APE

1. APE “Isms” Review

2. Humanism Absolutism Constitutionalism Mercantilism Capitalism Socialism Communism Fabianism Revisionism Nationalism Romanticism Liberalism Conservatism Anti-Semitism Imperialism Fascism Modernism Feminism Isms

3. Humanism • Specifically, Humanism is the “scholarly study of the Latin and Greek classics and of the ancient Church fathers both for its own sake and in the hope of a rebirth of ancient norms and values.” • Humanists advocated the studia humanitatis: a liberal arts program including grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, politics, and moral philosophy • More generally, humanism is philosophy that considers humans to be of primary importance and attaches importance to human dignity, concerns, and capabilities, particularly rationality. • Civic Humanism: education should promote individual virtue and public service • Key figures: Petrarch, Erasmus, Thomas More, Dante, Boccaccio, Lorenzo Valla, Leonardo da Vinci, Machiavelli…many others

4. Absolutism • One man, one vote  the ruler is da man, so he gets da vote • 17th and 18th centuries • Dictatorship by a king • People: Louis XIV, Elizabeth I, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Alexander II • “I am the state” • Old Regime • Control of nobles (Versailles – Fr., Westernization – Russia) • Hobbes Leviathan • Link between absolutism and conservatism • Mercantilism  gov’t control of economy

5. Constitutionalism • Rule by law (monarch is subject to laws) • Government’s power limited, subjects rights • England/Britain, Parliament • Parliament • Puritans • English civil War/Oliver Cromwell • Glorious Revolution (Wm. & Mary) • Netherlands • Dutch Parliament • Dutch Merchants • William of Orange • Social Contract • A Social Contract is the foundation for society • The state creates a set of laws that all must follow and the penalties are set by the state as well • John Locke, Jean-Jacque Rousseau, Thomas Jefferson are advocates • The Second Treatise of Government – Locke • The Social Contract – Rousseau

6. Mercantilism • Economic theory that that the prosperity of a nation is dependent upon its supply of gold and silver (specie). Gold is to keep a positive balance of trade (sell more than you buy), leading to colonialism. • Predominant from15th to the 18th century, but fully developed as an economic theory by French finance minister Jean-Baptist Colbert • Eventually replaced by capitalism (although “neo-mercantilism” is still practiced in Asia today)

7. Capitalism • An economic system where the means of production are privately owned; wage labor is predominant; supply, demand and price are at least partially determined by markets; and profit is distributed to owners who invested in the business. • Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776) • Key terms: • Laissez faire • Private ownership of means of production • Profit motive • Invisible Hand • Competition

8. Socialism • A social and economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are controlled by the community • Early 19th c. socialist (Utopian Socialism): Saint-Simonianism (technocracy – management by experts), Owenism (New Lanark and New Harmony), Fourierism (boredom of industrial world); negatively associated with “free love” movement and sexual promiscuity • Later 19th c. Marxist Socialists: represented Proletariat, emphasized class struggle (divided over revolution or democratic reform), formed European political parties, internationalist rather than nationalist • Fabianism (Britain): gas-and-water socialism • Eventually the socialist movement split into Social Democrats and Communists

9. Marxism/ Communism • Based upon work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels • Later adapted by Russians, especially V.I. Lenin • Change can only come through revolution, not democratic reform (critical of trade unionism and democratic parties) • United proletariat and peasantry would be led by a small, tightly organized, elite party of professional revolutionaries (intelligencia) – large democratic socialist parties would only seek to reform workers’ wages, hours, and living conditions, thereby weakening the revolution • Initially called the Bolsheviks (majority), as opposed to the more moderate, democratic faction of socialists, Mensheviks (minority)

10. Fabianism • Fabian Society formed 1833 • Supported a gradual approach to socialism • Advocated the establishment of public ownership of the means of production and distribution • Rejected Marxist support of an overthrow of the existing order. • Major proponents include George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells

11. Revisionism • German revisionists included people such as Eduard Bernstein • They noted that despite Marx’s predictions, the middle class was not becoming weaker. It was strengthening • The conditions of the industrial workers were improving. • Capitalism showed now signs of collapsing. • Emphasized reform within the existing order rather than revolution. • Advocated socialism through democratic process • Was supported by many European socialists, though condemned by orthodox Marxists.

