World History Review

World History Vocabulary Flashcards

Kangxi

Chinese Emperor who returned China to isolationism, cutting themselves off from trade and contact with outsiders.

Qing Dynasty

Established after the 1644 Manchu invasion of Beijing which ended the Ming dynasty.

Religious Syncretism

The blending of religions; an example of religious syncretism is Zen Buddhism, which is a combination of Shinto and Buddhism.

Three Unifiers

Three powerful daimyo, known as the “Three Unifiers”, unified Japan and brought an end to feudalism: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Gunpowder Empires

From 1300 to 1700, three “Gunpowder Empires” dominated parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia: The Ottoman Empire (Turkey), The Safavid Empire (Iran), The Mughal Empire (India).

Suleyman the Magnificent

The greatest Ottoman sultan who came to power in 1520.

Divine Faith

A religion created by Mughal leader Akbar which was an example of syncretism because it blended ideas from Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism.

Divine Right

The idea that God created the monarchy and kings answered only to God, not the people.

The Enlightenment

A time period when European philosophers began rethinking old ideas about government, religion, and economics.

Philosophes

The intellectuals of the Enlightenment were called philosophes; they shared some basic beliefs: (1) Truth could be discovered by using logic and reason (2) Everything could be explained by observing universal truths known as natural laws (3) Life should be enjoyed (4) People are born with natural rights (personal freedoms that protect liberty).

John Locke

Believed that people are born with natural rights: rights to life, liberty, and property. He said that the purpose of government was to protect citizens’ natural rights.

Voltaire

Argued for certain rights such as freedom of speech and religion; he criticized intolerance, prejudice, and oppression and once said: 'I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.'

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A Swiss philosophe who believed in individual freedom and that people are naturally good, but too much power corrupts them.

Estates

France’s unequal social hierarchy that was made up of three classes.

Maximilien Robespierre

Revolution leader who executed 30,000 “traitors” during the era known as the Reign of Terror (until he, too, was executed).

coup d'etat

In 1799, Napoleon staged a coup d'etat (overthrow) of the French republic and assumed power as dictator.

Congress of Vienna

When Napoleon was defeated in 1815, European leaders met at the Congress of Vienna to restore peace and bring stability back to Europe; these leaders wanted to restore kings’ power.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Wanted a unified Italy under a republic style of government and named his forces the 'Redshirts'.

Otto von Bismarck

Prime Minister of Prussia in the 1860s whose goal was the unification of the German states under the leadership of Prussia.

Nationalism

Loyalty and devotion to a nation of people. It is a sense of national identity exalting one nation above all others. It can be defined as pride in one’s nation, and it can also be defined as the desire of an ethnic group to have its own country.

Industrial Revolution

Refers to the time period when there was a huge increase of machine-made goods, which replaced work done by hand.

James Watt

Invented the first steam engine in 1765.

Henry Bessemer

Invented a cheap process for making steel (which is stronger than iron).

Monopoly

A situation where ONE company owns all of a type of product or service; there is NO competition.

Laissez-faire

Capitalists like Adam Smith believe governments should have “laissez-faire” (hands off) principles and avoid heavy taxes, regulations, or interference in business.

Socialism

Believe that the community or the state should own property and the means of production and strives for equality in society and ending poverty by redistributing wealth from rich capitalists to the poor workers

Communism

A radical form of socialism introduced by Karl Marx. With communism, there would be no more private property and the people would own all means of productions.

Imperialism

The seizure of a country or territory by a stronger country. The stronger country dominates weaker countries politically, economically, and socially. The reason: the stronger country gains power with the money it makes from using the weaker country.

Cash crops

Non-food products like tea and cotton.

Opium Wars

Wars between China and Britain from 1839-1842. Britain used its modern navy to easily win the wars after China declared war on Britain for the British refusal to end the opium trade.

Boxer Rebellion

In 1900, frustrated Chinese led the Boxer Rebellion to expel foreigners from China. The growth of foreign influence, poverty among peasants, and Christianity upset many Chinese.

Commodore Matthew Perry

In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry of the U.S. Navy arrived in Tokyo Harbor with four well-armed steamships and demanded that the Japanese trade with the United States.

Total War

Nations committed to TOTAL WAR to win World War I (1) Factories were converted to make war equipment (2) Resources were rationed (limited) in order to prioritize military needs (3) Propaganda was created to generate support for the war (4) People were drafted into military service.

Treaty of Versailles

On June 28, 1919, Germany and the major Allied Powers signed the Treaty of Versailles, ending World War I: Germany was forced to accept blame for the war and pay huge reparations.

Vladimir Lenin

Inspired by the ideas of Karl Marx and his “Communist Manifesto”, Vladimir Lenin led the Bolsheviks in the Russian Revolution of 1917 whose message of “peace, land, and bread” helped him gain popularity among the Russian people.

Joseph Stalin

Turned the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state and created a series of Five Year Plans to overhaul the Soviet economy and improve industry.

Cubism

New abstract art, like Pablo Picasso’s cubism (using geometric shapes)…

Surrealism

…and Salvador Dali’s surrealism (dream-like art), reacted against traditional art forms.

Appeasement

Britain and France used appeasement with Hitler: they gave in to his territorial demands in order to avoid war with Germany.

Hideki Tojo

Extreme nationalism and a need for raw materials led to a desire to expand in Japan under military dictator Hideki Tojo.

The Holocaust

Refers to the systematic murder in Europe of the Jewish people and other groups deemed “inferior” before and during World War II The extermination was carried out by the German Nazis at the order of Adolf Hitler.

Cold War

The “Cold War” was the rivalry between the US and the USSR (or Soviet Union) where they competed militarily and economically.

Iron Curtain

Nickname for the boundary between democratic/capitalist Western Europe from communist/totalitarian Eastern Europe

Domino Theory

The USA was afraid of a “domino theory” in which communist nations make their neighbors fall to communism; this was the reason for U.S. intervention in Korea and Vietnam during the Cold War.

Détente

In the 1970s, President Nixon's policy of Détente (easing Cold War tensions) replaced brinkmanship

Mohandas Gandhi

Emerged as the leader of the Indian independence movement against European imperialism in the 1920s.

Pan-Africanism

Unity among ALL Africans in the hopes of creating a “United States of Africa” (which would make the entire continent of Africa into one single nation).

Apartheid

Apartheid laws created strict racial segregation (total separation of races) between blacks and whites in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela

The anti-apartheid leader.

Ethnic cleansing

Ridding a nation of certain ethnic groups; in this case the victims of the cleansing were Bosnian Muslims, who were imprisoned and murdered by the Serbians.

Ataturk

Kemal was elected Turkey’s first president in 1923 and became known as “Ataturk” (Father of the Turks). As President, Kemal transformed Turkey into a modern nation, promoting reforms and modernization.

PLO

An organization (Palestinian Liberation Organization) called the PLO used suicide bombings against Israel in an effort to drive the Jews out of the region.

Terrorism

When people or groups use violence and fear to bring change to a government or society.

Al-Qaeda

The deadliest terrorist organization in recent history. Which was formed by Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian from a wealthy family.

Globalization

Globalization led to an increase in multi-national corporations.