World History Study Guide from 1648

This is the growing list of study terms for World history, from 1648 (the same midpoint used by the CLEP exams) to the present. This list will also include history in the century or so prior to 1648 which is not included in World History Study Guide to 1648.

As of Dec. 4th this list has about 289 terms, and it should grow to about 300 terms by Dec. 7th. A final exam on this material will be given on December 15, 2011.

Term	Definition
Age of Exploration	(1450-1650) a time period when European nation-states (mainly England, France, Portugal and Spain) explored distant lands, including the American continents
American Revolution	a revolution against the British in the American Colonies beginning in 1776 with the American Declaration of Independence, caused by over-taxation by England; the Patriots won with the help of the French, and the Treaty of Paris (1783) ended this war
balance of power	first established by Europeon nations after the final defeat of Napoleon: alliances called the Concert of Europe required nations to assist each other in order to defeat any one nation that became too powerful and started invading others
Bastille Day	(July 14, 1789) when French peasants invaded the huge Bastille prison in Paris, freeing political prisoners. This started the Great Fear, with riots breaking out every day and peasants burning wealthy homes
Big Bang	a scientific theory, initially ridiculed before being accepted by many physicists, that the universe had a unique creation rather than having existed forever
Niels Bohr	a Danish physicist in the early 1900s who discovered the atomic structure and helped develop quantum mechanics
Georges Jacques Danton	(1759–1794) a Jacobin during the French Revolution who joined and fully supported it until he saw the reign of terror and started to change his mind; then he was executed
caravel	a miniature, highly maneuverable, lightweight ship developed by the Portuguese, which was often used to carry cargo
Charles Darwin	(1809-1882) English naturalist who proposed the theory of evolution: that all species had evolved into complex forms of life over millions of years through the process of "natural selection," or "survival of the fittest"
Charles Dickens	(1812-1870) Greatest English novelist of the Victorian period, who sympathized with the poor and invented colorful characters like "Scrooge"
Christopher Columbus	(1451-1506) Italian explorer funded by Spain to sail in four voyages across the Atlantic ocean in search for a trade route to India; he discovered the "New World" by reaching the Caribbean
David Ricardo	(1772-1823) a classical British economist who advocated the advantages of more trade between nations
David Livingstone	Scotsman who explored central Africa in the late 1860s to find the source of the Nile
Albert Einstein	(1879-1955) physicist best known for his work on the theory of relativity.
England	an imperialistic nation-state based in the British isles off the western coast of Europe; ir established the largest non-contiguous empire in history in the late 1800s but is much weaker than the U.S. today
Expressionism	style of art that arose in the 20th century, using distorted forms and bold colors
Forbidden City	imperial palace located in Beijing, China, which was used by twenty-four emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties; the public was kept out for 500 years
Glorious Revolution	revolution that took place in England in 1688, which replaced the Catholic King James II with the Anglican King and Queen, William and Mary.
Great Depression	a worldwide economic crisis in the 1930s when poverty struck most of the world
imperialism	the practice of one strong nation controlling another weaker nation, territory, or a group of people; types of imperialism (from strongest to weakest) are: colonization, protectorates, spheres of influence, and economic
Impressionism	a type of painting that didn't focus on detail, but on the feeling and impressions
The Enlightenment	a philosophical movement in Europe in the 1700s that challenged traditional views and preferred reason over faith; thinkers included Rousseau, Voltaire, Hume, Kant, Jefferson, Locke, and Diderot.
James Stuart	cousin of Queen Elizabeth who took over the English throne as James I and authorized the King James Version of the Bible; unlike Queen Elizabeth, King James I argued often with Parliament
jazz	music originating in New Orleans in the early 1900s, developing varied and complex styles; it consists of intricate, propulsive rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, improvisatory, virtuosic solos, melodic freedom, and a harmonic idiom.
John Locke	(1632-1704) English philosopher during the Enlightenment who created the idea of a "social contract" between the people and their government, which became the philosophical basis of rebellion in England and the American Revolution when people felt that government had broken this contract
Louisiana Purchase	land sold by Napoleon to the U.S. for a low price in 1803, stretching from Lousiana to the Northwest
Isaac Newton	(1643-1727) the English physicist who, inspired by daily readings of the Bible, developed calculus and discovered the invisible force of gravity
Voltaire	(1694-1778) French philosopher prominent in the Enlightment, favoring absolute freedom and supporting ideas that led to French Revolution
nation-state	(beginning in the 1400s) a single country comprised of people unified in language and culture, such as England, France, Spain and, much later, Germany
Marie Antoinette	wife of Louis XVI during the French Revolution, who reportedly said, "Let them eat cake!" upon hearing of the shortage of bread
monarch	A person who reigns over a kingdom or empire. He may be above the law (absolute monarch) or subject to it (constitutional monarchy). The position is generally inherited
Louis XIV	(ruled 1643-1715) an absolute (all-powerful) monarch of France who said, “L’etat c’est moi!” (“I am the state”)
divine right of kings	belief they were given power by God and responsible to God alone, which lasted until religious conflict in England in the 1600s and the French Revolution in the late 1700s
Philip II	(reigned 1556-1598) King of Spain who was the great-grandson of Isabella and Ferdinand; he kept Spain Catholic, and viewed Elizabeth I of England as his main rival, but his mighty Spanish Armada was crushed by a quicker English fleet in 1588.
William of Orange	(1579) led the Netherlands in a revolt against their Spanish masters; this (along with the defeat of the Spanish Armada by the British) weakened Spanish power
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk	(1923) created the modern state of Turkey, with a combination of military rule and an elected Parliament; also converted the Arabic language to a modern, Latin-style alphabet
opium	a harmful, addictive drug that the British sent in large amounts to China, which was a cause of the great Taiping Rebellion.
capitalism	An economic system that private companies own all capital goods and sell them at a competitive price. This system is almost always successful until excessive government prevails.
