iron-puddling furnace-heavy rolling mills
Benjamin Disraeli - British Conservative-extended vote to all middle class male workers, needed to broaden aristocratic voter base.
Friedrich Engels - Condition of Working Class in England- society’s problems caused by capitalism and competition. Colleague of Karl Marx.
Factory Act 1833 - Created factory worday for children between 9-13 to 8 hours a day. Not applicable to home. Outlawed child labor under 9-factory owners establish schools. Destroyed family unit.
Charles Fourier - French social theorist-criticized capitalism-wanted socialist utopia and emancipation of women. Theory of Four Movements.
James Hargreaves - About 1705 invented spinning jenny
Industrialization - New inventions, cotton and iron-changed small businesses beyond all recognition.
John Kay - Inventor of flying shuttle, (1733).
Laissez-faire capitalism - Minimal governmental interference in the economic affairs. Adam Smith and Francois Quesnay.
Karl Marx - German - father of socialism-emancipation of women-Communist Manifesto.
Thomas Newcomen - 1705 invented steam engine that used coal, very inefficient.
Robert Owen - Scottish spoke out about hiring children. Created mills in New Harmony.
Henry Palmerston - Hawkish English Foreign Minister during revolutions of 1848.
A People’s Charter - Draft of reform Bill which called for universal suffrage payment of members of Parliament and annual elections-6 main points.
Poor Law - 1834, Gave some aid to the poor, but not very helpful against unemployment. Very favorable to employers.
First Reform Bill - 1832, Modified the old political system by easing voting qualifications (but still not easy to qualify!). Abolished some smaller boroughs.
Second Reform Bill - 1867, Conservatives and Liberals trying to gain votes. Disraeli's Conservatives extended the vote to almost 1 million more voters.
Tory - Political party in Britain controlled by aristocracy.
Utopian Socialism - Ideal society based on socialist ideals-Louis Blanc and Charles Fourier
James Watt - Added a condenser to Newcomen's steam engine to make it more efficient. Led to steam becoming a viable source of power.
Whig - British party more responsive to commercial and manufacturing interests.
Nationalism
Alexander II - (r.1855-81)Emperor of Russia; advocated moderate reforms for Russia; emancipated the serfs; he was assassinated.
Ausgleich, 1867 - Refers to the compromise of 1867 which created the dual monarchy of Austria and Hungary.
"Blood and iron" - Refers to Prussian tactics brought about by Otto von Bismarck; his unification of Germany was through a policy of "blood and iron".
Bundesrat - The federal council of Austrian government.
Count Camillo Cavour - Endorsed the economic doctrines of the middle class. Worked for a secret alliance with Napoleon III against Austria. Worked to unite Italy.
Carbonari - A secret society; designated to overthrow Bonapartist rulers; they were liberal patriots.
Carlsbad Decrees - 1819, it discouraged liberal teachings in southern Germany. Censorship imposed by Metternich.
Constitutional monarchy - Monarch rules with limitations by the constitution; written or unwritten.
Ems Dispatch - A message from William I of Prussia to Napoleon III which brought France into the Franco Prussian war.
Franco-Prussian War - 1870-71, war between France and Prussia; seen as German victory; seen as a struggle of Darwinism; led to Prussia being the most powerful European nation. Instigated by Bismarck; France seen as the aggressor.
Frankfurt Assembly - 1807-82; personified the romantic revolutionary nationalism. Attempted to unify Germany.
Giuseppe Garibaldi - (1807-82) An Italian radical who emerged as a powerful independent force in Italian politics. He planned to liberate the Two Kingdoms of Sicily.
Louis Kossuth - Leader of the Hungarians, demanded national autonomy with full liberties and universal suffrage in 1848.
Leopold II - 1865-1909; King of Belgium, sent Henry Stanley to Africa.
Liberalism - The base ideas of liberty & equality.
Magyars - In 1867 the Hungarian nobility restored the constitution of 1848 and used it to dominate both the Magyar peasantry & the minority population.
Giuseppe Mazzini - Italy idealistic patriot; preached a centralized democratic republic based on universal suffrage and the will of the people.
Nationalism - Pride in one's nation, group, or traditions; a desire for independence.
Napoleon III - Original Napoleon’s nephew; consolidated conservative government and the ideals of nationalism.
Panslavism - A movement to promote the independence of Slav people. Roughly started with the Congress in Prague; supported by Russia. Led to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877.
Pogroms - Persecution of minorities, especially the Jews in Russia.
Realpolitik - Political theory, advocated by Bismarck, that national success justifies any means possible. Very Machiavellian.
Red Shirts - Volunteers in Garibaldi's army
Reichstag - Popularly elected parliament in Germany. Very little power.
