Geschiedenis – Inleiding en Structuurbegrippen Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering core historical terminology, analytical concepts, societal domains, and historical methods from the introductory lecture notes.

The Past

Refers to everything that lies behind us.

Historiography

Scientific historical writing that attempts to reconstruct a picture of human life (dreams, thinking, acting, dying) through the ages.

Historical Source

All traces or remnants left behind by ancestors (objects, written or oral testimonies like skeletons, shards, coins, letters, diaries) that serve as basic material for research.

Historical Work

Works created afterwards (such as textbooks, encyclopedias, or articles) to teach about the past, rather than direct traces from the past itself.

Primary Source

A source or work created directly during the period under study by a contemporary.

Secondary Source

A source or work created later, after the time of the event under study.

Standplaatsgebondenheid (Positionality)

The perspective of a creator or historian determined by personal factors (age, gender, residence, time period, social status, religion, political beliefs) that influences how facts are perceived and interpreted.

Horse of Lascaux

A cave artwork often portrayed in textbooks as isolated and brightly lit under the caption 'first artwork', masking its original context inside dark caves lit by flickering torches as part of rituals.

Venus of Willendorf

An 11 cm portable prehistoric figurine whose interpretation shifted over time from an erotic ideal (by 19th-century male archeologists) to a symbol of female power, fertility, and community.

Historical Revisionism

The practice of revising or updating existing images of the past based on new questions, changing values, or newly discovered sources.

Chronological Reference Frame

A framework centered on time, answering when an event took place.

Spatial Reference Frame

A framework centered on location, answering where an event took place.

Societal Reference Frame

A framework centered on human action, categorized into political, economic, social, or cultural domains.

Political-Administrative Domain

Aspect of politics concerned with how power is distributed and organized within a specific society (e.g., democracy vs. dictatorship).

Political-Territorial Domain

Aspect of politics concerned with how power is distributed on a global scale between different societies.

Economic Domain

The societal sphere dealing with everything related to the struggle for material existence, including food, clothing, housing, and money.

Social Domain

The societal sphere dealing with how different social groups live together and relate to one another.

Cultural Domain

The societal sphere dealing with how people give meaning to the world through belief systems, science, art, and customs.

Five Pillars of Historical Thinking

1. Build historical reference frame, 2. Develop historical questions, 3. Reason critically with sources, 4. Form reasoned historical image, 5. Reflect on past, present, and future.

Egodocument

A historical source centered on the creator's personal life and subjective perspective, such as a diary or letter.

Autocracy

A form of government in which a single individual holds all the power.

Theocracy

A form of state where religious leaders rule and authority is considered directly granted by God.

Primary Sector

The economic sector that extracts raw materials and food directly from nature (e.g., agriculture, fishing, mining).

Secondary Sector

The economic sector that processes raw materials into physical goods (industry and manufacturing).

Tertiary Sector

The economic sector that provides services (e.g., education, healthcare, retail, police).

Law of Supply and Demand

Market mechanism where price increases when demand exceeds supply, and decreases when supply exceeds demand.

Protectionism

Economic policy shielding a country's domestic market from foreign competition through measures like import taxes.

Estate Society (Standenmaatschappij)

A social structure (500–1789) divided into three fixed estates (clergy, nobility, third estate) with inequality based on birth.

Historical Method

The five-step procedure used by historians: 1. Ask question, 2. Collect sources, 3. Analyze sources, 4. Compare sources, 5. Answer question.

Propaganda

Communication designed to convince large groups of people of a specific idea or ideology.

Eurocentrism

The perspective of placing Western culture at the center of world history and evaluating other cultures against it.

Incidental Cause (Aanleiding)

The direct trigger or short-term event that immediately causes an event to happen.

Structural Cause

Deeper underlying factors (economic, political, social) operating over the medium or long term to produce an event.