Columbian Exchange	The trade of plants and animals from America to Europe; Europe to America. This was put into action some time after Columbus discovered America in 1492.
Nicolaus Copernicus	(1473-1543) a Polish Catholic scientist who started the "Scientific Revolution" with his discovery that the Earth revolves around the Sun, and published his discovery in a book at the end of this life ("On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres")
Hernando Cortes	aided by superior weapons and horses, he led the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1519 and conquered the Aztec empire, capturing the Aztec ruler known as Montezuma; Cortex burned the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan and built Mexico City in its place
Francisco Pizzaro	also aided by the use of horses and superior weapons, he led the Spanish conquest of Peru, eventually killing their emperor, Atahualpa; Pizzaro destroyed the ancient Peruvian city of Cuzco, and replaced with the city of Lima. While in Peru, Pizzaro also discovered the greatest silver mine in the Americas.
encomiendas	beginning in 1503: Spanish system whereby a Spanish soldier (or colonist) received a section of land from the king along with the Indians or South American residents, who would then work the land for the soldier similar to slavery.
repartimientos	1575: after complaints about the encomiendas by a Spanish monk named Bartholomew de Las Casas, a new Spanish system of repartimientos replaced it by supposedly limiting the amount of labor and requiring payment to the workers, and also requiring an application for approval by the king
Rasputin	Peasant-turned-monk that was the only person who could heal Czar Nicholas II's son from his hemophilia.
John Cabot	1497-1498: a British explorer (who had been born in Genoa, Italy, like Columbus) who discovered Newfoundland and the New England coast, so that land became the property of England
Jacques Cartier	1534, 1541: French explorer who discovered Canada and the Mississippi Basin, including Louisiana; the lack of gold and silver in North America made it less interesting to Europeans than South America
Czar (Tsar)	Absolute emperor of Russia since the 1500's, the first being Ivan IV "The Terrible."
Neo-Confucianism	More of a philosophy than a religion, Neo-Confucianism is a combination of Confucianism and Buddhism, and was the primary practice of the Chinese nation in the 1600's.
Reign of Terror	Started after the execution of Louis XVI when Maximilian Robespierre guillotined numerous alleged enemies, including Marie Antoinette, and ended with his death (1794); a time of terrifying chaos when anyone could be killed for no reason
Robert Fulton	American engineer and inventor who created the first commerical steamboat service in 1807.
Napoleon	(lived 1769-1821) Dictator of France after the French Revolution; signed peace treaties with major European enemies, created a successful system of laws known as the Napoleonic Code, and conquered much of continental Europe; defeated at Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo	1815 Marked the end of Napoleon's reign in France when he was defeated by Prussia and Great Britain
Bernhard Riemann	(1826-1866) an influential German mathematician who made lasting contributions to differential geometry and analysis, some of which provided a foundation 40 years later for the theory of general relativity in physics.
Congress of Vienna	1815: convention of European nations proposing a balance of powers among the rival nations to ensure than no single nation could threaten the others as Napolean had just done
Concert of Europe	established during the Congress of Vienna; alliances between the nations requiring assistance of each other if war broke out, protecting against any revolutions or invasion; adopted changes including the legitimacy of monarchies and growing nationalism in Europe
Constitution of the United States	(1787) the oldest working constitution in the world, which established a masterful design for government
Cotton	Cotton is a natural fiber used in clothing. It comes from the seed of the cotton plant. People have grown cotton since 3000 B.C. and traded it for other goods.
David Hume	(1711-1776) a Scottish philosopher who promoted materialism and naturalism rather than Christianity, which later influenced Charles Darwin; Hume wrote "A Treatise on Human Nature" and believed in relativism rather than absolute truth
Declaration of Independence	(1776) an American statement of "inalienable" (God-given) rights, and asserting a right of the people break their "social contract" with a ruler (a king) when he violates those rights, such as the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
Edmund Burke	(1729-1797) a conservative Irish statesman in the British parliament who sided with the American colonies in the period leading up to the American Revolution, coined the phrase "salutary neglect" to support economic growth in the colonies, and criticized the French Revolution when most others were praising it
The Federalist Papers	(1788) Brilliant essays encouraging ratification of the U.S. Constitution, written mostly by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison
Gandhi	Spiritual leader who set out to win independence for India through peaceful civil disobedience.
Immanuel Kant	(1724-1804) a leading German philosopher, Kant felt that behavior is moral only if it would work as a rule if everyone did it (e.g., littering is immoral for one person to do it, because it wouldn't work if everyone did it); Kant's book "A Critique of Pure Reason" criticized the use of pure reason to determine morality
Industrial Revolution	technology-driven changes in society that 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 a shift from farming to factories for many workers
James Clerk Maxwell	(1831-1879)British physicist. Maxwell is ranked as the foremost physical scientist of the 19th century. His greatest achievement was the synthesis of the contributions of Faraday, Gauss, and Ampère into a single coherent electromagnetic theory. Of his several academic appointments the most important was the post of professor of experimental physics at Cambridge. He made contributions of fundamental importance to many branches of physics. The maxwell, a unit of magnetic flux, was named in his honor.
Johann Sebastian Bach	1685-1750 German composer famous for Fugues, Inventions, English Suites and Passion according to St. Matthew.
Louis Pasteur	1822–95,French chemist and bacteriologist who founded microbiology invented pasteurization, and discovered vaccinations for anthrax, rabies, and chicken cholera.
Louis XVI	Louis XVI was the king of France from 1774 to October 1792. On August tenth during the French Revolution he was arrested. He was tried and found guilt of high treason. He was then executed by the guillotine on 21 January 1793.
Matthew Perry	Helped to break the isolation of Japan by sailing into Edo harbor and helped the Treaty of Kanagawa to be signed in 1854.
slavery	the state or condition of being a slave; a civil relationship whereby one person has absolute power over another and controls his life, liberty, and fortune
Realism	the doctrine that universals have a real objective existence
Steamboat	A steamboat is a waterborne ship powered by a steam engine. Historically, the steam was produced by burning coal (or less often, wood), although modern steamboats tend to use more portable fuels such as diesel gasoline.
