The study of how history is written and interpreted.
Thirty Years War
A major European conflict fought from 1618 to 1648 with religious, political, and territorial motives.
Renaissance
A period in European history, from the 14th to the 17th century, characterized by a revival of interest in classical art and literature.
Jesuits
A Roman Catholic order of religious men founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola.
Reformation
A 16th-century movement for religious reform, leading to the establishment of Protestant churches.
Christopher Columbus
An Italian explorer who completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean.
Humanism
A Renaissance cultural movement that turned away from medieval scholasticism and revived interest in ancient Greek and Roman thought.
Henry VIII
King of England from 1509 until his death in 1547; known for his role in the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church.
Indulgences
In the Roman Catholic Church, these were certificates that reduced the amount of punishment one would suffer for sins.
Michelangelo
An Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance.
Medici
An Italian banking family, political dynasty and later royal house that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century.
The Honor Code
A set of rules or ethical principles governing behavior.
Counter-Reformation
The reaction of the Roman Catholic Church to the Reformation reaffirming the doctrines and authority of the Church.
John Locke
An English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers.
Leonardo da Vinci
An Italian Renaissance polymath whose areas of interest included invention, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, and cartography.
Louis XIV
King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715; he is known as the "Sun King".
Johann Gutenberg
A German goldsmith, printer, and publisher who introduced printing to Europe with his mechanical movable-type printing press.
Peter the Great
Czar of Russia who reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V and alone until his death in 1725.
Machiavelli
An Italian diplomat, philosopher, and writer, best known for his political treatise The Prince, written in 1513.
Martin Luther
A German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk, and seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation.
Key Topics Covered
Early modern Europe.
The honor code.
The High Renaissance.
The Reformation and the Counter-Reformation.
Causes and events.
The Age of Absolutism.
The Revolution in thought and science.
Rise of colonial empires.
Causes, events & consequences.
Enlightenment
A European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition.
Estates General
A general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), nobles (Second Estate), and common people (Third Estate).
Treaty of Paris
The treaty signed in Paris by King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on September 3, 1783, which officially ended the American Revolutionary War.
Tennis Court Oath
A pivotal event during the first days of the French Revolution; the Oath was a pledge signed by members of the Third Estate who had been locked out of a meeting of the Estates-General.
Seven Year’s War
A global conflict fought between 1756 and 1763.
Salons
Informal social gatherings at which writers, artists, philosophes, and others exchanged ideas.
Abolitionist Movement
An international movement that sought to end slavery and the slave trade.
Bastille
A fortress in Paris, used as a prison, that was stormed on July 14, 1789, marking the start of the French Revolution.
Marie Antoinette
The last queen of France before the French Revolution.
Reign of Terror
A period of the French Revolution (1793-94) characterized by extreme violence and mass executions of enemies of the revolution.
Louis XVI
King of France during the French Revolution; he was executed in 1793.
Adam Smith
A Scottish economist and philosopher who is considered the father of modern economics. He wrote The Wealth of Nations.
Mirabeau
A leader of the early stages of the French Revolution.
Robespierre
One of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution; he was a lawyer and politician.
Napoleon Bonaparte
A French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars.
Risorgimento
The 19th-century movement for Italian unification.
Jacobins
Members of a revolutionary political movement that was the most radical faction of the French Revolution.
Key Topics Covered
What are Enlightenment ideas and who are the individuals that put them forth?
Early explorers and colonialism.
Causes and events of the French Revolution.
Age of Napoleon.
Background and events of his life.
Code Napoleon.
Florence Nightingale
The founder of modern nursing.
Bismarck
A conservative Prussian statesman who dominated German and European affairs from the 1860s until 1890.
Czar Alexander II
The Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Prince of Finland from 2 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881.
Russo-Japanese War
A war fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea.
Karl Marx
A German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary.
Nationalism
A political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a nation.
Albert Einstein
A German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity.
Imperialism
A policy of extending a country's power and influence through colonization, use of military force, or other means.
Lenin
A Russian communist revolutionary, politician, and political theorist.
Communism
A political and economic ideology that advocates a classless society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.
Steam Democracy
A political system that attempts to harness the power of steam technology to improve the democratic process (Hypothetical).
Charles Darwin
An English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution.
Dreyfus Affair
A political scandal that divided France in the late 19th century, involving the wrongful conviction of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army.
Key Topics Covered
The Industrial Revolution
Causes, effects, and consequences.
The rise of the Nation-State (Italy and Germany).
Key people and events of the Boer War.
Legacy of Imperialism
Scramble for Africa
War and resistance.
Romanov family and the Russian revolution.
Dreadnought
A type of battleship introduced in the early 20th century; it was larger and more heavily armed than its predecessors.
Propaganda
Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view.
Triple Entente
The alliance between Great Britain, France, and Russia prior to World War I.
Schlieffen Plan
Germany's plan for invading France and Belgium at the beginning of World War I.
Brownshirts
The original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party.
Holocaust
The systematic genocide of Jews and other minority groups by the Nazi regime during World War II.
Triple Alliance
The alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy prior to World War I.
Treaty of Versailles
The treaty that officially ended World War I.
Fascism
A political ideology that emphasizes the importance of the nation or race and that the state has ultimate authority.
Winston Churchill
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II.
Final Solution
The Nazi plan to exterminate the Jewish people during World War II.
Eisenhower
A five-star general in the United States Army and Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe during World War II. He later served as the 34th President of the United States.
Stalin
The dictator of the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953.
Mussolini
An Italian political leader who led the National Fascist Party and was the dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943.
Hitler
The dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.
Nuremberg Tribunal
A series of military tribunals held by the Allied forces after World War II which prosecuted prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany.
Key Topics Covered
Causes of WW1&2
Key events of WW1 & WW2
The Russian revolution
The Rise of fascism
Germany
Italy
Cold War
The geopolitical struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies during the second half of the 20th century.
Fidel Castro
A Cuban communist revolutionary and politician who governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008.
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A military alliance formed in 1949 by countries in North America and Europe for purposes of collective security.
Marshall Plan
A U.S. program providing aid to Western Europe following the devastation of World War II.
John F. Kennedy
The 35th President of the United States.
Super Power
A state with a dominant position in international relations.
U.N. Peacekeepers
Military personnel deployed by the United Nations to help maintain peace and security in conflict zones.
Warsaw Pact
A military alliance formed in 1955 by the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries.
Iron Curtain
The ideological and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II until the end of the Cold War.
United Nations
An international organization founded in 1945 committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.