Ism's Term List
Terms
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- Realism
- The modern philosophical doctrine, opposed to idealism, that physical objects exist independently of their being perceived.
- Socialism
- The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which collective ownership of the economy under the dictatorship of the proletariat has not yet been successfully achieved.
- Benjamin Disraeli
- was a British Conservative statesman and literary figure. Created the modern conservative party.
- Friedrich Engels
- Karl Marx's collaborator and editor
- Nationalism
- The strong belief that the interests of a particular nation-state are of primary importance. Also, the belief that a people who share a common language, history, and culture should constitute an independent nation, free of foreign domination.
- Woman's Suffrage
- The right of women to vote; exercise of the franchise by women.
- Franco-Prussian War
- Prussia and her German allies defeated France in a war which helped transform Germany, changed the balance of power in Europe, and foreshadowed WW I.
- Liberalism
- The belief that government should be heavily involved in the country and people being involved in the government.
- Proletariat
- The class of industrial wage earners who, possessing neither capital nor production means, must earn their living by selling their labor.
- Karl Marx
- founder of modern communism
- Zollverein
- Literally, a customs union; specifically, applied to the several customs unions successively formed under the leadership of Prussia among certain German states for establishing liberty of commerce among themselves and common tariff on imports, exports, and transit.
- Clemens von Metternich
- He was a major figure on the negotiations leading to and at the Congress of Vienna and is considered both a paradigm of foreign policy management and a major figure on the development of diplomacy
- Concert of Europe
- A loose agreement by the major European powers to act together on European questions of common interest. It included the Quadruple Alliance and aimed to preserve peace.
- Conservatism
- A political philosophy or attitude emphasizing respect for traditional institutions, distrust of government activism, and opposition to sudden change in the established order.
- Romanticism
- intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions.
- William Gladstone
- led the Liberal party and served as prime minister four times. His strong religious sense was an integral part of his political and social policies.
- Cult of Domesticity
- a prevailing view among middle and upper class white women that was composed of piety, purity, submission, and domesticity.
- Rotten Boroughs
- An election district having only a few voters but the same voting power as other more populous districts.
- Anarchism
- a doctrine urging the abolition of government or governmental restraint as the indispensable condition for full social and political liberty.
- Confederation of the Rhine
- Union of all the states of Germany, except Austria and Prussia, under the aegis of Napoleon. Napoleon's primary interest in the confederation, which enabled the French to unify and dominate the country, was as a counterweight to Austria and Prussia. The confederation was abolished after Napoleon's fall from power, but the consolidation it entailed contributed to the movement for German unification.
- Utopian Socialists
- hypothetical visions of perfect egalitarian and communalist societies without actually concerning themselves with the manner in which these societies could be created or sustained.
- The Communist Manifesto
- Pamphlet written in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels to serve as the platform of the Communist League. It argued that industrialization had exacerbated the divide between the capitalist ruling class and the proletariat, which had become impoverished, and called on the proletariat to overthrow the capitalists, abolish private property, and take over the means of production. It predicted an eventual classless society and the gradual elimination of the need for a state.
- Realpolitik
- A usually expansionist national policy having as its sole principle advancement of the national interest.
- Reform Act of 1832
- was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of the United Kingdom.
- Otto von Bismarck
- The 'Iron Chancellor', Prussian statesman, architect of German unity, and eventual elder statesman of Europe, Bismarck is identified with the concept of realpolitik, which for him included a degree of enlightened liberalism to keep the populace happy while he concentrated on more serious matters.
- Communism
- A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.
- Charles Darwin
- The naturalist who came up with the theory of evolution