AP World Chapter 12 Vocab

I'm cooked

Cold War

A period of political hostility between the Soviet Union and the US and their respective allies from 1945-1991 characterized by threats, propaganda, and other measures that don't involve direct warfare with the other country.

European Economic Community

An international organization of European countries formed in 1957 after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members; gave its members some economic stability and prosperity and led to most of Europe adopting the Euro.

Marshall Plan

A United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe that is today worth over $120 billion and worked really well; motivated by some humanitarian reasons but also to prevent another depression. to undermine Europe's communist states, and to demonstrate the US global leadership.

Mao Zedong

(1893-1976) Leader of the Communist Party in China that overthrew Jiang Jieshi and the Nationalists; established China as the People's Republic of China and ruled from 1949 until 1976.

Chinese Communist Party

Communist party of China that took over after the Nationalist party and was led by Mao Zedong.

Collectivization of Agriculture

The forcible consolidation of individual peasant farms into large state-controlled enterprises in the Soviet Union under Stalin and in China under Mao Zedong; however, it was much more peaceful in China than in the Soviet Union.

Great Leap Forward

China's economic and social campaign that aimed to speed up economic development while simultaneously developing a completely socialist society; the plan failed and possibly 30 million people starved due to famine induced by failure of collectivization of agriculture.

Cultural Revolution

Campaign in China ordered by Mao Zedong in the mid-1960's to purge the Communist Party of his capitalist opponents, provide education and healthcare, and continue rural industrialization.

Red Guards

The youths who led Mao's Cultural Revolution instilled to rid China of capitalists; terrorized Chinese citizens with giant rallies and tons of violence, nearly starting another civil war.

NATO

A military alliance and mutual defense agreement created in 1949 that brought the US together with various Western European countries threatened by the Soviets.

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance created to counter NATO that was signed in 1955 between Eastern European countries behind the Iron Curtain; USSR, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.

Proxy Wars

During the Cold War, local or regional wars in which the superpowers armed, trained, and financed the combatants without having to directly fight each other.

Korean War

(1950-1953) Conflict that began with North Korea's invasion of South Korea and came to involve the United Nations (primarily the United States) allying with South Korea and the People's Republic of China allying with North Korea.

Vietnam War

A prolonged war (1954-1975) between the communist armies of North Vietnam who were supported by the Chinese and the non-communist armies of South Vietnam who were supported by the United States.

Mujahideen

Arabic for strugglers, these soldiers in Afghanistan used guerilla-style warfare and support from the US to eventually overwhelm the USSR.

Nikita Khrushchev

Ruled the USSR from 1958-1964 who lessened government control of Soviet citizens and sought peaceful coexistence with the West instead of confrontation; leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis whose gamble of putting missiles in Cuba failed and cost him his power.

Fidel Castro

Communist dictator of Cuba who came into power in 1959.

Cuban Missile Crisis

The 1962 confrontation between US and the Soviet Union after the US had discovered nuclear missiles placed in Cuba by the Soviet Union despite the Soviet Union having promised to not place any offensive weapons in Cuba; ends with an agreement between JFK and Kruschev after 13 days of fear of nuclear war.

Nonalignment

Policy of postcolonial governments to remain neutral in the Cold War and play both the United States and the Soviet Union for what they could get.

Decolonization

The acquisition, by colonized peoples, of control over their own territory after being under colonial control by a foreign power.

United Nations

International organization founded in 1945 to promote world peace, security, and cooperation.

Indian National Congress

India's independence movement and political party led primarily by Mohandas Gandhi that sought independence from colonial rule and establish self-government.

Mohandas Gandhi

Leader of the Indian independence movement by the Indian National Congress and advocate of nonviolent resistance to colonial rule; rejected modern industrialization and was inclusive toward all of India's religions, regions, and castes.

Muslim League

An organization led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah that sought an independent state for Muslims from the Hindu-dominant India; would later be successful in establishing Pakistan.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Leader of the Muslim League who is responsible for the establishment of Pakistan as a independent nation from India.

