Glossary
ages
The terms 'Bronze Age', 'Iron Age' and so on are used by archaeologists as a
convenient shorthand for discussing the chronology of the past. In reality,
the changes from one period to the next would have been far more gradual than
these sharp distinctions imply. The accepted dates for these periods also vary
in different parts of the world, because different areas developed at different
times. Middle Eastern and Mediterranean civilisations, for example, developed
metalworking before people living in Britain, so that their Bronze and Iron
Ages arrived earlier.
anthropology
The study of humanity, culturally and physically, in all times and places.
Forensic anthropology is the application of anthropological knowledge and
techniques in a legal context, to detect crime and identify criminals. This
involves detailed knowledge of osteology.
anti-Semitism
Hostility and/or prejudice against Jews.
appeasement
Giving in to the demands of aggressive powers to avoid war, as long as those
demands appear reasonable. Such a policy was pursued by Britain and France
in dealing with Germany in the latter half of the 1930s.
archaeology
The study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and
the analysis of physical remains. Find
out more
archives
A collection of documents or other records, especially those to do with the
public or companies. Find out more
barbarian
A Greek word adopted by the Romans to refer to any people who did not adopt
the Roman way of life. It is said to have come originally from the sound bar-bar,
which, according to the Greeks, was supposed to be the noise that people
made when speaking foreign languages.
Blitzkrieg
German for 'lightning war'. A military strategy used by the Germans
at the beginning of World War II to achieve victory through a series of quick
offensives, especially in Belgium, Holland and France. After an initial bombardment,
armour and motorised infantry were mobilised rapidly to break the weakest parts
of the enemy line.
Bolsheviks
Having split from the Russian Socialist movement in 1903, the Bolsheviks ('Majority')
developed into a small, tightly organised, revolutionary Marxist group led
by Lenin,
for whom violence was a legitimate instrument of power. In November 1917, they
took control of a chaotic Russia, becoming the de facto rulers after
the subsequent civil war. They then renamed themselves the Communist Party
of the Soviet Union (CPSU).
bourgeoisie
The capitalist class (see capitalism below) that came to
be known as the middle class, between the aristocracy and the working class.
A new middle class of merchants and businessmen prospered throughout Europe
from the 16th century, and especially in Britain, which Napoleon described
as a 'nation of shopkeepers'. The term 'bourgeois' is used derogatorily
to describe anything considered humdrum, unimaginative and/or selfishly materialistic.
Bronze Age
In Britain, this was the period – from about 2300 to 700 BC – when
metal first began to be widely used, possibly as a result of the increase in
contact with Europe. However, various types of stone, particularly flint, remained
very important for long after metal became available. The Bronze Age saw the
introduction of cremation of the dead and burials in round barrows. The later
(and best known) phases of construction at Stonehenge also date from this period. See
also ages.
Caesar
Contrary to popular opinion, the term 'Caesar' did not originally
mean 'emperor', although in modern times, it has come to be defined
as a synonym for autocrat. When the Roman leader Gaius Julius Caesar was assassinated
in 44 BC, his nephew and successor Augustus had himself formally adopted by
the dead man and so also adopted the family name Caesar. Tiberius and Caligula
inherited it by adoption as well. Later Roman emperors acquired the name upon
their succession or when they were formally adopted as heirs.
capitalism
An economic system in which the production and distribution of goods depend
on invested private capital and profit-making. Politically, this means the
dominance of private owners of capital and production for profit. By extension, 'capitalism' has
also taken in the belief that government should have nothing to do with the
economy.
chivalry
The collective term for the social codes of knighthood that originated in France
in the Middle Ages. It was based on brave, courteous and honourable behaviour – what
came to be known as 'gentlemanly conduct' – and was the subject of
much medieval literature. Orders of knighthood, such as the Knights of the
Garter, are called 'chivalric' orders. Find
out more
Cold War
A state of hostility without actually fighting. This existed between the United
States (and its allies) and the USSR (and the Communist bloc) from the final
days of World War II to the end of Communist rule in the Soviet Union (now
Russia) in 1991. The era was marked by the fear of nuclear holocaust, which
some politicians and theorists regarded as the ultimate deterrent. The term
originated in a speech by Bernard Baruch, financier and special adviser to
US president Harry Truman, in 1947.
communism, Communism
The theory ('communism' with a small 'c'), similar
to socialism, that advocates a society in which all
property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to his
or her needs and abilities. Political Communism (with a large 'C'),
established in Russia and elsewhere in the 20th century, was based on Marxism.
