AP European History Full Vocabulary McGraw Hill 5 Steps to a 5

95 Theses

The 95 propositions or challenges to official Church theology posted by Martin Luther on the door of Wittenberg Castle in the autumn of 1517

Absolutism

A theory of government that contends that a rightful ruler rules with absolute power over their subjects

Abstractionism

An artistic movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that sought to analyze the essence of perception and experience. Abstract painters of the period developed a system of seeing the world as composed of geometrical shapes.

Almanacs

Popular eighteenth-century texts which incorporated much of the new scientific and rational knowledge of the Enlightenment.

Anabaptists

A sect of radical Protestant reformers prevalent in Europe in the sixteenth century who considered true Protestant faith to require social reform.

Anarchism

The 19th century ideology which saw the modern state and its institutions as the enemy of individual freedom, and recommended terrorism as a way to disrupt the machinery of government.

Ancien Regime

Old Regime. Refers to traditional social and political hierarchy of 18th century France.

Anglican Church

The Church of England, established by Henry VIII in the early 16th century when he decided to break away from the Church in Rome.

Anschluss

The annexation, in March of 1938, of Austria by Nazi Germany

Anti-Semitism

The singling out of Jews as culturally, and sometimes racially, different for the purpose of discriminating against them.

Appeasement

Britain's policy 1936-39, of acquiescing to Hitler's demands in return for his promise of no further aggression.

Arc de Triomphe

The most famous example of Neo-classical architecture executed in Napoleonic France, the arch was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to honor those who fought for France in the Napoleonic Wars. Designed by Jean Francois Chalgrin and built in the center of the Place de l'Etoile, now the Place Charles de Gaulle, at the western end of Champs-Elysees.

Atlantic Charter

A document drawn up in August 1941 that set forth Anglo-American aims in WWII. It rejected any territorial aggrandizement for either UK or US and affirmed the right of all peoples to choose their own form of government.

August Decrees

Decrees passed by the National Assembly of France in August 1789 renouncing and abolishing most of the traditional privileges of the nobility and clergy.

Austro-Prussian War of 1866

Made by Bismark as part of his master plan to unify Germany under the Prussian monarchy. Prussian troops surprised and overwhelmed a larger Austrian force, winning victory in only 7 weeks. The result was that Austria was expelled from the old German Confederation and a new North German Confederation, completely under Prussia's control was created.

Baroque

The dominant artistic style of the 17th century characterized by its emphasis on grandeur and drama.

Battle of the Somme

July to Nov 1916. WWI British offensive that produced enormous casualties. 400,000 British, 200,000 French, and 500,000 Germans died.

Battle of Tannenberg

A German victory over Russian troops in August 1914 which led to the liberation of East Prussia and began a slow and steady German advance east.

Battle of Trafalgar

The naval battle where Great Britain's fleet led by Lord Nelson, who defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets on October 21st, 1805, making British virtually unconquerable.

Battle of Verdum

WWI battle in which French troops, led by Marshall Pertain, repulsed a German offensive. 700,000 killed.

Battle of Waterloo

Napoleon's last stand in 1815. He was defeated in Belgium by a coalition of forces led by Britain's Duke of Wellington

Berlin Airlift

The U.S.-sponsored airlift, from June 1947 to May 1949, which brought supplies to West Berlin. A response to Soviet troops cutting off all land traffic from the West into Berlin in an attempt to take control of the whole city.

Berlin Conference of 1885

A conference of the European powers to establish guidelines for the partitioning of Africa.

Bessemer Process

A process invented in the 1850's by the English engineer Henry Bessemer that allowed steel to be produced more cheaply and in larger quantities.

Black Death

A plague the first appeared in Europe in 1347 and recurred numerous times until it disappeared in 1352. It is estimated that between 1/4-1/3 of the population of Europe died during the plague years.

