World History Final Exam Review

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering major historical figures, events, and movements from the Rise of Islam through Post-WWII decolonization and modern conflicts.

Shi’ah/Sunni split

The historical division and separation within Islam.

Five pillars

Prayer, Pilgramage, Fasting, Charity, Glory to Allah

Genghis Khan

The founder and leader of the Mongols.

Magna Carta

A significant medieval document from 1215 that limited the power of the English monarchy.

Black Death/Plague

The pandemic that struck Medieval Europe.

Gutenberg

The inventor of the printing press during the Renaissance.

Machiavelli

A Renaissance political philosopher and author of 'The Prince'.

Bosch

A notable Renaissance painter known for detailed and symbolic trypdychs.

Predestination

The theological doctrine associated with John Calvin, suggesting that one's salvation is predetermined.

Ignatius Loyola

The leader and founder of the Jesuits during the Counter Reformation.

Middle Passage

The stage of the triangular trade in which millions of Africans were shipped to the New World as part of the Atlantic slave trade.

Heliocentric Theory

The astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun.

Copernicus

The astronomer who first formulated a scientifically based heliocentric cosmology.

Columbian Exchange

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Americas and the Old World.

Laissez-Faire

An economic philosophy of government non-interference in the market, advocated by Adam Smith.

Candide

The famous satiric work written by the Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire.

Bourgeoisie/Proletariat

The two conflicting social classes in Marxist theory, consisting of the owners of the means of production and the wage laborers.

Bismarck

The leader responsible for the unification of Germany through wars with Austria and France.

Garibaldi

A key figure and military leader in the unification of Italy.

Schlieffen Plan

The German military strategy intended to ensure a quick victory in World War I by invading through neutral Belgium.

Collectivization

Stalin’s policy of forcibly consolidating individual peasant households into collective farms.

Great Purge/Terror Famine

The campaigns of political repression and state-induced famine under Stalin's rule.

Appeasement

The diplomatic policy of making political or material concessions to an aggressive power to avoid conflict, associated with Hitler's rise.

Operation Barbarossa

The code name for the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II.

Containment

The Cold War foreign policy of the United States and its allies to prevent the spread of communism.

M.A.D.

Mutually Assured Destruction; a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two or more opposing sides would cause the complete annihilation of both.

Pol Pot/Khmer Rouge

The leader and the radical communist movement that ruled Cambodia and carried out a genocide.

Biafra

The secessionist state that sought independence during the Nigerian Civil War.

Hutu/Tutsi

The two ethnic groups involved in the Rwandan Genocide.

Great Leap Forward

Mao Zedong’s economic and social campaign aimed at rapidly transforming China into a socialist society through industrialization and collectivization.

Cultural Revolution

A sociopolitical movement in China set in motion by Mao Zedong to preserve 'true' Communist ideology.

Deng Xiaoping

The Chinese leader who succeeded Mao and implemented economic reforms.

Tenth Circle of Hell

A reading concerning the breakup of Yugoslavia.