History - WWI, WWII, and Revolutions

Total War

A war that requires the mobilization of all of a nation's resources—human, economic, and industrial—in support of the war effort, and which often involves the entire population, including civilians.

Treaty of Versailles

A peace agreement signed in 1919 that ended World War I, imposing heavy reparations and territorial losses on Germany and redrawing the map of Europe.

Reparations

Payments made by a country that has been defeated in war to compensate the victor for the damage caused during the conflict.

14 Points

A proposal by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in 1918 for a just and lasting peace after World War I, including the creation of the League of Nations and principles of self-determination and free trade.

Collective Security

A system in which a group of nations agree to act together to defend any member that is attacked, under the belief that an attack on one is an attack on all.

Democratic Socialism

A political ideology that advocates for a gradual and democratic transition to socialism, with a strong emphasis on political democracy alongside social and economic equality.

Fascism

An authoritarian, nationalistic ideology that promotes dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, strong regimentation of society, and often militarism.

Black Hand

A secret Serbian nationalist group responsible for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, which led to the outbreak of World War I.

Black Shirts

A paramilitary group that supported Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime in Italy, known for their black uniforms and violent suppression of political opponents.

Brown Shirts

The paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party in Germany, also known as the SA (Sturmabteilung), which played a key role in Hitler's rise to power and used violence and intimidation against opponents.

Weimar Republic

The democratic government of Germany from 1919 to 1933, established after World War I and ended with the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Radical Nationalism

A political ideology that emphasizes extreme patriotism and the belief that the nation-state should be the central organizing principle of society, often leading to xenophobia and the suppression of minority groups.

Totalitarian State

A government system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority, and seeks to regulate every aspect of public and private life, often led by a single party or leader.

Socialist Realism

An artistic and cultural movement in the Soviet Union that glorified the achievements of socialism, presenting an idealized image of the life of the working class and the state’s leaders.

Soviet

A political body or council in the former Soviet Union, representing workers, soldiers, or peasants, which played an important role in the Russian Revolution and later in the governance of the USSR.

Cult of the Leader

A political phenomenon in which a leader is idealized and portrayed as infallible, often through propaganda and personal glorification, to maintain power and influence.

Gulag

A system of forced labor camps in the Soviet Union, where political prisoners and others deemed undesirable by the state were subjected to harsh conditions and hard labor.

Kulak

A wealthy peasant in the Soviet Union who owned land and could employ laborers, often targeted by the government during collectivization as enemies of the state.

Marshall Plan

A U.S.-sponsored program to provide economic assistance to Western Europe after World War II to help rebuild economies, prevent the spread of communism, and stabilize governments.

Great Leap Forward

A campaign initiated by Mao Zedong in China (1958-1962) aimed at rapidly transforming China from an agrarian society into an industrialized socialist nation through collectivization and large-scale communes.

Red Guards

A paramilitary group of young students in China during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), who were mobilized to enforce Maoist ideology and attack perceived enemies of the revolution.

Cultural Revolution in China

A social-political movement initiated by Mao Zedong in 1966 to preserve Chinese communism by removing capitalist, traditional, and cultural elements from Chinese society, leading to widespread chaos and persecution.

Socialist Market Economy

An economic system used in China, combining elements of socialism with market-oriented reforms, where state-owned enterprises coexist with private businesses under government oversight.

New Economic Policy

A policy introduced by Lenin in Soviet Russia (1921-1928), allowing for limited market reforms, such as small-scale private enterprise, in order to stabilize the economy after the Russian Civil War.

Prague Spring

A period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia in 1968, marked by attempts to create a more democratic and open society, which was crushed by a Soviet-led invasion.

Glasnost

A policy of openness and transparency introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, aimed at increasing freedom of expression and reducing government censorship.

Perestroika

A political and economic reform program initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s, aimed at restructuring the Soviet economy and improving efficiency through market-like reforms.

Cold War

The period of political and military tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, along with their respective allies, from the late 1940s to the early 1990s, marked by competition for global influence, without direct military confrontation.

Proxy War

A conflict where two or more powers use third parties as substitutes for direct conflict, often to avoid direct confrontation, as seen during the Cold War in places like Korea and Vietnam.

Non-alignment

A foreign policy approach where countries choose not to align themselves with any major power bloc, especially during the Cold War, promoting independence and neutrality in global affairs.

Green Revolution

A series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives in the mid-20th century that increased agricultural production worldwide, particularly through the use of high-yield crop varieties and chemical fertilizers.