semester 1 vocab

Question 1

abdicate

Answer 1

give up or step down from power

Question 2

absolute monarchy

Answer 2

a government in which the king or queen has unlimited power and authority over his or her people

Question 3

annex

Answer 3

adding territory to an existing state or country

Question 4

anti-semitism

Answer 4

hostility or prejudice towards Jews

Question 5

assembly line

Answer 5

a process in which a product is moved forward through many work stations, where workers perform specific tasks

Question 6

autocrat

Answer 6

ruler who has complete authority

Question 7

black death

Answer 7

a terrible outbreak of bubonic plague that swept through Europe

Question 8

bourgeoisie

Answer 8

the urban middle class, which included merchants, professionals, and manufacturers

Question 9

bushido

Answer 9

code of conduct for samurai during the feudal period in Japan

Question 10

capital

Answer 10

money or wealth used to invest in business or enterprise

Question 11

capitalism

Answer 11

economic system in which most businesses are privately owned

Question 12

chivalry

Answer 12

code of conduct for knights during the Middle Ages

Question 13

circumnavigate

Answer 13

to proceed completely around

Question 14

communism

Answer 14

economic and political system in which government owns the means of production and controls economic planning, and social classes cease to exist

Question 15

conquistador

Answer 15

a Spanish soldier and explorer who led military expeditions in the Americas

Question 16

continental system

Answer 16

a blockade preventing French or French-allied ships from trading with Great Britain

Question 17

coup d’etat

Answer 17

the sudden overthrow of a government by force

Question 18

diet

Answer 18

an assembly or legislature

Question 19

entrepreneur

Answer 19

a risk taker who starts a new business within the economic system of capitalism

Question 20

estates

Answer 20

social classes

Question 21

excommunication

Answer 21

exclusion from the Roman Catholic Church as a penalty for refusing to obey Church law

Question 22

feudalism

Answer 22

a political and social system based on the granting of land in exchange for loyalty, military assistance, and other services

Question 23

guillotine

Answer 23

a device used during the French Revolution for beheading people

Question 24

humanism

Answer 24

an intellectual movement that focused on the study of worldly subjects, such as poetry and philosophy, and on human potential and achievements

Question 25

indulgences

Answer 25

pardons issued by the pope that could reduce a soul’s time in purgatory

Question 26

interchangeable parts

Answer 26

identical parts that can replace each other

Question 27

kaiser

Answer 27

title taken by the ruler of Germany

Question 28

kulterkampf

Answer 28

Bismarck’s struggle to limit the influence of the Catholic Church in Germany

Question 29

labor union

Answer 29

an organization representing workers’ interests

Question 30

laissez-faire

Answer 30

a business system where companies are allowed to conduct business without interference by the government

Question 31

magna carta

Answer 31

a charter that granted nobles certain rights and restricted the king’s power

Question 32

medieval

Answer 32

referring to the period of history in Europe between ancient and modern times

Question 33

mercantilism

Answer 33

policy by which a nation sought to export more than it imported in order to build its supply of gold and silver

Question 34

napoleonic code

Answer 34

body of French civil laws introduced in 1804 that served as a model for many nations’ civil codes

Question 35

nationalism

Answer 35

sense of pride and devotion to one’s nation

Question 36

patrons

Answer 36

buyers of art

Question 37

perspective

Answer 37

allowed artists to represent three-dimensional objects on flat surfaces

Question 38

philosophes

Answer 38

French thinkers who desired reform in society during the Enlightenment

Question 39

plebiscite

Answer 39

the procedure used to submit the constitution of a new government to the people for a yes-or-no vote

Question 40

radical

Answer 40

a person with extreme views

Question 41

realpolitik

Answer 41

the belief in practical goals instead of theory in political philosophy

Question 42

salons

Answer 42

gatherings in which intellectual and political ideas were exchanged during the Enlightenment

Question 43

sans culottes

Answer 43

a radical group of artisans and workers during the French Revolution who wore long pants in contrast to the knee breaches of the nobility

Question 44

secular

Answer 44

having to do with worldly, rather than religious, matters

Question 45

serfs

Answer 45

agricultural workers who were bound to the land on which they worked

Question 46

social contract

Answer 46

an agreement between a people and their government, stating that people would give up some of their freedom and in return, their government would provide them with peace, security, and order

Question 47

socialism

Answer 47

a political and economic system in which society, usually in the form of government, owns the means of production

Question 48

sultan

Answer 48

a Muslim ruler

Question 49

theocracy

Answer 49

a government ruled by religious leaders who claim God’s authority

Question 50

vernacular

Answer 50

everyday language of the people