AP World Unit 5 Vocab

National Assembly

French Revolutionary assembly (1789-1791). Called first as the Estates General, the three estates came together and demanded radical change. It passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789.

Social Darwinism

The application of ideas about evolution and "survival of the fittest" to human societies - particularly as a justification for their imperialist expansion.

mechanization

The application of machinery to manufacturing and other activities. Among the first processes to undergo this were the spinning of cotton thread and the weaving of cloth in late-18th-and-early-19th-century England.

Sepoy Rebellion

An 1857 rebellion of Hindu and Muslim soldiers against the British in India.

Young Turks

Reform-minded Ottomans who took control of the Ottoman Empire in 1908.

Cecil Rhodes

Born in 1853, played a major political and economic role in colonial South Africa. He was a British financier, statesman, and empire builder with a philosophy of imperialism.

Tazimat Reforms

Series of reforms in the Ottoman Empire between 1839 and 1857: established Western-style universities, state postal system, railways, extensive legal reforms, and a new constitution in 1876.

Muslim League

An organization formed in 1906 to protect the interests of India's Muslims, which later proposed that India be divided into separate Muslim and Hindu nations.

Muhammad Ali

Albanian soldier in the service of Turkey who was made viceroy of Egypt and took control away from the Ottoman Empire and established Egypt as a modern state.

Sphere of Influence

A foreign region in which a nation has control over trade and other economic activities.

Proletariat

The working class. Predicted by Marx to rise up and overthrow the capitalist owners.

Suez Canal

A human-made waterway, which was opened in 1869, connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Route for British from Egypt.

Meiji Restoration

The political program that followed the destruction of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1868, in which a collection of young leaders set Japan on the path of centralization, industrialization, and imperialism.

Boxer Rebellion

A rebellion of traditionalist Chinese people who wanted to throw the foreigners out.

steam engine

Driving force of the industrial revolution that was invented by James Watt in the 1760's. Turns the energy released by burning fuel into motion.

Reign of Terror

The period, from mid-1793 to mid-1794, when Robespierre ruled France nearly as a dictator and thousands of political figures and ordinary citizen were executed.

Bourgeoisie

Educated, middle class of France; provided force behind the Revolution.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A French general, political leader, and emperor of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, After the French Revolution he crowned himself emperor in 1804. He conquered much of Europe but lost two-thirds of his army in a disastrous invasion of Russia.

Mercantilism

Economic system where power = wealth, so empires looked for colonies to supply natural resources and buy products, increasing profit.

Taiping Rebellion

Massive Chinese rebellion that devastated much of the country between 1850 and 1864, and threatened to topple the Qing; it was based on the Christian millenarian teachings of Hong Xiuquan.

French Revolution

The revolution that began in 1789, overthrew the absolute monarchy of the Bourbons and the system of aristocratic privileges, and ended with Napoleon's overthrow of the Directory and seizure of power in 1799.

Russification

The process of forcing Russian culture on all ethnic groups in the Russian Empire, had to learn customs of Russians and convert to Russian orthodox.

Scramble for Africa

Sudden wave of conquests in Africa by European powers in the 1880's and 1890's. Britain obtained most of eastern & southern Africa, France most of northwestern Africa. Other countries(Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and Spain) acquired lesser amounts.

Direct Rule

System of colonial government in which the imperialist power controlled all levels of government and appointed its own officials to govern the colony. France used this method of governance in West Africa.

Berlin Conference

Every country who wanted a part of Africa attended, and the continent was divided so no one would get into a conflict over the land.

Industrial Revolution

Change from an agricultural to an industrial society and from home manufacturing to factory production, especially the one that took place in England from about 1750 to about 1850.

Capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership of capital.

Miguel Hidalgo

Mexican priest who led peasants in call for independence and improved conditions.

Nationalism

The focusing of citizen's loyalty on the notion that they are a part of a nation with a unique culture, territory, and destiny; First became a prominent element of political culture in the 19th century.

Opium War

War between Great Britain and China, began as a conflict over the drug trade, ended with the opening of 5 Chinese ports to foreign merchants, and the grant of other commercial and diplomatic privileges.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

Statement of fundamental political rights adopted by the French National Assembly at the beginning of the French Revolution.

Mohandas Gandhi

Leader of Indian National Congress, used non-violent protest to help gain Indian Independence.

Group formed by Hindu nationalist leaders of India in the late 1800's to gain greater democracy and eventual self-rule from Britain.

Communism

A theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.

Sick Man of Europe

Western Europe's unkind nickname for the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a name based on the sultan's inability to prevent Western takeover of many regions and to deal with internal problems.

Karl Marx

German journalist and philosopher, founder of the Marxist branch of socialism. He is known for two books: The Communist Manifesto, and Das Kapital.

Pierre Toussaint L'Ouverture

"The Black Napoleon" and led the revolution in Haiti that defeated the French.

Communist Manifesto

Written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels which urges an uprising by workers to seize control of the factors of production from the upper and middle classes.

Seneca Falls Convention

The first women's rights convention, held in 1848 in upstate New York.

British East India Company

A joint stock company that controlled most of India during the period of imperialism. This company controlled the political, social, and economic life in India for more than 200 years.

Trans-Siberian Railroad

Constructed during the 1870's and 1880's to connect European Russia with the Pacific; increased the Russian role in Asia.

Qing Dynasty

Last imperial dynasty of China (from 1644 to 1912) which was overthrown by revolutionaries; during the Qing dynasty China was ruled by the Manchu.

Haitian Revolution

Toussaint l'Overture led this uprising in 1790. Resulted in the successful overthrow of French colonial rule and set up the first black government in the Western Hemisphere. The US was reluctant to give full support to this republic led by former slaves.

Crimean War

Conflict between the Russian and Ottoman Empires fought primarily in the Crimean peninsula. To prevent Russian expansion, Britain and France sent troops to support the Ottomans.

Simon Bolivar

The most important military leader in the struggle for independence in South America. Born in Venezuela, he led military forces there and in Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

indirect rule

Colonial government in which local rulers are allowed to maintain their positions of authority and status. Great Britain used this method of control in most of their countries.

Russo-Japanese War

A 1904-1905 conflict between Russia and Japan, sparked by the two countries' efforts to dominate Manchuria and Korea.

Wealth of Nations

This is the 18th century book written by Scottish economist Adam Smith in which he spells out the first modern account of free market economies.

White Man's Burden

Idea that many European countries had a duty to spread their religion and culture to those less civilized.