Economies of scale	The decrease in a firm's long-run average costs as the size of its production increases.
Enclosure movement	Early 1700's during the industrial revolution in England.. Wealthy farmers bought land from small farmers, benefiting from economies of scale in farming huge tracts of land.
Adam Smith	(1723-1790) a Scottish political economist who wrote a book with his idea about how the "invisible hand" of capitalism will create wealth and prosperity, in the "Wealth of Nations" (1776)
Factors of production	Inputs used by companies to produce goods. Basic models of production have two input factors, labor and capital.
Oliver Cromwell	(1599-1658) Was an English soldier, statesman, and leader of the Puritan revolution.
Queen Elizabeth	(1558-1603) was known as the "Virgin Queen" of England and her 45-year reign was the “Elizabethan Age”; Virginia was named in her honor
Victor Hugo	(1802-1885) Is considered one of the greatest Romanticist poets. He was a French man who wrote the classics Cromwell (1827), The Hunchback of Notre Dame of Paris (1831) and Les Miserables (1862).
William Prynne	(1600 – 24 October 1669) Was an english lawyer, author, political figure and prominent Puritan.
Maximilian Robespierre	(1758-1794) a French Jacobin who was most responsible for reign of terror; under the influence of the work of Rousseau, Robespierre unbendingly murdered moderates and all opponents, and was eventually killed by the guillotine himself in 1794.
French Revolution	The French Revolution started in 1789 with the storm of the Bastille prison. The Revolution included the capture and beheading of King Louis XVI, and the Reign of Terror by Maximilien de Robespierre which ended in 1794 with Robespierre's death.
Prince Henry the Navigator	founded the School of Navigation in Portugal in 1419, to train sailors to explore the West African coast with a goal of eventually finding sea routes to India
Bartholomew Diaz	a Portuguese navigator who sailed around the southern tip of Africa (the Cape of Good Hope) in 1487 to establish a sea route to India
Ferdinand and Isabella	Ferdinand and Isabella were the king and queen of Spain in the late fifteenth century A.D. They were patrons of Christopher Columbus. After reconquering the small Moorish Kingdom of Granada, they established the Spanish Inquisition (1478) and expelled the Jews and Muslims from Spain in 1492.
William and Mary	William III (1650-1702 A.D.) was the king of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1682 to 1702 A.D..They both founded the college of William and Mary in 1693. He ruled along with Queen Mary II (1662-1694 A.D.) until she died. William continued to rule until his death in 1702.
Reconquista	(AD 722-1492) Was the regaining by Christians of Spain and Portugal, which had been under Muslim control.
Treaty of Tordesillas	1494: established an 1100-mile long "Line of Demarcation," giving one side to Portugal and the other side to Spain for controlling the New World (Western Hemisphere)
Line of Demarcation	a north-to-south line giving Portugal trading rights in India, China, the East Indies, East Brazil and the Spanish Americas, and giving Spain control of the remaining, vast majority of the Americas.
Ferdinand Magellan	1519-1522: led the first successful voyage to go around the world, going around the southern tip of South America. Magellan himself was killed by Philippine natives prior to completing the last leg of the journey.
Results of Magellan's voyage	Spain gained control of many South American territories, including Peru; Spain also obtained control over the Philippines in the Far East.
Otto von Bismarck	(1815-1898) Was the minister president of Prussia (1862-71), and the first chancellor of the German Empire (1871-90). Known as the "Iron Chancellor," he was a very skilled statesman and diplomat who unified Germany as a nation in the 1860s and arranged for wars against other nations (first against Denmark, then against Austria and finally against France) in order to help unify the German people against outside enemies.
Napoleon III	Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (20 April 1808 – 9 January 1873) was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire.
First French Empire	(1804-1814/1815) Was the empire of Napoleon I of France, and was a dominant power of most of continental Europe during the early 19th century.
Second French Empire	Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic in France.
George Washington	(1732-1799) first President of the United States (1789-1797) and Commander In Chief of the Continental Army. He was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775-1797, leading the American victory over Britain in the American Revolution and was the unanimous choice to serve as President. He voluntarily stepped down from office in 1796.
United Kingdom	The term "United Kingdom" refers to the combination of "Great Britain" and "Northern Ireland" which is part of the island of Ireland.
Luddites	A social movement in England that rioted and protested against the changes of the Industrial Revolution.
Ludwig van Beethoven	(1770-1827) revolutionized instrumental music and took it to new heights never thought possible. Beethoven became totally deaf at the age of forty. He wrote most of his best music while he was total deaf.
King Henry VIII	(lived 1491-1547, reigned beginning in 1509) Founded the Church of England (the Anglican Church)
France	A nation-state in Europe that was ruled by a monarch until the French Revolution.
Prussia	a very militaristic nation-state in Europe in part of the area where Germany is today
Corsica	Became one of the 27 regions of France in 1769. The birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Communist Manifesto	Written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848. It inspired citizens across the world to partake in revolutions against seemingly unjust behavior.It lays the foundation for Marxist thinking, teaching that class struggles are the origin of all progress in society.
Sun Yixian	Also known as Sun Yat-sen, he was the leader of the Kuomintang or nationalist Party that overthrew the Qing Dynasty of China. He also became the first leader of the former Republic of China.
Divine Right of Kings	European doctrine that held that the authority of kings came from God.
Virginia Declaration of Rights	A declaration of rights made by the representatives of the people of Virginia on June 7, 1776 written by George Mason.This later influenced the writting of the Declaration of Independance.
Guy Fawkes	A conspirator against the English throne who belonged to a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
Utilitarianism	proposed by Englishmen Jeremy Bentham and advocated by John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), this non-Christian concept prefers overall "utility" (overall benefits minus costs) rather than individual justice. Tossing two people overboard in a lifeboat in order to save the other ten is an example.
