AP World History Practice Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards based on lecture notes covering major political, economic, and social terms for AP World History from early state structures to globalization.

State

An organized political unit with defined borders, a government, and the ability to make and enforce laws.

Empire

A large political system that extends control over multiple regions or peoples, often through conquest.

Dynasty

A ruling family that maintains power over multiple generations.

Bureaucracy

A system of government officials who carry out policies and manage daily operations.

Meritocracy

A system in which individuals gain power based on ability, skill, or achievement rather than birth.

Centralization

The concentration of political power in a central authority, such as a monarch or national government.

Decentralization

The distribution of power among regional or local authorities rather than a single central authority.

Tributary system

A system in which weaker states provide goods or payments to a stronger state in exchange for protection or recognition.

Legitimacy

The acceptance of a ruler’s authority as justified and rightful by the people.

Monotheism

Belief in a single, all-powerful god.

Polytheism

Belief in multiple gods, often with different roles or powers.

Syncretism

The blending of elements from different religions or cultures into a new system of beliefs.

Secularism

The principle of separating religion from political authority or government institutions.

Patriarchy

A social system in which men hold primary authority in political, economic, and family life.

Market economy

An economic system where prices and production are determined by supply and demand.

Command economy

An economic system where the government controls production and distribution of goods.

Capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership and profit, with limited government involvement.

Socialism

An economic system where the government controls key industries to reduce inequality.

Communism

A system in which all property is owned collectively and social classes are eliminated.

Mercantilism

An economic policy where governments control trade to increase national wealth, often through exports.

Diaspora

The spread of people from their homeland to new regions, often maintaining cultural connections.

Diffusion

The spread of ideas, goods, or cultural practices between societies.

Absolutism

A system of government in which a ruler holds total, unchecked power.

Constitutionalism

A system where government authority is limited by laws or a constitution.

Interchangeable Parts

Identical machine components that can be substituted one for another.

John Locke

An Enlightenment philosopher who believed government power comes from the people and must protect their basic rights.

Labor Unions

Organizations of workers that advocate for the right to bargain with employers and put resulting agreements in a contract.

Laissez-faire

A belief that economic activity should operate with minimal government interference.

Mass Production

The manufacture of many identical products by the division of labor into many small repetitive tasks which made goods cheaper, more abundant, and more easily accessible.

Proletariat

The group of people who work for wages, especially in industrial jobs, rather than owning property or businesses.

Reign of Terror

A period during the French Revolution in which the government executed thousands of opponents of the revolution.

Nationalism

A strong sense of pride and loyalty to one’s nation or ethnic group.

Imperialism

The extension of a country’s power through territorial expansion or political influence.

Colonialism

The settlement and direct rule of one region by people from another land.

Sovereignty

The authority of a state to govern itself without outside interference.

Totalitarianism

A system in which the government controls all aspects of public and private life.

Authoritarianism

A system where leaders hold strong power but may allow limited freedoms.

Bourgeoisie

The social class made up of people who own businesses, property, and wealth, especially in an industrial economy.

Industrialization

Increased mechanization of production; the process of building an economy based on factories and machines rather than agriculture and hand labor.

Monopoly

A market situation in which a single business dominates an industry and controls supply and prices.

Berlin Conference

A meeting of several European powers to discuss the orderly colonization of Africa in which colonial boundaries and trade movements were established.

Boxer Rebellion

A violent, armed uprising in China that sought to drive all foreigners from China from $1899$ to $1901$.

British East India Company

A monopolistic trading body established by the British which exploited Southeast Asia and India for trade; it was a catalyst for the spread of British influence.

Berlin Airlift

The effort by the United States and Britain to ship by air $2.3 million$ tons of supplies to the residents of the Western-controlled sectors of Berlin as a response to a Soviet blockade.

Brinkmanship

Pushing a situation close to war to scare the other side into backing down.

Cold War

A conflict that does not involve any direct military confrontation between two or more rival states.

The Enclosure Movement

A movement in England to take land that was public land and change it to privately owned land usually encircled with walls, fences, or hedges.

Economic Imperialism

When foreign business interests have great economic power and influence which takes advantage of natural resources outside their borders.

Ethnic Enclaves

Groups or neighborhoods of people from the same foreign country.

Export Economies

Many colonies turned into centers of production that focused on sending their raw materials or products elsewhere.

Opium War

From $1839$ to $1842$ war waged between the Chinese and British over the Chinese government’s objection to the importation of opium.

Treaty of Nanking

After the Opium War, this treaty required China to open ports to foreigners, give HongKong to Britain, allow the trade of opium, and pay damages.

White Man’s Burden

White Europeans claimed responsibility for caring for and civilizing natives of their respective colonies.

Balfour Declaration

British document that promised land in Palestine as homeland for Jews in exchange for help in World War I.

Chiang Kai-shek

Took control of the Nationalist party in $1925$ and initiated the Chinese Civil War when he attacked Mao’s forces.

Final Solution

The Nazi program of exterminating Jews under Hitler that was decided at the Berlin conference.

Fourteen Points

Woodrow Wilson’s plan to establish lasting peace after World War I.

Mandate System

A system established through the League of Nations that allowed for the Allies to rule the colonies and territories of the Central Powers.

Mao Zedong

Leader of the Chinese Communist party and founder of the People’s Republic of China in $1949$.

Neville Chamberlain

Prime Minister of Great Britain from $1940$ who was famous for appeasing Hitler at the Munich Conference.

Reparations

Payments or compensation given to make up for harm or damage, usually after a war, injustice, or wrongdoing.

Salt March

Organized by Mohandas Gandhi where many Indians protested the British tax on salt by marching to the sea to make their own salt.

Total war

When a country puts everything it has into winning a war, including civilians and the economy.

Communes

A group of people living together and sharing possessions and responsibilities.

Glasnost

A policy of openness that allowed more freedom to speak and criticize the Soviet government.

Great Leap Forward

The economic policy of Mao Zedong introduced in $1958$ which proposed small-scale industrialization projects integrated into peasant communities and resulted in economic disaster.

Iron Curtain

A political barrier that isolated the peoples of Eastern Europe after World War II, restricting their ability to travel outside the region.

Marshall Plan

Offered $12 billion$ in aid to European countries to modernize industry, reduce trade barriers, and rebuild infrastructure.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

An alliance between the US, England, France, Canada, and Western European countries made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country.

Alzheimer’s Disease

A form of dementia that became a concern after people began living longer.

Americanization

A phenomenon in which people all over the world learned more about the U.S. than Americans learned about the rest of the world.

Apartheid

A South African system instituted in $1948$ that enforced the segregation of people based on race.

Asian Tigers

A group of countries including Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan that had economic models closely following Japan’s and lifted people from poverty.

Deng Xiaoping

The leader of China in $1981$ under whom the Communist Party more actively promoted economic growth as opposed to economic equality.

Green Revolution

The development of new varieties of wheat, rice, and other grains that had higher yields and better resistance to pests, diseases, and drought.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

A foundational document adopted by the UN in $1948$ which laid out basic rights and fundamental freedoms for all human beings.

Tiananmen Square protests

$1989$ student-led protests in China for democracy that were ended by a violent government crackdown.

Transnational corporation

A company that does business and produces goods in many different countries.

Demographic transition

The shift from high birth/death rates to low ones as a country develops and becomes more connected to the global economy.

Proxy War

A war in which a major power helps bring about conflict between other nations but does not always fight directly.