Cambridge IGCSE History 0470 - Option B: International Relations from 1919

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key international relations topics from Option B of the Cambridge IGCSE History 0470 syllabus (2024–2026), including the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations, Hitler's foreign policy, the Cold War, US containment, and Soviet control over Eastern Europe.

The Big Three

The three major Allied leaders who shaped the peacemaking process at Versailles: Woodrow Wilson, Georges Clemenceau, and David Lloyd George.

Treaty of Versailles

The 1919 peace treaty ending World War I with Germany that had significant social, economic, and political impacts on Germany up to the end of 1923.

League of Nations

An international organization established after the First World War tasked with peacekeeping and humanitarian work covering refugees, health, working conditions, and slavery.

Vilna 1920

An early peacekeeping conflict between Poland and Lithuania handled by the League of Nations in 1920.

Aaland Islands 1920–21

A territorial dispute resolved by the League of Nations as part of its peacekeeping efforts in the 1920s.

Corfu 1923

A diplomatic and military crisis between Greece and Italy in 1923 that challenged the League of Nations' peacekeeping authority.

Bulgaria 1925

A Greek-Bulgarian border dispute in 1925 that served as an example of successful peacekeeping intervention by the League of Nations.

Manchurian crisis

A major conflict in the 1930s precipitated by Japanese expansion that demonstrated the League of Nations' inability to stop major aggression.

Abyssinian crisis

A crisis during the 1930s resulting from Italy's invasion of Abyssinia that critically undermined the credibility of the League of Nations.

Appeasement

The diplomatic policy of making concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid war in Europe.

Remilitarisation of the Rhineland

The re-entry of German military forces into the Rhineland in violation of international agreements as part of Hitler's foreign policy.

Rome–Berlin Axis

The coalition and alliance formed between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during the interwar period.

Anti-Comintern Pact

An international pact directed against the communist International (Comintern), established between Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Anschluss

The political unification of Austria into Nazi Germany as part of Hitler's foreign policy aims.

Munich Agreement

The 1938 settlement reached to resolve the crisis over Czechoslovakia that permitted Germany to annex the Sudetenland.

Nazi–Soviet Pact

The non-aggression agreement signed between Germany and the USSR in August 1939 prior to the invasion of Poland and outbreak of war.

Berlin Blockade

The Soviet blockade of Western access to Berlin during the post-WWII occupation of Germany, which intensified Cold War tensions.

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a Western military defense alliance created to counter Soviet expansionism in Europe.

Warsaw Pact

A collective military alliance formed by the USSR and its Eastern European satellite states in response to NATO.

Korean War (1950–53)

A conflict initiated by North Korea's invasion of South Korea that involved UN forces and marked a key test of US containment policy.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A dangerous confrontation in 1962 between the United States and the Soviet Union arising after the Cuban Revolution.

Vietnam War (1955–75)

A military conflict characterized by extensive United States involvement, tactical struggles, and ultimate withdrawal in an effort to contain communism.

Berlin Wall

A physical barrier built in 1961 separating East and West Berlin that symbolized Soviet control over Eastern Europe.

Solidarity

An independent trade union movement in Poland that contributed significantly to the decline of Soviet influence in Eastern Europe.

Mikhail Gorbachev

The Soviet leader whose reforms and governance were central to the collapse of Soviet control over Eastern Europe around 1989.