age of revolution
Period of politcal upheaval beginning roughly with the American Revolution in 1775 and continuing through the French Revolution of 1789 and other movements for change up to 1848
population revolution
Huge growth in population in Western Europe beginning about 1730; prelude to Industrial Revolution; population of France increased 50 percent, England and Prussia 100 percent.
proto-industrialization
Preliminary shift away from agricultural economy in Europe; workers become full- or part-time producers of textile and metal products, working at home but in a capitalist system in which materials, work orders, and ultimate sales depended on urban merchants; prelude to Industrial Revolution.
American Revolution
Rebellion of English American colonies along Atlantic seaboard between 1775 and 1783; resulted in independence for former British colonies and eventual formation of United States of America
French Revolution
Revolution in France between 1789 and 1800; resulted in overthrow of Bourbon monarchy and old regimes; ended with establishment of French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte; source of many liberal movements and constitutions in Europe
Louis XVI
Bourbon ruler of France who was executed during the radical phase of the French Revolution.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
Adopted during the liberal phase of the French Revolution (1789); stated the fundamental equality of all French citizens; later became a political source for other liberal movements.
guillotine
Introduced as a method of humane execution; utilized to execute thousands during the most radical phase of the French Revolution known as the Reign of Terror.
nationalism
Political viewpoint with origins in Western Europe; often allied with other "isms"; urged importance of national unity; valued a collective identity based on culture, race, or ethnic origin.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Rose within the French army during the wars of the French Revolution; eventually became general; led a coup that ended the French Revolution; established French Empire under his rule; defeated and deposed in 1815 at Waterloo.
Congress of Vienna
Meeting in the aftermath of Napoleonic Wars (1815) to restore political stability in Europe and settle diplomatic disputes.
conservative
Political viewpoint with origins in western Europe during the 19th century; opposed revolutionary goals; advocated restoration of monarchy and defense of church.
liberal
Political viewpoint with origins in western Europe during the 19th century; stressed limited state interference in individual life, representation of propertied people in government; urged importance of constitutional rule and parliaments.
radical
Political viewpoint with origins in western Europe during the 19th century; advocated broader voting rights than liberals; in some cases advocated outright democracy; urged reforms in favor of lower classes.
Greek Revolution
Rebellion in Greece against the Ottoman Empire in 1820; key step in gradually dismantling the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans.
Reform Bill of 1832
Legislation passed in Great Britain that extended the vote to most members of the middle class; failed to produce democracy in Britain.
Chartist movement
Attempt by artisans and workers in Britain to gain the vote during the 1840s; demands for reform beyond the Reform Act of 1832 were incorporated into a series of petitions; movement failed.
Louis Pasteur
French scientist who discovered the relationship between germs and disease in 19th century, leading to better sanitation.
American Civil War
Fought from 1861 to 1865; first application of Industrial Revolution to warfare; resulted in abolition of slavery in the United States and reunification of North and South.
trasformismo
Political system in late 19th-century Italy that promoted alliance of conservatives and liberals; parliamentary deputies of all parties supported the status quo.
socialism
Political movement with origins in Western Europe during the 19th century; urged an attack on private property in the name of equality; wanted state control of means of production, end to capitalist exploitation of the working man.
Karl Marx
German socialist of the mid-19th century; blasted earlier socialist movements as utopian; saw history as defined by class struggle between groups out of power and those controlling the means of production; preached necessity of social revolution to create proletarian dictatorship.
revisionism
Socialist movements that at least tacitly disavowed Marxist revolutionary doctrine; believed social success could be achieved gradually through political institutions.
feminist movements
Sought various legal and economic gains for women, including equal access to professions and higher education; came to concentrate on right to vote; won support particularly from middle-class women; active in Western Europe at the end of the 19th century; revived in light of other issues in the 1960s.
leisure culture
An aspect of the later Industrial Revolution; based on newspapers, music halls, popular theater, vacation trips, and team sports.
Charles Darwin
Biologist who developed theory of evolution of species (1859); argued that all living species evolved into their present form through the ability to adapt in a struggle for survival.
Albert Einstein
Developed mathematical theories to explain the behavior of planetary motion and the movement of electrical particles; after 1900 issued theory of relativity.
Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939) Viennese physician; developed theories of the workings of the human subconscious; argued that behavior is determined by impulses.
romanticism
Artistic and literary movement of the 19th century in Europe; held that emotion and impression, not reason, were the keys to the mysteries of human experience and nature; sought to portray passions, not calm reflection.
Triple Alliance
Alliance among Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy at the end of the 19th century; part of European alliance system and balance of power prior to World War I.
Triple Entente
An alliance between Great Britain, France and Russia at the outset of the 20th century; part of European alliance system and balance of power prior to World War I.
Balkan nationalism
Movements to create independent nations within the Balkan possessions of the Ottoman Empire; provoked a series of crises within the European alliance system; eventually led to World War I.
French Revolution of 1830
Second rebellion against Bourbon monarchy; essentially a liberal movement resulting in the creation of a bourgeois government under a moderate monarchy.
Belgian Revolution of 1830
Produced Belgian independence from the Dutch; established a liberal constitutional monarchy.
Steam Engine
A machine that turns the energy released by burning fuel into motion. Thomas Newcomen built the first crude but workable steam engine in 1712. James Watt vastly improved his device in the 1760s and 1770s. Steam power was then applied to machinery.
Factory system
A system of manufacturing in which all the materials, machinery, and workers required to manufacture a product are assembled in one place.
Luddites
Any of a group of British workers who between 1811 and 1816 rioted and destroyed laborsaving textile machinery in the belief that such machinery would diminish employment.
French Revolution of 1848
Overthrew the monarchy established in 1830; briefly established a democratic republic; failure of the republic led to the reestablishment of the French Empire under Napoleon III in 1850.
Revolutions of 1848
Democratic and nationalist revolutions that swept across Europe. The monarchy in France was overthrown. In Germany, Austria, Italy, and Hungary the revolutions failed.
Benjamin Disraeli
A British politician who extended the vote to the rich middle class in order to broaden the political base of the conservative party.
Count Camilo di Cavour
(August 10, 1810 - June 6, 1861) was a leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification.
Otto von Bismarck
Chancellor of Prussia from 1862 until 1871, when he became chancellor of Germany. A conservative nationalist, he led Prussia to victory against Austria (1866) and France (1870) and was responsible for the creation of the German Empire.
Industrial Revolution
Began about 1760 in England and later in other countries, characterized chiefly by the replacement of hand tools with power-driven machines, as the power loom and the steam engine, and by the concentration of industry in large establishments.
Imperialism
the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies.