Modern European Lingo

Armada- Term for the Spanish naval fleet; destroyed under Philip II in the English Channel in 1588

Armistice- A type of treaty or agreement to cease hostilities; ex: the Germans signed an armistice to end World War I

Aryan- Hitler’s “master race;” only included the blond-haired blue-eyed Germanic people

Asiento- Term used to refer to the monopoly on the slave trade; when England was found pirating slaves and thereby denying the right of the Spanish to have the asiento, the War of Jenkin’s Ear ensued

Assignats- Paper money that was used in France; backed in value by confiscated estates of the Church; used during the French Revolution

Atlantic Charter- Recognized freedom of the seas; signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in 1941

Aurora- Ship that fired the cannon to signal revolutionaries to begin the November Revolution in 1917 in Russia

Autarky- Economic self-sufficiency; goal of Mussolini during the Fascist movement in the early 20th century

Autobiography- A book that someone writes about himself; the first modern one was written by Cellini

Autos de fé- Ceremonies where the public could watch Philip II torture Protestants, who were considered heretics in Catholic Spain; often involved water torture

Avanti- The nationalist newspaper that Mussolini was an editor for; meant “forward”

Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy- A period of time when the French monarchy controlled the Papacy; from 1305 to 1378

Balance of Power- Term used to refer to the goals of the Concert of Europe, which began with the Congress of Vienna from 1814 to 1815; main idea was to prevent anyone like Napoleon from rising to power again by maintaining conservative values; concept originated from Queen Elizabeth I

Balfour Declaration- Britain promised a national state for the Jews; made in WWI but not fulfilled because of Arab opposition

Banalités- Term for the dues that were left over from feudalism and collected from the French peasantry in the 1700s

Baptism- Sacrament of Christianity in which a person is welcomed into the church, generally performed by a priest using holy water

Barebones Parliament- The name that was given to the English Parliament after Oliver Cromwell dissolved the Council of State in the Interregnum

Baroque- Style of art, architecture, and music that Catholics advocated in the late 16th century; included works of Peter Paul Rubens and Gianlorenzo Bernini; developed from Renaissance themes and techniques; contrasted with the plainness of Protestant church services that had no music and bare walls to eliminate all distractions from the worship of God; glorified the monarchy and aristocracy with very elaborate detail