AP Euro Summer Terms

Annals of Agriculture

The Annals of Agriculture was a periodical written by Arthur Young from 1784-1815, among other writers such as King George III and George Washington. It drew upon various farming practices, including livestock breeding, fertilization, crop rotation, and other innovative farming techniques. It was related to the “new husbandry” movement. It was a model that transcended borders.

Richard Arkwright

Considered to be the father of the modern factory (1732–1792); An English entrepreneur and businessman (and later Knight), he was known for his water frame achievements, particularly in cotton factories. For these reasons, his implementations contributed to the Industrial Revolution.

Ataturk

Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938) was known as Ataturk—meaning “father of the Turks.” He was a young nationalist and he sought to rid the Greeks who sought to control Anatolia (Asia Minor, connecting Europe to Asia). He abandoned the Ottoman sultanate, made Turkey independent of European control, and made Turkey a secular state (despite large Muslim population).

Robert Bakewell

Robert Bakewell (1725-1795) was an English agriculturalist, who was famous in jumpstarting the British agricultural revolution. He was known for selective/artificial breeding for prized traits among sheep and cattle. He created multiple species through his selective breeding techniques.

Balfour Declaration

1917; The British accepted Zionist views and promised Jews a state in Palestine. It is seen as controversial due to Britain’s lack of maintaining promises and serving as a catalyst for future conflicts between Israel and Palestine. Specifically, the declaration went against Britain’s promise to create an Arab state in the Middle East (which they believed included Palestine).

Tangent question: What were Britain’s motives for breaking up the Ottoman Empire?

Britain wanted control over the Middle East region for a few key regions: they wanted to secure geographic pathways to India and other parts of Asia for key trading purposes (e.g. the Suez Canal), they didn’t want rivals like Russia or France to have control, and they wanted oil control as well.

Baroque Art/Architecture

Baroque art is very elaborate, ornate, and detailed. Utilizes many curved lines. Flourished between 1550-1750. Often is very theatrical, dramatic, etc. Michelangelo is one of the most famous artists who employed Baroque art. St. Peter’s Basilica is one of the most famous examples. Often associated with Roman Catholic ideas.

Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) was a key feminist and political advocate. She is best known for her work “The Second Sex,” in which she describes the existentialism regarding gender. Her famous line is, “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” She argued that social constructs defined women, not biological factors.

Henry Bessemer

Henry Bessemer (1813-1898) was an English inventor who revolutionized steel production and made it inexpensive. It made construction with steel a lot easier, with steel replacing iron in railroads largely because of his invention.

Bosnia-Herzegovina

Has a conflicted history; was ruled by the Ottoman Empire for around 400 years, which impacted religious changes (many converted to Islam). Then, they were annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908. This angered many Southern Slavs, which resulted in a Bosnian-Serbian nationalist assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 (WWI catalyst). Then, they were absorbed into Yugoslavia in the 1990s, causing a lot of ethnic tension among Bosnians and their Eastern Orthodox counterparts. Divisions between Bosnians, Croats, and Slovenes erupted, culminating in a civil war in 1992. Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, was bombed. Bosnia was recognized as independent following the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995.

Lord Byron

Lord Byron (1788-1824) was a proponent of the Romantic movement, contributing vastly to English literature and story-telling. As a reminder, the Romantic movement was a rebellion against the Enlightenment, noting that nature ought to be prized for its beauty and awe, rather than be explained by science. Some of his famous works include Don Juan and Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. He had a scandalous personal life.

Cahiers de doleances

Cahiers de doleances (ledgers of grievances) was compiled in 1789 against King Louis XVI. Actually, King Louis XVI asked for these grievances as a way to determine the public’s opinions of the monarchy. The Three Estates were responsible for writing them, with the third one representing the commoners/urban class. The Third Estate made up 98% of the population, and thus experienced the most social and economic burden. The documents gave the commoners a larger voice among the nation, fueling resentment for the throne. Side note: the French Revolution lasted from 1789-1799, and King Louis XVI was executed in 1793. After that, Maximilien Robespierre was in power for a few years, until Napolean replaced him until 1814 (exiled).

Albert Camus

Albert Camus (1913-1960) was a French philosopher born in Algeria. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957, and he is best known for his ideas of Absurdism, which is the philosophy that humans try to find meaning in an inherently meaningless world. The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus demonstrate these ideas.

H.S. Chamberlain

H.S. Chamberlain (1855-1927) was an early British philosopher who laid much of the racial and antisemitic groundwork for Hitler and the Nazis later on. He believed in the superiority of the “Aryan race” and that all European success was on behalf of the Germans and in contrast everything to blame was on the Jews.

