Autocracy
A political theory favoring unlimited authority by a single individual
Cossacks
peasants recruited to migrate to newly seized lands in Russia, particularly in south; combined agriculture with military conquests; spurred additional frontier conquests and settlements.
Dalai Lama
Chief lama and once ruler of Tibet
Jesuits
Also known as the Society of Jesus; founded by Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) as a teaching and missionary order to resist the spread of Protestantism.
Kangxi
Qing emperor (r. 1662-1722). He oversaw the greatest expansion of the Qing Empire.
Maccartney Mission
In 1793, Lord MacCartney, a Scotsman was sent to negotiate a trade agreement with China. He carried 600 gifts for the Emperor, showing the emperor all of the interesting things that England produces. He wanted to stop the outflow of silver. When he arrived at the palace, he was told to kowtow to the emperors empty throne. He refused, and the people of the court dismissed it. When he gave over the gifts, the Chinese just thought that they were being treated as the Middle Kingdom and that this was what they were owed. The emperor wrote a letter politely declining any trade agreement.
Manchus
Federation of Northeast Asian peoples who founded the Qing Empire.
Mikhail Romanov
Russian tsar (r. 1613-1645) A member of the Russian aristocracy, he became tsar after the old line of Muscovite rulers was deposed.
Ming Empire
Empire based in China that Zhu Yuanzhang established after the overthrow of the Yuan Empire. The Ming emperor Yongle sponsored the building of the Forbidden City and the voyages of Zheng He.
Muscovy
Russian principality that emerged gradually during the era of Mongol domination. The Muscovite dynasty ruled without interruption from 1276 to 1598.
Peter the Great
Czar of Russia who introduced ideas from western Europe to reform the government
Qing Empire
Empire established in China by Manchus who overthrew the Ming Empire in 1644. At various times the Qing also controlled Manchuria, Mongolia, Turkestan, and Tibet. The last Qing emperor was overthrown in 1911.
Serfs
A person who lived on and farmed a lords land in feudal times
Siberia
A vast Asian region of Russia
Tokugawa Shogunate
Japanese ruling dynasty that strove to isolate it from foreign influences. shogunate started by Tokugawa Leyasu; 4 class system, warriors, farmers, artisans, merchants; Japan's ports were closed off; wanted to create their own culture; illegal to fight; merchants became rich because domestic trade flourished (because fighting was illegal); had new forms of art - kabuki and geishas
Tsar
A male monarch or emperor (especially of Russia prior to 1917)
Benjamin Franklin
Printer, author, inventor, diplomat, statesman, and Founding Father. One of the few Americans who was highly respected in Europe, primarily due to his discoveries in the field of electricity.
Congress of Vienna
conservative, reactionary meeting, led by Prince Metternich, restore Europe to Prerevolution time
Constitutional Convention
the convention of United States statesmen who drafted the United States Constitution in 1787
Declaration of the Rights of Man
Statement of fundamental political rights adopted by the French National Assembly at the beginning of the French Revolution.
Enlightenment
A movement in the 18th century that advocated the use of reason in the reappraisal of accepted ideas and social institutions
Estates General
The French national assembly summoned in 1789 to remedy the financial crisis and correct abuses of the ancien regime.
Francois Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture
Leader of the Haitian Revolution. He freed the slaves and gained effective independence for Haiti despite military interventions by the British and French.
Gens de Couleur
Free men and women of color in Haiti. They sought greater political rights and later supported the Haitian Revolution.
George Washington
Virginian, patriot, general, and president. Lived at Mount Vernon. Led the Revolutionary Army in the fight for independence. First President of the United States.
Jacobins
Radical republicans during the French Revolution. They were led by Maximilien Robespierre from 1793 to 1794.
Joseph Brant
Mohawk leader who supported the British during the American Revolution.
Maximilien Robespierre
"The incorruptable;" the leader of the bloodiest portion of the French Revolution. He set out to build a republic of virtue.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Overthrew French Directory in 1799 and became emperor of the French in 1804. Failed to defeat Great Britain and abdicated in 1814. Returned to power briefly in 1815 but was defeated and died in exile.
National Assembly
French Revolutionary assembly (1789-1791). Called first as the Estates General, the three estates came together and demanded radical change. It passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789.
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.
Charles Darwin
English natural scientist who formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection (1809-1882)
Empress Dowager Cixi
Empress of China and mother of Emperor Guangxi. She put her son under house arrest, supported antiforeign movements, and resisted reforms of the Chinese government and armed forces.
