AP Euro Chapter Terms: Ch. 24 — An age of Imperialism and Modernity

Abstract

Artistic movement that developed early in the 20th century in which artists focused on color to avoid any references to visual reality. Wassily Kandinsky.

Albert Einstein

German born theoretical physicist. Best known for his theory of relativity and his theory of energy equivalence. Received Nobel Prize in 1921 for physics. 1879-1955.

Alfred Dreyfus

Jewish military captain who was falsely accused of treason due to french anti-semitism.

Anticlericalism

Historical movement that opposes religious (generally Catholic) institutional power and influence, real or alleged, in all aspects of public and political life, and the involvement of religion in the everyday life of the citizen.

Anti-Semitism

Mindset that people of Jewish heritage were inferior to other races. Particularly evident in the Austria-German regions of Europe. Adolf Hitler blamed the Jews for the corruption of the German culture.

Battle of Omdurman

Massacre led by the British on the Sudanese. Unfair fight resulting in huge Sudanese casualties.

Bismarckian System

Bismarck makes an alliance with Austria-Hungary and Russia making the Three Emperor's League. The two other countries had a rivalry on who would control the Balkans so Bismarck served as a restraining influence on both powers to prevent war.

Bloody Sunday

Peaceful march by Russians turned deadly when Czar's guards fired on the crowd, killing hundreds.

The Boer War

War between Great Britain and the Boers in South Africa over control of rich mining country. Great Britain won and created the Union of South Africa comprised of all the South African colonies. 1899-1902.

Boxer Rebellion

1899 rebellion in Beijing that was started by a society of Chinese who opposed the "foreign devils," they were trying to push foreigners out of China. The rebellion was ended by troops from many countries that had spheres of influence in the area.

British East India Company

Joint stock company that controlled most of India during the period of imperialism. Controlled the political, social, and economic life in India for more than 200 years.

The Balkans

Territory that used to be part of the declining Ottoman Empire; Ottoman, Austrian, and Russian empires all want control of this territory; "The Powder Keg of Europe."

Cecil Rhodes

British colonial financier and statesman largely in control of British foreign policy in South Africa; made a fortune in gold and diamond mining.

Congress of Berlin

Assembly of representatives of Germany, Russia, Hungary, Britain, France, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire.

Crises in the Balkan

Serbia declared its independence from Austria-Hungary but wanted to gain access to the sea by annexing Bosnia and Herzegovina; powder keg.

Cubism

Artistic movement that focused on geometric shapes, complex lines, and overlapping planes. Pablo Picasso.

De Rerum Novarum

Document issued by pope Leo XIII in 1891 condemning socialism and the exploitation of workers and calling for cooperation between classes.

Duma

Elected national legislature in Russia. Power was quickly curtailed by Nicholas II.

Economic Imperialism

Independent but less developed nations controlled by private business interests rather than by other governments.

Emile Zola

Considered to be the father of Realism as a movement. Developed the realist novel in which he observed his characters as a scientist would observe an experiment. 1840-1902.

Emmeline Pankhurst

British suffragette and founder of the Woman's Social and Political Union. Very radical and sometimes violent. 1858-1928.

Fabian Socialism

Sought to bring communist goals by means of gradual change and negotiation.

French Third Republic

Governmental system that was established after the fall of the Second French Empire in the Franco-Prussian War which lasted until the German occupation of 1940.

Friedrich Nietzsche

German philosopher that was influenced by evolutionary philosophies. Stressed the role of the Ubermensch or Superman who would rise above the common herd of mediocrity. Saw doctrines of Christianity as slave morality concocted by weak to disarm the strong. 1844-1900.

From the Cape to Cairo

Goal of the British imperialists to have a system of railways that would connect British possessions from North Africa to South Africa.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist, short story writer and essayist. Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot.

Germany's "place in the sun"

Found by Emperor William II as he embarked on an activist foreign policy dedicated to enhancing German power; he changed Bismarck's policy by dropping the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia.

Impressionism

Artistic movement that sought to capture a momentary feel, or impression, of the piece they were creating. Claude Monet.

