1750-1900 Key Terms

Russo-Japanese War

A 1904-1905 conflict between Russia and Japan, sparked by the two countries' efforts to dominate Manchuria and Korea.

Louis XVI

A French General, political leader, and emperor of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. After the French Revolution he crowned himself emperor in 1804. He conquered much of Europe but lost two-thirds of his army in a disastrous invasion of Russia.

Sphere of Influence

A foreign region in which a nation has control over trade and other economic activities

British East India Company

A joint-stock company that controlled most of India during the period of imperialism. This company controlled the political, social and economic life in India for more than 200 years

Boxer Rebellion

A rebellion of traditionalist of Chinese people who wanted to throw the foreigners out

Communism

A theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state

Muhammad Ali

Albanian soldier in the service of Turkey who was made viceroy of Egypt and took control away from the Ottoman Empire and established Egypt as a modern state

Sepoy Mutiny

An 1857 rebellion of Hindu and Muslim soldiers against the British in India.

Capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership of capital

Muslim League

An organization formed in 1906 to protect the interest of India's Muslims, which later proposed that India be divided into separate Muslim and Hindu nations

Cecil Rhodes

Born in 1853, played a major economic and political role in colonial South Africa. He was a British financier, statesmen, and empire builder with a philosophy of imperialism.

Industrial Revolution

Change form an agricultural to an industrial society from home manufacturing to factory production, especially the one that took place in England from about 1750 to about 1850

Indirect Rule

Colonial government in which local rulers are allowed to maintain their position of authority and status. Great Britain used this method of control in most of their economies.

Crimean War

Conflict between the Russian and Ottoman Empires fought primarily in the Crimean Peninsula. To prevent Russian expansion, Britain and France sent troops to support the Ottomans.

Trans-Siberian Railroad

Constructed during the 1870's and 1880's to connect the European Russia with the Pacific; increased the Russian role in Asia

Steam Engine

Driving force of the industrial revolution that was invented by James Watt in the 1760's. Turns the energy released by burning fuel into motion

Mercantilism

Economic system where power = wealth, so empires looked for colonies to supply natural resources and buy products, increasing profit.

Bourgeois

Educated, middle-class of France; provided force behind the Revolution

Berlin Conference

Every country who wanted a part of Africa atteneded, and the continent was divided so no one would get in a conflict over the land

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.

Karl Marx

German journalist and philosopher, founder of the Marxist branch of socialism. He is known for two books: The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital

Indian National Congress

Group formed by Hindu nationalist leaders of India in the late 1800's to gain greater democracy and eventually self-rule from Britain

Suez Canal

Human-made water way, which was open in 1869, connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, Route for British from Egypt

White Man's Burden

Idea that many European countries had a duty to spread their religion and culture to those less civilized.

Qing

Last imperial dynasty of China (from 1644-1912) which was overthrown by revolutionaries during the Qing dynasty China was ruled by the Manchu.

Mohandas Gandhi

Leader of Indian National Congress, used non-violent protest to help gain Indian Independence

Taiping Rebellion

Massive Chinese rebellion that devastated much of the country between 1850-1864, and threatened to topple the Qing; it was based on the Christian millenarian teachings of Hong Xiuquan.

Miguel Hidalgo

Mexican Priest who led peasants in call for independence and improved conditions

Young Turks

Reform-minded Ottomans who took control of the Ottoman Empire in 1908

Tanzimat Reforms

Series of reforms in the Ottoman Empire between 1839-1876; established western-style universities, state postal system, railways, extensive legal reforms, and a new constitution in 1876

Declaration of the Rights of Man

Statement of fundamental political rights adopted by the French National Assembly at the beginning of the French Revolution

Scramble For Africa

Sudden wave of conquests in Africa by European powers in the 1880 and 1890s. Britain obtained most of Eastern and Southern Africa, France most of Northwestern Africa. Other countries (Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and Spain) acquired lesser amounts.

Direct Rule

System of colonial government in which the imperialist power controlled all levels of government and appointed its own officials to govern the colony. France used this method of governance in West Africa

Pierre Toussaint L'overture

The "Black Napoleon" and led the revolution in Haiti that defeated the French.

Social Darwinism

The application of ideas about evolution and "survival of the fittest" to human societies-particularly as a justification for their imperialist expansion.

Mechanization

The application of machinery to manufacturing and other activities. Among the first processes to undergo this were the spinning of cotton thread and the weaving of cloth in late-18th-and-early-19th-century England.

Seneca Falls Conference

The first women's right convention, held in 1848 in upstate New York

Nationalism

The focusing of citizen's loyalty on the notion that they are a part of a nation with a unique culture, territory, and destiny. First became a prominent element of political culture in the 19th century.

Simon Bolivar

The most important military leader in the struggle for independence in South America. Born in Venezuela, he lead military forces there and in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia

Reign of Terror

The period from mid-1793 to mid-1794, when Robespierre ruled France nearly as a dictator and thousands of political figures and ordinary citizens were executed.

Meiji Rebellion

The political program that followed the destruction of the Tokugawah shogunate in 1868, in which a collection of young leaders set Japan on the path of centralization, industrialization, and imperialism.

Russification

The process of forcing Russian culture on all ethnic groups in the Russian Empire, had to learn customs of Russians and had to convert to Russian Orthodox

French Revolution

The revolution that began in 1789, overthrew the absolute monarchy of the Bourbons and the system of the aristocratic privileges, and ended with Napolean's overthrow of the Directory and seizure of power in 1799

Proletariat

The working class. Predicted by Marx to rise up and overthrow the capitalist owners.

Wealth of Nations

This is the 18th century book written by Scottish economist Adam Smith in which he spells out the first modern account of free market economies.

Haitian Revolution

Toussaint L'ouverture led this uprising in 1790. Resulted in the successful overthrow of French colonial rule and set up the first black government in the Western Hemisphere. The US was reluctant to give full support to this Republic led by former slaves

Opium Wars

War between Great Britain and China, began as a conflict over the drug trade, ended with the opening of 5 Chinese ports to foreign merchants, and the grant of other commercial and diplomatic privileges.

Sick Man of Europe

Western Europe's unkind nickname for the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a name based on the sultans' inability to prevent Western takeover of many regions and to deal with internal problems

Communist Manifesto

Written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels which urges an uprising by workers to seize control of the factors of production from the upper and middle classes.