Cholera

Cholera was rampant during the 1830s and 1840s, and it struck all classes (many usually affect on the lower classes). Cholera was linked to unsanitary conditions. Poor working-class and urban conditions were at the forefront of its spread. New water and sewer systems were implemented to combat its spread (Paris is a famous example). The government also had a larger say in public health than before.

Corn Laws

British Corn Laws (from 1815-1846) aimed to keep corn prices high domestically in order to sway British grain landowners away from buying cheap imports instead (especially important knowing that Napoleon had just been defeated in 1815). While benefiting the urban working class, the poor were left struggling and it led to many riots. This marked the beginning of the free trade movement in British economics.

Corvee

French corvees were a form of unpaid labor that many peasants and serfs engaged in because they often couldn’t pay taxes. This labor was often infrastructure related, and the burden was almost always on the lower class, fueling resentment. It was abolished during the French Revolution. Often, the tasks were set to bolster the monarchy (building the King’s roads), and it took time away from important tasks like planting for family.

Cult of Domesticity

The Cult of Domesticity strictly outlined the limits of women during the latter half of the 1800s. It sharply separated the male and female spheres of influence, with women only overseeing the household. Their roles were reduced to wives and mothers, and any ambitions, talents, or eagerness for education were diminished. Domestic activities sprung up, like magazines, consumption, etc. Religious activities were also seen as important for women to take part in. Charity as well. MIDDLE-CLASS women in particular were in the Cult of Domesticity.

Marie and Pierre Curie

Polish-born chemists, they discovered polonium and radium together in 1898. They won a Nobel Prize in 1903 for their work on radioactivity (along with Henry Bequerel), making Marie the first woman to win a Nobel prize. She won another for isolating pure radium in 1911. She applied her knowledge to X-rays as well.

Gottlieb Daimler

Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900), a German engineer, invented the modern combustion engine in 1885. This propelled forth the automobile industry and revolutionized how oil was used. It thus made oil a prized material. This invention would also pave the way for big businesses to capitalize on it.

Benjamin Disraeli

Benjamin Disraeli was a British statesman who served as Prime Minister twice, and he was the first to serve with a Jewish background. He is best known for bolstering the Conservative party and ideology, along with his Tory democracy. He passed the Public Health Act, a Food and Drug Act, an Education Act, etc. He advocated for “one nation conservativism,” and he tried to minimize the divide between the elite and the working class during industrialization. He did so by trying to paint a picture of a paternalistic elite class that cared for the working class. He also was very involved in imperialistic tendencies; he got a large stake in the Suez Canal and made Queen Victoria the Empress of India.

Dreyfus Affair

The Dreyfus Affair divided France into those who supported the wrongfully-accused Jewish Dreyfus and those who did not support him. Fueled by antisemitism at the time, a fake letter written by Esterhazy was framed to make it seem like Dreyfus was conveying French military secrets to Germans. He was exiled to Devil’s island, and eventually he was returned after not being found guilty.

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a German theoretical physicist most known for his theory of general and special relativity. General relativity only describes the relation between mass and energy, while special relativity expands to include gravity as a factor. It ridded science of absolute certainty in science, as his workings were uncertain and redefined how physics was viewed.His work would be used as contributions to nuclear weapons later. He earned a Nobel Prize in 1921 as well.

European Union

The European Union was a work in progress for decades, and it started out with economic incentives. It got rid of tariffs between member nations (Common Market), eventually created a formal currency among member states (Euro), and people citizens of member states are European Union citizens.

Existentialism

Existentialism describes the idea that the universe is silent and thus we have full power and responsibility to make our own decisions. This is both exhilarating but also dreadful, as many put it. It was popularized following WWII, especially in France. Post-war feelings amplified the meaningless approach to the universe.

Fabianism

Fabianism is rooted in the belief of gradualism, specifically British adoption of socialist principles. It rejects violent upheavals to achieve this transition, and instead prefers democratic approaches. It propelled a number of beneficial public work programs, including the NHS, a minimum wage, and national insurance. It originated in the 1880s, and it can be compared to progressive tactics.

William Gladstone

William Gladstone (1809-1898) was Prime Minister of the U.K. four times, and he advocated for a series of reforms that benefited the people at large. He secured secret voting ballots, cared for the working class, and he generally was considered a Liberal. He started out as a Tory, but switched sides later on and put forth changes like educational reform, justice reform, and low taxation.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was a German writer who is considered the most influential writer in Germany. He was a proponent of the Sturm and Drang and Romantic movements—both of which rejected rigid Enlightenment ideals and instead promoted human nature themes. He also contributed to scientific knowledge, most notably through his Metamorphosis of Plants and other works.