Blackshirts

Squadristi. Italian fascist paramilitary groups, largely recruited from disgruntled war veterans, commanded by Mussolini and increasingly relied upon to keep order by the Italian government in the 1920's.

Boulanger Affair

An attempted coup by the French General George Boulanger in the early 1880's. It underscored the fragility of French democracy and the volatility of mass politics in France.

Bourgeoisie

In 18th and 19th century France, a term for the merchant and commercial classes. In Marxist social critique, the class that owns the means of production and exploits wage-laborers.

Boxer Rebellion

1899-1900. An attempted rebellion by Chinese Nationalists which aimed at overthrowing the Western-dependent Manchu dynasty. it was suppressed by European powers.

Cahiers

The official concerns and grievances of the three Estates that comprised the political orders of 18th century France. Members representing each of the three Estates met in the Estates General to hear the problems of the realm and to hear pleas for new taxes. In return, they were allowed to present their cahiers.

Candide

Voltaire's sprawling satire of European culture, made in 1759. The classic example of Enlightenment satire

Carbonari

Secret groups of Italian nationalists active in the early part of the 19th century. In 1820, they briefly succeeded organizing an uprising that forced King Ferdinand I of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to grant a constitution and a new Parliament

Cartel des Gauches

A coalition of socialist parties swept into power in France in the elections of 1924. It caused an ultranationalist reaction in France.

Cash Crops

Crops grown for sale and export in the market-oriented approach that replaced the manorial system in the 18th century Agricultural Revolution.

Celestial Realm

The realm above the orbit of the moon in the Aristotelian view of the cosmos.

Chartism

1837-42. A movement in Britain in support of the People's Charter, a petition that called for universal manhood suffrage, annual Parliaments, voting by secret ballot, equal electoral districts, abolition of property qualifications for Parliament members, and payment of Parliament members.

City-States

Independent cities of the Italy peninsula ruled by powerful merchant families. The unique political structure of the peninsula was a crucial factor in the beginning of the Renaissance.

Civic Forum

A movement in Czechoslovakia and East Germany in the 1980's which tried to rebuild notions of citizenship and civic life that had been destroyed by the Soviet system. It became an organizational and inspirational rallying point for Soviet domination opposition.

Civil Constitution of the Clergy

Legislation passed by the National Assembly of France in September of 1791 that turned clergymen into employees of the government and turned Church property into property of the state.

Civil Society

The society formed when free men come together and surrender some of their individual power in return for greater protection.

Class Consciousness

The sense of belonging to a working class that developed among European workers during the 2nd Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. A result of their working together in factories and living together in isolated slums.

Collectivization of Agriculture

A an extension of his 5 year plan, started in 1928, Stalin pursued a policy of destroying the culture of the peasant village and replacing it with one organized around huge collective farms. The peasants resisted and were killed, starved, or sent into Siberia in numbers estimated to be as high as 8 million.

Colloquies

Dialogues written, starting in 1519, by the most important and influential of the northern humanists, Desiderius Erasmus, for the purpose of teaching his students both the Latin language and how to live a good life.

Committee of Public Safety

A 12 man committee created in the summer of 1793 and vested with almost total power in order that it might secure the fragile French Republic from its enemies.

The Commonwealth

1649-60. The period where England was ruled without a monarch, following the victory of the Parliamentary forces in the English Civil War and the subsequent execution of Charles I.

Communism

The ideology dedicated to the creation of a class free society through the abolition of private property

Compromise of 1867

The Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph's attempt, in 1866, to deal with the demands for greater autonomy from the ethnic minorities within the Hapsburg empire. Set up a dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, where Franz Joseph served as the ruler of both Austria and Hungary, both with their own parliament.

Concert of Europe

The alliance created in Nov 1815 that required important diplomatic decisions to be made by all four great powers (Austria, Russia, Prussia, and Great Britain) in concert with one another.

Conciliar Movement

15th century movement composed of various councils of cardinals which attempted to reform, reunite, and reinvigorate the Christian Church of Europe.

