WHAP- Vocab List #8

Sepoys

Indian soldiers employed by the British East India Company

British Raj

Period of direct British rule over India from 1858 to 1947

Robert Clive

British official who helped establish Company control in India after the Battle of Plassey

Nabobs

British officials who became wealthy in India and returned to Britain with fortunes

Isandhlwana

1879 battle where Zulu forces defeated the British in southern Africa

tropical dependencies

Colonies in tropical regions focused on exporting raw materials to imperial powers

settlement colonies

Colonies where large numbers of Europeans settled permanently

extraction (economic)

Economic system focused on removing raw materials for export

Boer Republics

Independent states founded by Dutch settlers in southern Africa

Cecil Rhodes

British imperialist who promoted expansion in southern Africa

Captain James Cook

British explorer who mapped the Pacific and claimed territories for Britain

Father Miguel de Hidalgo

Priest who initiated Mexico’s independence movement

Augustin de Iturbide

Mexican leader who secured independence and briefly ruled as emperor

Simon Bolivar

Revolutionary leader who led independence movements in northern South America

Gran Colombia

Short-lived republic formed after independence in northern South America

Jose de San Martin

Revolutionary leader who helped liberate southern South America

Pedro I

First emperor of independent Brazil

Caudillos

Military strongmen who dominated politics in post-independence Latin America

Centralists

Supporters of strong centralized national governments

Federalists

Supporters of regional autonomy and decentralized government

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

Mexican general and political leader during the 19th century

Monroe Doctrine

U.S. policy opposing European interference in the Americas

guano

Bird droppings used as fertilizer, central to Peru’s export economy

positivism

Philosophy emphasizing science and order as paths to progress

Mexican-American War

Conflict between the U.S. and Mexico resulting in U.S. territorial expansion

Benito Juarez

Liberal Mexican president who promoted constitutional reform

Porfirio Diaz

Mexican ruler whose long dictatorship emphasized modernization and order

Spanish-American War

1898 war that resulted in U.S. overseas empire

Panama Canal

Canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, controlled by the U.S. after construction

Mahmud II

Ottoman sultan who pursued military and administrative reforms

Tanzimat Reforms

Ottoman reform program aimed at modernization and centralization

Abdul Hamid

Ottoman sultan who ruled autocratically after the Tanzimat

Ottoman Society for Union and Progress

Reformist group that pushed constitutionalism in the Ottoman Empire

Muhammad Ali (of Egypt)

Ottoman governor who modernized Egypt’s military and economy

Suez Canal

Canal linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas, critical to global trade

Khartoum

Sudanese city where British forces were defeated by Islamic rebels

Mahdi

Islamic leader who led a rebellion against Egyptian and British rule

banner armies

Military-social organization of the Qing dynasty

Qing

China’s final imperial dynasty

Kangxi

Powerful Qing emperor who expanded and stabilized the empire

Opium Wars

Conflicts between Britain and China over trade and opium

Taiping Rebellion

Massive civil war in China led by a religious movement

Hong Xiuquan

Leader of the Taiping Rebellion who claimed divine inspiration

self-strengthening movement

Chinese reform effort blending Western technology with Confucian values

Cixi

Qing empress dowager who resisted major reform

Boxer Rebellion

Anti-foreign uprising in China targeting missionaries and imperialists

Sun Yat-sen

Revolutionary leader who helped overthrow the Qing dynasty

Crimean War

Conflict exposing Russian weakness against European powers

zemstvoes

Local elected councils introduced in Russia

Trans-Siberian railroad

Railway connecting western Russia to Siberia and the Pacific

Intelligentsia

Educated class critical of autocratic rule in Russia

anarchists

Revolutionaries who rejected all forms of government

Bolsheviks

Marxist revolutionary group led by Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov

Lenin’s real name, leader of the Bolsheviks

Duma

Russian legislative assembly created after 1905

kulaks

Wealthier Russian peasants

Commodore Matthew Perry

U.S. naval officer who forced Japan to open trade

Diet (Japan)

Japanese parliament created during modernization

Zaibatsu

Powerful Japanese industrial and financial conglomerates

Sino-Japanese War

Conflict establishing Japan as a major imperial powe