Chapter 27 Key Terms Flashcards
Decembrist rising
unsuccessful 1825 political revolt in Russia by mid-level army officers advocating reforms.
Holy Alliance
alliance between Russia, Prussia, and Austria in defense of the established order; formed by the most conservative monarchies of Europe during the Congress of Vienna.
Crimean War (1854–1856)
began with a Russian attack on the Ottoman Empire; France and Britain joined on the Ottoman side; resulted in a Russian defeat because of Western industrial might; led to Russian reforms under Alexander II.
Emancipation of the serfs
Alexander II in 1861 ended serfdom in Russia; serfs did not obtain political rights and had to pay the aristocracy for lands gained.
Zemstvoes
local political councils created as part of Alexander II’s reforms; gave middle- class professionals experience in government but did not influence national policy.
Trans-Siberian railroad
constructed during the 1870s and 1880s to connect European Russia with the Pacific; increased the Russian role in Asia.
Count Witte
Russian minister of finance (1892–1903); economic modernizer responsible for high tariffs, improved banking system; encouraged Western investment in industry.
Intelligentsia
Russian term for articulate intellectuals as a class; desired radical change in the Russian political and economic system; wished to maintain a Russian culture distinct from the West.
Anarchists
political groups that thought the abolition of formal government was a first step to creating a better society; became important in Russia and was the modern world’s first large terrorist movement.
Russo-Japanese War
1904; Russian expansion into northern China leads to war; rapid Japanese victory followed.
Lenin (Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov): Russian Marxist leader; insisted on the importance of disciplined revolutionary cells.
Bolsheviks
literally the majority party, but actually a minority group; the most radical branch of the Russian Marxist movement; led by Lenin.
Russian Revolution of 1905
defeat by Japan marked by strikes by urban workers and insurrections among the peasantry; resulted in temporary reforms.
Duma
Russian national assembly created as one of the reforms following the Revolution of 1905; progressively stripped of power during the reign of Nicholas II.
Stolypin reforms
Russian minister who introduced reforms intended to placate the peasantry after the Revolution of 1905; included reduction of land redemption payments and an attempt to create a market-oriented peasantry.
Kulaks
agricultural entrepreneurs who utilized the Stolypin reforms to buy more land and increase production.
Terakoya
commoner schools founded during the Tokugawa shogunate to teach reading, writing, and Confucian rudiments; by mid-19th century resulted in the highest literacy rate outside of the West.
Dutch Studies
studies of Western science and technology beginning during the 18h century; based on texts available at the Dutch Nagasaki trading center. Western Studies in Japan
Matthew Perry
American naval officer; in 1853 insisted under threat of bombardment on the opening of Japanese ports to American trade.
Meiji Restoration
power of the emperor restored with Emperor Mutsuhito in 1868; took name of Meiji, the Enlightened One; ended shogunate and began a reform period.
Diet
Japanese parliament established as part of the constitution of 1889; able to advise government but not control it.
Zaibatsu
huge industrial combines created in Japan during the 1890s.
Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895)
fought in Korea between Japan and Qing China; Japanese victory demonstrated its arrival as new industrial power.
Yellow peril
Western term for perceived threat from Japanese imperialism.
