Baroque
Relating to a grand, ornate style that characterized European painting, music, and architecture in the 1600s and early 1700s
Junker
Prussian landowning nobility
Mulatto
Persons of mixed European and African ancestry
Guerrilla
A member of a loosely organized fighting force that makes surprise attacks on enemy troops occupying his or her country
Coup d'etat
Sudden overthrow of gov't leaders by a small group
Habeas Corpus
Legal principle that requires aurthorities to show reasons why a person should be held in custody and to provide a speedy trial
Absolute Monarch
A king or queen who has unlimited power and seeks to control all aspects of society
Divine Right
The idea that monarchs are God's representatives on earth and are therefore answerable only to God.
Boyar
A landowning noble of Russia
Constitutional Monarchy
A system of governing in which the ruler's power is limited by law
Scientific Revolution
A major change in European thought, starting in the mid-1500s, in which the study of the natural world began to be characterized by careful observation and the questioning of accepted beliefs
Scientific Method
A logical procedure for gathering information about the natural world, in which experimentation and observation are used to test hypotheses
Enlightenment
An 18th century European movement in which thinkers attempted to apply the principles of reason and the scientific method to all aspects of society
Social Contract
The agreement by which people define and limit their individual rights, thus creating and organized society or government
Philosophes
One of a group of social thinkers in France during the Enlightenment
Enlightened Despot
One of the 18th century European monarchs who was inspired by Enlightenment ideas to rule justly and respect the rights of subjects
Federal System
A system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and a number of indiviual states
Estate
One of three distinct social classesin France during the 1700's; clergy, nobility, and commoners (the third estate)
Estates-general
An assembly of representatives from all three of the estates, or social classes, in France
National Assembly
A French congress established by representatives of the third Estate on June 17, 1789, to enact laws and reforms in the name of the French people
Plebiscite
A direct vote in which a country's people have the opportunity to approve or reject a proposal
Napoleonic Code
A comprehensive and uniform system of laws established for France by Napoleon
Blockade
The use of troops or ships to prevent commerical traffic from entering or leaving a city or region
Balance of pwer
A political situation in which on one nation is powerful enough to pose a threat to others
Peninsulares
In Spanish colonial society, coloists who were born in Spain
Creole
In Spanish colonial society, a colonist who was born in Latin America to Spanish parents
Conservative
In the first half of the 19th Century, a European - usually a wealthy landowner or noble - who wanted to preserve the traditional monarchies of Europe.
Liberal
In the first half of the 19th century, a European - usually a middle-class busuness leader or merchant - who wanted to give more political pwer to elected parliaments
Radical
In the first half of the 19th century, a European who favored drastic change extend democracy to all people
Nation-state
An independent geopolitical unit of people having a common culture and identity
Russification
The process of forcing Russian culture on all ethnic groups in the Russian empire
Kaiser
A German emperor
Realism
A 19th century artistic movement in whoch writers and painters sought to show life as it is rather than life as it should be
Impressionism
A movement in 19th century painting, in which artists racted against realism by seeking to convery their impressions of subjects or moments in time
Romanticism
Artistic movement of the early 1800s emphasizing individuality and emotion