John Stuart Mill	(1806-1873) British philosopher and last of the English classical economists; proponent of utilitarianism and also advocated the development of labor unions and farm cooperatives, as well as emancipation by women
Nationalism	when loyalty by a people to their nation becomes part of their identity; began in the late 1700s, around the same time as Romanticism, and later led to aggression by Germany and Japan in the 20th century.
Realpolitik	Concept invented by Otto von Bismarck that emphasized practical politics rather than philosophy
Laissez-faire	Approach in economics in which transactions between private parties are free from state and government intervention
Handel	George Frederick Handel was a German composer, resident in England, and noted particularly for his oratorios, including the Messiah
Haydn	1732--1809, Austrian composer who played a major part in establishing the classical forms of the symphony and the string quartet.
Mozart	1756--91, Austrian composer. A child prodigy and prolific genius, his works include operas, such as The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and The Magic Flute (1791), symphonies, concertos for piano, violin, clarinet, and French horn, string quartets and quintets, sonatas, songs, and Masses, such as the unfinished Requiem (1791).
Beethoven	1770--1827, German composer, who greatly extended the form and scope of symphonic and chamber music, bridging the classical and romantic traditions. His works include nine symphonies, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, five piano concertos, a violin concerto, two masses, the opera Fidelio (1805), and choral music.
Nazi	a member of the National Socialist German Workers' party of Germany, which in 1933, under Adolf Hitler, seized political control of the country, suppressing all opposition and establishing a dictatorship over all cultural, economic, and political activities of the people, and promulgated belief in the supremacy of Hitler as Führer, aggressive anti-Semitism, the natural supremacy of the German people, and the establishment of Germany by superior force as a dominant world power. The party was officially abolished in 1945 at the conclusion of World War II.
Gregor Mendel	Father of Modern Genetics. As an Augustinian monk, Mendel studied Pea inheritance and interpreted his results to shape genetics till this day with his laws of Segregation and Independent assortment.
Sigmund Freud	Father of Modern Psychiatry. Arguably a pseudoscientist, with heavy focus on Ego and Eros. Famous for invention of the "Oedipus Complex" which is arguably a reflection of his troubled personal life.
Classical Economics	Mostly 19th century economics but also including 18th century Adam Smith, arguing for less government restriction on society.
Charles Spurgeon	Charles Spurgeon was a Minister in England who taught that faith without works is dead and that people should try to help the poor.
Franco-Prussian War	Otto von Bismarck started the Franco-Prussian War. He had an idea that if he enticed the French to attack Prussia that the German tribes around him would band together to defeat the opposition. The War lasted only six weeks.
Thomas Malthus	Thomas Malthus was a British economist. He believed that the economy was inevitable going to collapse and fail.
Giuseppe Mazzini	In Italy, a prominent nationalist, Giuseppe Mazzini, began to argue strongly for the unification of Italy as one nation. He formed the “Brotherhood of Young Italy” in 1831.
Belgium King Leopold II	Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians. He is chiefly remembered for being the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free state.
Manfred von Richtofen	Better known as the "Red Baron" was (and still is) the most well known, and possibly the most admired dogfighting ace of all time. At the end of his life, he had an impressive 80 kills. He was shot down, by an unknown person near the end of World War I, in 1918
Dual Alliance	1879: Germany (led by Bismarck) with Austria-Hungary as a way of protecting those countries against possible aggression by France
Triple Alliance	Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy; formed in 1882 to protect against French attacks; later became the Central Powers after Italy left and the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joined
Triple Entente	Great Britain, Russia, France; formed in 1907 against the Triple Alliance; later became the Allied Powers after Italy and Japan joined
Treaty of Versailles	1919 Imposed limits on the size of the German army and its use of weapons and required Germany to pay reparations of $33 billion over a 30-year period; also took away some of its colonies and territories
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin	1870-1924 Leader of the Communist Party who overthrew the Russian government; became leader of the Bolsheviks and ruled the Soviet Union, imposing a system of Marxism-Leninism which remained until the 1990s; also arranged for peace with Germany to end Russia's support of the Allies in the war in 1918
Bolsheviks	After 1903, the more extreme Marxist group, as opposed to the Mensheviks, who wanted a sooner violent revolution; led by Lenin
quantum mechanics	this breakthrough in physics in the early 20th century, used today by electronic technology: there is an underlying uncertainty in subatomic particles, such that they have probabilities of being in different places at the same time until they are observed
First Battle of Marne	From September 6-12, 1914, the First Battle of Marne was a key conflict which halted the German efforts to capture France. This forced the Germans to fight a two front war. The French losses were horrific, 250,000. The German losses were similar.
Gallipoli Campaign	Allied forces landed on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli in April 1915. The allies were not prepared for the terrain or there opponent. Nine months after the landing the allies had to retreat. They suffered 46,000 deaths among 250,000 casualties.
Battle of Verdun	The French and the Germans fought perhaps one of the most demanding battles in history at the Battle of Verdun. The Germans initiated the battle by attacking the French city of Verdun. The battle lasted for ten months and at least 220,000 soldiers died and 480,000 were wounded in this struggle.
Battle of the Somme	This battle started with the British and French meeting a the Somme River to begin an attack on the Germans to distract them from Verdun. The Allies bombed the Germans lines then sent 200,000 troops to storm them. The Germans were prepared for the attack and the losses were great. The British lost 20,000 men and had 40,000 wounded. The British and the French lost nearly 750,000 men.
Third Battle of Ypres	The British hid 19 huge land mines under the German lines in southeast Ypres, Belgium over a 18 month period. The British detonated the mines and charged the lines in July 1917. The British plan worked for the beginning stages but soon failed because they did not pursue the Germans quick enough. Soon it rained the wettest fall season in years and the allies were literally stuck in the mud.
Communist League	Was the first Marxist international organization. It was founded originally as the League of the Just by German workers in Paris in 1834.
