Historical Terms and Concepts: Reformation to the Global Era

A comprehensive vocabulary set covering key historical terms from the Reformation and Scientific Revolution through the World Wars and into modern global organizations.

Predestination

John Calvin's belief during the Reformation in the early $1500s$ that God already knew who would be saved, though those selected could lose their place if not pious.

Council of Trent

A meeting hosted by the Roman Catholic Church in $1545$ to address the Protestant Reformation; it re-affirmed the Pope's power, Church interpretation of the Bible, and established the Jesuits.

Jesuits

A new order of priests established by St. Ignatius of Loyola to address priest illiteracy and church corruption.

Secularism

A worldly focus that is separate from a religious focus.

Individualism

A secular view of the potential of the individual which was essential to Humanism and broke with earlier Catholic views.

Religious Tolerance

An Enlightenment concept championed by Voltaire suggesting that no single religion should dominate or be the official religion.

Humanism

A belief in the potential of the individual defined by the study of Greek/Roman classics and associated with Erasmus during the Renaissance.

Maritime

A sea-faring culture or economic activity based on ocean-going trade; Great Britain was the dominant power from $1588$ to $1945$.

Usury

A medieval term for lending money for profit by charging interest; it was banned by the Catholic Church for its members.

Indulgences

The sale of forgiveness to unbaptized souls in Purgatory, along with simony and pluralism, which prompted Martin Luther to issue the $95\text{ Thesis}$ in $1517$.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, goods, and diseases between the Old World (Europe-Africa) and the New World (The Americas).

Taj Mahal

A structure built in India as a tribute.

Foreign Enclaves

Populations of people of the same ethnicity or nationality that help promote trade and cultural adjustment in a foreign land.

Shogun

Japanese War Lords who were overthrown in the Meiji Restoration of $1867$ following the Treaty of Kanagawa in $1854$.

Mercantilism

An economic system based on bullionism and a favorable balance of trade where a Mother Country sells more to its colonies than it buys.

Heliocentric Theory

The Scientific Revolution theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun, supported by Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo.

Absolute Monarch

A ruler with Divine Right to control the state without consulting other institutions, exemplified by King Louis XIV who claimed \"L'Etat C'est Moi\".

Common Law

The tradition of establishing English laws by court precedent rather than a single document, which was a factor in the English Civil Wars ($1641-1660$).

Enlightenment

A period where reason was applied to social and political issues, similar to how reason was used in the Scientific Revolution.

Bastille

A fort and prison in Paris that became a symbol of French monarchy abuses; it was attacked by a mob on $July\text{ }14,\text{ }1789$.

Reign of Terror

A period during the French Revolution ($1793-94$) where Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety executed $40K$ people.

Conquistadors

Spanish explorers and soldiers who conquered the New World, including Cortes (Mexico Aztecs) and Pizarro (Peru Incans).

Creoles

White Europeans born in the New World, who held a lower social status than White Europeans born in Europe.

Mestizo

An individual of half European and half Native American descent.

Collective Bargaining

A process where unions negotiate one contract for all workers rather than individual contracts.

Imperialism

When European powers seized and controlled foreign territories; categorized as Old Imperialism ($1492-1700$) and New Imperialism ($1870s-1919$).

Protectorates

A foreign land controlled by a Western state to benefit the weaker country, though technically not a colony.

Spheres of Influence

Areas of China that were dominated by one or more European nations.

Militarism

A cause of WWI involving the funding of large standing armies and navies, which encouraged nationalism and heightened tensions.

Mandates

Territories awarded to Britain and France after WWI by the Treaty of Versailles ($1919$) that were formerly Ottoman or German colonies.

Reparations

Money paid as a penalty to compensate a nation after war; Germany was forced to pay $\text{\$}30\text{ Billion}$ after WWI.

Totalitarian Regimes

States, such as those in Germany, Italy, and Russia, that used technology and fear to control every aspect of citizens' lives.

Fascism

An ideology characterized by ultranationalism, the state over individual liberties, and the use of war to reconcile issues.

Appeasement

A WWII term for granting the Sudetenland to Hitler in hopes of satisfying his territorial demands.

Genocide

The deliberate murder or destruction of an entire group of people based on ethnicity, religion, or cultural identity.

Containment

The $1947$ US policy formulated by George Kennan to stop the spread of Communism.

Apartheid

A race-based system of segregation in South Africa that relegated black Africans to second-class citizenship.

Self-determination

The right for ethnic groups to create their own nations, a core part of Wilson's $14\text{ Points}$.

Congress of Vienna

An $1815$ meeting led by Klemens von Metternich to restore conservative monarchs to European thrones after Napoleon's defeat.

League of Nations

A forum established in $1919$ to debate international issues and prevent war, though it failed because the US did not join.

United Nations

An organization established in $1945$ with military and economic powers to address global aggression and abuses.

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a $1949$ alliance led by the US to defend against potential Soviet aggression.

Warsaw Pact

A Soviet-led alliance established in $1955$ in response to the formation of NATO.

European Union

An association of European states with a common currency and defensive alliance, initiated by the Treaty of Rome ($1957$).

NAFTA

The North American Free Trade Agreement ($1993$) which removed economic barriers between Canada, Mexico, and the US.