Spring Semester Exam Review: New Imperialism to Globalization

Flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the New Imperialism period through to modern Globalization, and including, modern Globalization.

Imperialism

Driven by the need for raw materials for industrialization, the desire to expand and control foreign trade, and the exploitation of labor forces from new lands.

White Man’s Burden

Writings by Rudyard Kipling used to explain Social Darwinism and the belief that non-industrialized societies were inferior, forming part of a larger system of racism.

The Jewel in the Crown

A nickname for India within the British Empire because it produced profitable cash-crops such as tea, cotton, coffee, and opium for Great Britain.

Cash crops

Non-food products grown for profit, such as tea and cotton.

Sepoy Mutiny

A 1857 rebellion by Indian soldiers against the British sparked by rumors that new ammunition cartridges were greased with pork and beef fat, offending Muslim and Hindu religious beliefs.

Opium War

A conflict between Britain and China triggered by Britain smuggling opium into China; Britain won easily due to their modernized navy and military.

Boxer Rebellion

An uprising in China caused by the growth of foreign influence, the spread of Christianity, and economic hardship among peasants.

Meiji era

A period in Japanese history where the nation began modernizing and Westernizing to build a strong government and military in response to foreign influence.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The Archduke of Austria-Hungary whose assassination sparked the outbreak of World War I.

Allied Powers (WWI)

The major nations including France, Great Britain, and Russia, later joined by Italy and the U.S.

Central Powers (WWI)

The wartime alliance consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire.

Militarism

One of the four MAIN causes of WWI, defined as a silent competition between nations to build the strongest military.

Alliances

Political relationships that led to World War I by dragging countries into conflict through their commitments to other nations.

Imperialism (as a WWI cause)

The battle for territory and resources in parts of the world deemed in need of guidance by superpowers.

Nationalism

A strong pride in one’s country that led people to defend their nation even when it might not be in the right.

Total war

A conflict where nations commit all resources to the war effort, including converting factories to make equipment, rationing, and drafting citizens.

Armistice

The agreement signed by Germany on November 11, 1918, which ended World War I.

Fourteen Points

Woodrow Wilson’s plan intended to create world peace and establish the League of Nations.

Treaty of Versailles

The peace settlement that harmed Germany by forcing it to take the blame for the war and pay large amounts of reparations.

Bolsheviks

The group that won the Russian Revolution and Civil War, allowing Lenin to transform Russia into a Communist nation.

Totalitarian state

A form of government, like the one established by Joseph Stalin, where leaders have control over all aspects of people’s lives.

Five Year Plans

Stalin’s programs designed to modernize the Soviet Union through industrialization and the collectivization of farms.

Fascism

The political ideology used by dictators Hitler and Mussolini to gain support and maintain control in Germany and Italy.

Appeasement

The policy of giving countries what they wanted to avoid war, which failed when used by Britain and France toward Hitler.

Hideki Tojo

The military dictator of Japan who led territorial expansion to secure natural resources like oil, iron, and rubber.

Rape of Nanking

A 6-week period in 1937 where the Imperial Japanese Army committed mass crimes and killed thousands of civilians in the Chinese capital.

Pearl Harbor

The site of a surprise Japanese naval and kamikaze attack on December 7, 1941, which forced the U.S. to join WWII.

Axis Powers (WWII)

The alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Allied Powers (WWII)

The alliance of Great Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States, China, and France.

Winston Churchill

The British leader who inspired his people to keep fighting against Nazi Germany during his nation's most difficult times.

The Holocaust

The state-sponsored persecution and murder of millions of Jews and other groups by Nazi Germany, using them as scapegoats for the economy.

Yalta Conference

A meeting where the Big Three (Churchill, FDR, Stalin) agreed to divide Germany, create the United Nations, and have the USSR join the war against Japan.

D-Day

The Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France at Normandy Beach, which opened a Western Front against Germany.

United Nations

Founded in 1945 by 51 countries to keep peace, prevent future wars, and encourage international cooperation.

Cold War

A period of tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union characterized by threats, spying, and competition for influence rather than direct combat.

Mutually Assured Destruction

The theory that the possession of enough nuclear weapons by both the U.S. and USSR would result in total destruction for both if war broke out.

Marshall Plan

A U.S. program providing money and supplies to rebuild Europe to strengthen economies and stop the spread of communism.

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, created to defend Western Europe from the Soviet Union and communism.

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance created by the Soviet Union and Eastern European communist countries in response to NATO.

Iron Curtain

The symbolic dividing line between the democratic countries of Western Europe and the communist countries of Eastern Europe.

Berlin Airlift

A massive military operation by the U.S., Britain, and France to deliver 2.3 million tons of supplies to West Berlin after a Soviet blockade.

Domino theory

The belief that if one country fell to communism, the surrounding countries would also fall.

Mao Zedong

The leader of the Communists who won the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and established the People's Republic of China.

Cultural Revolution

Mao Zedong's campaign to strengthen communism, remove capitalist ideas, and regain control over the Chinese government and people.

Detente

President Nixon’s policy aimed at easing Cold War tensions through meetings with Mao Zedong and nuclear weaponry limitations.

SALT

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between the USA and USSR focused on stopping the manufacturing of nuclear weapons and missiles.

Glasnost

Gorbachev’s policy of 'openness,' which allowed for freedom of speech and media in the Soviet Union.

Perestroika

Gorbachev’s policy of 'restructuring,' which involved removing corrupt officials and allowing for free elections.

Mohandas Gandhi

The leader of India’s independence movement who used nonviolent resistance, boycotts, and civil disobedience against British rule.

Apartheid

A system of racial segregation in South Africa that gave white citizens power while denying rights to black South Africans.

Nelson Mandela

Anti-apartheid leader who was imprisoned for 27 years before becoming South Africa’s first black president in 1994.

Ethnic cleansing

The forced removal or extermination of a specific ethnic or religious group, such as the 1994 Hutu violence against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

OPEC

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which works to control the price and supply of world oil to ensure stable profits.

Terrorism

The use of violence or intimidation against others to achieve political or religious goals, exemplified by the al-Qaeda attacks on 9/11.

Tiananmen Square (1989)

The site of a student-led protest in Beijing demanding political reform that was ended by violent military force from the Chinese government.

Globalization

A process resulting in increased economic interdependence, lower consumer costs, and the lifting of millions out of poverty.