Unit 6B

African National Congress

Founded in 1912, this was an organization dedicated to obtaining equal voting and civil rights for black inhabitants of South Africa.

Muslim League

Political organization founded in India in 1906 to defend the interests of India's Muslim minority. Led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, it attempted to negotiate with the Indian National Congress and demanded the creation of Pakistan as an independent Muslim state.

Asian Tigers

Collective name for South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore-nations that became economic powers in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ayatollah Khomeini

Shi'ite philosopher and cleric who led the Iranian Revolution that overthrew of the shah of Iran in 1979 and created an Islamic republic.

cultural imperialism

Domination of one culture over another by a deliberate policy or by economic or technological superiority.

Cultural Revolution

Campaign in China ordered by Mao Zedong to purge the Communist Party of his opponents and instill revolutionary values in the younger generation.

Deng Xiaoping

The leader of China and the Communist party following Mao Zedong's death who implemented new policies that led China toward a mix of a socialist and market economy. Although his policies increased the living standards of many, he was known for brutality, like at Tiananmen Square.

Dirty War

War waged by the Argentine military (1976-1982) against socialist groups. Characterized by the use of illegal imprisonment, torture, and executions by the military.

economic sanctions

Boycotts, embargoes, and other economic measures that one country uses to pressure another country into changing its policies.

Eva Peron

Wife of Argentine president and champion of the poor in Argentina. She was a gifted speaker and popular political leader who campaigned to improve the life of the urban poor by founding schools and hospitals and providing other social benefits.

Haile Selassie

Emperor of Ethiopia (r. 1930-1974) and symbol of African independence. He fought the Italian invasion of his country in 1935 and regained his throne during World War II, when British forces expelled the Italians. He ruled Ethiopia as an autocrat.

Indian National Congress

A movement and political party founded in 1885 to demand greater Indian participation in government. Its membership was middle class, and its demands were modest until World War I. Led after 1920 by Mohandas K. Gandhi, it appealed to the poor.

Jawaharial Nehru

Indian politician. He succeeded Mohandas K. Gandhi as leader of the Indian National Congress. He negotiated the end of British colonial rule in India and became India's first prime minister.

Mahatma Gandhi

Leader of the Indian independence movement and advocate of nonviolent resistance. After being educated as a lawyer in England, he returned to India and became leader of the Indian National Congress in 1920.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Indian Muslim politician who founded the state of Pakistan. A lawyer by training, he joined the Muslim League in 1913. As leader of the League from the 1920s on, he negotiated with the British for an independent Pakistan.

NGO's - Nongovernmental Organizations

Nonprofit international organizations devoted to investigating human rights abuses and providing humanitarian relief. Doctors Without Borders is an example.

Saddam Hussein

Former President of Iraq. Waged war on Iran in 1980-1988. In 1990 he ordered an invasion of Kuwait but was defeated by United States and its allies in the Gulf War.

Salvador Allende

Socialist politician who was elected president of Chile in 1970 and overthrown by the military in 1973. He died during the military attack.

Sandinistas

Members of a leftist coalition that overthrew the Nicaraguan dictatorship of Anastasia Somoza in 1979 and attempted to install a socialist economy. The United States financed armed opposition by the Contras. The Sandinistas lost national elections in 1990.

Third World

Term that used to be applied to the group of developing countries around the world.

Tianamen Square

Site in Beijing where Chinese students and workers gathered to demand greater political openness in 1989. The demonstration was crushed by Chinese military with great loss of life.

World Bank

A specialized agency of the United Nations that makes loans to countries for economic development, trade promotion, and debt consolidation. Its formal name is the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

WTO

An international body established in 1995 to foster and bring order to international trade.

Ataturk (Kemal Mustafa)

He founded the modern Turkish Republic out of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire; an empire that was seen as the sick man of Europe at the turn of the century. His modern perspective created a new nation and a country, and a secular state understanding different from most other Islamic countries was introduced by him.

Gamal Nassar

President of Egypt who nationalized the Suez Canal and began to promote pan-Arabism

Indira Gandhi

The daughter of Nehru and the first woman elected as India's Prime Minister. She was later assassinated.

Jomo Kenyatta

A nationalist leader who fought to end oppressive laws against Africans; later became the first Prime Minister of Kenya

Kwame Nkrumah

Leader of nonviolent protests for freedom on the Gold Coast. When independence was gained, he became the first prime minister of Ghana. He develpoped economic projects, but was criticized for spending too much time on Pan-African efforts and neglecting his own countries' issues

Mobutu Seko

He was one of the worst military dictators in African history. He was the "President" of Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1997 and renamed the country Zaire in 1971. He formed an authoritarian regime, amassed vast personal wealth, and attempted to purge the country of all colonial cultural influence while enjoying considerable support by the United States due to his anti-communist stance. Millions died under his regime.

Nelson Mandela

African National Congress leader who was imprisoned by the government of South Africa when he challenged apartheid; he was released in 1990 and elected as president of South Africa in 1994. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993

Osama bin Laden

Founder of al Qaeda, the terrorist network responsible for the attacks of September 11, 2001, and other attacks.

Pol Pot

Leader of Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. Pol Pot is responsible for the deaths of almost 2 million of his own people due to starvation, execution, and beatings. "The Killing Fields"

Yasser Arafat

Former leader of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) who sought to restore a nation of Palestine in the Middle East

Amritsar Massacre

April 3, 1919. British soldiers killed close to 400 unarmed Indian men, women, and children, and wounded 1,100 more. People had gathered in the center of town to protest British occupation of their country, and to demand equality. This was a turning point in British domination of India. Independence movements became very popular and eventually forced India's independence.

Apartheid

A South African policy of complete legal separation of the races, including the banning of all social contacts between blacks and whites.

Decolonization

The collapse of colonial empires. Between 1947 and 1962, practically all former colonies in Asia and Africa gained independence.

Globalization

Creation of a global economy and society through improved communications, transportation, and trade.

Great Leap Forward

China's second five-year plan under the leadership of the impatient Mao Zedong. It aimed to speed up economic development while simultaneously developing a completely socialist society. This plan failed and more than 20 million people starved between 1958 and 1960.

Intifada

an uprising by Palestinian Arabs (in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank) against Israel in the late 1980s and again in 2000

NAFTA

A trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico that encourages free trade between these North American countries.

OPEC

An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the production and sale of petroleum.

Palestine

A territory in the Middle East on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Disputed with Israel.

Sectarian

Limited to the beliefs of a small group, such as a religious group; narrow in scope