Russification - Policy imposing Russian customs and traditions on other people.
Syllabus of Errors - 1864. Pope Pius IX denounced rationalism, socialism, and separation of church and state.
Treaty of Frankfurt - The end of the Franco-Prussian War. Alsace and Lorraine given to Germany.
Otto von Bismarck - (1815-1898) Prussian chancellor who engineered the unification of Germany under his rule.
Zemstvos - Local assemblies in Russia.
Zollverein - Economic custom union of German states, founded in 1818 by Prussia. Eliminated internal tariffs.
Risorgimento - Italian period of history from 1815 to1850.
Grossdeutsch - Great German Party at the Frankfurt Assembly. "Big Germans".
Kleindeutsch - Little German Party at the Frankfurt Assembly. "Little Germans".
Volksgeist - Idea created by J.G. Herder to identify the national character of Germany, but soon passed to other countries.
Imperialism
Algeciras Conference - Conference provoked Germany backfired on Germany over the issues of the Morocco crisis.
Imperialism - One who dominates the political, social, and economic life of another.
Belgian Congo - exploited by Leopold II at Belgium under the Berlin Act, Leopold was supposed to act as a trustee. He violated the agreement and stripped the country of its resources.
Boer War - English vs. Dutch settlers in South Africa. England won 1899-02, showed that English tactics were no good.
East India Company - Dutch trading company worried about colonizing the world.
Congress of Berlin - Assembly of representatives of Germany, Russia, Hungary, Britain, France, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire.
Fashoda Incident - Conflict in Africa between France and Britain.
Cecil Rhodes - Born in 1853, played a major political and economic role in colonial South Africa. He was a financier, statesman, and empire builder with a philosophy of mystical imperialism.
Protectorate - Relationship between 2 states in which the stronger state guarantees to protect the weaker state from external aggression in return for full or partial control of its domestic and foreign affairs.
Sphere of Influence - In international politics, the claim by a state to exclusive or predominant control over a foreign area or territory.
The White Man’s Burden - 1899, Rudyard Kipling's poem, "The White Man's Burden," critical about imperialism.
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad, 1902. The story reflects the physical and psychological shock Conrad himself experienced in 1890, when he worked briefly in the Belgian Congo.
Great War
Balkan Wars - Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria took Macedonia from the Ottomans in 1912. Serbia then fought Bulgaria in the second Balkan War in 1913 Austria intervened to stop the war.
Berlin Conference, 1885 - Laid down the rules for the conquest of Africa: 1) European countries holding a coast inland. 2) Occupation must be with real troops 3) Must give notice of which countries were occupied. 4) Started the scramble for Africa.
Black Hand - Ultra Nationalist, Serbian Society. Secretly supported by members of the Serbian government.
Conscription - Forced recruitment into the army to meet the needs of war.
Charles I (1887-1922) - Last Austrian Emperor abdicated Nov. 1918. The next day Austria was declared a Republic as was Hungary
Entente Cordial - Britain gained control of Egypt. France gained control of Morocco. But not a written alliance only and agreement. Basically against Germany.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand - heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo, started World War I.
David Lloyd George -
Isolationism - Not becoming involved in global or regional events.
Joseph Joffre - French general led the French at the Battle of the Marne.
Kaiser Wilhelm II - Germany. Dismissed Bismarck in 1890. Did not renew Bismarck’s treaty with Russia and "Forced" Russia to look for another ally, France.
Kruger Telegram - William II sent Kruger of the Transvaal a congratulatory telegram upon hearing of the failure of the Jamison Raid. Alerted Britain of the dangers from Germany.
V. I. Lenin - Believed in Marxist Socialism: 1) Believed capitalism must be destroyed. 2) A social revolution was possible in backward Russia. 3) The need for highly trained workers partly controlled by revolutionaries like himself.
League of Nations - Allies worked out terms for peace with Germany, 1919, precursor to the United Nations.
Lusitania - Sunk in 1915 by a German submarine. 139 American killed. Forced Germany to stop submarine warfare.
Battle of the Marne - A major French victory against the invading German army at the start of WWI. In reality lost Germany the war.
Morocco Crisis, 1911 - After the French received Morocco, Germany demanded an international conference- German bullying forced England and France closer. Germany gained nothing.
Nicholas II - the last tsar. Wanted supreme rule of army and government. Led the armies to defeat. Forced to abdicate in 1917 by the Duma.
Gavrilo Princip - The assassin of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria, a member of the Black Hand
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk - Treaty between Bolsheviks and Germans to get Russia out of the war. 1) Russia lost 1/3 of her population. 2) height of German success in WWI. Signed by Lenin.