St. Helena	A British island used as a place of exile, the most notable prisoner was Napoleon.
Romanticism	(1770-1870) a movement in poetry and the arts (including music) that emphasized individualism and the right to be different, reflecting an emphasis on thoughts and feelings, which coincided with numerous real revolutions like the French Revolution
Neoclassicism	(1760-1850) paintings that emphasized clear linear design, using classical themes as subject matter
Johannes Kepler	(1571-1630) a German Protestant scientist who built on Copernicus's work and discovered that planets orbited the sun in ellipses rather than circular orbits.
Galileo	(1564-1642) a Catholic Italian astronomer, a contemporary of Kepler, who improved the design of the telescope but was punished by the Church for publishing Copernicus's theory and saying the Church approved it; the Church then banned Galileo's book ("Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World - Ptolemaic and Copernican," published in 1532)
mercantilism	an economic system whereby a mother country (e.g., England) accumulates gold by exporting more goods than it imported, and by using her colonies (e.g., the America colonies) to ship it raw materials that could be manufactured and exported to other peoples
William Blackstone	(1723-1780) the leading legal authority on English law, upon which American law is based; wrote the book The Rights of Englishmen, in which he described the source of the rights of the people
Charles-Louis Baron de Montesquieu	(1689-1755) a Frenchman who proposed the concept of separation of powers, and checks and balances, in government, which inspired key parts of the U.S. Constitutio; wrote a book, The Spirit of the Laws, that explained essential aspects of good government
Denis Diderot	(1713-1784) a French writer during the Enlightenment who edited an encyclopedia of scientific and social knowledge known simply as Encyclopedia (in French: Encyclopédie)
Jean Jacques Rousseau	(1712-1778) a Swiss-born political philosopher who criticized private property and laid the groundwork for future communist writers such as Karl Marx; Rousseau declared that government's goal should be to provide freedom, equality and justice, but this led to the French Revolution and hostility to churches
Gottfried Leibniz	(1646-1716) a German Lutheran mathematician and philosopher who developed calculus independent of Isaac Newton, and whose Christian-based philosophy was opposed by Voltaire. It was Leibniz, not Newton, who first published the notation for the integral:
Treaty of Westphalia	(1648) ended the Thirty Years' War in Europe, leaving a weaker Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as Austria and Spain. Catholic France had sided with the winning Protestants in order to oppose the Holy Roman Empire, and France emerged strengthened and more unified as a result.
Thirty Years’ War	(1618-1648) a religious conflict in Germany brought by Bohemian Protestants resisting against Hapsburg Catholics who were suppressing religious freedom; this war also engulfed Spain, Holland, Denmark, France, Switzerland and The Holy Roman Empire in the conflict, before the Protestants (and Catholic France) won
Decline of the Holy Roman Empire	weakened by the Ottoman Muslims, France, the Reformation, the growth of nation-states, and how the Italian and German cultures grew apart
Zulus	A tribe of the Mthethwa African kingdoms of the late 1800's, and their most famous leader was Shaka. They were wiped out by the British in 1879.
locomotive	developed in the early 1800s; it allowed man for the first time in history to travel faster than on horseback
King James Bible	(1611) the magnificant English translation of the Bible, authorized by King James, which had a positive influence on the development of the English language itself
Jamestown settlement	(1607) the first successful English settlement in the New World, in what is now Virginia
Vasco da Gama	the first explorer to reach India by sailing eastward around Africa, between 1497 and 1499, with the help of the powerful monsoon winds. This established trade with India under the Portuguese King Manuel.
The Central powers	The enemies of the Allies in WWI, and they were Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman empire.
The Allies	The Allies in WWI were Britain (her colonies), France, Russia, Italy, Japan, and in 1917, the United States, and in WWII the Allies were Britain, America, France, and Russia.
The Axis	The Axis were the enemies of the Allies in WWII, and they were Nazi Germany, Italy (at the start of the war), and Japan.
Siege of Vienna	1529: Christians Europeans defeated the Muslim Ottoman Turks
Battle of Lepanto	1571: Christian Europeans defeated Muslim forces
9/11/1683, Gates of Vienna	an alliance of Christian armies, led by the Polish King Jan III Sobieski, defeated a massive Muslim army
Seven Years’ War	(1756-1763) France, Russia, Sweden, Poland and Austria were allied against Britain and Prussia, for control of Silesia, a region of Eastern Europe that is mostly part of Poland today. Britain and France also fought in North America (called the French & Indian War here). Britain won the war due to the genius of William Pitt ("Pittsburgh" is named after him), gaining Canada and India as a result; France was humiliated, leading to the French Revolution decades later.
Columbian Exchange	plants and animals were brought from colonial America to Europe and vice-versa; Columbus brought from Europe to America wheat, melons, onions, grapes, sugar cane and horses. America had new fruits and vegetables, the white potato, peanuts, pumpkins, squash and chili peppers, which were then exported from America back to Europe.
slave trade	1455-1800s: slave trade ended by a provision in the U.S. Constitution in North America, and slavery itself by the American Civil War (1861-1865); the slave trade was ended by England by Christian reformers Christian reformers William Wilberforce and John Wesley; slavery continued in Brazil until 1888
Andreas Vesalius	(1514-64) a Renaissance physician who advanced the understanding of anatomy for physicians
William Harvey	(1578–1657) an English physician who first understood the circulation of blood in the body
Rene Descartes	(1596-1650) a French mathematician and philosopher who discovered analytical geometry and defined existence by, “I think, therefore I am.”
Francis Bacon	(1561–1626) an English philosopher/scientist who promoted research based on experimentation
Ivan IV “the Terrible”	(reigned 1547-1584) first czar of Russia, who executed many innocent people; Ivan was succeeded by his son Feodor, whose repeated failures led Russia into a “Time of Troubles.”