Sukarno

Indonesia's primary nationalist leader and first president of Indonesia who sought to embrace and reconcile various ideas of nationalism, Islam, and Marxism in his political order.

Arab Spring

A series of popular revolts in 2011 that took place in several countries in the Middle East and North Africa; sought an end to corrupt, authoritarian, and often Western-supported regimes while proclaiming their commitment to democracy, dignity, and honest government.

Vladimir Putin

Current president of Russia who turned authoritarian after being elected into office under democratic policies.

Recep Erdogan

Current president of Turkey who turned authoritarian after being elected into office under democratic policies.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Soviet leader who came to power in 1985 and worked with Reagan to end the Cold War; his democratic-style reforms that he thought could save socialism and the Soviet Union ended up leading to its collapse in 1991.

Deng Xiaoping

Leader of China after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976 whose reforms essentially dismantled the communist elements of the Chinese economy as he believed that the country could prosper only if they accepted some capitalist policies; his reforms were extremely successful and led to the emergence of China as a global power.

Perestroika

An economic policy initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987 that translates to "restructuring"; sought to tackle the country's problems caused by communism by introducing many market-based economic reforms.

Glasnost

A policy initiated by Gorbachev that translates to "openness"; permitted an unprecedented range of cultural and intellectual freedoms in the Soviet Union and caused a sudden explosion of previously censored information being exposed to the public in the late 1980s.

Lech Walesa

Polish political activist who established the Solidarity labor union in 1980, which was the first labor union created by any Warsaw Pact nation; fought for workers rights and received public support despite government oppression, leading to his election as president of Poland in 1990.

Pope John Paul II

First ever Slavic Pope whose support brought the world's attention to the solidarity movement in Poland and led to its success in the form of semi-free elections in 1989.

Xi Jinping

The current president of China and leader of the Chinese Communist Party who launched the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013.

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Struggle between the Jewish state of Israel and the adjacent Palestinian Muslim territories that has generated periodic wars and upheavals since 1948.

Iranian Revolution

A revolution in 1979 that overthrew over 2,000 years of Persian monarchy and replaced it with a theocratic republic under Khomeini; led to a radically Islamist government, a war with Iraq in the 1980s, Iran's growing threat to Israel, and a continued rivalry with Saudi Arabia for dominance of the region.

Ayatollah Khomeini

Shia religious leader of Iran who led the 1979 Iranian Revolution and established Iran as a theocratic republic.

Taliban, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, and Islamic State (ISIS)

Various small radical Islamist groups who have undertaken terrorist attacks in order to give rise to feelings of insecurity to the general public.

Syrian Civil War

Conflict beginning in 2011 that generated over 12 million refugees and asylum seekers by mid-2016 and engaged both regional and world powers on various sides of the conflict.

African National Congress

A political party in South Africa that was pivotal in the anti-apartheid movement, fighting for the rights of the black majority and led by leaders such as Nelson Mandela. Inspired by India's struggle for independence, it aimed to dismantle institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination in South Africa.

Amritsar Massacre

a tragic event in 1919 when British troops opened fire on unarmed Indian protesters, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries, which galvanized the Indian independence movement. Turning point in Indian independence movement and highlighted the brutality of British colonial rule in India.

Marxism with Decolonization

An approach that combines the principles of Marxism, which critiques capitalist structures and advocates for a classless society, with the goals of decolonization, aiming to liberate colonized peoples from imperial rule and empower them to establish self-determination and equitable societies

apartheid

An approach that combines the principles of Marxism, which critiques capitalist structures and advocates for a classless society, with the goals of decolonization, aiming to liberate colonized peoples from imperial rule and empower them to establish self-determination and equitable societies. This synthesis seeks to address the unique socio-economic injustices faced by colonized nations while promoting socialist ideals that advocate for the redistribution of wealth and resources.