AP Euro Period 2 Fiveable Key Terms

Maximilien Robespierre

"The incorruptable;" the leader of the bloodiest portion of the French Revolution. He set out to build a republic of virtue.

Peter the Great

(1672-1725) Russian tsar (r. 1689-1725). He enthusiastically introduced Western languages and technologies to the Russian elite, moving the capital from Moscow to the new city of St. Petersburg.

Voltaire

(1694-1778) French philosopher. He believed that freedom of speech was the best weapon against bad government. He also spoke out against the corruption of the French government, and the intolerance of the Catholic Church.

Frederick II of Prussia

(1740-1786), known as Frederick the Great, embraced culture and literature, forced Empress Maria Theresa to cede Silesia to him, violating the Pragmatic Sanction, spent much of his reign fighting to save Prussia from destruction, kept his enthusiasm for Enlightenment culture strictly separated from a brutual concept of international politics, realized more humane policies for his subjects might strengthen the state

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A French man who believed that Human beings are naturally good & free & can rely on their instincts. Government should exist to protect common good. Influenced the French Revolution.

Olympe de Gouges

A proponent of democracy, she demanded the same rights for French women that French men were demanding for themselves. In her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791), she challenged the practice of male authority and the notion of male-female inequality. She lost her life to the guillotine due to her revolutionary ideas.

Glorious Revolution

A reference to the political events of 1688-1689, when James II abdicated his throne and was replaced by his daughter Mary and her husband, Prince William of Orange. Established a constitutional monarchy in Britain.

Agricultural Revolution

A time when new inventions such as the seed drill and the steel plow made farming easier and faster. The production of food rose dramatically.

Louis XIV

Absolute monarch of France, built Palace of Versailles, revoked Edict of Nantes

Jean Baptiste Colbert

An economic adviser to Louis XIV; he supported mercantilism and tried to make France economically self-sufficient. Brought prosperity to France.

English Civil War (1642-1649)

Armed conflict between royalists and parliamentarians, resulting in the victory of pro-Parliament forces and the execution of Charles I.

Metternich

Austrian foreign minister who basically controlled the Congress of Vienna. Wanted to promote peace, conservatism, and the repression of libaral nationalism throughout Europe.

absolute monarchy

Concept of government developed during rise of nation-states in Western Europe during the 17th century; featured monarchs who passed laws without parliaments, appointed professionalized armies and bureaucracies, established state churches, and imposed state economic policies.

Oliver Cromwell

English military, political, and religious figure who led the Parliamentarian victory in the English Civil War (1642-1649) and called for the execution of Charles I. As lord protector of England (1653-1658) he ruled as a virtual dictator.

John Locke

English philosopher who advocated the idea of a "social contract" in which government powers are derived from the consent of the governed and in which the government serves the people; also said people have natural rights to life, liberty and property.

Congress of Vienna

Following Napoleon's exile, this meeting of European rulers in Austria established a system by which the balance of power would be maintained, liberal revolutions would be repressed, as would imperial expansion, and the creation of new countries in Europe.

Baron de Montesquieu

French aristocrat who wanted to limit royal absolutism; Wrote The Spirit of Laws, urging that power be separated between executive, legislative, and judicial branches, each balancing out the others, thus preventing despotism and preserving freedom. This greatly influenced writers of the US Constitution. He greatly admired British form of government.

Georges Danton

French revolutionary leader who stormed the Paris Bastille and who supported the execution of Louis XVI but was guillotined by Robespierre for his opposition to the Reign of Terror (1759-1794)

Immanuel Kant

German philosopher of Enlightenment-separated science and morality into separate branches of knowledge-science could describe nature, it could not provide a guide for morality. Argued that if serious thinkers were granted freedom to exercise their reason in print, enlightenment would surely follow. He said that Frederick the Great was an enlightened monarch because he allowed this.

Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)

He established himself as Europe's leading astronomer with his detailed observations of the new star of 1572. Under the patronage of the king of Denmark, he built the most sophisticated observatory of his day. He believed that all the planets except the earth revolved around the sun and that the entire group of sun and planets revolved in turn around the earth-moon system.

English Bill of Rights

King William and Queen Mary accepted this document in 1689. It guaranteed certain rights to English citizens and declared that elections for Parliament would happen frequently. By accepting this document, they supported a limited monarchy, a system in which they shared their power with Parliament and the people.

cottage industry

Manufacturing based in homes rather than in a factory, commonly found before the Industrial Revolution.

Denis Diderot

Philosopher who edited a book called the Encyclopedia which was banned by the French king and pope.

Adam Smith

Scottish economist who wrote the Wealth of Nations a precursor to modern Capitalism. Proposed government should not interfere in the economy, but market forces of supply and demand along with individual's self-interest would act like an "invisible hand" to benefit the nation and society.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

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

Concordat of 1801

This is the agreement between Pope Pius VII and Napoleon that healed the religious division in France by giving the French Catholics free practice of their religion and Napoleon political power

Napoleonic Code

This was the civil code that granted equality of all male citizens before the law and granted absolute security of wealth and private property. The creator of this code secured this by creating the Bank of France which loyally served the interests of both the state and the financial oligarchy

Catherine the Great

This was the monarch of Russia who continued Peter's goal to Westernizing Russia, created a new law code, and greatly expanded Russia. Considered herself to be an enlightened monarch

March on Versailles

Women marched to Versailles to demand bread from the king and queen. They also demanded the king and queen to return to Paris to rule there. They then forced the king's family out of the palace.

Enlightened Absolutism

a system in which rulers tried to govern by Enlightenment principles while maintaining their full royal powers