Unit 5 Vocab - Honors World History

Kaiser

A German emperor

Heliocentric theory

The idea that the earth and other planets revolve around the sun

Geocentric theory

In the Middle Ages, the belief that the earth was an immovable object located at the center of the universe

Westernization

The adoption of the social, political, or economic institutions of Western (especially European or American) countries

Coup d’état

The sudden overthrow of a government by a small group

Absolute monarch

A king or queen who has unlimited power and seeks to control all aspects of society

Divine right

The idea that monarchs are God’s representatives on earth and are answerable only to God

Czar

A Russian emperor (from the Roman title Caesar)

Constitutional monarchy

A system of government in which the ruler’s power is limited by law

Scientific Revolution

A major change in European thought beginning in the mid-1500s, when the study of the natural world began to be based on careful observation and questioning of accepted beliefs

Scientific method

A logical procedure for gathering information about the natural world, in which experimentation and observation are used to test hypotheses

Enlightenment

An 18th-century European movement in which thinkers tried to apply the principles of reason and the scientific method to all aspects of society

Social contract

The agreement by which people define and limit their individual rights, creating an organized society or government

Congress of Vienna

A series of meetings (1814–1815) where European leaders sought to establish long-lasting peace and stability after the defeat of Napoleon

Nationalism

The belief that people should be loyal mainly to their nation, sharing a common culture and history, rather than to a ruler or empire

Declaration of the Rights of Man

A statement passed by France’s National Assembly in 1791 that declared all citizens equal and guaranteed basic rights

Estate

One of the three social classes in France during the 1700s: clergy, nobility, and commoners (Third Estate)

Estates-General

An assembly of representatives from all three estates in France

National Assembly

A French governing body formed by the Third Estate in 1789 to pass laws and reforms for the people

Nation-state

A group of people with a common culture and identity who have their own government

Napoleonic Code

A comprehensive and uniform system of laws established in France by Napoleon

Continental System

Napoleon’s policy of preventing trade between Great Britain and continental Europe to weaken Britain’s economy

Balance of power

A political situation in which no one nation is strong enough to dominate others

Peninsulares

In Spanish colonial society, colonists who were born in Spain

Creole (criollo)

In Spanish colonial society, a person born in Latin America to Spanish parents