Political Parties; Elites; Ideologies; Mass Politics - AP European History

Alfred the Great of Wessex was key in reclaiming England for England. As a native of Wessex, fighting against Danish control of England was a daunting task, seeing as how the Danes controlled the majority of England. Through careful negotiation and wise tactics Alfred was able to seize control of Wessex and then expand his control to the other territories in England.

The Carnation Revolution witnessed the fall of the Estado Novo regime and led to decolonization of Portugal's possessions in Africa. April 25 is celebrated in Portugal as Freedom Day.

Oliver Cromwell was a commander of the forces of parliament during the war. After the War he was named Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. He essentially ruled as a military dictator for the rest of his life, and he attempted to make his son the next Lord Protector after his death. Parliament, realizing that they had given up one tyrant for another, put a stop to it and invited a new King to take the throne.

Alfred the Great unified Wessex (known today as Essex) and conquered Mercia, which made up a large part of England. Though his reign was brief his line did manage to unify much of England until conquered by William in 1066 who also unified the rest of what Alfred and his sons and grandsons could not.

William the Conqueror was also known as William the Duke of Normandy. He was born in Normandy and gained control of Normandy in 1035, in 1066 he left to conquer England and he and his sons to follow him were successful in conquering and uniting the territory that is known as England today.

Elizabeth I brought stability in a time of turmoil for England, after the tribulations of her father Henry VIII and the mad scramble for the throne that ensued after his death, Elizabeth brought a sense of calm and poise to the ruling of England.

Frederick II earned his nickname of Frederick the Great by not only continuing the tradition of Prussian military superiority, but also by making unheard of changes to Prussian society by encouraging a revival of the arts community and pushing education on the masses, making Prussia the most highly educated nation in the world at the time.

Louis XIV moved the royal court, and therefore the seat of government from Paris in 1682. The royal court would stay in Versailles until the royal family was taken prisoner and forced back to Paris following the start of the French Revolution in 1789.

After the death of Charles II his closest living male descendant was named to the throne. That was his sisters grandson, Philip V of the House Bourbon. He had been raised in France as a member of the French court. He was also a grandson of Louis XIV. Other nations so disliked this union of French and Spanish royal houses that it started the War of the Spanish Succession.

Robespierre was the second President of the Committee of Public Safety. He is commonly associated with the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution as suspected Royalists and sympathizers were killed in the thousands. Eventually he met the same fate as the Reign of Terror spun out of control and caused the Convention to order Robespierre's arrest for attempting to seize control of France.

Louis XVI was the last King of France before the Revolution. He was arrested and executed in 1793. His son, also named Louis, lived until 1795 when he died of illness. However he was never crowned king and therefore is not included in the list of Kings of France.

The group that represented the Third Estate when the Kings of France called the Estates General was displeased with how power was being shared. Despite having twice the representatives, they did not have twice as many votes as the other estates. They therefore walked out and created their own rival organization that would take power and start the revolution, the National Assembly.

Robespierre rose to power with the Jacobins as the second President of the Committee of Public Safety. He is famed for his association with the Reign of Terror, which killed thousands of people. Ironically, the Reign of Terror he unleashed ended with his own execution.

In the final days of the Directory Napoleon conspired with several Directory members to form a coup and form the Consulate as the new French Government. After the successful coup Napoleon was made First Council and head of state.

A Constitutional Monarchy fits this description. This is where an elected body and a monarch both hold clearly defined powers as assigned by a constitution or other document, thus sharing power.

James was an open Catholic, but his daughters from his first marriage were Protestant, thus the people of England thought his Catholic eccentricities would be short lived; however, he granted religious freedom to Catholics, allowing them to take public office in 1687, and in 1688 his second wife gave birth to a son who would be raised Catholic, thus meaning there could be a permanent Catholic dynasty ruling over England. These two events caused many influential members of Parliament to invite William of Orange to invade England and take the throne.

The Prime Minister, as a position, was made in order to be a close adviser of the King, over time the position transitioned to one in the parliament, and to being the leader of the Parliament.

The July Monarchy occurred after the French Revolution. After the fall of Napoleon the House of Bourbon was put back on the throne of France. It was, however, very unpopular, and in 1830 a more liberal branch of the family was put on the throne after the July Revolution of 1830.

A limited monarchy is one where a monarch must share power with a legislative body (Parliament), or has their power defined and limited by a legal document (Constitution or Bill of Rights). Absolute monarchies are directly ruled by the monarch with no check from a legislative branch.