Karl Marx
Founder of modern communism
Labor Unions
Organizations of workers who, together, put pressure on the employers in an industry to improve working conditions and wages.
Liberalism
An economic theory advocating free competition and a self-regulating market and the gold standard
Nationalism
Love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it
Otto von Bismarck
German statesman under whose leadership Germany was united (1815-1898)
"Separate Spheres"
Middle-class ideal where home life was strictly separated from the workplace and womens roles were separate from mens, with women running the household and men earning money outside it.
Submarine Telegraph Cables
Insulated copper cables laid along the bottom of a sea or ocean for telegraphic communication. The first short cable was laid across the English Channel in 1851; the first successful transatlantic cable was laid in 1866.
Victorian Age
A period in British history during the reign of Queen Victoria in the 19th century
Cecil Rhodes
British colonial financier and statesman in South Africa
Colonialism
Exploitation by a stronger country of weaker one
Henry Morton Stanley
British-American explorer of Africa, famous for his expeditions in search of Dr. David Livingstone. He helped King Leopold II establish the Congo Free State.
Panama Canal
A ship canal 40 miles long across the Isthmus of Panama built by the United States (1904-1914)
"Scramble" for Africa
Sudden wave of conquests in Africa by European powers in the 1880s and 1890s. Britain obtained most of eastern Africa, France most of northwestern Africa. Other countries (Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and Spain) acquired lesser amounts.
Suez Canal
Ship canal dug across the isthmus of Suez in Egypt, designed by Ferdinand de Lesseps. It opened to shipping in 1869 and shortened the sea voyage between Europe and Asia. Its strategic importance led to the British conquest of Egypt in 1882.
Albert Einstein
German physicist who developed the theory of relativity, which states that time, space, and mass are relative to each other and not fixed. (p. 774)
Balfour Declaration
Statement issued by Britain's Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour in 1917 favoring the establishment of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine. (p. 761)
Faisal
Arab prince, leader of the Arab Revolt in World War I. The British made him king of Iraq in 1921, and he reigned under British protection until 1933. (p. 760)
Guomindang
Nationalist political party founded on democratic principles by Sun Yat-sen in 1912. After 1925, the party was headed by Chiang Kai-shek, who turned it into an increasingly authoritarian movement. (p. 769)
League of Nations
International organization founded in 1919 to promote world peace and cooperation but greatly weakened by the refusal of the United States to join. It proved ineffectual in stopping aggression by Italy, Japan, and Germany in the 1930s. (763)
Mandate System
Allocation of former German colonies and Ottoman possessions to the victorious powers after World War I, to be administered under League of Nations supervision. Used especially in reference to the Western European possession of the Middle East after WWI.
Max Planck
German physicist who developed quantum theory and was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1918.
New Economic Policy
Policy proclaimed by Vladimir Lenin in 1924 to encourage the revival of the Soviet economy by allowing small private enterprises. Joseph Stalin ended the N.E.P. in 1928 and replaced it with a series of Five-Year Plans. (See also Lenin, Vladimir.)
Treaty of Versailles
Created by the leaders victorious allies Nations: France, Britain, US, and signed by Germany to help stop WWI. The treaty 1)stripped Germany of all Army, Navy, Airforce. 2) Germany had to repair war damages(33 billion) 3) Germany had to acknowledge guilt for causing WWI 4) Germany could not manufacture any weapons.
Vladimir Lenin
Leader of the Bolshevik (later Communist) Party. He lived in exile in Switzerland until 1917, then returned to Russia to lead the Bolsheviks to victory during the Russian Revolution and the civil war that followed.
Western Front
A line of trenches and fortifications in World War I that stretched without a break from Switzerland to the North Sea. Scene of most of the fighting between Germany, on the one hand, and France and Britain, on the other.
Adolf Hitler
Born in Austria, Hitler became a radical German nationalist during World War I. He led the National Socialist German Workers' Party-the Nazi Party-in the 1920s and became dictator of Germany in 1933. He led Europe into World War II.
Auschwitz
Nazi extermination camp in Poland, the largest center of mass murder during the Holocaust. Close to a million Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and others were killed there.
Benito Mussolini
Fascist dictator of Italy (1922-1943). He led Italy to conquer Ethiopia (1935), joined Germany in the Axis pact (1936), and allied Italy with Germany in World War II. He was overthrown in 1943 when the Allies invaded Italy.
Chiang Kai-shek
General and leader of Nationalist China after 1925. Although he succeeded Sun Yat-sen as head of the Guomindang, he became a military dictator whose major goal was to crush the communist movement led by Mao Zedong.