Olympe de Gouges

Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793) was a French playwright and political activist for women during the French Revolution. She wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen in 1791 which advocated for women’s suffrage, right to own property, speak openly in public, and hold office. She also was an abolitionist, was against radicalism during the Reign of Terror, and advocated for social welfare. (orphans, elderly, etc.).

Francisco de Goya

Francisco de Goya was a highly influential Spanish painter of the 18th and 19th centuries. He is known for his transition to modern art, and how he often challenged traditional painting norms (for instance, his nude painting, subtle hits at the royalty’s arrogance at times, and depictions of war). He also had some notable dark paintings, particularly after he went deaf, that contributed to the art movement known as Expressionism.

18th Century Guilds

Think: APUSH “Gilded Age.” Guilds were forms of monopolies that restricted free, open trade and controlled entire markets instead. Enlightenment thinkers particularly believed this idea. Guilds had strict ranking systems and limited the minimum prices and distribution of goods. The system largely collapsed by the end of the century, especially with the French Revolution.

Hammer of Witches

Hammer of Witches, also known as Malleus Maleficarum, was an authoritative guidebook written in the 15th century. Its purpose was to instruct people how to find witches and punishing them. It acted as legal and theological justification for hunting witches, but it largely contributed to the hysteria surrounding witchcraft at the time. It paved the way for tens of thousands of executions. It also contributed to institutionalized misogyny, as it was accepted that women were more likely to be witches. The ideas within Hammer of Witches spread across Europe.

Vaclav Havel

Vaclav Havel was a political dissident and statesmen and lived from 1936 to 2011. He was president during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. He was the last president of Czechoslovakia and the first president of the Czech Republic. He was a prominent figure in Prague Spring, which was a large human rights movement in opposition to the USSR’s communism. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He also wrote absurd plays that commented on social corruption often.

G.W.F Hegel

G.W.F. Hegel was a German philosopher (1770-1831)

Theodor Herzl

Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) was a Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who is considered the father of modern Zionism. He promoted Jewish immigration to Palestine. He faced intense antisemitism himself, coming to the conclusion that the only resolution was to form an independent Jewish state.

Index of Forbidden Books

The Index of Forbidden Books was created by the Catholic Church and lasted for over 400 years (1559 to 1966). Its intent was to ban books that went against the Church, which especially related to the Protestant Reformation and anything else deemed dissident worthy. Works by many famous philosophers (including Locke, Bacon, Hobbes, Descartes, etc.) was banned as it fell under the Enlightenment category. Copernicus’ heliocentric view was banned, multiple literature writers were banned (Hugo, Machiavelli), etc.

Spanish Inquisition

The Spanish Inquisition (1478-1834) was organized under Ferdinand II and Isabella I under their new unified kingdom, and it intended to rule out heresy using lots of state control rather than Pope authority. It targeted anyone who deviated from Catholic orthodoxy, particularly Jews and later Muslims, Protestants, and Indigenous populations. It lost strength as the empire itself declined in the 1800s.

Ireland/Home Rule Bill

Ireland sought to gain independence from the UK for centuries due to enduring suppression of their Catholic beliefs, economic hardships, and a lack of autonomy that they desired. There were actually four Home Rule Bills tried, with the first two suggested by William Gladstone. They faced much opposition, but eventually the fourth officially split Ireland from the UK.

Jacobins

Jacobins were the most radical and violent uprising group of the French Revolution, leading the way for the Reign of Terror. Key members included Maximilien Robespierre and the entire Committee of Public Safety. They executed over 10,000 people that they deemed “enemies of the Revolution.” They were a driving force behind the execution of King Louis XVI in 1793, but the group largely fell apart by 1794 when Robespierre was executed.

Jacquerie

Jacquerie was a revolt in Northern France in 1358 during the Hundred Years’ War. The word Jacquerie referenced peasant uprisings in France. The revolt was driven by unfair taxation, widespread devastation, and a lack of protection from the nobility despite being exploited. The insurgency only lasted a few months before it was put down.

Carl Jung

Carl Jung was a Swedish psychiatrist and psychotherapist who is widely renowned for his analysis of the field and the idea that there are multiple different personality types. He also came up with the idea of introverts and extroverts. He also posited that we all have a collective unconscious in our lives. He also derived that we have archetypes or models of ourselves that we present. It is safe to say that he is widely influential in his field and his work is used in teachings today.

Kellogg-Briand Pact

The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed in 1928 in Paris and it pledged to rid war as a form of national policy. Despite being signed by 64 countries, it failed to prevent WWII. There were loopholes in the pact, however, namely the Self-defense argument that could justify wars. Plus, there weren’t consequences for countries that went against the pact, meaning it lacked enforcement overall.