It held that economic equality would only ever be achieved through revolution. Find
out more
conservatism
A political philosophy or attitude that emphasises respect for traditional
institutions, distrust of government activism and opposition to sudden change
in the established order.
cropmarks
These are light and dark marks visible in growing and ripening crops, especially
via aerial photography, which reflect the differences in the subsoil beneath.
Thus parched lines of grass may indicate hidden stone walls or packed stone
layers such as Roman roads, and much greener grass may be growing over pits,
ditches or gulleys. Very large numbers of cropmark sites have been found
in Britain since the 1960s.
Dark Ages
A term given by some to the centuries in Europe immediately after the Roman
period, from about AD 400. It is very difficult archaeologically to see what
happened within this timespan as far as settlement, farming and so on are
concerned. In most of Britain, people stopped using and making pottery, ceased
producing and using coins, built in wood (which has rotted away) rather than
stone and, in many other ways, have denied archaeologists the wealth of inorganic
and concrete evidence they are used to from the Roman centuries. However,
the period was not 'dark' at all except by comparison to the Roman period
with its consumer and commercial society, which is much more like our own
and which some archaeologists find more satisfying. See also Middle
Ages.
Darwinism
The school of thought, originating in the late Victorian era, in which some
of the ideas of Charles Darwin (1809-82) – natural selection, evolution,
survival of the fittest and, above all, progress – were applied to
modern society. Social Darwinists argued that the poor had only themselves
to blame for their poverty. However, by the 1880s, the struggle of the 'fittest'
for survival was seen less in terms of individuals in the marketplace – competitive
individualism – and more in terms of nations fighting for a place in
the sun. Some of Darwinism's adherents in Britain stated that, because
the Britons were the fittest race and so the likeliest to survive, they had
the right to colonise the world. This type of racism became a way of justifying imperialism. See
also eugenics.
deflation
The opposite of inflation, this is the process through
which prices decline. It is almost always a sign of a depression (see below).
dendrochronology
A way of dating material from archaeological sites where wood has survived.
It is based on the idea that the growth rings of trees – oak has so
far been studied – vary from year to year according to weather conditions,
and that patterns of greater and lesser growth can be compared from tree
to tree and from area to area. By working backward from surviving trees,
from timbers in old houses and in even earlier churches, and from timbers
from excavated sites, a 'master chronology' can be built up. Any timber discovered
in buildings or in waterlogged deposits can then be compared with the growth
rings already known. If the outer rings of the tree – the sapwood – are
present, a very precise date can be suggested for when the tree was felled.
As most wood in the past seems to have been worked and used 'green', such
a date will be very close to that of the construction of the feature under
investigation.
depression
The state of an economy when the output of goods and services is slowing sharply
or even declining, unemployment rises and prices decline.
Domesday Book
This was the outcome of England's new ruler William I's desire
to find out just what he had conquered in 1066. In 1086, he sent inquisitors
through the shires to conduct a survey. This came to be called the Domesday
Book – after the day of judgement – for it officially established
who owned what (or whom) and who owed what (money or services) to whom. While
not totally comprehensive (for one thing, London, Bristol and Winchester aren't
included), it provides a picture of much of the country, with comparative information
from the period immediately preceding the Conquest and the period during which
the survey was undertaken, which allows us to see the adverse effects of the
Conquest.
earthworks
Mounds and hollows, banks and ditches made of earth, clay and soil, often representing
collapsed structures.
ethnography
A method of studying and learning about a person or group of people. Typically,
ethnography involves the study of a small group of people in their own environment.
