Socialism in Europe & Ideological Currents Before the Russian Revolution

Twenty vocabulary flashcards summarizing the ideological positions, movements, and concepts discussed in the lecture on Socialism in Europe and its contrasting ideas.

Socialism

A political-economic doctrine favoring social or collective ownership and equality, opposed to the concentration of property in a few hands.

Capitalism

An economic system in which private individuals own the means of production; linked in the lecture to liberals’ support for property-based voting rights.

French Revolution

The 1789–1799 upheaval that inspired later European debates on social change and provided a backdrop for socialist ideas.

Age of Social Change

19th-century period when Europeans openly discussed possibilities of transforming society, ranging from gradual to radical change.

Liberals

Open-minded reformers who opposed absolute monarchs, demanded a constitution, religious tolerance, and an elected parliament—but restricted voting to propertied men.

Radicals

Advocates of swift, often violent transformation; supported universal (including women’s) suffrage, disliked large property inequalities, and leaned toward socialist ideas.

Conservatives

Defenders of the old order—landowners, monarchy supporters—who resisted liberal and radical reforms to protect their power.

Democrats

Those who insisted on political equality and universal adult suffrage; radicals counted themselves in this camp, liberals mostly did not.

Dynastic rulers

Monarchs who claimed hereditary right to rule; liberals sought to limit their uncontrolled power.

Representative government

A political setup in which elected delegates act on citizens’ behalf; preferred by liberals over absolute monarchy.

Parliamentary government

System where an elected legislature frames laws and oversees the executive; liberals argued for this model.

Independent judiciary

Courts free from ruler or official influence, ensuring laws are fairly interpreted—central to liberal demands.

Women’s suffragette movement

Campaigns pressing for women’s right to vote, strongly supported by radicals and democrats in the lecture.

Private property

Ownership by individuals or firms; radicals accepted it but opposed its extreme concentration.

Concentration of property

Situation where wealth and land lie with a small elite; radicals linked it to social disparity and sought to curb it.

Financial equality

Goal of reducing economic gaps between ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’; a key socialist and radical aspiration.

Majority rule

Principle that the opinions of the greater number should guide government; radicals wanted a nation founded on this.

Orthodox religiosity

Strict, conservative adherence to traditional faith practices; liberals criticized its dominance in medieval Europe.

Gradual reform

Slow, step-by-step change favored by liberals who rejected abrupt revolutions.

Violent change

Rapid, forceful transformation of society—approach associated with radical politics in the lecture.