King Leopold II

Belgian King who wished "to open to civilization" the part of the world not colonized by establishing colonies in the Congo. Brutally treated Africans.

Kodak Camera

George Eastman put this first simple camera into the hands of a world of consumers in 1888.

Liberals

Forced to adopt the social reforms in Great Britain due to the pressure put on them from the trade unions and Labour party. Created a social welfare program for the workers. Gave the Irish home rule.

Lloyd George

British prime minister who worked for the good of the working class. Raised taxes on the wealthy, and limited the power of the house of lords.

Maria Montessori

Italian physician who gained international fame for her philosophy of teaching, which allowed students to learn in a noncompetitive and relaxed atmosphere.

Marie and Pierre Curie

French chemists and physicists; discovered radium and polonium in 1898.

Max Planck

German physicist whose explanation of blackbody radiation in the context of quantized energy emissions initiated quantum theory. 1858-1947.

Meiji Restoration

Political program that followed the destruction of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1868, in which a collection of young leaders set Japan on the path of centralization, industrialization, and imperialism.

Millicent Fawcett

Middle class British woman, brought together 16 organizations to form "National Union of Woman's Suffrage Societies."

New Women

Term used to describe career-oriented women in western Europe and the United States in the 1920s; sought increased social and political rights.

Nicolas II

Last tsar of Russia

Pan-German League

Stressed strong German nationalism and advocated imperialism as a tool to overcome social divisions and unite all classes; were also anti-Semitic.

Pogroms

Government supported attacks against Jews in Russia, Jews had to bribe officials to stop the attacks.

Post-Impressionism

Artistic movement that expressed a world that could not normally be seen, like dreams and fantasy. Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh.

Racism

Belief that one race is superior to another.

Reinsurance Treaty

Treaty of 1887 which committed both Russia and Germany to strategic neutrality in the event that one of them was attacked.

Revolution of 1905

Peaceful worker led protest in Russia due to food shortages at the Winter Palace, where troops shot and killed hundreds of peasants.

Russia

Experienced a massive surge in towards industrialization under the leadership of Sergei Witte, the minister of finance. Defeated by the Japanese navy.

Russo-Japanese War

Conflict between two countries because of the two countries' efforts to dominate Manchuria and Korea.

Salvation Army

Charitable and religious organization to evangelize and to care for the poor and homeless.

Scramble for Africa

Term given for the rapid invasion of Africa by the various European powers. This began imperialism in Africa.

Sepoy Mutiny

1857 rebellion of Hindu and Muslim soldiers against the British in India.

Sigmund Freud

Psychologist who developed psychoanalysis. Believed strongly that unconscious drives and desires guided people's actions.

Social Darwinism

19th century of belief that evolutionary ideas theorized by Charles Darwin could be applied to society. Strong societies live while the weaker parish.

Social Revolutionaries

Group of Marxists who believed that a worldwide revolution would begin in Russia with the peasants, wanted to overthrow the tsar system.

Suez Canal

Canal linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. It was a vital trade route from Britain to India, so the British seized Egypt.

Syllabus of Errors

Document by Pope Pius IX in which he denounced rationalism, socialism, religious liberty, and separation of the church and state.

Trans-Siberian Railroad

Constructed in 1870s to connect European Russia with the Pacific; completed by the end of the 1880s; brought Russia into a more active Asian role.

Triple Alliance

Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy in the years before WWI.

Triple Entente

Military alliance between Great Britain, France, and Russia in the years preceding World War I.

Volkish Thought

Rooted in extreme nationalism and racism; the belief that German culture is superior and that the German people have a universal mission to save Western civilization from inferior races.

White Man's Burden

Poem by British poet Rudyard Kipling commenting on imperialism. The idea that many European countries had a duty to spread their religion and culture to those less civilized.

Women's Suffrage Movement

International Movement of the 1880's, that sought to challenge the legal, political, and economic disabilities towards European and American women. This is historically significant because the women eventually gained the right to vote and the right to hold a job. The extension of enlightenment ideas onto women.

Zionism

Movement founded in the 1890s to promote the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Founded by Theodor Herzl. Most profound in eastern Europe where Jews had to endure Pogroms.