Historical 'Isms' and European Intellectual Movements

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering European historical ideologies, movements, and key figures from the Renaissance to the 20th century.

Humanism

The outlook of the philosophical school of the Renaissance interested in the 7 liberal arts (rhetoric, etc.…) where man is the measure of all things as opposed to God.

Petrarch

A historical figure associated as a theme of Humanism during the Renaissance.

Christian Humanism

A movement associated with the Northern Renaissance that wanted the church to reform but did not reject or break with it; it was much more religious than regular Humanism.

Erasmus

The greatest Christian Humanist who used satire in writing to expose church weakness and wrote the famous work In Praise of Folly.

Calvinism

A Protestant branch founded by John Calvin (1509- 1564) characterized by the belief in predestination, a personal relationship with God, and simplicity.

Institutes of the Christian Religion

John Calvin's famous book that appealed to reason and logic as a comprehensive explanation of Protestant belief.

Calvin's TULIP

An acronym for Calvinist beliefs: Total Depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and Perseverance of saints.

John Knox

The leader who spread Calvinism to Scotland, where it became known as Presbyterianism.

Huguenots

The name for Calvinists located in France.

Anglicanism

The church established by Henry VIII in England through the Act of Supremacy, where the King is the head and church property is under government control.

Lutheranism

A Protestant movement started by German monk Martin Luther (1483-1546), emphasizing justification by faith alone and the priesthood of all believers.

Ninety-five Theses

A list of complaints against church corruption and the selling of indulgences nailed to a church by Martin Luther in 1517.

Tetzel

The main monk in charge of selling indulgences who was criticized in Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses.

Diet of Worms

The trial of Martin Luther, after which he fled to Saxony for protection under Fredrick of Saxony.

Transubstantiation (Lutheran view)

The belief that God is present in the bread and wine because God is present anywhere, rather than it being just symbolic.

Anabaptism

A radical 'Utopian' group that refused to fit into society, refused to pay taxes or join the army, and in Münster, established a theocracy called 'New Jerusalem'.

Counter Reformation

A strategy by Catholic Church leaders to defend against the Protestant Reformation and reform its own abuses.

The Inquisition

A church court used during the Catholic Reformation to put heretics on trial; the Roman version did not use torture.

Catholic Index

A list of banned books that Catholics were not allowed to read, including the works of Luther and Calvin.

Society of Jesus (Jesuits)

An order of scholarly priests organized by St. Ignatius Loyola with the mission to spread Catholicism and halt the Protestant Reformation.

Council of Trent

A meeting from 1545 – 1663 that clarified Catholic position, reaffirming the authority of the pope, the 7 Sacraments, and celibacy, while reforming behaviors and establishing seminaries.

Peace of Augsburg (1555)

The treaty ending the War of the League of Schmalkald which established that the religion of the ruler is the religion of the people.

Ecclesiastical Reservation

A failed component of the Peace of Augsburg that required princes to give back church property.

Armenianism

A 17th-century Dutch Protestant belief founded by Jacob Arminius that opposed Calvin's absolute predestination and led to the Methodist movement.

Constitutionalism

A system of government limited by law or a constitution drafted by the people to prevent the abuse of rulers.

Absolutism

A principle where the ruler has complete power, centralized authority, and a large standing army, often justified by 'Divine Right'.

Thomas Hobbes

A philosopher of Absolutism who argued the monarch had complete power and the people had no power to revolt after giving up their power.

Classical Liberalism

A middle-class outlook favoring constitutional monarchy, private property, laissez-faire economics, and a belief in inevitable human progress.

Iron Law of Wages

David Ricardo's theory within Classical Liberalism that market forces will result in a subsistence wage where workers only just get by.

Utilitarianism

The political concept favoring the 'greatest good for the greatest number'.

Conservatism

A 19th-century right-wing ideology supported by the upper class that favored the Old Regime, status quo, and legitimacy of absolute monarchies.

Romanticism

An artistic and intellectual movement characterized by strong emotions, exotic subjects, vivid colors, and a fascination with storms or death.

Eugene Delacroix

A Romantic artist known for works such as Massacre at Chios and Liberty leading the people.

Realism

An artistic movement starting in the 1850's and 1860's that depicted ordinary people doing ordinary tasks with dull colors.

Henrik Ibsen

A modern drama realist who wrote A Dolls House, focusing on women's lives.

Socialism

A movement seeking equality for all social classes where the people, as a group, own the means of production.

Count Claude-Henri de Saint Simon

A Utopian Socialist who wanted a hierarchy based on productivity rather than blood, author of The New Christianity.

Charles Fourier

A Utopian Socialist who proposed ‘Phalanx’ communities of 1620 people to free society from bourgeoisie individualism.

Robert Owen

A Utopian Socialist who established experimental communities in New Lanark, Scotland, and New Harmony, Indiana.

Totalitarianism

A system where the government controls all aspects of life (work, education, media) through a single-party dictatorship and propaganda.

Fascism

A totalitarian state that glorifies the state and war, protects private property, and is led by a strong ruler (II Duce).

Capitalism

An economic system described by Adam Smith in Wealth of Nations (1776) where an 'Invisible Hand' and market forces control the economy.

Orthodox Marxism

The 'Scientific Socialism' of Karl Marx that views history as a class struggle between the Proletariat and Bourgeoisie, leading to an inevitable revolution.

Revisionist Marxism

Socialist groups like the Fabian Society or the German Social Democratic Party (S.P.D.) that favored gradual change and reforms through voting.

Dialectical Materialism

The philosophical theory behind Marxism, involving Marx, Engel, and Georg Hegel, stating that matter precedes thought.

Anarchism

The belief in the abolition of government, associated with Pyotr Kropotkin and the 'Black International' group.

Nihilism

The secular belief that existence is meaningless and that the destruction of existing institutions is necessary for future growth.

Social Darwinism

The application of Charles Darwin's 'survival of the fittest' to human society, used to justify imperialism and aggressive nationalism.

Impressionism

An art style characterized by lighter colors and a 'fast glance' or spontaneous initial impression, featuring artists like Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas.

War Communism

Lenin's economic plan during the Russian Civil War where the government took control of all industry and confiscated grain.

Syndicalism

A movement where trade unions would replace the state and workers would seize control of their industries through strikes.

Mercantilism

The economic theory that it is the government's job to build up the economy to achieve a self-sufficient state and gather specie.

Scholasticism

The philosophy of the Middle Ages that used reason to prove religious ideas.

German Particularism

The condition of Germanic states remaining independent and princes being unwilling to sacrifice power to form a united state.

Conciliarism

A 15th-century movement arguing that church authority resides in a council rather than the pope.

Italian Irredentism

The movement of Italian states striving to unite, led by figures like Garibaldi, Cavour, and Mazzini.

Jingoism

The intense desire to go to war, intensified by public media as part of aggressive nationalism.

Chartism

A British movement seeking suffrage and reform through the People's Charter, which included points like secret ballots and annual Parliaments.

Pan Slavism

The unifying force focused on joining Slavic cultures, with Russia as its biggest supporter.

Social Realism

A form of propaganda in communist nations like the USSR that uses art to glorify the working class.