Key Concepts in 19th-20th Century World History

Old Regime

The political and social system in Europe before the French Revolution (pre-1789).

Liberalism (Classical)

A political and economic ideology growing out of the Enlightenment.

Industrial Revolution

A period of massive technological, economic, and social change beginning with mechanization and the factory system.

Adam Smith / Laissez-faire capitalism

Scottish economist and philosopher, author of The Wealth of Nations (1776), which argued for laissez-faire capitalism.

Manchester Men

The new industrial capitalist class that emerged in cities like Manchester, England.

Sadler Report

A British Parliamentary investigation (1832) into child labor in factories, featuring testimony from workers like Matthew Crabtree.

Chartist Movement

A working-class political movement in Britain demanding democratic reforms.

Marxism / Socialism

A radical socialist ideology outlined in The Communist Manifesto (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Nationalism

The belief that people sharing a common culture, language, and history should constitute an independent nation-state.

Nationalism - Why

Fueled by the French Revolution, the spread of print culture, and shared struggles.

Nationalism - Significance

Redrew the map of Europe (unifying Germany and Italy, breaking up empires), became a powerful force for both unity and conflict, and was a major cause of WWI.

Imperialism

The policy of extending a nation's power and influence through colonization, military force, or economic domination.

Imperialism - When/Where

Peaked in the late 19th century ('New Imperialism'); Europe dominating Africa and Asia.

Imperialism - Why

Driven by economic needs (resources, markets), political competition, and cultural ideologies like the 'White Man's Burden.'

Imperialism - Significance

Created global European dominance by 1900, exploited colonized peoples, and planted the seeds for future decolonization movements and global conflicts.

Scramble for Africa / Berlin Conference

The rapid invasion and colonization of Africa by European powers; the Berlin Conference (1884-85) was the meeting where European leaders set the rules for dividing Africa.

Scramble for Africa - Why

To avoid war with each other over African territory.

Scramble for Africa - Significance

A stark example of 'high imperialism,' creating artificial borders that ignored ethnic groups, leading to lasting conflict and instability in Africa.

Congo

The personal colony of King Leopold II of Belgium.

Congo - When/Where

Late 19th/early 20th century, Central Africa.

Congo - Why

Leopold brutally exploited the Congo for rubber and ivory using forced labor, mutilation, and murder.

Congo - Significance

Represents the most extreme and horrific example of colonial exploitation; an estimated 10 million Congolese died.

Ethiopia

An African nation that successfully resisted European colonization.

Ethiopia - When/Where

1896, Battle of Adwa.

Ethiopia - Why

Ethiopian forces defeated an invading Italian army.

Ethiopia - Significance

A symbol of successful African resistance to imperialism; Ethiopia remained independent, a point of great pride for pan-African movements.

Sepoy Rebellion / Raj

A major uprising (1857-58) of Indian soldiers (sepoys) against the British East India Company.

Sepoy Rebellion - Why

Triggered by cultural and religious grievances and poor treatment.

Meiji Restoration

The political revolution in 1868 that restored the Emperor Meiji to power and overthrew the military government (shogunate).

Meiji Restoration - When/Where

1868, Japan.

Meiji Restoration - Why

A response to the threat of Western imperialism (e.g., Commodore Perry's 'gunboat diplomacy').

Meiji Restoration - Significance

Japan launched a rapid, top-down program of modernization and industrialization to avoid being colonized, transforming from a feudal society into a major industrial and imperial power.

Albert Beveridge

U.S. Senator and historian; a leading American imperialist.

Albert Beveridge - When/Where

Late 19th/Early 20th century USA.

Albert Beveridge - Why

Argued that imperialism was a noble, divinely-ordained mission for 'superior' Anglo-Saxon peoples.

Albert Beveridge - Significance

Represents the ideological and racial justifications for American expansion after the Spanish-American War (e.g., in the Philippines).

William James

American philosopher and psychologist; author of 'The Philippines Tangle' (1899).

William James - Why

A founding member of the Anti-Imperialist League.

William James - Significance

Provided a powerful moral and intellectual critique of U.S. imperialism, arguing it was a betrayal of American principles and a form of 'piracy.'

Central Powers

One of the two main alliances in WWI, consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and others.

Operation Bagration

A massive Soviet offensive on the Eastern Front from June to August 1944 in Belarus, intended to coincide with D-Day and destroy German Army Group Centre.

Holocaust

The systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators from 1941 to 1945 across Nazi-occupied Europe.

Indian National Congress

The primary political party leading the movement for Indian independence from British rule, founded in 1885.

Nationalism - When/Where

Grew powerfully in the 19th century, especially in Europe.

Sepoy Rebellion - Significance

The rebellion was crushed, leading the British government to dissolve the East India Company and establish direct colonial rule over India, known as the Raj (1858-1947).

Militarism

The belief in building up and maintaining a strong military, often seen as the best tool for solving international disputes.

Schlieffen Plan

Germany's pre-WWI military strategy to avoid a two-front war by quickly defeating France in the west before turning to fight Russia in the east.

Western Front

The primary theatre of war in WWI, a line of trenches stretching from Belgium to Switzerland, characterized by a bloody stalemate and horrific trench warfare.

All Quiet on the Western Front / Erich Maria Remarque

A 1929 novel by German veteran Erich Maria Remarque that provides a grim account of WWI from the perspective of a German soldier.

"Dulce et Decorum Est" / Wilfred Owen

A poem by British soldier Wilfred Owen that graphically describes a soldier dying in a gas attack, written to counter wartime propaganda.

