World History Review Flashcards

Key vocabulary and concepts from World War I, the Interwar Period, World War II, and related global events.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

His assassination in 1914 sparked World War I.

MAIN Causes of WWI

Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism

Allied Powers (WWI)

Britain, France, Russia (until 1917), later joined by the U.S. and Italy

Central Powers (WWI)

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria

Western Front (WWI)

Characterized by trench warfare and stalemates, especially in France and Belgium.

Eastern Front (WWI)

More mobile warfare; Russia vs. Germany and Austria-Hungary.

WWI Propaganda

Used to recruit soldiers, finance war, demonize the enemy, and boost morale.

Treaty of Versailles

Punished Germany harshly, contributing to resentment and economic hardship that fueled WWII.

Dawes Plan (1924)

U.S. plan to help Germany pay reparations by restructuring its economy and loans.

The Great Depression (1929)

A global economic crisis that led to mass unemployment and the rise in extremist ideologies.

Satyagraha

Gandhi's non-violent philosophy.

Stalinism

Authoritarian communist rule characterized by Five-Year Plans, purges, censorship, collectivization.

Totalitarianism

A form of government with dictatorship, control of media, secret police, propaganda, and no political freedoms.

Rape of Nanjing (1937)

Massacre of 300,000+ Chinese by Japanese soldiers involving rape, murder, and other atrocities.

Axis Powers (WWII)

Germany, Italy, Japan.

Allied Powers (WWII)

U.S., Britain, Soviet Union, France (Free French), China.

Operation Barbarossa

Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941; a major strategic mistake.

D-Day (June 6, 1944)

Allied invasion of Normandy, France; began the liberation of Western Europe.

The Holocaust

Genocide of 6 million Jews by Nazis through ghettos, camps, and gas chambers.

Nuremberg Laws (1935)

Stripped Jews of citizenship and rights in Nazi Germany.

Kristallnacht (1938)

“Night of Broken Glass”; pogrom against Jews, shops and synagogues destroyed.

Establishment of the UN (1945)

Formed after WWII to prevent future wars, promote peace, and human rights.

Armenian Genocide (1915)

Ottoman Turks killed approximately 1.5 million Armenians during WWI; one of the first modern genocides.

Pan-Africanism

A movement promoting the unity of African peoples.

Negritude

A literary/political movement celebrating African culture.