Study Guide Chapter 18 - The Eighteenth Century: European States, International Wars, and Social Change
Key Terms: Agricultural revolution: the application of new agricultural techniques that allowed for a large increase in productivity in the eighteenth century. Balance of power: a distribution of power among several states such that no single nation can dominate or interfere with the interests of another. Cottage industry: a system of textile manufacturing in which spinners and weavers worked at home in their cottages using raw materials supplied to them by capitalist entrepreneurs. Enlightened absolutism: an absolute monarchy where the ruler follows the principles of the Enlightenment by introducing reforms for the improvement of society, allowing freedom of speech and the press, permitting religious toleration, expanding education, and ruling in accordance with the laws. Natural laws: a body of laws or specific principles held to be derived from nature and binding upon all human society even in the absence of positive laws. Natural rights: certain inalienable rights to which all people are entitled; include the right to life, liberty, and property, freedom of speech and religion, and equality before the law. Reason of state: the principle that a nation should act on the basis of its long-term interests and not merely to further the dynastic interests of its ruling family. Tithe: a tenth of one’s harvest or income; paid by medieval peasants to the village church.
Review Questions: 1. How and to what extent did rulers incorporate the ideals of the Enlightenment into their policies? 2. How did competition for trade routes and dynastic ambitions cause wars and shifts in diplomatic ties among nations? 3. How did new forms of trade lead to innovation in banking and finance? 4. How were the lower classes affected by the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions? 5. How demographic patterns and family life change as people moved into cities? 6. In what ways did the slave trade affect European life and life in the colonies?
Chapter 19 - A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon
Key Terms: Continental System: Napoleon’s effort to bar British goods from the Continent in the hope of weakening Britain’s economy and destroying its capacity to wage war. De-Christianization: an attempt during the French Revolution to create a new, secular order by eliminating evidence of the Christian faith in France. Girondins: a faction of Jacobins within the National Convention that was against the execution of the king. Mountain: a faction of Jacobins within the National Convention that supported the execution of the king. Nation in arms: the people’s army raised by universal mobilization to repel the foreign enemies of the French Revolution. Nationalism: a political creed that involves involved the unique cultural identity of a people based on a common language, religion, and national symbols. Old regime/old order: the political and social system of France in the eighteenth century before the Revolution. Revolution: a fundamental change in the political and social organization of a state. Sans-culottes: the common people who did not wear the fine clothes of the upper classes (sansculottes means “without breeches”) and played an important role in the radical phase of the French Revolution.
Review Questions: 1. How did political, economic, and social factors lead into the French Revolution? 2. To what extent and in what ways did the nobility bring about its own destruction in revolutionary France? 3. What did the middle class, urban poor, and peasants want from the Revolution? What methods did they use to effect change? Did they achieve their goals? 4. How did women participate in the French Revolution? Did they achieve rights for their labors? 5. What caused the French Revolution to change from a time of idealism to a time of terror and then back to a more conservative period? 6. How was Napoleon able to rise to power?
7. To what extent did Enlightenment philosophy and French revolutionary ideals influence Napoleon’s foreign and domestic policies? 8. Was Napoleon’s fall from power mainly due to mistakes that he himself made, a coalition of powers working against him, or a combination of the two?
Chapter 20 - The Industrial Revolution and Its Impact on European Society
Key Terms: Agricultural revolution: the application of new agricultural techniques that allowed for a large increase in productivity in the eighteenth century. Capital: material wealth used or available for use in the production of more wealth. Cholera: an infectious epidemic disease common in many urban areas during the nineteenth century; concern about the disease and the filthy conditions that helped it spread led to public health measures. Tariffs: duties (taxes) imposed on imported goods; usually imposed both to raise revenue and to discourage imports and protect domestic industries. Trade unions: an association of workers in the same trade, formed to help members secure better wages, benefits, and working conditions.
Review Questions: 1. What advantages did Great Britain have that allowed it to industrialize first? 2. How did rulers and governments take advantage of the industrialization of their countries to enhance their power? 3. Why did industrialization fail to take hold as quickly in eastern and southern Europe as it had in the West? 4. How did the Industrial Revolution affect both middle-class factory owners and lower-class workers? 5. What role did women play in the Industrial Revolution, and how were they and their families affected by it? 6. How did the Industrial Revolution lead to changes in transportation and communication?
