Vocabulary Quiz #3 Flashcards
economic imperialism:
the process in which banks and corporations from developed nations invest in underdeveloped regions and establish a major presence there in the hope of making high profits; not necessarily the same as colonial expansion in that businesses invest where they can make a profit, which may not be in their own nation’s colonies
economic liberalism:
the idea that government should not interfere in the workings of the economy
Einsatzgruppen:
in Nazi Germany, special strike forces in the SS that played an important role in rounding up and killing Jews
empiricism:
the practice of relying on observation and experiment
enclosure acts:
laws enacted in eighteenth-century Britain that allowed large landowners to enclose the old open fields, thereby combining many small holdings into larger units and forcing many small farmers to become tenant farmers or wage labourers on the large estates
encomienda:
in Spanish America, a form of economic and social organization in which a Spaniard was given a royal grant that enabled the holder of the grant to collect tribute from the Indians and use them as labourers
enlightened absolutism:
an absolute monarchy in which the ruler followed 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
Enlightenment:
an eighteenth-century intellectual movement, led by the philosophes, that stressed the application of reason and the scientific method to all aspects of life
entrepreneur:
one who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk in a business venture in the expectation of making a profit
Epicureanism:
a philosophy founded by Epicurus in the fourth century B.C.E. that taught that happiness (freedom from emotional turmoil) could be achieved through the pursuit of pleasure (intellectual rather than sensual pleasure)`
equestrians:
a group of extremely wealthy men in the late Roman Republic who were effectively barred from high office but sought political power commensurate with their wealth; called equestrians because many had gotten their start as cavalry officers (equites)
estates (orders):
the traditional tripartite division of European society based on heredity and quality rather than wealth or economic standing, first established in the Middle Ages and continuing into the eighteenth century; traditionally consisted of those who pray (the clergy), those who fight (the nobility), and those who work (all the rest).
ethnic cleansing:
the policy of killing or forcibly removing people of another ethnic group; used by Serbs against Bosnian Muslims in the 1990s
Eucharist:
a Christian sacrament in which consecrated bread and wine are consumed in celebration of Jesus’s Last Supper; also called the Lord’s Supper or communion
Eurocommunism:
a form of communism that dropped its Marxist ideology. It was especially favoured in Italy.
evolutionary socialism:
a socialist doctrine espoused by Eduard Bernstein who argued that socialists should stress cooperation and evolution to attain power by democratic means rather than by conflict and revolution
exchequer:
the permanent royal treasury of England. It emerged during the reign of King Henry II in the twelfth century
excommunication:
in the Catholic Church, a censure depriving a person of the right to receive the sacraments of the church
existentialism:
a philosophical movement that arose after World War II that emphasized the meaninglessness of life, born of the desperation caused by two world wars
family allowances:
one aspect of the welfare state whereby the state provides a minimum level of material assistance for children
fascism:
an ideology or movement that exalts the nation above the individual and calls for a centralized government with a dictatorial leader, economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition; in particular, the ideology of Mussolini’s Fascist regime in Italy.
federates:
German troops enlisted in groups to fight as allies for the Romans
feminism:
the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes; also, organized activity to advance women’s rights
fief:
a landed estate granted to a vassal in exchange for military services
Final Solution:
the attempted physical extermination of the Jewish people by the Nazis during World War II
Five Pillars of Islam:
the major tenets of the Muslim faith: belief in Allah and Muhammad as his Prophet; standard prayer five times a day and public prayer on Friday; observance of the holy month of Ramadan by fasting from dawn to sunset; making a pilgrimage (the hajj) to Mecca in one’s lifetime if possible; and giving alms to the poor
folk culture:
the traditional arts and crafts, literature, music, and other customs of the people; something that people make, as opposed to modern popular culture, which is something people buy
free trade:
the unrestricted international exchange of goods with low or no tariffs
Führerprinzip:
in Nazi Germany, a leadership principle based on the belief in a single-minded party (the Nazis) under one leader (Hitler).
functionalism:
the idea the the function of an object should determine its design and materials
general strike:
a strike by all or most workers in an economy; espoused by Georges Sorel as the heroic action that could be used to inspire the workers to destroy capitalist society
genocide:
the deliberate extermination of a people
gentry:
well-to-do English landowners below the level of the nobility. They played an important role in the English Civil War of the seventeenth century
geocentric conception:
the belief that the earth was at the centre of the universe and that the sun and other celestial objects revolved around the earth
Girondins:
a faction in the National Convention during the French Revolution that favoured keeping the king alive; so-called because their leaders came from the Gironde in southwestern France
glasnost:
“openness.” Mikhail Gorbachev’s policy of encouraging Soviet citizens to openly discuss the strength and weaknesses of the Soviet Union
global economy:
an interdependent economy in which the production, distribution, and sale of goods are accomplished on a worldwide scale
globalization:
a term referring to the trend by which peoples and nations have become more interdependent; often used to refer to the development of a global economy and culture
global warming:
the increase in the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere caused by the greenhouse effect
good emperors:
the five emperors who ruled from 96 to 180 (Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius), a period of peace a prosperity for the Roman Empire
Gothic:
a term used to describe the art and especially architecture of Europe in the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries
Gothic literature:
a form of literature used by Romantics to emphasize the bizarre and unusual, especially evident in horror stories
Great Schism:
the crisis in the late medieval church when there were first two and then three popes; ended by the Council of Constance (1414–1418)
greenhouse effect:
the warming of the earth caused by the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a result of human activity
guest workers:
foreign workers working temporarily in European countries
guild:
an association of people with common interests and concerns, especially people working in the same craft. In medieval Europe, guilds came to control much of the production process and to restrict entry into various trades