Ch. 12 Study Guide: Milestones, 1900-1950

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the major milestones, ideologies, and conflicts between 1900 and 1950, including both World Wars, the Russian Revolution, and the Great Depression.

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The long-term causes of World War I: militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The Austrian heir whose assassination by a Serbian nationalist served as the short-term spark for World War I.

Trench warfare

A military tactic used in WWI consisting of fighting from man-made ditches, which led to high casualties and stalemate.

Total war

The mobilization of entire populations and all national resources, including political propaganda and art, for the purpose of waging war.

Treaty of Versailles ($1919$)

The peace settlement ending WWI that dealt harshly with Germany, leading to economic and psychological devastation.

Armenian genocide

A $20^{th}$ century mass atrocity occurring from $1915$-$16$ involving the systematic killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

Bolsheviks

The radical communist party that seized power in Russia during the second of two revolutions in $1917$.

Totalitarianism

A system where the state exercises total control over government, the economy, culture, and society.

Great Purges

A period in the late $1930s$ in the Soviet Union where real or perceived enemies of the state were ruthlessly eliminated.

Collectivization

The Soviet economic policy of seizing private agricultural land to create state-run farms, resulting in the deaths of millions.

Socialist realism

The state-sanctioned artistic and literary style in the USSR that required art to conform to communist party ideals.

Five Year Plans

Soviet government policies implemented by Joseph Stalin to control the national economy and prioritize rapid industrialization in heavy industry.

Great Depression

An economic catastrophe beginning with the US stock market crash in October $1929$ caused by speculative buying.

Fascism

An intensely nationalistic, authoritarian ideology that emerged in Italy and Germany to challenge liberal democracy.

Nazism

The German expression of fascism that included extreme racism and anti-Semitism as defining features.

Blitzkrieg

A WWII military tactic (lightning war) involving the use of tanks, airplanes, and infantry in rapid, coordinated attacks.

Decolonization

The process of African and Asian colonies gaining independence, which accelerated in the aftermath of WWII.

Mao Zedong

The leader of the communist revolution in China who established the People's Republic in $1949$.

League of Nations mandates

A system after WWI that transferred former German colonies to the control of Great Britain and France.

United Nations

An international organization formed after WWII with the goal of maintaining world peace and facilitating cooperation.