Modern European Lingo

1st/2nd/3rd Estate- French social classes that were represented in the Estates General. First: Clergy; Second: Nobles and the King; Third: Everyone else

3rd Section- Russian secret police under Nicholas I

Abdication- The process of dividing up or relinquishing power; example: Charles V abdicated his domains in 1556 to his son Philip II, the king of Spain, and his brother, dFerdinand I, the Holy Roman Emperor; Nicholas II of Russia abdicated following the March Revolution in 1917

Absenteeism- Occurred when a person was appointed to multiple political or religious positions and was therefore forced to be absent from one or more of them at a time; common practice with people like bishops and kings; revealed in the Reformation as an example of corruption in the Catholic Church

Absolution- The Catholic process of removing sin by performing penance

Absolutism- The practice of exerting total control over a population’s culture, religion, economy, military, political features, and social hierarchy; championed by Louis XIV in France with Cardinal Mazarin

Acerbo Law- Said that two-thirds of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies in Italy would go to the party with the most votes, as long as that party had at least 25% of the votes; ended coalition governments

AEF- The American Expeditionary Force of World War I; sent under Pershing in April 1917, but didn’t arrive until May 1918; included about 500,000 soldiers

Afrikaaner- A descendent of the Boers, or white Dutch settlers, in South Africa; spoke Afrikaans

Agadir Incident- Moroccan rebels led a revolt against French control in 1911; when French ships tried to reach their colony, the German Panzer blocked their path; wound up with the British navy coming in and making the German ship retreat; resulted in the completion of the Entente Cordiale alliance; one of the short term causes of World War I

Age of Reason- Alternative name for the Enlightenment

Agricultural Revolution- Term for the development in new farming techniques and technology at the end of the 1600s and the beginning of the 1700s; included the fly shuttle (Kay), the spinning jenny (Hargreaves), the water frame (Arkwright), the steam engine (Newcomen/Watt), and enclosures (farm technique)

Alcabala- Basic sales tax in Spain of 10%; clergy were exempted from having to pay this; also known as alcavala; levied in the early 1500s

Alchemy- Term used to refer to the topic of “science” before the Scientific Revolution; often incorporated with religion and involved turning various metals into gold