Rather than looking at a small set of variables and a large number of subjects
('the big picture'), the ethnographer attempts to get a detailed
understanding of the circumstances of the relatively few people being studied,
which can be from any race or culture throughout the world.
eugenics
A spin-off of the 'survival of the fittest' ideas of Charles Darwin
(see Darwinism), which was popularised by
his cousin Francis Galton (1822-1911). He defined eugenics as 'the study of
agencies under social control that may improve or impair the racial qualities
of future generations, whether physically or mentally'. These ideas eventually
led to the euthanasia practised by the Nazis and to the Holocaust. They were
also put into practice in a less lethal but still damaging way by many governments,
including those in the US, Britain and Sweden, especially in the treatment
of people with learning difficulties.
Fascism
The name comes from the Latin fasces – a bundle of rods with
a projecting axe, which was the symbol of authority in ancient Rome. The term
was applied by Mussolini to
his movement after his rise to power in 1922. The Fascists were viciously anti-Communist and
anti- liberal and, once in power, relied on an authoritarian
state apparatus. They also used emotive slogans and old prejudices (for example,
against the Jews) to bolster the leader's strongman appeal. Fascism had a direct
influence on Hitler's Nazism. Find
out more
feudalism
Tiered class system of medieval Europe in which land owned by someone of higher
status was lived on and worked by someone of lower status in return for loyal
service. The monarch was at the top of the pyramid, the peasants at the bottom.
Feudalism began on the Continent as far back as the 8th century as a means
of ensuring protection for powerful rulers against other powerful rulers.
During the Middle Ages, certain provinces or countries recognised other kings
as their feudal overlords.
free trade
Also known as laissez-faire (French for 'leave well alone'), free
trade means no taxes on manufacturing goods and no tariffs paid when goods
cross a border. It was an idea dear to the hearts of Victorian manufacturers
and industrialists, who believed that anything that impeded free trade would
reduce their profits. The concept was articulated by the 18th-century Scottish
economist Adam Smith, who argued in The Wealth of Nations (1776) that
trade flourishes best when it is left entirely free of government interference.
genocide
According to the Genocide Convention of 1948, 'genocide means any of
the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a
national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) killing members
of the group; (b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring
about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended
to prevent births within the group; and (e) forcibly transferring children
of the group to another group. Examples of genocide in relatively recent history
include the destruction of the Armenians by the Turks during World War I, the
extermination of European Jewry by the Nazis before and during World War II
(the Holocaust) and the murder of some 800,000 Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994. In
recent times, the term 'ethnic cleansing' has become a 'polite' way
of describing some of the genocidal events that have occurred in, for example,
Kosovo in the former Yugoslavia and East Timor, once part of Indonesia.
guerrillas
From the Spanish for 'little war', the word first described the hit-and-run
rebels who fought against the installation of Napoleon's brother Joseph on
the throne of Spain in 1808. Guerrilla warfare later became the main feature
of the conflicts in such countries as Vietnam and Algeria.
imperialism
Strictly speaking, rule by empire – that is, a powerful country's
policy of acquiring dependent territories as colonies, which can then be exploited
for material or political gain. Imperialism reached its peak in 1914, when
almost 85% of the world's land surface was controlled by a handful of colonial
powers, mostly European, but also including the United States and Japan. Today
the term has come to mean the extension of a powerful country's influence
through trade, diplomacy and the like. Find
out more
industrialisation
The development of industry on a large scale. Industrialism is an economic
system that is based on industry and the mass production of consumer goods.
inflation
The process by which the prices of goods and services rise in terms of money.
In gold or silver inflation, the price of goods in terms of gold or silver
rises, due to an increase in the quantity of gold or silver used as money.
The opposite of inflation is deflation.
Iron Age
In Britain, the period from about 700 BC to AD 43 – following the Bronze
Age and before the Roman period – when the working and use of iron
gradually becomes evident. It is characterised in Britain by the construction
of large fortified hillforts and the full exploitation of the landscape with
numerous farmsteads and extensive field systems. See also ages.
isolationism
A policy of not participating in or withdrawing from international affairs,
especially as practised by US governments during the first half of the 20th
century.
liberalism
A term that gained significance in the 19th century, when it meant the limiting
of government power and the increase of social reform. In the 20th century,
capitalist democracies occasionally described themselves as 'liberal' to
indicate that they didn't attempt to control thought and action to
the same extent as Communist regimes. However, over
time, the term has become derogatory, used by the right wing to denigrate
the left. Find
out more
Marxism
The political and economic theories of the German philosopher Karl
Marx (1818-1883), who predicted the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism by
the lower and working classes and the eventual attainment of a classless communist society.
