European states

• Junkers


  Members of the Prussian landed aristocracy, a class formerly associated with political reaction and militarism.
• Madame de Pompadour


  The mistress of Louis XV who used her ability to take away her "services" to gain power and to give advice about and make important government decisions
• John Law's Bubble


  tried to form the French Company into a national bank, people drove the price of stock very high and made the bank go bankrupt, so French public finance was slow in development
• The Grand Tour


  a pilgrimage of aristocrats, wealthy and diplomatic persons to tour the important area of Europe to obtain the knowledge and classical culture.
• Primogeniture


  right of inheritance belongs exclusively to the eldest son
• Polish Partition


  Polish divided up between Russia, Prussia, and Austria; 3 partitions occurred
• Treaty of Utrecht


  The treaty that ended the War of Spanish Succession and stopped Louis XIV's attempts to gain more land for France, defending the balance of power.
• The "Putting Out" or "Domestic System"


  production system widespread in 17th-century western Europe in which merchant-employers "put out" materials to rural producers who usually worked in their homes but sometimes laboured in workshops or in turn put out work to others.
• Enlightened Despots


  Absolute rulers who used their power to bring about political and social change
• Balance of Power


  a diplomatic arrangement between larger, wealthier, and militarily powerful European states
• Yellow Fever


  Acute and fatal infections disease of warm climates transmitted by mosquitos
• Catherine the Great


  Russian empress who put limited reforms in place
• Jethro Tull


  Agricultural pioneer who helped bring about the British Agricultural Revolution (known for the seed drill)
• Robert Walpole


  British statesman regarded as the first British prime minister
• Seven Years War


  Fought between 1756-1763 in which England and Prussia defeated France, Austria, and Russia
• Thomas Gainsborough


  English portrait and landscape painter best known for the Blue Boy
• Robert Clive


  Major-general from England who played a large part in making India apart of the British Empire as a colony.
• Joseph II


  Made radical changes to improve Austria
• Marie Antoinette


  Archduchess of Austria married to King Louis XVI and helped provoke the unrest in France
• Louis XVI


  AKA as Louis Capet (Bourbon Line), king who was decapitated 1793
• Frederick the Great


  Wanted to reform Prussia