Mikhail Romanov	(1613) the first of a long line of Romanov Russian czars; under Romanov rule serfs lost almost all of their freedoms
Peter the Great	a Romanov who ruled Russia from 1682 to 1696 and instituted sweeping reforms in Russian government and society; he built St. Petersburg and tried to make European traditions a part of Russia.
El Greco	(1541-1614) a painter, architect and sculptor best known for his paintings of saints and martyrs, and his painting of a storm over a Spanish town (“A View of Toledo”)
Diego Velázquez	(1599-1660) a Spanish painter of portraits of the royal family and scenes from daily life at court
Miguel de Cervantes	(1605) wrote the novel Don Quixote, probably the most influential piece of Spanish literature in history
Maria Theresa	(1717-1780) a Holy Roman empress who was the last ruler of the House of Habsburg dynasty, ruling over Austria
Frederick the Great	(1712-1786) an absolutist King of Prussia, who built it into a powerful nation (before it became a key part of the future Germany)
War of the Austrian Succession	(1740-1748) a broad conflict among many European nations, with the result that Prussia defeated Austria to win the territory of Silesia
Easter Rising	(April 24-30, 1916) Irishmen seeking independence from Britain captured key locations in Dublin and proclaimed an Irish Republic; British suppressed this and executed its leaders.
Irish Republic	(1919) established through the efforts of its leader, Michael Collins (1890-1922), who was then killed three years later during an Irish civil war
Northern Ireland	divided between British Protestants and Irish Catholics, still under the control of the British
Bloody Sunday	(1972) Irish held a peaceful march for freedom in Derry, Northern Ireland, but British soldiers responded by shooting and killing some of them, including children; the British never punished those responsible and several rock music songs commemorate the tragedy
9-11	September 11, 2001) 19 Muslims, most from Saudi Arabia, hijacked American airplanes and flew one into each tower of the World Trade Center, a third into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania as the passengers attempted to retake control of the plane from the terrorists.
Christian population	steady increased from 0% of the world when Jesus was born, to about 33% of the world today.
globalism	the opposite of “nationalism”; “globalism” views the world as one political unit, as one massive village.
The Four Tigers	the prosperous Pacific Rim nations of South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong (Hong Kong is now part of communist China but is allowed to remain free until at least the middle of the 21st century)
free trade	trade (importing goods) without limitation between nations; it can cause losses in American jobs and an increase in illegal drugs shipped in from other nations
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)	(1947) western nations promoted free trade by first freezing tariffs (taxes on goods sent between nations), and later began reducing the tariffs
World Trade Organization (WTO)	(1995) most nations agreed to “free trade” and also established international courts for deciding trade disputes among nations
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)	(1994) established free trade between Mexico, the United States, and Canada, and created international courts to resolve trade disputes
other free trade agreements in the Americas	Latin American Free Trade Agreement (LAFTA ), formed in 1961), and replaced in 1981 by the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI); the South American Common Market (Mercosur) which has Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela as members; and a recently enacted Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) which the United States joined.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)	(1967) free trade group founded by Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines to combat communism; ASEAN later signed trade agreements with Japan (1977) and the European Community (1980)
consumerism	people becoming obsessed with buying more than what is healthy or necessary, with brand names (like Nike) becoming more familiar than important things like the Bible
McDonaldization	when American advertising (as in the case of McDonalds) has an influence on the world culture, causing distant children (like Chinese) to repeat a McDonald’s slogan they heard on television
Universal Declaration of Human Rights	(1948) a United Nations declaration of basic human rights, including “life, liberty, and security of person”
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)	(1960) a cartel formed by Middle Eastern countries to keep the price of oil higher than it would be if the members of the cartel competed with each other. Original members were Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq and also the Latin American country of Venezuela; African and Asian countries later joined OPEC too. In 2007, OPEC controlled about 2/3rds of the total oil market.
impressionism	(late 1800s in France) moved painting away from its traditions, by emphasizing the transient effects of color and light, and attempting to capture a fleeting image or “impression”. Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Paul Cezanne. They often painted landscapes, and insisted on remaining outdoors until completion of the work
musical impressionism	emphasized mood and understatement and reflected its composers’ view that pure sound (like color) is an end to itself
Aggression by Japan in the 1930s	Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931, attracted in part by the coal and iron deposits there, which began the Asian phase of World War II. In 1937, Japan invaded northern and central China.
Aggression by Italy in the 1930s	Italy invaded and conquered Ethiopia in 1935-1936.
Aggression by Germany in the 1930s	In 1936, Germany invaded the buffer zone separating Germany from France: the industrialized Rhineland; Germany annexed Austria in 1938 without much resistance, and on Sept. 1, 1939, Germany invaded and annexed western Poland despite armed resistance.
New Orleans	a port in SE Louisiana, on the Mississippi River, about 172 km (107 miles) from the sea: the largest city in the state and the second most important port in the US; founded by the French in 1718; belonged to Spain (1763--1803). It is largely below sea level, built around the Vieux Carré (French quarter); famous for its annual Mardi Gras festival and for its part in the history of jazz; a major commercial, industrial, and transportation centre.
Lusitania	a British luxury liner sunk by a German submarine in the North Atlantic on May 7, 1915, killing 1,198 people, including 128 U.S. citizens; this outraged the American public and led to the U.S. entry into WW I.
Adolf Hitler	Leader of the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers Party) AKA Nazis. During WW2 he was known as "der Führer" or the leader of Germany.
Big Bang	The theory that developed in the early 20th century that the universe was created from an explosion.
Cold War	The Cold War took place in the mid 1900's between the U.S., its allies and the Soviet Union. The war didn't actually involve battles and no bullets were fired or bombs dropped. It mostly included espionage and tense moments where each side was waiting for the other to fire their missiles.
Communism	A powerful system of government, beginning in Russia, which states everyone must have the same amount of wealth. The forceful idea of communism creates an unequal, superficial worth for all.
Enigma	The Enigma was a cipher used by the Axis in WWII. The German Enigma was thought at the time to be unbreakable until a 27 year old polish mathematician cracked it in 1937.
