1) Explain the role of the following historical individuals in European Society

• Klemens von Metternich

  • Austrian chancellor restored the balance of power and attempted to prevent the rise of one state and therefore revolutionary movements

• Count Camillo Cavour

  • The first prime minister of a unified Italy, the forefront of Italian reunification through the pursuit of strategic alliances

• Otto von Bismarck

  • Prime minister of Prussia, 1st chancellor of unified Germany

  • unified Germany through realpolitik, and his complex alliance system

• Karl Marx

  • Revolutionary socialism

  • theories of capitalism, class struggle, and socialism

  • Wrote the “Communist Manifesto”

• Giuseppe Garibaldi

  • Italian nationalist and general

  • military leader in Italian reunification

• Napoleon III

  • president of second republic, emperor of France

  • Expanded France but was captured during Franco-Prussian war

• Queen Victoria

  • Queen of Great Britain and India

  • “Victorian Era” —> changes in UK, expansion of Britain

  • symbol of British imperial pride and moral standards

• King Leopold II

  • King of Belgians

  • exploitation of the Congo as a ‘person possession’

• Mikhail Gorbachev

  • general secretary of communist party

  • policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) led to downfall of Soviet Union and end of the Cold War

2) Explain the role of the following movements in European history.

• utilitarianism

  • advocates for actions that maximize the happiness of the majority

  • led to workers rights, legal reforms, voting rights, etc.

• utopian socialism

  • envisioned societies based on cooperative living and abolishment of private party

  • highlighted problems of industrial capitalism

• mercantilism

  • positive balance of trade, colonial expansion, state intervention in the economy

  • navigation acts

• skepticism

  • challenged certainty of knowledge and existence of innate ideas

  • promoted empirical inquiry and critical thinking

• liberalism

  • championed individual freedoms, representative democracy, and free markets

    • John Locke

    • Adam Smith

  • expanded civil rights and constitutional governments

• nationalism

  • people sharing a common language, culture, and history should form a sovereign state

  • fueled movements for independence and unification

• anarchism

  • stateless society, no government of hierarchical structures

  • Spanish Civil War

• conservatism

  • tradition, social order, gradual change

  • reaction to French Revolution

• neoclassicism

  • return to classical ways of art

  • simplicity, symmetry, rationality

• romanticism

  • emotion, nature, individualism

  • reaction to enlightenment

• realism

  • depicted everyday life with accuracy and without idealization

  • reaction to romanticism

• positivism

  • emphasized empirical evidence and scientific knowledge are only valid sources of information
    scientific outlook on society and progress

• Risorgimento

  • movement for Italian reunification

• Realpolitik

  • practical and pragmatic approach to politics

  • focused on power and national interest instead of ideology or ethics

• kulturkampf

  • conflict between German state and Catholic Church

  • restrictive laws on religious practices and education

• politique

  • prioritized political stability and state interests over religious and ideological considerations

• natural selection

  • species with more advantageous traits will be more likely to reproduce, and evolve the species

• existentialism

  • individual freedom, choice, search for meaning in an absurd universe

  • post WWII Europe

• Zionism

  • sought to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine in response to persecution in Europe

  • led to establishment of Israel

3) Explain the role played by the following places in European history since 1850.

• the Iberian Peninsula (Spain+Portugal)

  • Spanish Civil War, Portuguese revolution of 1910

• The Balkan peninsula

  • independence of Greece, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria

  • triggered WWI

  • working on joining EU

• The Rhineland

  • buffer zone after WWI

  • Remilitarization led up to WWII

  • Became a part of West Germany

• Poland

  • originally partitioned between Russia, Prussia, and Austria

  • gained independence after WWI

  • reinvaded by Nazi Germany —> Holocaust

• Czechoslovakia

  • Prague Spring —> attempt to liberalize the communist regime

  • split into Slovakia and Czech Republic

• The Crimean Peninsula

  • tensions between Ukraine and Russia

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

• What happened at the Congress of Vienna? What was meant by the phrase “the Concert of Europe”?

  • effort by European powers to set long-lasting peace by balancing powers

  • This led to policies until the outbreak of WWI

• What were the major results of industrialization in Europe

  • urbanization

  • emergence of the new working class

  • prompted labor movements, and the environmental challenges

• How did the decline and eventual fall of the Ottoman Empire impact European history between 1815 and 1914?

  • rise of nationalism in the Balkans, and eventually independence

  • tensions here led to WWI

• What were the differences between “Old” imperialism (1450-1750) and “new” imperialism (1870-1914)?

  • Old

    • Trade routes and colonies in America

  • New

    • Asia and Africa colonization

    • nationalist ideologies

    • formal colonization

• What were the main characteristics of marriage and family in the second half of the 19th century?