Mesolithic
The last part of the hunter-gatherer period and the middle part of the Stone
Age, between the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) and the Neolithic (New Stone
Age) when agriculture and animal husbandry were introduced. In Britain, where
it lasted from approximately 10,000 to 4500 BC, it was marked by sophisticated
groups of hunter-gatherers who used spears and harpoons incorporating very
small sharp blades called microliths.
Middle Ages
In Britain, this is usually interpreted by historians as the period between
1066 (the Norman Conquest) and 1485 (the accession of the Tudors). In fact,
the decade 1530-40, which includes the dissolution of the monasteries, was
much more significant and marks a more realistic end to the Middle Ages.
Some archaeologists and historians now use the term 'medieval' for the period,
comprising about 1,000 years, that extends from the end of the Roman occupation
to the time of the Tudors. It can then be divided into the 'early medieval',
lasting up to the Normans, and the 'high medieval' after that. See also Dark
Ages.
mummy
The body of a human being or animal embalmed for burial. Ancient Egypt is particularly
renowned for its mummies, but they have been produced in ancient cultures
throughout the world. Find
out more
nationalism
The belief that groups of people are bound together by territorial, cultural
and (sometimes) ethnic links. Although nationalism developed in the 19th
century and led to the formation of the nations of Germany and Italy, it
was the cause of some of the most dramatic events of the 20th century. Developing
as an ideological response to some of the social, economic and political
uncertainties of the modern world, it was often used by political activists
to mobilise people against their rulers, especially when these were 'foreigners',
as in the Austro-Hungarian empire before World War I.
Neanderthals
The Neanderthals (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) were Stone
Age hunter-gatherers, who lived in Europe 35,000 to 100,000 years ago.
They got their name from the Neander Valley, in Germany, where their first
skeletal remains were discovered in 1856. In Britain, they were supplanted
by modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) about 40,000 years ago. It
is still debated whether the Neanderthals were wiped out violently, died out
naturally as a result of environmental changes or increased competition from
modern humans, or were absorbed through interbreeding. Find
out more
Neolithic
The Neolithic, or New Stone Age, is the last period of the Stone
Age , when many innovations were introduced, including monument building,
the first engineering projects, the use of pottery and, most importantly, the
domestication of plants and animals so that hunter-gathering was no longer
the only or perhaps even the main way of obtaining food. In Britain, the Neolithic
lasted from around 4500 to 2300 BC, and many of the most famous ancient monuments,
including the first phases of construction at Stonehenge and Avebury, date
from this period. See also ages.
Non-conformists
In the historical sense, these are people who dissent from the doctrine of an
established Church. In England, from the 16th century, this meant Protestants
(including Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, Quakers, Unitarians
and Methodists) who refused to observe the doctrine of the Church of England.
The Non-conformists – and the reasons for their becoming Non-conformists – were
major factors in the outbreak of the English
Civil Wars. The restoration of Charles II brought with it harsh legislation
against them, particularly the Act of Uniformity of 1662, which required all
ministers to be ordained within the Church of England. However, in 1689, the
Toleration Act (which called Non-conformists ‘Protestant Dissenters’)
gave some freedom of worship to most Protestants.
oligarchy
From the Greek for 'rule of the few', this is a form of government
in which power is centralised in the hands of an organised élite and
is used for their social and/or economic benefit. Their power is maintained
by force or by the shaping of the law to restrict the people and/or remove
any need to consult them or be accountable to them. Many of the monarchies
established in Europe during the Middle Ages began as oligarchies, with one
family eventually gaining ascendancy over others.
osteology, osteoarchaeology
Osteology is the study of the anatomy and biology of bones and the skeleton
to aid in the identification and cause of death of skeletal remains. Osteoarchaeologists
are osteologists who are trained in archaeological techniques to do with
the recovery of ancient remains. See also anthropology.
