Virginia Woolf: Key Terms and Events

Terms

Allies
Alliance of countries that was victorious in World War One: Belgium, France, Russia, Serbia, Great Britain, Japan, and America.)
Bloomsbury Group
The appellation given to a group of friends-painters, writers, philosophers and economists-that made the London neighborhood of Bloomsbury its home. Active mainly between 1904 and 1941. Members included Virginia and Leonard Woolf, Clive and Vanessa Bell, Roger Fry, Lytton Strachey, John Maynard Keyes and Duncan Grant, among others.
Central Powers
Alliance of countries that lost World War One to the Allies: Germany, Austro-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.
Fascism
A governmental philosophy which holds the state and nation superior to the masses, and dictates state control over nearly every facet of private and public life. Used first by Mussolini's political party, but also a fair description of the tenets of the Nazi party.
Hogarth Press
The publishing house founded by Leonard and Virginia Woolf. Published many of the era's greatest writers when they were unknowns, such as T.S. Eliot, E.M. Forster, Katherine Mansfield, Sigmund Freud and Gorki.
Manic-Depression
Also called Bi-polar Disorder, manic-depression is characterized by manic episodes–in which the patient is highly agitated-and periods of dark depression. Virginia Woolf likely suffered from manic-depression
Modernism
School of literary technique and thought in which writers believed new forms of expression were necessary to relay the realities of a modern and fractured world. Virginia Woolf, one of the most eminent Modernist writers, utilized stream-of-consciousness writing, for example, to convey a character's interior thoughts. Contemporaries included James Joyce and D.H. Lawrence.
Nazi Party
Also called National Socialism, the Nazi Party was the party of Adolph Hitler and ruled Germany from 1933 until 1945. Adhered to doctrines of racial "purity" and racial inequality.
Socialism
A political and economy theory, which promotes collective or government owned and operated production and distribution systems. Reliant on mass cooperation and social service rather than the independent spirit of capitalism.

Events

Battle of Britain

A series of air battles fought between Great Britain and Germany between August and October of 1940. Considered a prelude to a German invasion of England, Britain managed to fend off the German forces, despite heavy night bombings of London and other English cities.
First Post-Impressionist Exhibition

An art exhibition held in 1910 at the London Museum, curated by Roger Fry. It featured works by artists like Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso and caused a major scandal in the London art scene.
World War One

Also known as the Great War, a conflict lasting from 1914–1918 between the Allies (Britain, America, France, Russia, Japan, Serbia and Belgium) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austro-Hungary and Ottoman Empire). It was, at that point, the largest war in world history.