Belle Epoch
- French term meaning “Beautiful Age;” it refers to the decades leading
up to World War I when Europe was at its peak of power.
balance-of-power
- The European diplomatic goal of preventing any single nation from
dominating the entire continent. Britain was especially dedicated to it.
Crimean War (1853 – 1856)
- This was the first major war fought between European nations since
the Napoleonic Wars. Russia faced an alliance of the Ottoman
Empire, Britain, and France. Russia was defeated.
Balkan Peninsula
- The large geographic region of southeastern Europe that includes
Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Bosnia, and other
nations.
“the sick man of Europe”
- Nickname of the Ottoman Empire in the 1800’s and early 1900’s as it
slowly declined as an European power.
Bosporus and Dardanelles
- The two strategic straits that connect the Mediterranean and Black
Seas. Turkey has controlled the straits for centuries. Russia has long
coveted the waterways.
Florence Nightingale
- A British nurse who led a successful public campaign to force the
military and government to allow female nurses to work at the front
during the Crimean War. She is credited with professionalizing
nursing.
nationalism
- An emotional political philosophy that glorifies the nation as the most
fundamental human bond that unites the people of a specific
background to the land where they live.
“The sun never sets on the British Empire”
- This is a famous description of the British Empire in the late-19 th
century when it spanned the globe and encompassed hundreds of
millions of people.
Splendid Isolation
- Term for the foreign policy of Britain following the Crimean War. The
British focused on building and strengthening their Empire and limited
their interactions with other European nations.
Great Reform Bill of 1867
- Law passed by Parliament that extended voting rights to urban
working-class men in Britain. It reflected the growing influence of the
working-class.
Franchise Act of 1884
- Law passed by Parliament that extended voting rights to rural laborers
(peasants) in Britain. This basically enfranchised the entire adult male
population.
universal manhood suffrage
- Political term that means that all adult men have the right to vote.
Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU)
- The organization that led the fight for voting rights for British women.
Emmaline Pankhurst
- She was the leading figure in the struggle for voting rights for British
women. Her daughters helped her in the fight. She led the WSPU.
Second French Empire (1852 – 1870)
- Term for the government of Emperor Napoleon III of France. It was a
dynamic period in French history. The Second Empire ended in
France’s military defeat in the Franco – Prussian War in 1870.
plebiscite
- A direct vote by the common people on a significant issue in which the
choice is between “yes” and “no.”
Emperor Napoleon III
- He was a nephew of Napoleon who became the ruler of France, first
as the President of the Second Republic and later as Emperor.
Suez Canal
- One of the great engineering feats of the 19 th century, it links the
Mediterranean and Red Seas. It was built in the 1860’s by French
engineers and financed by British loans.
Piedmont – Sardinia
- The most important of the various Italian states in the 19 th century, it
led the struggle to unify the peninsula into a single nation.
Franco-Prussian War (1870 – 1871)
- The conflict that led to the unification of the modern German nation. It
was carefully orchestrated by Chancellor Bismarck of Prussia as an
opportunity to unite all Germans against the Second French Empire.
France was decisively defeated.
Third French Republic (1870 – 1940)
- It was set up following France’s humiliating defeat in the Franco-
Prussian War and lasted until France’s humiliating defeat in World War
II. It was a period of dynamic culture, but bitterly divided politics.
Paris Commune
- Name of a radical group that seized control of the city government of
Paris during the German siege of the city in the final months of the
Franco-Prussian War. They were brutally crushed by the French Army
in 1871.
Dreyfus Affair
- The biggest political crisis of the Third Republic, it centered on a
French Jewish Army office, Alfred Dreyfus, accused of spying for the
hated Germans. It tore the nation apart politically.
anti-Semitism
- The hatred of the Jewish religion and people.
Theodor Herzl
- An Austrian Jewish journalist who was so shocked at the violent anti-
Semitism of the Dreyfus Affair that he began to advocate for the
creation of an independent Jewish nation.
zionism
- The political and cultural movement that pushed for the creation of the
state of Israel.
Emancipation Edict of 1861
- Historic proclamation issued by Tsar Alexander II of Russia ending
centuries of serfdom in that nation. 50,000,000 serfs were changed in
status to free peasantry.
anarchy
- A radical political movement that advocates the destruction of all forms
of government. It has taken on the meaning of chaos and disorder.
Trans-Siberian Railroad
- A major accomplishment of Russian engineering, it stretches 7,000
miles across Siberia all the way the Russia’s Pacific coast.
Austria-Hungary (aka: Dual Monarchy)
- A vast state in central Europe that was formed when the Austrians
granted equal rights to the Hungarian minority in the old Austria
Empire.
Ausgleich
- The German term for the 1867 decision by the Austrian government to
elevate the Hungarians to equal status within the Empire. It was done
in hopes of saving the Empire from ethnic disintegration.
Count Cavour
- The Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia who led the struggle to
complete the unification of various Italian states into a single kingdom.
defensive alliance
- A military alliance where each partner is pledged to defend every other
member should any bbe attacked by another nation.
Giuseppe Garibaldi
- Italian nationalist leader who had worked closely with Giuseppe
Mazzini in 1848. During the struggle to unify Italy in 1860, he led the
Red Shirts in liberating southern Italy.
Red Shirts
- An Italian nationalist group formed by Garibaldi. The Red Shirts seized
Sicily and the southern regions of the Italian peninsula and later turned
the area over to the new Kingdom of Italy.
Chancellor Otto von Bismarck
- The political leader of Prussia and later, the new German Empire. He
spent years carefully planning the unification of Germany under
Prussia’s dominance. He steered the new nation for 20 years.
Ems Dispatch
- A famous telegram sent from Kaiser Wilhelm I of Prussia to Chancellor
Bismarck. It described a friendly meeting between the Kaiser and the
French ambassador. Bismarck changed the wording to provoke a war
with France.
Alsace – Lorraine
- An historic region laying between France and Germany. The
population is ethnically German, but had been under