APEH Unit 7 vocab part A Heppenstall

Belle Epoch

French term meaning Beautiful Age. It refers to the decades leading up to WWI when Europe was at its peak of power

Balance of Power

The European diplomatic goal of preventing any single nation from dominating the entire continent. Britain was especially dedicated to it

Crimean War

This was the first major war fought between European nations since the Napoleonic Wars. Russia vs. Ottomans, Brits, & French. Russia lost

Balkan Peninsula

The Large geographic region of southeastern Europe that includes Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Bosnia, & other nations

The Sick Man of Europe

Nickname of the Ottoman Empire in the 1800s and early 1900s as it slowly declined as a European power

Bosporus & Dardanelles

The two strategic straits that connect the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Turkey has controlled them for centuries, and Russia has long wanted them

Florence Nightingale

A british nurse who led a successful public campaign to force the military and government to allow female nurses to work at the front during the Crimean War. She is credited with professionalizing nursing

Nationalism

An emotional political philosophy that glorifies that nation as the most fundamental human bond that units the people of a specific background to the land where they live

The Sun never sets on the British Empire

This is a famous description of the British Empire in the late 1800s when it spanned the globe and encompassed hundreds of millions of people

Splendid Isolation

Term for the foreign policy of Britain following the Crimean War. The British focused on building and strengthening their empire and limited their interactions with other Euro nations

Great Reform Bill of 1867

Law passed by Parliament that extended voting rights to urban working class men in Britain. It reflected the growing influence of the working class

Franchise act of 1884

LKaw passed by parliament that extended voting rights to peasants in Britain. This basically enfranchised the entire adult male population

Universal Manhood Suffrage

Political term that means that all adult men have the right to vote

Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU)

The organization that led the fight for voting rights for British women

Emmaline Pankhurts

She was the leading figure in the struggle for voting rights for British women. Her daughters helped her in the fight. She led the WSPU

Second French Empire (1852-70)

Term for the government of Emperor Napoleon III of France. It was a dynamic period in French history. The Second Empire ended in France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian War

Plebiscite

A direct vote by the common people on a significant issue in which the choice is between yes and no

Emperor Napoleon III

He was a nephew of Napoleon who later became the President of the Second Republic and later the Emperor of the Second Empire

Suez Canal

One of the great engineering feats of the 19th century, it links the mediterraneon and red seas. It was built in the 1860s by French engineers and financed by British loans

Piedmont-Sardinia

The most important of the various Italian states in the 19th century, it led the struggle to unify the peninsula into a single nation

Franco-Prussian war 1870-1

The conflict that led to the unification of the modern German nation. It was carefully orchestrated by Chancellor Bismarck of Prussia as an opportunity to unite all Germans against the Second French Empire. France was defeated

Third French Republic 1870-1940

It was set up following France’s humiliating defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and lasted until France’s humiliating defeat in WWII. It was a period of dynamic culture, but bitterly divided politics

Paris Commune

Name of a radical group that seized control of the city government of Paris during the German siege of the city in the final months of the F-P war. They were crushed by the French Army in 1871

Dreyfus Affair

The biggest political crisis of the THird Republic, it centered on a French Jewish Army Officer, Alfred Dreyfus, accused of spying for the hated Germans. It tore the nation apart politically

Anti-semitism

Hatred of Jewish religion and people

Theodor Herzl

An Austrian Jewish journalist who was so shocked at the violent anti-semitism of the Dreyfus Affair that he began to advocate for the creation of an independent Jewish nation

Zionism

The political and cultural movement that pushed for the creation of the state of Israel

Emancipation Edict of 1861

Historic proclamation issued by Tsar Alexander II of Russia ending centuries of serfdom in that nations. 50 million serfs were changed in status to free peasantry

Anarchy

A radical political movement that advocates the destruction of all forms of government. it has taken on the meaning of chaos and disorder

Trans-Siberian Railroad

A major accomplishment of Russian engineering, it stretches 7,000 miles across Siberia all the way to Russia’s Pacific coast

Austria-Hungary (AKA Dual Monarchy)

A vast state in central europe that was formed when the Austrians granted equal rights to the Hungarian minority in the old Austrian Empire

Ausgleich

The German term for the 1867 decision by the Austrian government to elevate the Hungarians to equal status within the Empire. It was done in hopes of saving the Empire from ethnic disintegration

Count Cavour

The prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia who led the struggle to complete the unification of various Italian states into a single kingdom

Defensive Alliance

A military alliance where each partner is pledged to defend every other member should any be attacked by another nation

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Italian nationalist leader who had worked closely with Giuseppe Mazzini in 1848. During the struggle to unify Italy in 1860, he led the Red Shirts in liberating Southern Italy

Red Shirts

An Italian nationalist group formed by Garibaldi. The Red Shirts seized Sicily and the southern regions of the Italian peninsula and later turned the area over to the new Kingdom of Italy

Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck

The Political leader of Prussia and later, the new German Empire. He spent years carefully planning the unification of Germany under Prussia’s dominance. He steered the new nation for 20 years

Ems Dispatch

A famous telegram sent from Kaiser Wilhelm I of Prussia to Chancellor Bismarck. It described a friendly meeting between the Kaiser and the French ambassador. Bismarck changed the wording to provoke a war with France

Alsace-Lorraine

A historic region laying between France and Germany. The population is ethnically German, but had been under French control for centuries. It was fought over for decades