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

Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Communist politician who became the head of state of Romania in 1967.

He became famous later in his rule for his extremely strict policies regarding free speech and the press and his brutality against those who held anti-government sentiments. He was overthrown in 1989 when he ordered his forces to open fire on protestors. Eight days later, both he and his wife were captured and executed by firing squad.

Karl Marx explained this ideology in The Communist Manifesto. Communism, or Marxism, describes human history as a constant struggle between the rich and poor, and predicts the eventual uprising where the working class (the proletariat) rebels and seizes control.

Totalitarianism is a political system in which the government controls every facet of society and individuals liberties are nearly non-existent.

Fascism is the brand of totalitarianism that developed in European nations such as Germany, Italy, and Spain in the 1920's and '30's, which is also characterized by intense government propaganda to create loyalty to a charismatic leader.

Calvinism is not a political ideology, but a religion. It is a form of Protestantism that differs from other Christian sects in its belief in pre-determination, the idea that one's destination in the afterlife is already determined at birth.

Republicanism is an ideology in which the government is run by representatives elected by the citizens.

The two quotes (from John Locke's Second Treatise on Government (1689) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau's The Social Contract (1762)) voice the Enlightenment ideal that all men are born with the same natural rights.

The First Estate referred to the clergy in France, so that would be the best answer. The aristocracy was the Second Estate, so that would not be the best choice. The commoners were the Third estate, so likewise that would not be the correct answer here. The free press is sometimes referred to as the Fourth Estate to signify its importance to society, but it was not officially recognized as such before the French Revolution, so that would not be the best answer.

The clergy were referred to as the First Estate, so that would not be the correct answer here. The commoners were known as the Third Estate, so that too would not be a correct choice. The free press is sometimes called the Fourth Estate, however that term was not in use before the French Revolution, so that would not be the best answer here. Lastly, the aristocracy were referred to as the Second Estate, so that would be the best answer to this question.

The free press is sometimes called the Fourth Estate but that term was not in use before the French Revolution, so that would not be the correct choice. The clergy were known as the First Estate, so that would not be the best answer here. The aristocracy were known as the Second Estate, so that is not the correct choice either. Lastly, the commoners were known as the Third Estate, so that would be the best answer.

The Patricians were the ruling class of the Republic, so that would not be the best answer here. The First Estate referred to the clergy in pre-Revolution France, so that would not be a good answer. The Second Estate referred to the aristocracy in France before the Revolution, so that would not be the correct choice. Similarly, the Third Estate referred to the commoners in France, so that would not be the best choice here. Lastly, Plebeians was the term given to the citizen-commoners in the Republic, so that would be the best choice for this question.

The Medici family was an extremely powerful Italian family that controlled the largest bank in Europe during the Renaissance and helped contribute to the great artistic works of the time. Between 1430 and 1470 they spent the equivalent of 500 million dollars commissioning paintings, sculptures, city squares and buildings. Several of Lorenzo Medici’s court members would become some of the world’s most famous artists, such as Piero, Leonardo da Vinci, and Sandro Botticelli. Even Michelangelo, painter of the Sistine Chapel, lived with Lorenzo for 5 years and was a close friend of the family.

Henryk Walezy was the first man elected to be King of the Commonwealth. He was actually a son of the reigning King of France, and he abdicated the throne in order to become King of France in 1574.

Queen Anne was the last of the Stuart monarchs, and while she gave birth multiple times, none of her children survived into adulthood, leaving no clear heir. Parliament feared that there would be an attempt by Catholic members of the Stuart family to take the throne after her death, which would have resulted in a great deal of violence and bloodshed. In order to ensure that the monarchy stayed with a Protestant, the Act of Settlement of 1701 was passed, which stated that the heir to the throne was to be Sophia of Hanover, a German noblewoman who was the granddaughter of James I of England, and that the line of succession would extend through her descendants as long as they were not Catholic. Sophia died before Anne did, and then upon Anne’s death, Sophia’s son, George, became King George I of England.

Mary I, eldest child of Henry VIII, came to power after the death of her brother, Edward VI. Mary had been displaced in the line of succession when Henry had his marriage with her mother annulled so that he could marry again and father a male heir. This, combined with the fact that she was a devout Catholic, made Mary bitter at her family. When she became queen in 1553, she reinstated Roman Catholicism as the official religion of England, although she declared that people did not have to practice her religion. Mary then went about arresting and trying many Protestant leaders for heresy in helping England break away from the Church and for helping to implement the new religion. Overall around two hundred and eighty “heretics” were sentenced to death as a result of these trials, giving Mary I the infamous nickname of “Bloody Mary.” Upon her death in 1558, she was succeeded by her sister, Elizabeth I.

The acceptance of Protestant beliefs in the sixteenth century, even by monarchs, was rarely uniform and often quite complicated. England, Scotland, and Denmark, all of which became firmly Protestant, had Protestant monarchs briefly ascend to the throne in the middle of their reformations, while Catholic France had a Protestant on the throne in Henry IV, until he converted to Catholicism in 1593. The Holy Roman Empire, while being the home of Martin Luther and many other reformers, was always ruled in the era by the staunchly Catholic Habsburg dynasty.

Mussolini's Fascist government used many methods to subdue the Italian population including the establishment of leisure organizations, propaganda about race and the return to the glory of the Roman Empire, and a violent secret police force. The state did not give the people the right to vote for government representatives.

Edward VIII became King of the United Kingdom on January 20, 1936, following the death of his father, George V. After becoming the sovereign he began to dislike some of the aspects of court and eventually proposed to Wallis Simpson, a divorced American. This caused a crisis, as the monarch of the United Kingdom cannot be married to someone who has been divorced. The monarch is the head of the Church of England and so being married to a divorcée would have been very problematic and would have caused a lot of turmoil within Parliament. Edward decided to abdicate rather than try to continue as a monarch who had upset the Parliament and the people. Edward was succeeded by his brother, George VI, and was later created the Duke of Windsor.

Conservative ideology developed as a response to the political upheaval of the French Revolution. This is best demonstrated in the ideas of Edmund Burke. Liberals took the defense of individual liberties as one of the cornerstones of their ideology. The abolition of slavery took place after Conservative ideology began developing. Socialists, rather than Conservatives, responded most directly to the social changes caused by the Industrial Revolution.

Monarchs are most associated with absolutism. This is because monarchs often claimed the divine right of kings in order to justify and maintain absolute power over the nation they ruled. The underlying logic of the divine right to rule lends itself to an absolutist approach to leadership, as opposed to, say, a republic, which is not based on an absolute divine right but on communal human principles. Oligarchs are not monarchs, and anarchy is, by definition, the state of having no government or ruler.

Monarchs argued that they had the right to absolute power because God had determined that they should be the ruler, as evidenced by their birth into the royal family. Divine right held, basically, that monarchs represented God's will on earth.

Charles thought the Hapsburg empire had become too large given its possession of Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, the Holy Roman Empire, and colonies around the world. He decided it would be better to split the empire in two. His brother Ferdinand becoming the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Austria, and his son Philip Becoming King of Spain.

Oliver Cromwell rose to the position of Lord Protector following the declaration of a Commonwealth, and was tasked with suppressing the revolts of Ireland and Scotland against the new Parliamentarian rule.