World History Final Exam Review: Key Topics and Events

League of Nations

Established mandates to give certain European countries the right to govern certain Arab territories (of the Ottoman Empire).

Totalitarian government

a concept for a form of government or political system that prohibits opposition parties, restricts individual opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high degree of control over public and private life.

Fascism

Glorifies the state above the individual by emphasizing the need for a strong central government led by a dictator.

Stalin's Five-Year Plans

The purpose was to concentrate on developing heavy industry and collectivizing agriculture, at the cost of a drastic fall in consumer goods.

Nationalists and Communists alliance in China

In 1923, they formed an alliance against warlords and imperialist powers.

Shanghai Massacre

Ordered the killing of thousands of Communists by Chiang Kai-Shek.

Japan's invasion of Manchuria

In 1931, Japan invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria seeking raw materials to fuel its growing industries.

Authoritarianism in Latin America

Spread during the 1930s largely because of the Great Depression.

Hitler's rise to power

Attained power in March 1933 after the Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act of 1933.

Enabling Act

Allowed Hitler to establish a totalitarian state by giving government the power to ignore the constitution for four years.

Nuremberg Laws

Antisemitic and racist laws enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935.

Existentialism

A philosophical movement that holds that each person must act alone in choosing his or her actions.

Germans' acceptance of Hitler

Many believed that Hitler had pulled the country out of the depression.

Britain and France's inaction against Fascism

Did not oppose Fascist aggression during the 1930s because they underestimated the danger.

Mao Zedong

Led the People's Liberation Army on the Long March.

Sudetenland

In 1938, Hitler demanded and was given this area in northwestern Czechoslovakia.

Britain and France declare war on Germany

On September 3, 1939, in response to Hitler's invasion of Poland.

Black Dragon Society

An extremist group of middle-level Japanese army officers acting without government approval.

Totalitarian

A state that is a government that aims to control the political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural lives of its citizens.

Mandate system

To govern former Ottoman territories, part of the Versailles Treaty to explore for oil.

Fascist

A strong central government that is nationalistic, has a strong military and is led by a dictatorial ruler.

NAZIs attempt to control thought

Banned books, magazines, and newspapers not strictly approved by the Nazi government.

The Great Depression

1931 - 1940, Economic decline in employment, and production.

World War II

A global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945.

Atlantic Charter

Roosevelt and Churchill defined Allied war aims in this document.

Pearl Harbor

Japan air raids Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Battle of Midway

The turning point of the war in the Pacific.

Labor shortages in Japan during the war

Japan ordered workers from China and South Korea.

Eisenhower

The commander of Allied forces in western Europe and Northern Africa.

Battle of Stalingrad

A crushing defeat for Germany, marking the first major defeat suffered by the German army.

Yalta Conference

The Allies agreed that after Germany's unconditional surrender, it would be divided into four post-war occupation zones.

The Holocaust

The slaughter of European civilians, particularly European Jews, by the Nazis.

Battle of the Bulge

Significant as it marked the last German offense on the Western Front.

6 million

The estimated number of Jews murdered by Hitler and his Nazis by 1945.

Nuremberg trials

Addressed all German crimes associated with World War II together, not the Holocaust in particular.

Penicillin

Estimated to have saved millions of lives during World War II.

Leyte Gulf

Largest Naval Battle of WWII, fought in January 1945 in the Philippines.

Midway

US victory over Japan in June 1942, turning point of the Pacific war in WWII.

Coral Sea

Fought to stand still; Allied forces stopped the Japanese advance on Australia in May 1942.

Montgomery

Defeated Rommel in North Africa in 1942 at El Alamein.

Rommel

Top German Officer in North Africa and in Western Europe at D-Day invasion, known as 'Desert Fox'.

United Nations Charter

Attempt to negotiate/arbitrate conflict between nations.

General Assembly

Each government of the world has one vote.

The Security Council

Can use military force; permanent members of the Security Council are victorious powers of WWII: USA, GB, France, USSR/Russia, China.

Great Britain

Which nation declined economically after World War II?

Truman Doctrine

Stated that the U.S. would provide money to nations threatened by Communist expansion.

Marshall Plan

An American initiative passed in 1948 for foreign aid to Western Europe, transferring over $13 billion in economic recovery programs to Western European economies after the end of World War II.

China

U.S. fears about the spread of communism were increased when this nation became a Communist nation in 1949.

Warsaw Pact

Although the Soviets claimed that the organization was a defensive alliance, it soon became clear that the primary purpose of the pact was to reinforce communist dominance in Eastern Europe.

Ludwig Erhard

Deserves most of the credit for West Germany's economic miracle.

Berlin Wall

Built to keep so-called Western 'fascists' from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state, primarily serving to stem mass defections from East to West.

Cuban missile crisis agreement

Khrushchev promised to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba in exchange for Kennedy's public promise not to invade Cuba.