Enola Gay	A Boeing B-29 Superfortress piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets that on August 6, 1945 dropped "Little Boy", the first atom bomb, on the Japanese city Hiroshima.
Fascism	Fascists believe that all actions should be done for the good of the state. Fascism is a totalitarian economic and political ideology that came to dominate the social and political systems of Italy under Benito Mussolini and Germany under Adolf Hitler.
Fat Man	When the Japanese refused to surrender after experiencing the first atom bomb, this 10,213 pound atom bomb was dropped and detonated on the Japanese city Nagasaki. Its blast yeilded 21 kilotons of TNT or 75 million sticks of dynamite. It was the second atom bomb to be used in war.
Great War	1914-1918: later known as World War I, this was one of the deadliest wars in world history based on trench warfare; the Allies defeated the Central Powers and imposed terms of peace that were so unreasonable they led to World War II
Schlieffen Plan	German plan to avoid a two-front war in World War I by invading and defeating France first before fighting Russia on its other front
Entrenchment	the first year and a half of World War I (1914-15) during which there were terrible casualties without either side gaining the upper hand.
Kaiser Wilhelm II	leader of Germany who ended Germany’s alliance with Russia, which caused Russia to form an alliance with France in 1891.
The Holocaust	The Germans blamed the Jews for all of Germanys problems. In 1935 a law was past to prevent Jews from holding Government offices. It all went down hill from there. Jews were eventually killed and sent to concentration camps for just being a Jew.
Joseph Stalin	Brutal, Russian dictator who murdered millions of people, destroyed many religious gatherings, and worst of all, persuaded all schools to be taught to love the wicked idea of Communism.
Little Boy	When given the green light by U.S. president Harry S. Truman, the 9,700 pound atom bomb called "Little Boy" was dropped from 31,000 feet and detonated at an altitude of 1,968 feet over the Japanese city Hiroshima. It was the first atom bomb to be used in war.
M1 Garand	One of the most influential American firearms in history, firing a .30 Cal bullet. These were the primary weapons in both World War 2 and the Korean War.
Manhattan Project	One day before the attack at pearl harbor, American scientists started the construction of an Atom bomb. The Project was named the Manhattan Project because it was started in Manhattan.
Mussolini	Benito Mussolini founded Italy’s Fascist Party, emphasizing the need to improve Italy’s economy and its military. In October 1922, the Fascists protested in Rome, causing the King to make Mussolini leader of Italy. He then made it illegal to strike thinking this would make the economy bounce back.
Rheinische Zeitung	The newspaper that Karl Marx wrote for when he lived in Cologne.
U-boat	German submarines used to patrol the Atlantic in a terrifying manor and intercept British ships; the U-boats eventually sunk American ships too.
Woodrow Wilson	(1856-1924)The 28th president of the United States who led the United States into World War I, secured the formation of the League of Nations, and at one point persuaded Congress to declare was on Germany in 1917.
World War I	Deadliest conflict began on July, 28, 1914 mainly in Europe and the Middle East. World War I was between the Central Powers and Allies, but ended with the collapse of the Central Powers in November 1918.
World War II	World War II began in the 1930's when Germany invaded Poland. It lasted until 1945 when the Allied powers defeated the Axis powers and forced them to surrender.
blitzkrieg	German for "lightning war," high-speed attack which combines bombing with a tank invasion; first launched by Hitler against Poland in 1939
Marian Rejewski	Polish mathematician who first broke the German Enigma code in 1932
Ultra	Allied code-breaking effort; said by General Eisenhower to have been decisive to their victory over Germany
Pearl Harbor	Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese launched a surprise attack on US navy fleet in Hawaii; Congress declared war on Japan and entered WWII
Korematsu v. United States	1944 Case involving the forcing of Japanese Americans to move into interment camps during WWII; the Court sided with the government, ruling that the exclusion order was constitutional
domino effect	the effect when one nation fell to communism, then its neighboring nations became more likely to fall to communism too
Ho Chi Minh	a communist, nationalist leader of North Vietnam who defeated the weakened Japanese there in 1945, obtained freedom from the French, and then sought to make South Vietnam communist too
Ngo Dinh Diem	An unpopular leader of the free South Vietnam until 1963, when he was overthrown by generals who had been supported by the U.S.
Vietcong	communist insurgents in South Vietnam in the 1960s, during the Vietnam War
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution	August 1964: in response to mysterious gunshots fired at an American ship in the Gulf of Tonkin near North Vietnam, Congress authorized sending troops; Congress never formally declared war on North Vietnam, and this Resolution became the substitute
Vietnamization	U.S. President Nixon’s policy for slowly withdrawing American troops from South Vietnam, hoping that the South Vietnamese would do more themselves in fighting communism.
Henry Kissinger	an adviser who ran the foreign policies of U.S. Presidents Nixon and Ford, and who mishandled the Vietnam War to a humiliating conclusion for the U.S.
Vietnam War	1964-1975: an unsuccessful attempt by the United States to prevent the fall of Vietnam to communism
Pol Pot	ruled Cambodia in 1975-1979 as the leader of the Khmer Rouge government; he abolished private property, money and religion, and caused many deaths; the U.S. was blamed for once supporting him as a counterweight to nearby communist Vietnam
Zionism	a movement beginning in the late 1800s to reestablish a Jewish state in Palestine in and around Jerusalem
Balfour Declaration	1917: a statement calling for the creation of new Jewish and Palestinian states in the Middle East
Israel	established by the United Nations in 1948, having a size slightly smaller than New Jersey
David Ben-Gurion	1948: first prime minister of Israel
Arab-Israeli wars	four major ones between 1948 and 1973 (1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973)
Six-Day War	1967: Egypt’s ruler Nasser closed off the Gulf of Aqaba, which was the only access Israel had to the Red Sea, and Israel responded with massive air strikes against several Arab nations, including Egypt; Israel conquered Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights.
