Revolutions, Nationalism, and Imperialism: Key Concepts in Modern History

Turning point of the American Revolution

Seven Years' War

Britain's response to war debt

Britain taxes colonies

Colonial grievance regarding taxation

No taxation without representation

Start of the American War of Independence

Fighting starts 1775

Document declaring American independence

Declaration of Independence (1776)

Key battle leading to American victory

Yorktown (1781)

Agreement ending the American Revolutionary War

Treaty of Paris (1783)

Primary causes of the French Revolution

Inequality + privilege (nobles/Church), hunger + bread prices, state debt

Event marking the start of the French Revolution

Storming of Bastille (July 1789)

Radical phase of the French Revolution

Reign of Terror

Outcome of the French Revolution

Napoleon takes power (1799)

Emerging force in 19th-century Europe

Nationalism grows stronger

Major turning point in European history

German unification (1871)

New belief about government in the 1800s

Government should represent public interest

Alliance acting as Europe's anti-revolution police

Holy Alliance (Russia + Austria + Prussia)

Conflict between Britain, France, and Russia

Crimean War (1853-56)

Political earthquake in 1789

French Revolution

Core issue raised by the French Revolution

Who counts as 'the people' politically?

Defining contradiction of the 1800s

Elites want wealth and power without mass participation

Key U.S. policy warning Europe

Monroe Doctrine (1823)

Civil War years in the United States

1861-65

Two economic systems in the American Civil War

North: free labor economy; South: plantation slavery

Impact of U.S. expansion on slavery

Expansion intensifies slavery crisis

Sovereignty

Who has the final say in a country (king? people? government?).

Popular Mobilization

When ordinary people organize and act politically (protests, boycotts, committees, militias).

Legitimacy

The reason people believe a government has the right to rule.

Radicalization

When a movement becomes more extreme over time (less compromise, more force).

Rights Discourse

Using the language of rights to argue what people deserve (freedom, equality, representation).

Nationalism

The belief that people with the same language, culture, and history should belong to their own country and government.

Dynastic Rule

A system where kings and royal families run countries based on inheritance, treating land like family property.

Congress of Vienna (1815)

A meeting where European leaders redrew borders after Napoleon to restore monarchies and prevent future revolutions or major wars.

Holy Alliance

A team-up of conservative monarchies (Russia, Austria, Prussia) that worked together to stop revolutions and protect kings' power.

Eastern Question

The problem of what would happen to Ottoman lands as the Ottoman Empire weakened—and which European powers would control them.

Mass Politics

Politics where large numbers of ordinary people take part—through voting, protests, newspapers, and public movements—not just elites.

Reaction (Counterrevolution)

An effort to stop or reverse revolutionary change, usually by defending kings, churches, and social hierarchy.

Modernization

Big changes in society caused by industry, cities growing, new technology, and stronger governments—often creating new problems and conflict.

Political Legitimacy

The belief that a government has the right to rule, and that people should obey its laws.

Expansionism

A country's push to grow its land and power, usually by settlement, purchase, or war, in order to gain resources and opportunity.

Free Labor

A social and economic system where workers are not enslaved, can sell their labor for wages, and (in theory) can gain independence through mobility and property.

Plantation Economy

A regional economy built on large farms (plantations) that produce cash crops (especially cotton) using enslaved labor, generating wealth and political power for elites.

Sectionalism

Growing loyalty to one region (North or South) over the nation as a whole, caused by conflicting economies, politics, and beliefs—especially over slavery's future.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

A temporary deal to reduce sectional conflict by admitting Missouri as slave and Maine as free, and drawing a line to limit slavery's future expansion in the Louisiana Territory.

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

Lincoln's wartime order declaring enslaved people in Confederate-held areas free, turning the Civil War into a fight against slavery and weakening the Confederate war system.

Globalization (First Wave, c. 1870-1914)

A time when the world became more connected than ever through trade, money, migration, and communication—creating one more linked world economy.

Imperialism

When a powerful country expands control over other places—by conquering them, ruling them, or forcing them to follow its economic and political interests.

Informal Empire

Control without directly taking over—when a powerful country uses money, trade pressure, diplomacy, or military threats to influence another country's choices.

Pax Britannica

The period when Britain's navy and global influence helped keep shipping routes safer and trade more stable—mostly on Britain's terms.

Gold Standard

A money system where countries tied their currency to gold, which made exchange rates more predictable and helped global trade grow.

Industrial Capitalism

An economic system where factory production, wage labor, and large-scale investment massively increase a state's wealth and military power.

East India Company (EIC)

A British private trading corporation that became a military and governing power in India, using trade, taxation, and armies to build empire.

Divide and Rule

An imperial strategy that maintains control by encouraging rivalries (region/class/caste/religion) so that the dominated society cannot unite against foreign power.

Deindustrialization

The destruction of local manufacturing when colonial rule reshapes an economy into a supplier of raw materials and a buyer of foreign factory goods.