Détente

The relaxation of strained relations, especially political, by verbal communication; refers to improved relations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the 1970s.

End of détente

Caused by the USSR invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and Ronald Reagan's election as president in 1980.

Thatcherism

Attempted to promote low inflation, increase free markets through tight control of the money supply, privatization, and constraints on the labor movement.

Francois Mitterrand

Nationalized major banks and industries in France in the 1980s.

Serious problems facing Gorbachev

The multi-ethnic republics.

Lech Walesa

Challenged the Communist government of Poland by organizing and leading Solidarity.

Glasnost

The Russian word used to describe Mikhail Gorbachev's political movement for reformation of the government.

Outcome of Cuban Missile Crisis

USA would remove missiles from Turkey and USSR would remove missiles from Cuba; USA would not invade Cuba.

John Paul II

Known by his Polish name Karol Wojtyla, visited Poland twice, gave his blessing to the Solidarity movement.

George H. W. Bush

41st President of USA who led the largest military coalition in history to force the Iraqi army out of Iraq but was unsuccessful maintaining popular support by breaking his pledge of raising taxes to address the budget deficit.

Poland

Joined the NATO alliance after the collapse of the USSR.

Chechnya

Where Russian Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin used military force to suppress an ongoing rebellion.

Tony Blair

Lost support of his base when he committed British troops in the American led coalitions against Afghanistan and Iraq (1997 - 2007).

Nicolas Sarkozy

Chosen to be the leader of France amid the tensions of the French Muslim population and the French people (2007 - 2012).

Nigel Farage

Member of the European Parliament who successfully campaigned in his country to sever ties with the European Union.

Latin American economic difficulties

Many Latin American nations suffered economic difficulties after WWII due to being one staple economy, raw goods producers and being industrially weak.

Juan Perón

Supported by working-class people because he made favorable benefits to laborers and Unions, having learned this from the Fascists before WWII.

Battista

Overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces in 1959.

Pinochet

General who overthrew Salvador Allende to become military dictator of Chile in 1973.

Columbia

South American government heavily influenced by drug cartels and cocaine production in the 1990s.

The Sandinistas

Overthrew the Somoza family of Nicaragua but later lost control of the country in free elections, led by Daniel Ortega.

Falkland Islands conflict

Military conflict in 1982 over the Falkland Islands involved Argentina and Great Britain.

African cultural tensions

Tensions exist among modern African cultures between traditional ways and modern global technology/culture.

The ANC

The organization that called for armed resistance against white South Africa following the arrest of Nelson Mandela by the South African government in 1962.

Nelson Mandela

Became the first black president of South Africa after spending almost 26 years in prison.

1947

Year when The United Nations divided Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.

Suez War of 1956

The conflict involved Britain, France, and Israel invading Egypt to recover control of the Suez Canal.

The Camp David Accords

Led to a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, signed by President Jimmy Carter, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978.

Ayatollah Khomeini

Opposed the Shah of Iran because he thought the Shah was promoting a culture of materialism.

Iraq

Nation that held 52 American hostages for over a year.

Intifada

Term used to describe PLO protests in the 1980s for the eventual creation of an independent Palestinian state, meaning uprising.

U.S.-led invasion of Iraq

Basis of the invasion was primarily articulated by U.S. President George W.

September 11 attacks

A series of coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States in 2001.

Civil disobedience

A form of protest where individuals refuse to comply with certain laws or demands of a government, often through non-violent means.

Primary religion of Pakistan

Islam

Khmer Rouge

An oppressive military regime that ruled Cambodia.

Corazon Aquino

The individual who defeated Ferdinand Marcos in Philippine elections.

Four Modernizations

A policy advocated by Deng Xiaoping that involved agriculture, industry, defense, and science.

Tiananmen Square protests

Student protests in 1989 targeting corrupt and incompetent government officials and calling for political reform.

Political control in China

The Chinese government maintains control through education and media.

Uyghurs

A Turkic-speaking people of inner Asia primarily living in northwestern China, placed in re-education camps by the Chinese government.

Belt and Road Initiative

A project by the People's Republic of China aimed at enhancing regional connectivity and embracing a brighter future.

Challenges facing China

Issues include the burden of workers caring for the elderly due to the one-child policy, income disparity between farmers and urban workers, urban migration, inadequate housing, and poor working conditions.

Japanese constitution changes

Postwar changes included armed forces limited to self-defense, a parliamentary system, women's voting rights, and the emperor's ceremonial status.

Japan's Lost Decade

A period characterized by economic stagnation due to factors like government spending, collapse in land values, and a stock market crash.

Economic difficulties in Latin America

Post World War II struggles due to over-dependence on foreign nations and a dramatic increase in population.

Salvador Allende

A socialist/Marxist dictator of Chile from 1970 to 1973.

Augusto Pinochet

The general who overthrew Salvador Allende and established a military dictatorship in Chile from 1973 to 1981.