Treaty of Versailles - Negotiated by the Big Three Germany was stripped of colonies Alsace and Loraine given back to France. Poland was reconstituted as a state. Polish corridor would split Prussia from Germany. The Saar region would be French for 15 years. Heavy repercussions (not specified until later.)
Battle of Verdun - 1916 German assault on the French fortress- turned into a battle of attrition France won.
Triple Entente - 1914, Great Britain, France, and Russia.
Wilson’s Fourteen Points - President Wilson’s Peace proposal in 1918 stressed national self-determination and the rights of the small countries. Freedom of the seas and free trade. Clemenceau said, "God only had ten."
Woodrow Wilson - U.S. President, who led USA into WWI. He proposed the 14 points. He attended the peace conference at Versailles.
Zimmerman Telegram - German Arthur Zimmerman sent a telegram to the German minister in Mexico City telling him to promise the Mexican President German help if Mexico went to war with the U.S. the telegram was intercepted and decoded by the British, shocked the American public.
Army Order #1 - Issued by the Petrograd Soviet shipped offices of their authority and placed the power in the hands of elected committees of common soldiers.
Bloody Sunday - In Russia 1905 Russian soldiers inadvertently opened fire on demonstrators, turning them against the tsar. Possibly the start of the Revolution.
Bolsheviks - "Majority group"
Cheka - Secret police set up by Lenin-arrested "enemies of the revolution".
Decembrist Revolt - Uprising in Russia mainly soldiers soon suppressed-first manifestation of the modern revolutionary movement inspired by ideology.
Fyodor Dostoevsky - Russian novelist.
Duma - Popular parliament.
Fundamental Laws - Issued by the Russian Government in 1906. The tsar retained great power. The Duma was elected by universal male suffrage. The Upper House could pass laws but the Tsar had veto power.
Alexander Kerensky - Headed the Provisional Government in 1917. Refused to redistribute confiscated landholdings to the peasants. Thought fighting the war was a national duty.
General Kornilov - Wanted to be the savior of Russia. Tried to stage a coup-demanded the resignation of all ministers Kerensky ordered him to turn over command. But soldiers refused to follow him.
Kronstadt Revolt - Rebellion of previously loyal sailors at the naval base. Suppressed by the military. After the revolt Lenin introduced the N.E.P.
March Revolution - Bolsheviks become the leaders of Russia.
Mensheviks - 'Minority group'.
Mir - Peasant village assembly responsible to the government.
October Manifesto - Issued in Russia because of fear of a general strike. Granted full civil rights and a popular parliament- Duma.
"Peace, Bread, and Land" - Lenin’s slogan in the Revolution. Peace from the war; Land for the peasants; Food for all.
World War II and beyond
Anschluss - The annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938.
Anti-Comintern Pact - Between Hitler and Japan; offered security against Russia.
Atlantic Charter - August 1941; called for peace without territorial expansion or secret agreements, and for free elections, and self - determination for all liberated nations.
Casablanca Conference - Resolved to accept nothing less than unconditional surrender of Axis powers.
Neville Chamberlain - 1938; gullible British Prime Minister; declared that Britain and France would fight if Hitler attacked Poland.
Winston Churchill - 1874 to 1965; greatest wartime leader; rallied the British with his speeches, infectious confidence, and bulldog determination; known for his "iron curtain" speech; led the British during World War II; agreed Hitler should be conquered; was thrown out by his own people.
D-Day - June 6, 1944; Americans and British forces under General Dwight Eisenhower landed on the beaches of Normandy; this was history’s greatest naval invasion.
Battle of Stalingrad - Turning point for Germany in the war.
Edouard Daladier - French leader of the radical socialists; accepted Hitler’s terms for peace.
Francisco Franco - Spanish General; organized the revolt in Morocco, which led to the Spanish Civil War. Leader of the Nationalists - right wing, supported by Hitler and Mussolini, won the Civil War after three years of fighting.
Lebensaum - Room to move. Phrase used by Hitler to justify invasion of other countries.
Lend-Lease Program - In 1941, the US lent money and resources to the European states to help reconstruction.
Maginot Line - Line of defense built by France to protect against German invasion. Stretched from Belgium to Switzerland.
Munich Conference - 1938; Chamberlain, France and other countries (not the USSR); they agreed that Sudentenland should be ceded to Germany; Chamberlain secured peace with Germany.
Pacificism - Anabaptists laid great stress on this; they would not run for office or serve in the armed forces; not being involved in many wars.
Potsdam Conference - Brought forward many differences over east Europe; postwar conference in July of 1945; Stalin would not allow any type of freely elected government in east European countries; Roosevelt had died and was succeeded by Harry Truman, who demanded free elections.