  • men were breadwinners

  • women were the ‘homemakers’

  • not about love

  • Large families with lots of children

• What do historians mean by the term “total war”? How did the Great War (WWI) fit this description?

  • a war that is unrestricted in terms of weapons used, people involved, and laws disregarded

  • mobilization of entire population

• What new technologies did European countries use to try to break the stalemate of WWI?

  • Poison gas

  • Aircraft

  • Gunpowder

• What were the main provisions of the Treaty of Versailles? What was the “War guilt clause”?

  • Territorial losses, military restrictions, war reparations, League of Nations

  • Germany took full legal responsibility for the war

• What were the main causes and effects of the Russian Revolution?

  • social inequality, political repression, military failures

  • collapse of tsarist autocracy, rise of Bolsheviks, civil war, formation of Soviet Union

• What impact did Stalin’s collectivization policy have on the Soviet economy and society?

  • collective farms, industrialization drive, food production decline, loss of livestock

  • peasant resistance and repression, social upheaval, urbanization, more state control

• Describe society’s view of the “New woman” of the 20th century

  • independent + assertive

  • more educated to pursue a career

  • social and political activism

  • fashion

  • threat to tradition values

• When did the Great Depression start? What effects did it have on European politics, economy, and society?

  • mass unemployment, bank failures, trade decline, deflation

  • rise of extremism, political instability, authoritarianism

  • Social unrest, migration/displacement, human suffering

• What were the main features of totalitarianism in the 20th century?

  • Single party dictatorship

  • State control of society

  • cult of personality

  • secret police

  • militarization

  • mass propaganda

• What was appeasement? How was it viewed after WWII began?

  • meant to accede to aggressors to avoid conflict

  • viewed negatively, hence collective security began

• What was D-Day?

  • allied invasion of Normandy, France

  • second-largest seaborne invasion

  • pivotal turning point in the war

• What was the main goal of the Truman Doctrine?

  • contain spread of communism

• Why did the Allies hold war crimes trials at Nuremberg after WWII?

  • provide justice for war crimes

  • held in Nuremberg in representation of Nuremberg laws that striped Jews of their rights

• What was the Nazi-Soviet Pact? How did this affect Poland in September 1939?

  • non-aggression treaty between Germany and Soviet Union

  • Germany invaded Poland from the west and soviet from the easy

• What was the Berlin Airlift? Was it successful?

  • massive humanitarian project to provide people of West Berlin with food and living supplies

  • Yes, it was successful

• Where were the main “hot spots” during the Cold War?

  • Berlin

  • North/South Korea

  • Cuba

  • Japan

  • Vietnam

• What were the major goals of the feminist movement of the 1960s and 70s?

  • legal equality and representation

  • reproductive rights

  • workplace equality

  • intersectionality issues

• What were the ways Europe became more integrated in the period 1945 to the present?

  • service sectors

  • flexible work

  • urbanization

  • more education on more skills

  • non-standard employment

• What new working class has emerged in continental Europe since the 1980s?

  • Immigrants

Historical Individuals in European Society

• Klemens von Metternich: Austrian chancellor who restored balance of power and opposed revolutionary movements.

• Count Camillo Cavour: First prime minister of unified Italy, key figure in Italian reunification.

• Otto von Bismarck: Prime minister of Prussia and first chancellor of unified Germany, known for realpolitik.

• Karl Marx: Revolutionary socialist, author of the "Communist Manifesto."

• Giuseppe Garibaldi: Italian nationalist and military leader in Italian reunification.

• Napoleon III: President of the Second French Republic and Emperor of France.

• Queen Victoria: Symbol of British imperial pride during the Victorian Era.

• King Leopold II: King of Belgians known for exploiting the Congo.

• Mikhail Gorbachev: Soviet leader whose policies led to the downfall of the Soviet Union.

Movements in European History

• Utilitarianism: Maximizing happiness of the majority, leading to reforms.

• Utopian Socialism: Advocating cooperative living and criticizing industrial capitalism.

• Mercantilism: State intervention in the economy for positive balance of trade.

• Skepticism: Challenging certainty of knowledge and promoting critical thinking.

• Liberalism: Championing individual freedoms, democracy, and free markets.

• Nationalism: Advocating sovereign states based on shared culture.

• Anarchism: Advocating for a stateless society.

• Realpolitik: Practical approach to politics focusing on national interest.

• Existentialism: Emphasizing individual freedom and search for meaning.

Places in European History since 1850

• Iberian Peninsula: Witnessed the Spanish Civil War and Portuguese revolution.

• Balkan Peninsula: Independence movements and tensions leading to WWI.

• Rhineland: Buffer zone post-WWI, remilitarization pre-WWII.

• Poland: Partitioned and invaded, leading to independence and WWII.

• Czechoslovakia: Split into Slovakia and Czech Republic after Prague Spring.

• Crimean Peninsula: Tensions between Ukraine and Russia.