Anwar Sadat	succeeded Nasser as ruler of Egypt (1970-1981)
Yom Kippur War	October 1973, Egypt’s ruler Sadat launched a surprise attack on Israel on its holiest day, Yom Kippur. After suffering massive initial losses, the Israeli prime minister, Golda Meir, regained much of the lost territory.
Camp David Accords	1979: President Jimmy Carter brokered a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, whereby Egypt agreed to recognize Israel in exchange for receiving return of the Sinai Peninsula.
Yasir Arafat	founder of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964, whicht demanded a Palestinian state in the area of Jerusalem and rejected the right of Israel to exist.
intifada	1987: PLO instituted a campaign of persistent violence called whereby common citizens and even children threw stones at Israelis and committed additional violence.
Declaration of Principles	1993: secret talks between Israeli leaders and the PLO in Oslo, resulting in a promise of self-rule to the Palestinians over the Gaza Strip and West Bank
Benjamin Netanyahu	leader of conservatives in Israel who is its current Prime Minister in 2011
Mikhail Gorbachev	rose to power in the Soviet Union in mid-1980s and allowed “glasnost” or openness, and “perestroika”, which permitted some economic freedoms, until he resigned on Christmas Day of 1991 after losing to Boris Yeltsin
Lithuania	annexed to the Soviet Union in 1940 but became independent in March 1990 as the Soviet Union fell apart with the overthrow of communism
Boris Yeltsin	the popular mayor of Moscow who courageously challenged the communists in Russia and defeated them in June 1991 to become president of a new Russian Republic; he ended price controls and cut taxes; churches opened and the people of Leningrad changed its name back to St. Petersburg.
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)	the successor to the Soviet Union; most of its nations (including Russia) joined, except for the Baltic republics and Georgia
Chechnya	Muslim-dominated region in southwest Russia, which declared its independence from Russia in 1991, leading to a bloody war
John Paul II	1978: the first Polish pope of the Catholic Church who then opposed communism, especially in his homeland of Poland
Lech Walesa	a leader against communism in Poland, who led is political party Solidarity to power once free elections were held in April 1989
Hungary	attempted unsuccessfully to overthrow communism in 1956 (the Soviet Union invaded to suppress the revolt), but Hungary succeeded in overthrowing communism in October 1989
East Germany	an atheistic, communistic nation until demonstrations broke out in October 1989, which not even its ruthless dictator Erich Honecker could control; he resigned and his successor opened the Berlin Wall in November 1989, whereupon the people tore the wall down
Czechoslovakia	Communist-controlled nation until demonstrations forced its Communist Party leader to resign in November 1989; in 1993, the Czechoslovakia split along ethnic lines to form Slovakia and the Czech Republic
Romania	ruled for decades by a communist dictator until overthrown by massive demonstrations in December 1989
Nicolae Ceausescu	communist dictator of Romania from 1965 to Christmas Day 1989; unlike most communists, Ceausescu opposed abortion
Yugoslavia	ruled by Marshall Tito from 1945 to 1980, who insisted on some independence from the Soviet Union; Tito was succeeded in power by the Serbian Slobodan Milosevic, which caused Slovenia and Croatia to seek independence due to their different ethnicity
Kosovo War	fighting in Croatia between the Serbs and the Croats. Eventually, the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) intervened in 1999 and drove the Serbian Milosevic from power
Ronald Reagan	1981-1989: conservative president of the United States who cut taxes, defeated communism, and proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)	also known as “Star Wars,” this was a plan to use advantaged technology to intercept and destroy fast-moving missiles that might be launched against the U.S.
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty	1987: an agreement between the U.S. and Soviet Union to ban missiles with ranges of 300 to 3,400 miles
Chairman Mao Zedong	1949-1976: the ruthless dictator who founded communist China and then starved tens of millions to death; in 1965 he imposed the "Cultural Revolution" to senselessly eliminate people who were achievers
Deng Xiaoping	1978-1997: dictator of communist China who was more friendly to capitalism and the West, and began a program called the Four Modernizations
Jiang Zemin	Communist China dictator who succeeded Deng when he died in 1997. Jiang refused to improve China’s record on human rights, and Christianity and democracy remain suppressed there; China has armed itself in preparation for a war with the United States, pointing many nuclear missiles at California
Tiananmen Square	June 4, 1989: communist China used tanks to massacre hundreds of peaceful Chinese protesters who sought greater democracy
Hong Kong	a colony of Great Britain until July 1, 1997, when Britain's lease expired and it returned this colony to China, which promised to allow Hong Kong to remain capitalistic for another 50 years
Modern Era	from 1900 to today

Honors terms

Term	Definition
Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher	The newspaper that Karl Marz wrote for after moving to Paris in 1843.
Dunkirk	The harbor town, located on the northernmost tip of France, in which the Germans relentlessly bombed. Thousands of soldiers were departed to England during the constant bombing; Winston Churchill titled this wonder, the "miracle of Dunkirk."
Emilio Aguinaldo	Led a rebellion against the U.S. to establish freedom in the Philippines in 1899.
Emiliano Zapata	Cowboy who helped lead the Mexican Revolution.
guillotine	The guillotine was invented by Dr. Joseph Guillotine. It has a heavy blade that is lifted up and then dropped onto the execution victim to severe their head. During the Reign of Terror, the guillotine was the main form of execution.
Franz Kafka	a troubled author who wrote several classic stories about being persecuted or harmed unfairly, including The Trial (1916) and The Metamorphosis (1915).
Manchuria	A region in northeast China which was conquered by Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War. After being invaded by Japan in 1931, Manchuria was renamed Manchuko. The charge into Manchuria began the Asian period of World War II.
Muhammad Ali Pasha	(1769-1849) Albanian commander in the Ottomon army; regarded as the founder of modern Egypt.
Standing army	Army in peacetime, which became popular among nationalistic countries beginning in the 1900s