Concordat of 1801

An agreement signed by Nopoleon and the Catholic Church of Rome, reconciling France with the Catholic Church by stipulating that French clergy would be chosen and paid by the state but consecrated by the pope.

Congress of Vienna

Representatives from the 4 major powers that had combined to defeat Napoleon (Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria) met in Paris Now 1814 o forge a peace settlement.

Conservatism

The 19th century ideology which held that tradition was the only trustworthy guide to social and political action.

Constitutional Monarchy

Theory of government that contends that a rightful ruler's power is limited by an agreement with their subjects

Consulate

A 3 man executive body, establish right after Napoleon's coup in Nov 1799. In 1802, Napoleon was acknowledged as sole executive officer and known as first consul for life.

Continental System

Est by Napoleon in order to weaken Britain, the system forbade the continental European states and kingdoms under French control from trading with Britain.

Copernicanism

The theory following Nicolas Copernicus that the Sun is at the center of the cosmos and that the Earth is the 3rd planet from the sun.

Cottage Industry

Putting out system. Rural peasants engage in small scale textile manufacturing that developed in 18th century to allow merchants faced with expanding demand to get around the guild system.

Cotton Gin

Machine invented in 1793 by American Eli Whitney that efficiently removed seed from raw cotton, increasing processing speed.

Council for Mutual Economic Assistance

Soviet response to the Marshall Plan, where the USSR offered economic aid packages to eastern European countries.

Council of Trent

Reform Council of the Catholic Church which began its deliberations in 1545. Despite its reformist aims, it continued to insist that the Catholic Church was the final arbiter in all matters of faith.

Court of the Star Chamber

Judicial innovation of Henry VII of England, designed to curb the independence of the nobility, whereby criminal charges brought against the nobility were judged by a court of the king's own councilors.

De Revolutionibus Orbium Caelestum

Nicolas Copernicus's astronomical book published in 1543. Proposed the shift from a geocentric model of the cosmos to a heliocentric model. Contributed greatly to the Scientific Revolution.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

A declaration adopted by the National Assembly of France on August 27, 1789, espousing individual rights and liberties for all citizens.

Deism

Belief that the complexity, order, and natural laws exhibited by the universe were reasonable proofs that it had been created by a God who was no longer active.

Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World

Galileo's treatise of 1632, where he dismantled the arguments in favor of the traditional, Aristotelian view of the cosmos, and presented the Copernican system as the only alternative for reasonable people.

Diplomatic Revolution

Mid 18th centurary shift in European alliances whereby the expansionist aims of Frederick II of Prussia caused old enemies to become allies. Specifically, Prussia, fearful of being isolated by its enemies, forged an alliance in 1756 with its former enemy Great Britain, while Austria and France previously antagonistic towards each other, formed their own alliance.

Directory

A 5 man board created to handle the executive functions of the government during Thermidor, the third and final phase of the French Revolution.

Discourse on Method

Rene Descartes treatise of 1637, where he established a method of philosophical inquiry based on radical skepticism.

Dissenters

Collective name for Protestant groups and sects that refused to join the Anglican Church in England

Divine Right of Kings

Theory that contended that monarchs received their right to rule directly from God.

Division of Labor

Technique where formerly complex tasks that required knowledge and skill were broken down into a series of simple tasks, aided by machines.

Doge

Italian word that refers to the military strongmen who ruled some of the Italian city states like Venice, during the Renaissance.

Dreyfus Affair

Protracted prosecution, beginning in 1894, of a young Jewish officer in the French Army for treason. Numerous trials divided the nation, illustrating how strongly ultranationalist and anti-Semitic feelings were in the French establishment.

Edict of Nantes

Royal edict which established the principle of religious toleration in France. Proclaimed in 1598 by Henry IV and revoked in 1685 by Louis XIV

The Elect

The name given in Calvinist theology to the group of people who have been predestined by God for salvation.

