Western worldThe Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and states in the regions of Australasia, Europe, and the Americas. The Western world likewise is called the Occident () in contrast to the Eastern world known as the Orient (). The West is considered an evolving concept; made up of cultural, political, and economic synergy among diverse groups of people, and not a rigid region with fixed borders and members. Definitions for "Western world" vary according to context and perspectives.
War of the Austrian SuccessionThe War of the Austrian Succession (Österreichischer Erbfolgekrieg) was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic, and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's War in North America, the War of Jenkins' Ear, the First Carnatic War, and the First and Second Silesian Wars. The pretext for the war was the right of Maria Theresa to succeed her father, Emperor Charles VI, as ruler of the Habsburg monarchy.
House of BourbonThe House of Bourbon (ˈbʊərbən, also UKˈbɔrbɒn; buʁbɔ̃) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France and is a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century, and by the 18th century, members of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma. Today Spain and Luxembourg have monarchs of the House of Bourbon. The royal Bourbons originated in 1272, when Robert, the youngest son of King Louis IX of France, married the heiress of the lordship of Bourbon.
Crimean WarThe Crimean War was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Sardinia-Piedmont. Geopolitical causes of the war included the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the expansion of the Russian Empire in the preceding Russo-Turkish Wars, and the British and French preference to preserve the Ottoman Empire to maintain the balance of power in the Concert of Europe.
HegemonyHegemony (hɪˈdʒɛməni, hɪˈɡɛməni, ˈhɛdʒəmoʊni) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states. Hegemony can be regional or global. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the hegemon city-state over other city-states. In the 19th century, hegemony denoted the "social or cultural predominance or ascendancy; predominance by one group within a society or milieu" and "a group or regime which exerts undue influence within a society".