El Alamein
Town in Egypt, site of the victory by Britain's Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery over German forces led by General Erwin Rommel (the 'Desert Fox') in 1942-1943.
Fascist Party
Italian political party created by Benito Mussolini during World War I. It emphasized aggressive nationalism and was Mussolini's instrument for the creation of a dictatorship in Italy from 1922 to 1943.
Five Year Plan
An economic plan instituted by Joseph Stalin to build industry and increase farm output in the Soviet Union
Hiroshima
City in Japan, the first to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, on August 6, 1945. The bombing hastened the end of World War II.
Holocaust
A methodical plan orchestrated by Hitler to ensure German supremacy. It called for the elimination of Jews, non-conformists, homosexuals, non-Aryans, and mentally and physically disabled.
Joseph Stalin
Russian leader who succeeded Lenin as head of the Communist Party and created a totalitarian state by purging all opposition
Long March
The 6,000-mile (9,600-kilometer) flight of Chinese Communists from southeastern to northwestern China. The Communists, led by Mao Zedong, were pursued by the Chinese army under orders from Chiang Kai-shek.
Mao Zedong
This man became the leader of the Chinese Communist Party and remained its leader until his death. He declared the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and supported the Chinese peasantry throughout his life.
Nazis
German political party joined by Adolf Hitler, emphasizing nationalism, racism, and war. When Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933, the Nazi Party became the only legal party and an instrument of Hitler's absolute rule.
Pearl Harbor
United States military base on Hawaii that was bombed by Japan, bringing the United States into World War II. Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941.
Stalingrad
City in Russia, site of a Red Army victory over the Germany army in 1942-1943. The Battle of Stalingrad was the turning point in the war between Germany and the Soviet Union. Today Volgograd.
Agricultural Revolution (18th Century)
Introduced scientific farming, rotation of crops instead of land laying fallow allowed for an agricultural two-fer: increase in productivity and crop yield as well as allowing for the growing of such plants as turnips and beets (and potatoes from the Americas) that could be used to feed large numbers of animals during the winter.
British raj
The rule over much of South Asia between 1765 and 1947 by the East India Company and then by a British government.
Crimean War
A war fought in the middle of the nineteenth century between Russia on one side and Turkey, Britain, and France on the other. Russia was defeated and the independence of Turkey was guaranteed
Crystal Palace
Building erected in Hyde Park, London, for the Great Exhibition of 1851. Made of iron and glass, like a gigantic greenhouse, it was a symbol of the industrial age.
Division of Labor
Manufacturing technique that breaks down a craft into many simple and repetitive tasks that can be performed by unskilled workers. Pioneered in the pottery works of Josiah Wedgwood and in other eighteenth-century factories, increasing productivity.
Electric Telegraph
A device for rapid, long-distance transmission of information over an electric wire. It was introduced in England and North America in the 1830s and 1840s and replaced telegraph systems that utilized visual signals such as semaphores.
James Watts
Inventor who developed the steam engine in the mid 1700's.
Janissaries
Infantry, originally of slave origin, armed with firearms and constituting the elite of the Ottoman army from the fifteenth century until the corps was abolished in 1826.
Iaissez faire
A policy based on the idea that government should play as small a role as possible in the economy
Mass Production
The manufacture of many identical products by the division of labor into many small repetitive tasks. This method was introduced into the manufacture of pottery by Josiah Wedgwood and into the spinning of cotton thread by Richard Arkwright.
Mechanization
The application of machinery to manufacturing and other activities. Among the first processes to be mechanized were the spinning of cotton thread and the weaving of cloth in late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century England.
Meiji Restoration
The political program that followed the destruction of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1868, in which a collection of young leaders set Japan on the path of centralization, industrialization, and imperialism.
Muhammad Ali
Leader of Egyptian modernization in the early nineteenth century. He ruled Egypt as an Ottoman governor, but had imperial ambitions. His descendants ruled Egypt until overthrown in 1952.
Opium War
War between Britain and the Qing Empire that was, in the British view, occasioned by the Qing government's refusal to permit the importation of opium into its territories. The victorious British imposed the one-sided Treaty of Nanking on China.
Sepoy
An Indian soldier serving under British command.
Sepoy Rebellion
The revolt of Indian soldiers in 1857 against certain practices that violated religious customs; also known as the Sepoy Mutiny.
Simone Bolivar
He led Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela to independence, and helped lay the foundations for democratic ideology in much of Hispanic America. "George Washington of South America"
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.
Taiping Rebellion
The most destructive civil war before the twentieth century. A Christian-inspired rural rebellion threatened to topple the Qing Empire.