Palaeolithic
The term for the Old Stone Age, the immensely long period of hunter-gatherers
extending from the time when humans first evolved until about 10,000 BC.
In Britain, the earliest evidence of human activity dates from approximately
450,000 years ago, although there are long periods (of 100,000 years or more)
when there appears to have been no human presence. The period has been divided
by archaeologists into the Lower (the oldest), Middle and Upper Palaeolithic
to indicate when social and technological developments – mainly increasingly
sophisticated flint tools – occurred. Neanderthals were
supplanted by Homo sapiens, modern humans, during this epoch. See
also ages.
palaeontology
The branch of science that deals with extinct and fossilised animals and plants. Find
out more
plebiscite
A vote of an entire nation or other large political unit on a question
of great importance. As there are no candidates, a plebiscite is not an election.
Instead, people vote yes or no on a proposition, rather like a referendum.
However, whereas the latter is used to get the public to approve (or not) various
public measures or actual laws, ‘plebiscite’ has come to mean a popular
vote concerning changes of sovereignty. Plebiscites are often used by dictatorships
and other undemocratic regimes to give themselves spurious legitimacy.
protectionism
'Protection' means charging foreign traders a tax, or tariff, when their
goods enter your country. In 1815, the British Parliament, which was
dominated by the landed gentry, passed the Corn Laws, which placed
a high tariff on foreign corn (a term for different types of grain,
not just maize) thus making it unprofitable to import. The aim was
to protect British farmers from being undersold by cheaper grain from
the Continent. The Corn Laws, however, did not lead to prosperity,
but to bread shortages and hunger for the working classes.
Protestant
A member of a Western Christian church whose faith and practice are founded
on the principles of the Reformation (see below), especially in
the acceptance of the Bible as the sole source of revelation.
Punic Wars
The three wars between Carthage and Rome – 264-241 BC, 218-202 BC and
149-146 BC – which eventually led to the total destruction of Carthage. Find
out more
Puritan
A radical Protestant. Influenced by European Protestants, and especially by
John Calvin in Switzerland, Puritans emerged in Britain during the mid-1550s.
Essentially fundamentalists, they usually believed in a much stricter version
of religion than prevailed in the state Church. They were often derided as
killjoys because of their opposition to swearing, drunkenness and sexual
licence. Find
out more
Raj, the
The term – from the Hindu word for 'reign' – is used
to describe British sovereignty in India from the mid-18th century until the
establishment of the state of India in 1947. They established a mixed form
of government, ruling that huge country through a network of Indian politicians
and civil servants. As such, the Raj, although outwardly monolithic and magnificent,
always rested precariously on the good will of the Indians.
Reformation
The complex process of the 16th century by which various European countries
stopped being Roman Catholic and became Protestant (see above).
While this was centred on religion, it also had to do with secular power
and wealth, with national monarchs such as Henry
VIII of England wresting control of the English Church (and its riches)
from the pope in Rome.
referendum
A direct vote in which an entire electorate
accepts or rejects a proposal. The term is similar to plebiscite but,
unlike the latter, is usually used to describe decision-making votes on
things of lesser importance than a change of sovereignty – for instance,
constitutional amendments, laws or specific government policies. Although
they can be seen as a form of direct democracy, many politicians believe
that referendums undermine the basis of representative democracy.
regent, Regency
A regent is a person or group selected to govern in place of a monarch or other
ruler who is absent, disabled or too young. The Regency is the name given
to two periods in British history: the political Regency from 1811 to 1820
when George, prince of Wales, took over from his 'mad' father
George III until the latter's death (when the prince became George
IV); and the cultural Regency, which is usually thought to cover the years
following the French Revolution of 1789 to the death of George IV in 1830.
Renaissance
Meaning 'rebirth', this is the name given to the European trend (c.