12. Nationalism • Key word: unity • Two varieties: • Pride and loyalty to ethnic, cultural, language group, common goals, nationhood (19th c.). Desire for independence: Liberal revolutions 1820s, 1830s, 1848, German unity (1871), Italian unity (1860s), anti-colonial period (post WWII)  India, Algeria, Vietnam • Extreme patriotism (late 19th c., early 20th c.): cause of WWI (Balkans, militarism), anti-Semitism, fascism, Nazism • 100 Years War (Fr., Br.) beginning of nationalism • French Revolution first modern nationalist movement • Napoleon spread ideas of nationalism throughout Europe: Liberation from other countries: • Greece, Serbia – 1920, Ireland – 1921, Germany – 1871, Poland, Italy – 1860s, 70s, (Nationalism a threat to Austria-Hungary) • People: Napoleon, Bismarck, Garibaldi, Cavour, Mazzini • Extreme nationalism: Volkish thought, Social Darwinism, World War I, Nazis, fascists, Hitler • Decline of nationalism? European Union

13. Romanticism • Movement in art, music and literature starting in late 18th, early 19th centuries • Reaction against Enlightenment emphasis on logic, reason, and science; reaction against Industrial Revolution • Emphasized mystery of life, the unknowability of nature, primacy of emotion over reason • Elevated folk art, national myths and stories, peasant culture (deep connection to nationalism) • Looked to Medieval era as a source of inspiration; glorified heroic individual • Part of a revival of religion and faith (Methodism, Hasidism)

14. Liberalism • Key word = Freedom • Liberalism is the political belief in lack of government interference in the economy (capitalism), tolerance for diverse ideas, religious tolerance, checks on the power of gov’t (constitutions), broader political participation (didn’t advocate complete democracy), guaranteed freedoms such as freedom of speech, press, religion • Appealed to Middle Class (emulated upper class, feared lower class) • First French Revolution (Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen) • Napoleon spread liberal ideas throughout Europe in early 1800s • People: Adam Smith, John Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire • Liberal revolutions in 1820s, 1830s, 1848 (most failed – exceptions were Greece, Serbia, Belgium) • Whigs – English liberal political party • Associated with Nationalism in mid to late 1800s

15. Conservatism • Key word = Traditions • Beliefs: No limits on the power of the king (absolutism), Religious traditions, no constitutions • Pre-French Rev.: Old Regime (upper class – aristocrats, church, king), 1st and 2nd estate, Louis XIV • Post French Rev.: Lord Liverpool (Peterloo massacre, Six Acts), Tsar Alexander I, (Russia – Congress of Vienna), Nicholas I, (Russia – put down Decembrist Revolt), Metternich (Austria – congress of Vienna), Edmund Burke (English – anti French Rev) • Often supported by rural peasants  traditional • Congress of Vienna  congress system (Russia, Prussia, France, Britain, Austria) prevent liberalism and nationalism • Further east, more conservative • Boyars (Russia), Junkers (Prussia/Germany) • Tories: British conservative party • Opposed to representative gov’t • No constitutions limited power of king • Tried to control capitalism • Traditional religion and religious institutions

16. Anti-Semitism • Prejudice against or hostility towards Jews • Tradition for millennia in Europe • Modern era • Pogroms, ghettos, Dreyfus affair, Emancipation of Jews, Volkish thought/Nationalism, Zionism, Theodore Herzl, Fascism/Nazism, Holocaust

17. Imperialism • Economic or political control by one country over another country or territory, sometimes called hegemony • Old imperialism • Glory, God, Gold • Mercantilist • Colonies in the Americas, India, South Africa, and the East Indies; trading stations along the coast of Africa and China • Britain leading colonial power (India, South Africa, Australia), followed by Spain (Central and South America), France (Louisiana, French Guinea), and Holland (East Indies • New imperialism • Late 19th, early 20th century • European countries invested capital in less industrialized countries (mines, roads, agriculture, railroads, etc.), transforming the local economy. Europe would then co-opt the local government, controlling behind the scenes or taking over outright. • Congress of Berlin (Bismarck) • Reasons for new imperialism were economic (global mkts., resources), military/political (refueling bases, Suez Canal), humanitarian/religious (White Man’s Burden), and irrational (Social Darwinism, nationalist competition)

18. Fascism • Strength through unity • Anti-Enlightenment, anti-democratic, antiparliamentary, anti-Semitic, anti-Marxist • Nationalistic • Middle class movement • Cult of Personality • Single party dictatorship • Movement toward totalitarianism • 1920s-1940s: Mussolini, Franco, Hitler

19. Modernism • An artistic and literary movement which embraced change and experimentation. Those who were at the forefront of challenging accepted standards of art or who pushed the boundaries of what is accepted were called the avant-garde • The roots of the modernist art movement are in the changing perceptions of reality brought about by new technology and science • Modernist artists: Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Claude Monet, Edvard Munch, Auguste Renoir • Modernist writers: James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf • Modernist composers: Igor Stravinsky

20. Feminism • Social, political, cultural, and economic movements which fundamentally argues that men and women should have equal opportunities. • Generally seen to consist of three waves • 1st Wave (late 19th, early 20th c.): • Focused on legal and political equality • voting, property rights, family law, education • Suffrage movement (Emmeline Pankhurst and daughters) • Mostly in Britain and the U.S. • 2nd Wave (1960s, 1970s): • Focused on social and economic equality (more later) • 3rd Wave (1990s-present): • Generation that grew up with feminism; sometimes seen as a response to 2nd wave feminism • lacks a cohesive goal, and it is often seen as an extension of the second-wave