Unit 3: Power and Authority Study Guide

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, events, and concepts from the Unit 3 Power and Authority Study Guide.

Age of Crisis

A period during the 1600s when Europe experienced wars, religious conflicts, famine, rebellions, and economic problems.

Little Ice Age

A period of unusually cold weather that caused crop failures, food shortages, and famine.

Peasant Rebellions

Uprisings by poor farmers against high taxes, poverty, and unfair treatment.

Thirty Years' War (1618–1648)

A major European war caused by religious and political conflicts, especially between Catholics and Protestants.

Peace of Westphalia (1648)

An agreement that ended the Thirty Years' War and strengthened the independence of European states.

Consolidation of Power

Strengthening a ruler's control over a country and reducing opposition.

Legitimacy of Power

The belief that a ruler has the rightful authority to govern.

Centralization

Bringing government power under one central authority.

Divine Right

The belief that kings receive their authority directly from God.

Propaganda

Information, art, and messages used to influence people's opinions and make a ruler look powerful.

Bureaucracy

A system of government officials who carry out a ruler's decisions.

Absolutism

A system of government in which one monarch holds nearly unlimited power.

Niccolò Machiavelli

An Italian political thinker who wrote The Prince, explaining how rulers can gain and maintain power.

The Prince

A book explaining how rulers should use political strategies to maintain authority.

Louis XIV

French absolute monarch known as the Sun King who centralized power and strengthened the French monarchy.

Sun King

Louis XIV's nickname, representing his belief that France revolved around him.

Versailles

A massive palace built and expanded by Louis XIV to demonstrate his wealth and power and control the nobility.

Edict of Nantes (1598)

A law issued by Henry IV that granted French Protestants limited religious freedom.

Huguenots

French Protestants who followed Calvinism.

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685)

Louis XIV's decision to cancel Protestant religious protections.

Peter the Great

Russian tsar who modernized Russia by adopting Western European technology, customs, and ideas.

Tsar

The title used by Russian emperors.

Westernization

Adopting Western European customs, technology, education, and ideas.

Modernization

Improving a country's military, economy, technology, and government.

St. Petersburg

A city founded by Peter the Great in 1703 to connect Russia with Western Europe.

Serfdom

A system in which peasants were legally tied to the land and required to work for landowners.

Table of Ranks

Peter the Great's system that allowed people to earn status through government or military service.

Constitutionalism

A system of government where a ruler's power is limited by laws and a constitution.

Magna Carta (1215)

An agreement that limited the English king's power and established that the monarch was subject to the law.

Mary I

Catholic English queen who attempted to restore Catholicism, persecuted Protestants, and earned the nickname Bloody Mary.

Elizabeth I

Protestant English queen who strengthened the Church of England, defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, and brought greater stability to England.

House of Stuart

The royal family that ruled England after Elizabeth I.

English Civil War (1642–1651)

A war between supporters of the king and supporters of Parliament over political and religious authority.

Royalists

People who supported King Charles I during the English Civil War.

Parliamentarians

People who supported Parliament against the king during the English Civil War.

Oliver Cromwell

Military leader who defeated Charles I and later ruled England as Lord Protector.

Glorious Revolution (1688)

The overthrow of James II and the replacement of his rule with William and Mary.

William of Orange

Dutch prince who became King William III of England after the Glorious Revolution.

Mary II

Daughter of James II who became joint monarch with William III.

English Bill of Rights (1689)

A document that limited the monarch's power and strengthened Parliament.

Constitutional Monarchy

A government where a king or queen shares power with Parliament and is limited by law.

Ming Dynasty (1368–1644)

Chinese dynasty that restored native Chinese rule after the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty.

Qing Dynasty (1644–1912)

Chinese dynasty established by the Manchus that replaced the Ming Dynasty.

Mandate of Heaven

The Chinese belief that Heaven gives an emperor the right to rule as long as they govern properly.

Confucianism

A Chinese philosophy emphasizing respect for authority, education, family, and social order.

Manchus

People from northeastern Asia who conquered China and established the Qing Dynasty.

Civil Service Examination

A testing system used to select government officials based on their knowledge.

Dutch Republic

A government made up of independent provinces that shared power instead of being controlled by one absolute monarch.

Republic

A government in which power is held by representatives rather than a hereditary monarch.

Stadtholder

A political and military leader in the Dutch Republic, often from the House of Orange.

States General

The central governing body that represented the provinces of the Dutch Republic.

Decentralization

Distributing government power among different regions or groups instead of concentrating it in one ruler.