Modern World History: Renaissance to Russian Revolution

Comprehensive vocabulary terms and historical figures covering the Renaissance, the American and French Revolutions, the unification of Italy and Germany, and the rise of socialism in Russia.

Renaissance

A period beginning in the $14\text{th}$ century characterized as an awakening of cultural and intellectual life that encouraged thinking and reasoning.

Reformation

A movement challenging the corruption and authority of the Medieval Catholic Church, led by figures like Martin Luther.

Martin Luther

A reformer who challenged the Roman Catholic Church, asserting that the Bible is the only source of authority and salvation is attained through faith in Jesus Christ.

Leonardo da Vinci

A Renaissance artist who combined art and science through detailed scientific studies of the human body.

Michael Servetus

A figure in Renaissance medicine who is credited with discovering blood circulation.

William Harvey

A medical scientist who explained the mechanics of how the heart works during the Renaissance.

Copernicus

The astronomer who proposed the heliocentric view that the Earth revolves around the Sun.

Kepler

An astronomer who supported Copernicus's views and stated that planets move in elliptical paths.

Galileo

A scientist who used a telescope to discover the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn.

Law of Universal Gravitation

A major discovery by Newton that resulted from the scientific and astronomical progress made during the Renaissance.

Mercantilist policy

Britain's economic policy that restricted colonial industries and forced the $13$ colonies to trade goods like sugar and cotton only with England at fixed prices.

Stamp Act

A $1765$ tax imposed by Britain on American colonies to fund wars, which triggered protests and social unrest.

Boston Tea Party

A $1773$ protest against the tea tax where colonists dumped crates of tea into the sea.

First Continental Congress

An assembly in $1774$ that appealed to the King to end taxation without consent, occurring just before the outbreak of the American Revolution.

Declaration of Independence

A document signed on $4$ July $1776$ that promoted equality, liberty, and the right to happiness, leading to the birth of the USA.

Bill of Rights

A set of amendments in the United States that guaranteed fundamental freedoms such as speech, press, and religion.

First Estate

The social class in pre-revolutionary France consisting of the clergy who enjoyed significant privileges.

Second Estate

The social class in pre-revolutionary France consisting of the nobility who enjoyed significant privileges.

Third Estate

A French social class including peasants, workers, and the middle class who were burdened with heavy taxes.

National Assembly

The body formed by the Third Estate in $1789$ that demanded equal taxation and adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

Mazzini

One of the three leaders of Italian unification who spread ideas of nationalism through secret societies.

Cavour

The Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia who used diplomacy to remove Austrian control and aid the unification of Italy.

Garibaldi

The leader who led revolts in Sicily and Naples and handed the regions to Victor Emmanuel II to help unify Italy.

Victor Emmanuel II

The king who became the first ruler of a unified Italy following the completion of the unification process in $1871$.

Otto von Bismarck

The Prime Minister of Prussia who united Germany under Prussian leadership using his 'Blood and Iron' policy.

Blood and Iron policy

Bismarck's policy stating that German unity could only be achieved through war and strength rather than through speeches.

Kaiser William I

The King of Prussia who became the first emperor of a united Germany in $1871$ after the defeat of France.

Franco-Prussian War

An $1870$ conflict in which Prussia defeated France, took the regions of Alsace and Lorraine, and finalized German unification.

Karl Marx

A primary promoter of socialism and author of Das Capital who believed that history is a struggle between classes.

Duma

A representative assembly in Russia formed after the Revolution of $1905$ consisting of members from the peasantry, townsmen, and gentry.

October Revolution

The $1917$ event led by Lenin and the Bolsheviks that overthrew the Provisional Government and created the USSR.