Elements

Basic components of matter in Aristotelian physics: water, earth, air, fire, and ether

Ems Telegram

Diplomatic correspondence between Napoleon II of France and William I of Prussia, edited by Bismarck to make it seem like they had insulted one another. Realpolitik.

Enclosure

The building of hedges, fences, and walls to deny the peasantry access to traditional farming plots and common lands which were now converted to fields for cash crops during the Agricultural Revolution of the 18th century

Encyclopedia

1751-1772. Produced by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert. Championed a scientific approach to knowledge and labeled anything not based on reason as superstition.

English Civil War

1642-1646. Forces loyal to King Charles I fought to defend the power of the monarchy, the official Church of England, and the privileges and prerogatives of the nobility. Forces supporting Parliament fought to uphold the rights of Parliament, to bring an end to the notion of an official state Church, and for notions of individual liberty and the rule of law.

Enlightened Despotism

Hope shared by many philosophes that the powerful monarchs of European civilization, once educated in the ideals of the Enlightenment would use their power to reform and rationalize society.

Essay Concerning Human Understanding

John Locke's treatise of 1689-1690. Argued that humans are born tabula rasa/blank slate, contradicting the traditional Christian notion that humans are born corrupt and sinful. Implies that what humans become is entirely a result of what they experience.

Estates General

Representative body of 18th century France. Members representing each of the three estates met to hear the problems of the realm and to hear pleas for new taxes. In return, they were allowed to present a list of their own concerns and proposals, called cahiers to the Crown.

Eugenics

Idea that a progressive, scientific nation should plan and manage the biological reproduction of its population.

Expressionism

An artistic movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that sought to depict a world of emotional and psychological states. Turned away from rules of realism and naturalism to produce images with distorted outlines and exaggerated color and form.

Fabian Society

Socialist organization in Britain, beginning in late 19th century. Counseled against revolution but argued that the cause of the working classes could be furthered through the political solutions.

Factory System

System of production created in order to better supervise labor. Workers come to centralized location and worked with the machines under the supervision of managers.

First Battle of Marne

September 6, 1914. Victory by French troops that stopped the initial German advance in WWI

First Battle of Ypres

October and November 1914. Allied troops ended all hopes of a German advance, leading to a stalemate and the beginning of trench warfare.

Five Year Plans

Series of plans initiated by Stalin, beginning in 1928 which rejected all notions of private enterprise and initiated the building of state owned factories and power stations throughout the USSR.

Flight to Varennes

Louis XVI's attempt to flee Paris in June of 1791 and head north to rally supporters

Florentine Academy

An informal gathering of humanists devoted to the revival and teachings of Plato, founded in 1462 under the leadership of Marsilio Ficino and the patronage of Cosimo de Medici.

Flying Shuttle

Machine invented in 1733 by John Kay that doubled the speed at which cloth could be woven on a loom, creating a need to find a way to produce greater amounts of thread faster.

Frankfort Assembly

Legislative body formed during the brief success of liberal reformers in Germany in 1848. Failed in attempt to form a German nation.

Freikorps

Regiments of German WWI veterans, commanded by old imperial army officers. Used by government of the Weimar Republic to defeat Marxist revolutionaries in the 1920s.

Fresco

Paintings done either on wet or dry plaster. Important medium of art during the Renaissance.

Geocentric

Earth centered, Aristotelian model of the cosmos.

World Zionist Organization

Founded in 1897. Dedicated to making Palestine the Jewish homeland. By 1914, nearly 85000 Jews, primarily from Eastern Europe had emigrated to Palestine.

Zionism

A movement for the creation of an independent state for Jews which came into being in 1896 when Theodor Herzl published The Jewish State, a pamphlet that urged an international movement to make Palestine the Jewish homeland.

Women's Social and Political Union

An organization led by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Chrisabel and Sylvia. Campaigned, often violently, for a broad notion of women's rights in Britain during the period 1905-1914.