1400-c. 1600) in which intellectuals and artists developed a passion
for the ancient civilisations of Greece and Rome. Originating in Italy, this
movement of revived classical learning spread all over Europe. Everywhere,
the new ideas that arose from this, including humanism (which put humans, rather
than God or nature, at the centre of the universe), struggled with traditional
superstition and ignorance.
revisionism
Strictly, revisionism is the theory or practice of revising one's attitude
to a previously accepted situation or point of view. In historical terms, it
is usually applied to a new theory that upsets what has been commonly believed
about an era, individual, event and so on. However, in recent years, the term
has become somewhat tarnished by the campaigns by some to change the accepted
views of certain events for ulterior motives. A prominent example of this is Holocaust
denial.
Saxon
A descendant of the Germanic tribes who lived in northern Germany and who,
in the 5th and 6th centuries, invaded and conquered England with the Angles
and Jutes.
socialism
A political and economic theory of social organisation that advocates that
the community as a whole should own and control the means of production.
Stoicism
The most important philosophy in Rome. Its adherents insisted on the importance
of accepting all situations with virtus – toughness or manliness.
It arose from a Greek school of philosophy founded by Zeno in c.
308 BC, and took its name from the porch (stoa) in Athens where
he taught.
Stone Age
A catch-all phrase for the period of human prehistory characterised by the
use of stone tools. In Britain, the Stone Age covers a huge span of time – from
the first traces of human occupation in about 450,000 BC to the first metalworking
at the beginning of the Bronze Age, around 2300 BC.
Archaeologists prefer the more clearly defined periods: Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic,
which are themselves divided up into shorter sub-periods. See also ages.
terrorism
The systematic use of violence to achieve political ends is not new – for instance, it was employed by pro- and anti-slavery fanatics in Kansas before the American Civil War, by anarchists in tsarist Russia and by the Black Hand organisation in the Balkans before World War I. In recent decades, it has become a common tactic among
a wide variety of groups, from independence movements to the secret services
of various countries. Random bombings, shootings and/or 'disappearances' – and
the fear and panic they provoke – put pressure on governments, proving
that they are unable to protect their populations, or can be used by dictatorships
to frighten their people into submission and obedience.
Third World
A name that came into use during the 1960s to distinguish the rest of the world
from the two Cold War power blocs of the capitalist
west (United States and Europe) and the Communist east (Soviet Union, eastern
Europe and China). These were the first and second worlds, respectively;
the rest was the Third World.
Tory
From Toraidhe, Irish for bandit, cattle thief or outlaw, this term
was initially applied pejoratively to the English supporters of the future
James II during the Exclusion Crisis of 1679. 'Tories' later became
the nickname of a political party (later known as the Conservatives) of those
who, by common agreement, were particularly loyal to 'Church and king'. A subsection – the
High Tories – were especially fierce in their devotion to the Church
of England, opposing the union with Scotland because of it. Find
out more
utilitarianism
This philosophy judges everything in terms of its utility or usefulness. When
examining an institution, such as the law, Parliament or the Church, utilitarians
ask the question: Does it work? If the answer is no, then it has to be changed
to make it more effective, or abolished. Utilitarianism was inspired by the
ideas of Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) who believed that humans act out of self-interest
according to the pleasure–pain principle: what motivates people is
the desire to avoid pain and to seek pleasure. To be successful, a social
policy has to offer either reward or punishment, and social reform based
on the pleasure–pain principle will ultimately achieve the 'greatest
happiness of the greatest number'.
Wessex
Anglo-Saxon region of southern England that extended from the Channel to the
river Thames.
Whig
Abbreviation of 'whiggamore', a term applied in Britain to the Scots Covenanters
and then to a developing political party of all those who opposed the future
James II during the Exclusion Crisis of 1679. Their key values were civil
and political liberty. Find
out more
Zionism
Movement founded by the Viennese Jewish journalist Theodor Herzl, who argued
in his 1896 book Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) that the best
way of avoiding anti-Semitism in Europe was to
create an independent Jewish state in Palestine. Zionism was named after
Mount Zion in Jerusalem, a symbol of the Jewish homeland in Palestine since
the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BC. The movement culminated in
the birth of the state of Israel in 1948.
