CSET Social Science Subtest I (114) Study Guide

Vocabulary and key concepts from CSET Social Science Subtest I (114) Flashcard Printout on World History, World Religions, and Philosophies.

Weimar Republic

An unofficial designation for the German state between 1919 and 1933

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev was a politician who led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War

League of Nations

An intergovernmental organisation founded on 10 January 1920 as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid- 1920s until his death in 1953

Cold War

A state of political and military tension after World War II between powers in the Western Bloc and powers in the Eastern Bloc

U-boat

The anglicised version of the German word U-Boot [ˈuË?boË?t] , a shortening of Unterseeboot, literally "undersea boat"

Berlin Wall

A barrier that divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989

Gavrilo Princip

A Yugoslav who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist

Russian Revolution

The collective term for a pair of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which dismantled the Tsarist autocracy and led to the eventual rise of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

Officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, abbreviated to USSR, was a socialist state on the Eurasian continent that existed from 1922 to 1991

Duma

A Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions

strategy

A high level plan to achieve one or more goals under conditions of uncertainty

Neville Chamberlain

Arthur Neville Chamberlain, FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940

Holocaust

Also known as the Shoah, was a genocide in which Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany and its collaborators killed about six million Jews

Manhattan Project

A research and development project that produced the first nuclear weapons during World War II

Eastern Bloc

The group of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact

United Nations

An intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman

Zionism

A nationalist political movement of Jews and Jewish culture that supports the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the historic Land of Israel

television

A telecommunication medium used for transmitting moving images in monochrome , or in color, and in two or three dimensions and sound

Chinese Communist Party

The Communist Party of China is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China

Korean War

Began when North Korea invaded South Korea

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Also called the North Atlantic Alliance, an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949

mujahedeen

The plural form of mujahid, the term for one engaged in Jihad

inflation

In economics, a sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time

classical pragmatism

A philosophical tradition that began in the United States around 1870

phalanx

A rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar weapons

constant

The number $e$ is an important mathematical constant that is the base of the natural logarithm

abjad

A type of writing system where each symbol stands for a consonant, leaving the reader to supply the appropriate vowel

polis

Plural poleis literally means city in Greek

competition

A contest or rivalry between two or more organisms, animals, individuals, economic groups or social groups

Democritus

An influential Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe

Thales

Thales of Miletus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, mathematician and astronomer from Miletus in Asia Minor, current day Milet in Turkey

Zeno

Zeno of Elea was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of Magna Graecia and a member of the Eleatic School founded by Parmenides

Presocratics

Ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates and schools contemporary to Socrates that were not influenced by him

hoplites

Citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields

Five Pillars of Islam

Five basic acts in Islam, considered mandatory by believers and forming the foundation of Muslim life

Torah

Also known as the Pentateuch, it is the central reference of the religious Judaic tradition

iconoclasm

The destruction of religious icons and other images or monuments for religious or political motives

Mohammed

Muḥammad is the central figure of Islam and widely regarded as its founder by non-Muslims

fasting

A willing abstinence of food, solid or liquid

prayer five times each day

Salah, or namÄ?z, is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and an obligatory religious duty for every Muslim

Constantinople

The capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires

Council of Trent

Held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento and Bologna, it was one of the Roman Catholic Church's most important ecumenical councils

Battle of Agincourt

A major English victory in the Hundred Years' War

Edward VI

King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death

Wars of the Roses

A series of wars for control of the throne of England

Renaissance

A period in European history from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history

parliaments

In modern politics and history, a legislative, elected body of government

condottieri

Leaders of the professional military free companies contracted by the Italian city-states and the Papacy from the late Middle Ages throughout the Renaissance

tithe

A one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government

High Middle Ages

The period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries

heresy

Any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs

Charter of the Forest

A charter of 1217 originally sealed in England by King Henry III, acting under the regency of William Marshall

Mendicants

Practitioners of mendicancy who rely chiefly or exclusively on charitable donations to survive

Charles V

Ruler of both the Spanish Empire from 1516 and the Holy Roman Empire from 1519, as well as the Habsburg Netherlands from 1506

Prince Henry of Portugal

Infante Henrique of Portugal, better known as Henry the Navigator, important in 15th-century Portuguese politics and exploration

polytheism

The worship of or belief in multiple deities usually assembled into a pantheon

wealth

The abundance of valuable resources or valuable material possessions

Tenochtitlan

An Aztec altepetl located on an island in Lake Texcoco, commonly known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan

Valladolid debates

The first moral debate in European history to discuss the rights and treatment of a colonized people by colonizers

Christopher Columbus

An Italian explorer, navigator, colonizer, and citizen of the Republic of Genoa

Suleiman

Suleiman I, or Suleiman the Magnificent, tenth and longest-reigning sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1520-1566)

encomienda system

A labor system rewarding conquerors with the labor of particular groups of people

geocentric

A superseded description of the universe with the Earth at the center

Immanuel Kant

A German philosopher considered the central figure of modern philosophy

Johannes Kepler

A German mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer

air

The layer of gases, known as the atmosphere of Earth, that surrounds the planet and is retained by gravity

Galileo Galilei

An Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher, and mathematician who played a major role in the scientific revolution

enlightened absolutism

A form of absolute monarchy or despotism inspired by the Enlightenment, also known as enlightened despotism

English Bill of Rights

An Act of the Parliament of England dealing with constitutional matters and setting out certain basic civil rights

telescope

An optical instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement which dominated the world of ideas in Europe in the 18th century

alchemy

A philosophical and protoscientific tradition practiced throughout Europe, Egypt and Asia

Paracelsus

Born Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, was a Swiss German philosopher, physician, and occultist

Tycho Brahe

A Danish nobleman known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations

Frederick the Great

Frederick II was King of Prussia from 1740 until 1786

scientific method

A body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge

Isaac Newton

An English physicist and mathematician widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time

Denis Diderot

A French philosopher, art critic, and writer

Thomas Hobbes

An English philosopher best known today for his work on political philosophy

skepticism

Any questioning attitude or doubt towards one or more items of putative knowledge or belief

heliocentric model

The astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the center of the Solar System

Meiji Restoration

A chain of events that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji

Boxer Rebellion

A violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901

Panama Canal

An artificial 48-mile waterway in Panama connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

Oliver Cromwell

An English military and political leader and later Lord Protector of the Commonwealth

Dutch Golden Age

A period in the 17th century where Dutch trade, science, military, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world

Holy Roman Empire

A multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that continued until its dissolution in 1806

Bill of Rights

The collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution

John Calvin

An influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation

constitutional monarchy

Form of monarchy where the monarch executes authority in accordance with a set constitution

English Civil War

Armed conflicts between Parliamentarians and Royalists over the manner of England's government

Louis the Great

Louis XIV, the Sun King, ruled as King of France from 1643 until 1715

French and Indian War

The North American theater of the worldwide Seven Years' War (1756-1763)

irrigation

The method in which water is supplied to plants at regular intervals for agriculture

conspicuous consumption

The spending of money on luxury goods to publicly display economic power

War of the Austrian Succession

Involved European powers over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the House of Habsburg

Industrial Revolution

Transition to new manufacturing processes from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840