Modern History Revision Vocabulary

Flashcards of key vocabulary terms from Modern History Revision lecture notes.

Scientific Revolution

A new way of thinking about the natural world based on careful observation and a willingness to question.

Heliocentric Theory

Theory that the sun is at the center of the universe.

Geocentric Theory

View which held that the earth was the center of the universe.

Galileo Galilei

Scientist who was forced by the Catholic Church to take back scientific ideas that disagreed with the church’s view.

Scientific Method

Logical procedure for gathering and testing ideas.

Isaac Newton

Scientist who discovered laws of motion and gravity.

Enlightenment

Age of Reason.

Social Contract

According to Thomas Hobbes, an agreement people make with government.

John Locke

Philosopher who wrote about government.

Philosophes

Social critics in France.

Voltaire

Writer who fought for tolerance, reason, freedom of religious belief, and freedom of speech.

Montesquieu

French writer concerned with government and political liberty.

Rousseau

Enlightenment thinker who championed freedom.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Author who wrote about women’s rights.

Salon

Social gathering for discussing ideas or enjoying art.

Baroque

Grand, ornate style.

Neoclassical

Simple style that borrowed ideas from classical Greece and Rome.

Enlightened Despot

Ruler who supported Enlightenment ideas but did not give up power.

Catherine the Great

Russian ruler who took steps to reform and modernize Russia.

Declaration of Independence

Document declaring American independence from Britain.

Thomas Jefferson

Author of the Declaration of Independence.

Checks and Balances

System in which each branch of government checks, or limits, the power of the other two branches.

Federal System

System of government in which power is divided between the national and state governments.

Bill of Rights

First ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution; protections of basic rights for individuals.

Old Regime

System of feudalism.

Estate

Social class of people.

Louis XVI

Weak king who came to the French throne in 1774.

Marie Antoinette

Unpopular queen; wife of Louis XVI.

Estates-General

Assembly of representatives from all three estates.

National Assembly

French congress established by representatives of the Third Estate.

Tennis Court Oath

Promise made by Third Estate representatives to draw up a new constitution.

Great Fear

Wave of panic.

Legislative Assembly

Assembly that replaced the National Assembly in 1791.

Émigrés

Nobles and others who left France during the peasant uprisings and hoped to restore the old system.

Sans-culottes

Radical group of Parisian wage-earners.

Jacobin

Member of the Jacobin Club, a radical political organization.

Guillotine

Machine for beheading people.

Maximilien Robespierre

Revolutionary leader who tried to wipe out every trace of France’s past monarchy and nobility.

Reign of Terror

Period of Robespierre’s rule.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Military leader who seized power in France.

Coup d’état

A sudden takeover of a government.

Plebiscite

Vote by the people.

Lycée

Government-run public school.

Concordat

Agreement.

Napoleonic Code

Complete set of laws set up by Napoleon that eliminated many injustices.

Battle of Trafalgar

British defeat of Napoleon’s forces at sea.

Blockade

Forced closing of ports.

Continental System

Napoleon’s policy of preventing trade and communication between Great Britain and other European nations.

Guerrilla

Spanish peasant fighter.

Peninsular War

War that Napoleon fought in Spain.

Scorched-earth policy

Policy of burning fields and slaughtering livestock so that enemy troops would find nothing to eat.

Waterloo

Battle in Belgium that was Napoleon’s final defeat.

Hundred Days

Napoleon’s last bid for power, which ended at Waterloo.

Congress of Vienna

Meetings in Vienna for the purpose of restoring order to Europe.

Klemens von Metternich

Key leader at the Congress of Vienna.

Balance of Power

Condition in which no one country becomes a threat to the others.

Legitimacy

Bringing back to power the kings that Napoleon had driven out.

Holy Alliance

League formed by Russia, Austria, and Prussia.

Concert of Europe

Series of alliances to help prevent revolution.

Conservative

People who supported the monarchy.

Liberal

People who wanted to give more power to elected legislatures.

Radical

People who wanted to end rule by kings and give full voting rights to all people.

Nationalism

Belief that a person’s loyalty belongs to the nation itself rather than to its ruler.

Nation-state

Country with its own independent government.

The Balkans

Region including all or part of present-day Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, and former Yugoslavia.

Louis-Napoleon

Winner of the presidential election in France in 1848; later emperor.

Alexander II

Ruler of Russia who freed the serfs.

Camillo di Cavour

Prime minister who unified northern Italy.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Leader of the Red Shirts who won control over parts of southern Italy.

Otto von Bismarck

Leader who worked to expand Prussia.

Junker

Wealthy German landholders.

Realpolitik

Tough, practical politics.

Kaiser

Emperor.

Geopolitics

Interest in or taking of land for its location or products.

Crimean War

Conflict in which the Ottoman Empire halted Russian expansion near the Black Sea.

Suez Canal

Human-made waterway connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

Sepoy

Indian soldier under British command.

"Jewel in the Crown"

Term referring to India as the most valuable of all British colonies.

Sepoy Mutiny

Uprising of Indian soldiers against the British.

Raj

British rule over India from 1757 to 1947.

Industrial Revolution

Great increase in machine production that began in England in the 18th century.

Enclosure

Large closed-in field for farming.

Crop Rotation

Planting a different crop in a different field each year.

Industrialization

Process of developing machine production of goods.

Factors of Production

Conditions needed to produce goods and services.

Factory

Building where goods are made.

Entrepreneur

Person who organizes, manages, and takes on the financial risk of a business enterprise.

Stock

Right of ownership in a company called a corporation.

Corporation

Business owned by stockholders who share in its profits but are not responsible for its debts.

Militarism

Glorifying war and preparing for it.

Triple Alliance

Military agreement between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Emperor of Germany.

Triple Entente

Military agreement among Britain, France, and Russia.

Schlieffen Plan

Germany’s plan for winning the war on two fronts.

Allies

Great Britain, France, Russia, and other nations that fought alongside them.

Central Powers

Germany, Austria-Hungary, and other nations that fought on their side.

Trench Warfare

Fighting from trenches dug into the battlefield.

Western Front

Region of northern France where much fighting took place.

Eastern Front

Region along the German-Russian border where much fighting took place.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

Using submarines to sink any ship without warning.