Tabula rasa (Blank slate) - John Locke's idea that humans are born with no innate ideas, and that identity is defined by events after birth.
Taille - A direct land tax on the French peasantry in ancien régime France.
T.E. Lawrence(1888-1935) - also known as Lawrence of Arabia; a British liaison officer during the Arab Revolt of 1916?1918.
Tennis Court Oath(1789) - A pledge by France's Third Estate to continue to meet until a constitution had been written; may be considered the birth of the French Revolution.
Thirty Years' War(1618-1648) - Conflict principally taking place in the Holy Roman Empire involving a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics, fought for the self-preservation of the Hapsburg dynasty.
Thomas Hobbes(1588-1679) - English political philosopher advocating an authoritarian version of the social contract (absolutism).
Thomas Malthus(1766?1834) - English economist who, in An Essay on the Principle of Population, predicted that increasing population growth would cause a massive food shortage.
Thomas Newcomen(1664-1729) - English inventor of the Newcomen engine, a steam engine for pumping water out of mines.
Tory - A member of the British Conservative party.
Totalitarianism - A form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life.
Treaties of Tilsit(1807) - Treaties ending war between Russia and France; began a powerful secret alliance between the two countries.
Treaty of Versailles(1919) - Peace treaty created by the Paris Peace Conference; which officially ended World War I.
Trotsky, Leon(1879-1940) - Bolshevik revolutionary, early Soviet Union politician, and founding member of the Politburo; expelled from the Communist Party after a power struggle with Stalin.
Truman Doctrine(1947) - Harry S. Truman's statement initiating the U.S. policy of containment toward Russia.
