Industrial Revolution Key Figures and Concepts

A comprehensive set of flashcards covering key figures, events, concepts, and vocabulary from the Industrial Revolution.

James Watt

Improved the steam engine, making industrial mechanization efficient and widespread.

Edmund Cartwright

Invented the power loom, mechanizing textile production.

Charles Dickens

Novelist who exposed social injustices of industrial Britain.

Charlotte Brontë

Author whose works reflected women’s limited roles and emotional lives.

George Sand

Female French writer advocating social reform and women’s independence.

James Hargreaves

Invented the spinning jenny, increasing yarn production.

Queen Victoria

British monarch symbolizing industrial prosperity and domestic values.

Prince Albert

Promoted science, industry, and the Great Exhibition (Crystal Palace).

Rudyard Kipling

Imperialist writer; author of “White Man’s Burden.”

Frédéric Chopin

Romantic composer emphasizing emotion and nationalism.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Romantic Russian composer emphasizing emotion and nationalism.

Thomas Malthus

Claimed population grows faster than food supply, leading to poverty.

Klemens von Metternich

Conservative leader who opposed liberalism and nationalism.

Daniel O’Connell

Irish nationalist who fought for Catholic emancipation.

Jeremy Bentham

Founder of utilitarianism (“greatest good for greatest number”).

John Stuart Mill

Liberal thinker advocating individual liberty and women’s rights.

Louis-Philippe

“Bourgeois king” after 1830 July Revolution.

Lajos Kossuth

Hungarian nationalist leader in 1848 revolutions.

Alexander Herzen

Russian socialist who criticized autocracy and serfdom.

Robert Owen

Utopian socialist who improved factory conditions.

Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels

Authors of Communist Manifesto; founders of scientific socialism.

Friedrich Ludwig Jahn

German nationalist promoting unity through culture and physical fitness.

Giuseppe Mazzini

Italian nationalist advocating republicanism and unity.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Italian nationalist military leader for unification.

Friedrich Wilhelm IV

Prussian king who rejected liberal constitution in 1848.

Franz Joseph

Austrian emperor who crushed nationalist revolts.

Nicholas I

Conservative tsar who suppressed revolutions and dissent.

David Ricardo

Economist advocating free trade and comparative advantage.

George Stephenson

Built the steam locomotive (Rocket).

Claude Henri de Saint-Simon

Early socialist advocating industrial planning.

Ferdinand VII

Reactionary Spanish king opposing liberal reforms.

Konstantin Romanov

Russian leader linked to Decembrist Revolt.

Leopold of Saxe-Coburg

First king of independent Belgium.

Robert Peel

British PM; repealed Corn Laws and founded police ("Bobbies").

Alexander Ypsilanti

Leader in Greek War of Independence.

Louis Blanc & Alexandre Martin

French socialists advocating national workshops.

Sophie of Bavaria

Influential Austrian conservative figure.

Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte

Elected president, later Emperor Napoleon III.

Ideology

A system of political or social beliefs.

Industrial Revolution

Shift from agrarian to industrial economy using machines and factories.

Luddites

Workers who destroyed machines to protest job loss.

Factory Act of 1833

Limited child labor and factory hours in Britain.

Mines Act

Banned women and children from working underground.

Sphere of Domesticity

Ideology placing women in the home.

Central Short Time Committee

British labor group pushing for shorter workdays.

Imperialism

Expansion of control over foreign territories.

White Man’s Burden

Belief Europeans must civilize others.

Opium War

Conflict between Britain and China over trade.

Treaty of Nanking

Ended Opium War; opened Chinese ports.

Zollverein

German customs union promoting economic unity.

Slavophiles

Russians favoring traditional culture over Westernization.

Nationalism

Loyalty to a shared culture or nation.

Liberalism

Supports individual rights, free markets, and constitutions.

Socialism/Communism

Advocates collective ownership and class equality.

The Economist

British journal promoting free trade.

Unionizing

Workers organizing for better wages and conditions.

Communist Manifesto

Marxist call for proletarian revolution.

Chartists

British movement demanding political reforms.

July Revolution

1830 French revolt replacing Bourbon monarchy.

Red Republic

Radical socialist faction in France (1848).

June Days

Violent worker uprising in France (1848).

Concert of Europe

System maintaining balance of power.

Greek War of Independence

Greek revolt against Ottoman rule.

Treaty of Adrianople

Granted Greek autonomy.

Decembrists

Russian officers who attempted liberal revolt.

Romanticism

Emphasized emotion, nature, and nationalism.

Reform Bill of 1832

Expanded voting rights in Britain.

Carbonari

Italian secret nationalist society.

Trade Unions (BR)

Organized labor groups.

Utilitarianism

Policy should benefit the majority.

The Rocket

Stephenson's steam locomotive.

Moral degradation

Belief industrial cities caused social decay.

Working Class

Wage-earning industrial laborers.

Bobbies

British police force.

Corn Laws

Tariffs protecting British grain producers.

Peterloo Massacre

1819 attack on reform protestors.

1848 Causes

Economic hardship, nationalism, liberal demands.

Workshops

Government-funded jobs for unemployed (France).

Karlsbad Decrees

Suppressed liberalism in German states.

Hungary Question

Nationalist demands within Austrian Empire.

Crystal Palace

Glass structure for Great Exhibition (1851).