AP European History Unit 4

Agricultural Revolution

New farming techniques and such led to more efficient growth of crops, more livestock, and more food production. This led to more food to help society grow, more resources and paving the way for the Industrial Revolution, and more

Deism

Belief in existence of a God, while rejecting revelation and such as a source of religious authority. Believed that God didn’t interfere, and human ability to reason is enough for knowledge

Encyclopedia

Book by Denis Diderot, a general encyclopedia that collected most available knowledge, examine it critically and rationally, and use it for social advancement

Enlightened Absolutism

Absolutist government involving some principles of the Enlightenment that would portray the ruler as enlightened, but really also mainly to the benefit of their rule.

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement in Europe that emphasized reason and individualism rather than tradition, and evolution of society, economics, and politics, using science, reason, and increased literacy

Free Market

An economic system in which prices and wages are determined by unrestricted competition between businesses, without government regulation or fear of monopolies.

Neoclassicism

An age and style of art that focused on realism and historical context, following renewed interest in Greek & Roman works, developing in opposition to Baroque

Physiocrats

Those who believed in natural economic laws that governed society such as land = source of wealth, sorted supply and demand, etc., and government shouldn’t interfere

Salons

Places where people (often philosophes, etc) would go to discuss ideas and events, most were ran by women

Scientific Method

Steps that allowed scientists to reach conclusions of a question

Scientific Revolution

A revolution in scientific thought across many fields, replacing Greek ideas, changing views of nature and marking emergence of modern science

Social Contract

The idea, proposed by Rousseau, that members of society would cooperate for social benefits/good of the state over the individual

Nicolaus Copernicus

Polymath, predicted heliocentrism and made a model of it, but his ideas were rejected for Aristotelian/ptolemaic geocentrism

Galileo Galilei

Scientist, polymath, etc., used his many findings to confirm heliocentrism but was censored by the Catholic church

Isaac Newton

Polymath, etc., key figure in scientific revolution and the Enlightenment, discovered many laws such as gravity, motion, etc

William Harvey

Figured out circulation in the human body, a mistake of Galen’s

Galen

Ancient greek physician, his work was a centerpiece in biology and anatomy through the middle ages

Voltaire

Huge Enlightenment figure, against cruelty, tyranny, and bigotry, believed in reason, tolerance, and wrote on almost every subject.

Denis Diderot

A writer of the Encyclopedie, which was one of the most important works of the Enlightenment

John Locke

Wrote of how systems of government should be formed, an influence for many significant Enlightenment writers, fundamental idea was theory of rights, and rights of man, that all men are born free and equal by nature,

Rousseau

Wrote of a social contract and a republic, an inspiration of the French Revolution, wrote about all citizens having direct influence over the running of the state

Adam Smith

Scottish economist and philosopher, apart of rise of liberal classicism, believed in a free market and wrote An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the [Wealth of Nations]

Rediscovery of Greek and Roman texts

Humanists traveled to unearth these texts, and studied them

Rise in secular humanism

With increasingly encouraged free thought, secular humanism arose

Protestant Reformation

A religious movement that believed the bible was the sole authority for all faith matters, and salvation can be achieved by faith alone. Sparked by Martin Luther’s criticisms of clerical abuses and greed

Printing press

Made by Johannes, Gutenberg, the printing press allowed for cheaper paper, access to knowledge, and a higher literacy rate.

Europeans challenging traditionally-held sources of power

With the Enlightenment, there was more critical thought and analysis of life, including with rights and ruling, such as with the rise of secular humanism.

Copernicus, Galileo, and heliocentric theory

Copernicus was for the theory that the universe revolved around the sun. Galileo, who would study the moon, studied the shadow through a telescope and supported this idea.The theory went against the established Christian view that the universe revolves around the earth.

Harvey discovering Galen

Harvey discovered the work of Galen, and improved on it

Bacon, Descartes, and inductive and deductive reasoning

They were both believers in scientific reasoning, and the world could be explained through such, known as rationalism. Descartes was a mathematician and made huge developments in geometry and algebra, and invented inductive and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasonings starts with an observation and builds up through looking at patterns and then arrives at a hypothesis/theory. Deductive reasoning begins with a theory and supports it with observations, eventually to a confirmation

Kepler, Newton

Newton built up his laws based on the findings of Kepler, which he discovered but didn’t understand.