Secret Treaties

Agreements made between Allied powers during WWI, promising territorial gains after the war, which undermined Allied moral claims when revealed.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

The 1918 peace treaty between the Bolshevik government of Russia and the Central Powers, which forced Russia to give up significant territory.

February Revolution

The first stage of the Russian Revolution in March 1917, sparked by bread shortages and protests, leading to Tsar Nicholas II's abdication.

Vladimir Lenin

The leader of the Bolshevik Party.

Revolutionary Marxist

A revolutionary Marxist who adapted Marxist theory to Russian conditions.

October Revolution

The Bolshevik seizure of power from the Provisional Government in November 1917 (October in the old calendar).

Significance of October Revolution

The decisive second phase of the Russian Revolution, bringing the Bolsheviks to power and leading to the creation of the Soviet Union.

Woodrow Wilson

President of the United States (1913-1921).

Fourteen Points

Wilson's January 1918 speech outlining a vision for a just and lasting peace after WWI, including self-determination and free trade.

Treaty of Versailles

The 1919 peace treaty that officially ended WWI between the Allies and Germany.

Significance of Treaty of Versailles

Imposed harsh reparations and territorial losses on Germany, creating resentment and economic instability that contributed to WWII.

League of Nations

An international organization proposed by Woodrow Wilson to prevent future wars through collective security and diplomacy.

Establishment of League of Nations

Established in 1920 in Geneva.

Great Depression

A severe, worldwide economic collapse that began in 1929 with the U.S. stock market crash.

Dawes Plan

An American-led plan (1924) to address German WWI reparations by restructuring them and providing U.S. loans to Germany.

Significance of Dawes Plan

Created a fragile economic cycle that collapsed when U.S. loans stopped during the Great Depression.

New Deal

A series of programs and reforms enacted by President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s as a response to the Great Depression.

Significance of New Deal

Represented a democratic, reformist response to the crisis of capitalism, using government intervention to save capitalism.

Fascism

A far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology.

Emergence of Fascism

Emerged in Europe after WWI, most prominently in Italy and Germany.

Reason for Fascism

A reaction against liberalism, communism, and the perceived weakness and chaos of democracy.

Significance of Fascism

It became a major force of the 20th century, leading to WWII and the Holocaust. It offered a 'third way' that was neither liberal capitalism nor communism.

Benito Mussolini

The founder of the Italian Fascist movement and dictator of Italy.

Mussolini's Rise

Rose to power in the 1920s; Italy.

Mussolini's Motivation

Exploited post-WWI discontent and fear of communism.

Significance of Mussolini

He created the first fascist state, pioneering its tactics: using paramilitary squads (Black Shirts), the symbolism of ancient Rome, and the March on Rome (1922) to seize power.

Black Shirts

The paramilitary wing of Mussolini's National Fascist Party.

Purpose of Black Shirts

Used to intimidate, assault, and murder political opponents (especially socialists and communists).

Significance of Black Shirts

They were the muscle that enabled Mussolini's rise to power, demonstrating the fascist reliance on violence and street-level terror.

Lateran Agreement

A 1929 treaty between Mussolini's Italy and the Catholic Church.

Purpose of Lateran Agreement

It ended a decades-long dispute between the Italian state and the Papacy.

Significance of Lateran Agreement

It granted the Vatican City sovereignty and made Catholicism Italy's state religion.

Adolf Hitler

The leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party) and dictator of Germany.

Nazi Party

A far-right, fascist, virulently antisemitic political party.

Significance of Hitler

Hitler's rise to power (1933) and his pursuit of racial purity (Lebensraum) and German expansion led directly to World War II and the Holocaust.

Enabling Act

A law passed by the German Reichstag in March 1933.

Purpose of Enabling Act

It gave Adolf Hitler the power to enact laws without the involvement of the Reichstag (Germany's parliament).

Significance of Enabling Act

This act was the legal foundation for Hitler's dictatorship.

Reichstag Fire Decrees

A decree issued by President Hindenburg in February 1933, after the Reichstag building was set on fire.

Purpose of Reichstag Fire Decrees

Hitler blamed the fire on communists and used it as a pretext.

Significance of Reichstag Fire Decrees

The decrees suspended civil rights (habeas corpus, freedom of speech, freedom of the press), allowing the Nazis to arrest political opponents en masse.

Nuremberg Laws

Anti-Jewish racial laws enacted in Nazi Germany in 1935.

Purpose of Nuremberg Laws

To legally define and isolate Jewish people based on race, not religion.

Significance of Nuremberg Laws

They stripped Jews of German citizenship and forbade marriage or relations between Jews and Germans.

Kristallnacht

"The Night of Broken Glass" (November 9-10, 1938), a state-sponsored pogrom against Jews throughout Nazi Germany.

Trigger of Kristallnacht

Officially triggered by the assassination of a German diplomat by a Jewish teenager.

Significance of Kristallnacht

A major escalation of Nazi anti-Jewish policy.

Gertrud Scholtz-Klink

The Reich Women's Leader (Reichsfrauenführerin) in Nazi Germany who defined and enforced the Nazi ideal for women, promoting motherhood as a service to the state.

Neutrality Acts

A series of laws passed by the U.S. Congress in the 1930s designed to keep the United States out of future wars by banning arms sales and loans to nations at war.

Franklin Roosevelt / Four Freedoms

President of the United States (1933-1945) who articulated the Four Freedoms—Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear—as fundamental human rights.