Rome-Berlin Axis - 1936; close cooperation between Italy and Germany, and soon Japan joined; resulted from Hitler; who had supported Ethiopia and Italy, he overcame Mussolini’s lingering doubts about the Nazis.
Erwin Rommel - "Desert Fox"-May 1942; German and Italian armies were led by him and attacked British occupied Egypt and the Suez Canal for the second time; were defeated at the Battle of El Alamein; was moved to France to oversee the defenses before D-Day; tried to assassinate Hitler.
Russo-German Nonaggression Pact - Hitler and Stalin promised to remain neutral if either country were to become involved in war; August 1939. Was supposed to last 10 years, but Hitler invaded Russia in 1941.
Joseph Stalin - Communist statesman; leader of Bolshevik Party; became ruler of USSR after Lenin; assumed full military and political leadership.
Sudetenland - Hitler wanted German speaking people in West Czech; this would be given to Germany.
Teheran Conference - Meeting in 1943; Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill; confirmed their defense to crush Hitler.
Yalta Conference - On the Black Sea; the Big Three met in February 1945 in southern Russia; it was agreed that Germany would be divided into zones of occupation and would pay heavy reparations to the soviet Union in the form of agricultural and industrial goods; when the Big Three met in 1945 at Yalta in southern Russia they agreed that east European governments were to be freely elected but pro-soviet.
Konrad Adenauer - Chancellor of Germany in 1949; the former mayor of Cologne and a long-time anti-Nazi, who began his long highly successful democratic rule; West Germany had a majority of Christian Democrats; helped regain respect for Germany
Modern Europe
Clement Attlee - Socialist Labor Party under him moved toward establishment of a "Welfare State"; formed government of England after Churchill; nationalized industries.
Willy Brandt - West German chancellor; sought peace with East Germany; went to Poland in December 1970; laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier and another monument commemorating the armed uprising of Warsaw's Jewish ghetto against Nazi armies after which the ghetto was destroyed and survivors were sent to the gas chambers.
Brezhnev Doctrine - Soviet Union and its allies had the right to intervene in any socialist country whenever they saw the need.
Brinkmanship - International relations involving the deliberate creation of a risk of war to apply pressure on the other party.
COMECON - The economic association organized by the communist states
Containment - Attempt to contain communism in areas already occupied by the Red Army as indicated in the Truman Doctrine.
Council of Europe - Brought about by the Marshall Plan in 1948 as an attempt to evolve into a Parliament yet became only a multinational debating society.
Charles De Gaulle - Leader of Free French General that resigned in 1946 after re-establishing the free, democratic Fourth Republic.
de-Stalinization - Liberalization of the Soviet Union.
Anthony Eden - Opposed Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement towards Hitler. Became Prime minister in 1955, resigned in 1957.
Ludwig Erhard - Minister of the economy, bet on the free economy while maintaining the extensive social welfare network inherited from the Hitler era.
Euratom - European Atomic Energy Community established by the treaty of Rome to regulate and research nuclear energy merged with the EEC.
European Coal and Steel Community - international organization to control and integrate all European coal and steel production. Consisted of West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France. Number 1 goal to be so close together economically that war against them impossible. "The six".
European Economic Community - caused by the Marshall Plan.
Hungarian Revolution - 1956. Led by students and workers, installed Liberal Communist Imre Nagy. Forced soviet soldiers to leave and promised free election, renounced Hungary’s military alliance with Moscow. Revolution was crushed by the Soviet Union.
"Inner Six" - members of the EEC.
Iron Curtain Speech - March 1946 Winston Churchill at Fulton College Missouri; said an "iron curtain" had fallen across the Continent.
Nikita Khrushchev - Russian premier after Stalin. Led de-Stalinization of Russia. A reformer who argued for major innovations.
Marshall Plan - U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall urged Americans to offer economic aide- this was the Marshall Plan. Refused by Stalin.
Imre Nagy - liberal communist reformer installed as Chief by the people of Budapest.
NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization- formed in 1949 by U.S. anti-Soviet Military alliance of Western Governments.
"peaceful coexistence" - Krushev’s foreign policy; peaceful coexistence with communism was possible.
Schuman Plan - called for special international organization to control and integrate all European coal and steal production.
Treaty of Rome - Six nations of Coal and Steal Community signed to create EEC.
Warsaw Pact - Created by Stalin to counter NATO and to tighten his hold on satellites.
Perestroika - Economic restructuring by Gorbachev
Glasnost - A newfound openness of government and media.
restalinization - Soviet Union started a period of stagnation. Saw de-Stalinization as a dangerous threat.
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