Traditional view of the cosmos and reliance of spiritual forces

The traditional view was of a geocentric universe, the stars being heavenly, etc., and were ideas promoted by the Church and Bible. With deviation or contradiction to these ideas, the Church suppressed them

Enlightenment : Locke, Rousseau, natural rights, and the social contract

John Locke believed in the natural rights of man, and a ruler who didn’t protect their rights should be taken down. Rousseau believed a social contract should keep a balanced relationship between citizens and ruler, as well that man is born good but are corrupted by society. Their ideas both promote reason and freedom as essential in society.

Rousseau's exclusion of women and Wollstonecraft’s feminism

Wollstonecraft wrote about the education of women and believed that women were just as capable as men when given the same education. Rousseau believed that women should be educated too, but belonged at home and should be powerless.

Physiocrats and the new economic developments

Physiocrats believed that more agricultural development would create additional wealth for everyone, and that wealth of states was based on “land wealth”. These ideas were expanded upon by philosophes

Deism

Belief in existence of a God, while rejecting revelation and such as a source of religious authority. Believed that God didn’t interfere, and human ability to reason is enough for knowledge

Atheism

Disbelief in God

Skepticism

Philosophes believing they can and should question everything, even religion, dislike of blind faith, etc

Reason

reasoning used to evaluate everything, a source of authority and legitimacy, based on rationalism and science over faith

Rationalism

Judging everything with philosophical/scientific reason, no room for faith

Inoculation

A vaccination against smallpox using cowpox

Steady population growth

With increase of food and resources, better public health, the industrial revolution, etc., there was growth in population

Changing marriage patterns

People, especially village women, were marrying later (around 30s+) because they spent their early years earning and gaining experience to run a household

Increased focus on child-rearing

Focusing more on educating and preparing children for work, Rousseau's writings aided in this. Children were seen as small adults before

Urbanization and economic opportunities in cities

With the agricultural revolution, increasing population, and industrial revolution, cities became hotspots for work and led to their booms in population + urbanization, especially in cities around the water

Agricultural Revolution

New farming techniques and such led to more efficient growth of crops, more livestock, and more food production. This led to more food to help society grow, more resources and paving the way for the Industrial Revolution, and more

Printed materials

With the printing press, increase of literacy, and popularizing usage of vernacular, the spread of printed materials and with such ideas became more prevalent and accessible, spreading ideas of the enlightenment and similar movements

Development of a public opinion and state identities

With better spread of ideas and literature, public opinion became more prevalent as well as influential on politics, so politicians would need to abide by the public opinion to rise to power. This influences the identity of the state and its political life

Art and literature that reflect an enlightened and commercial society

Art increasingly reflected values or ideas of these new societal changes, such as rationality

Baroque, neoclassicism

Style of dark, grand, dramatic, and disfigured artwork

Consumer revolution

With the cheapening of products because of the industrial revolution and more, things became more widely manufactured and cheaper, and more could afford them, as well as advertisement, so a consumer revolution began

Central and Eastern Europe

There was a good degree of it in these parts of Europe, rulers and philosophes pleased eachother to be painted well in their respective groups, rulers did what would benefit them

Religious Toleration

Decent religious toleration, though mostly didn’t extend to Jews

Joseph II of Austria

Rational and impersonal, wanted to improve the people but ultimately had trouble from aristocratic and peasant rebellions. Austria was diverse which didn’t help. Joseph allowed decent toleration, got more control over his realms and expanded territory, supported trade, reformed the judicial system, gave peasants more freedoms, new taxation systems, and more. However, many nobles and such were upset with these reforms, and near the end of his rule he had to revoke some of them, and after him other rulers revoked even more.

Frederick II of Prussia

Embodied enlightenment ideals the most, commanded loyalty from higher groups, encouraged discussion and was religiously tolerant, put interest of country before his own, educated nobility, enacted new codification of Prussian law, based on rational thought, fostered economic growth and agriculture, and more

Catherine II of Russia

Recognized the fragility of the Romanov crown and worked to strengthen it, gained much experience in chaos and danger as Queen and became well educated in enlightenment matters, making her a strong ruler. Made decent reforms, reorganized the government, gave the nobility more power to get their support and strength for the crown, and worked on trade, expansion of the middle class, didn’t abolish serfdom but did improve education, and more.

Reform of institutions

Institutions were reformed to better education and adhere to enlightenment ideals, and often to centralize power under the monarch

Patronage of the arts

Art reflected the grandeur of rulers, used to promote them