Studied by 14 people
Bolshevik
Definition: Russian revolutionary party led by Vladimir Lenin and later renamed the Communist Party
Significance: The Bolsheviks ultimately became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Bolsheviks, or Reds, came to power in Russia during the October Revolution phase of the 1917 Russian Revolution, and founded the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). It additionally replaced Russia's traditional monarchy with the world's first Communist state
Young Turks
Definition: was a broad opposition movement that favored constitutional government in the late Ottoman Empire, eventually prevailing against Sultan Abdulhamid II's absolutist government in the 1908 Young Turk Revolution.
Significance: After their rise to power, the Young Turks introduced programs that promoted the modernization of the Ottoman Empire and a new spirit of Turkish nationalism. Their handling of foreign affairs, however, resulted in the dissolution of the Ottoman state.
Mexican Revolution
Definition: Armed rebellion in which the Mexican people fought for political and social reform, especially against neocolonialism.
Significance: The Mexican Revolution sparked the Constitution of 1917 which provided for separation of Church and state, government ownership of the subsoil, holding of land by communal groups, the right of labor to organize and strike and many other aspirations. Resulted in ouster of Porfirio Diaz from power; opposition forces led by Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata.
Kemal Ataturk
Definition: was the first President of Turkey and considered the founder of the Republic of Turkey. He was granted the name "Atatürk" in 1934, which means "Father of the Turks"
Significance: Atatürk initiated a rigorous program of political, economic, and cultural reforms with the ultimate aim of building a republican and secular nation-state. He made primary education free and compulsory, opening thousands of new schools all over the country.
Emiliano Zapata
Definition: an accomplished guerrilla leader during the Mexican Revolution, and he strongly opposed the hacienda system that characterized much of rural Mexican life. Partly because of his efforts, fundamental land reform was enshrined in the Mexican constitution of 1917.
Significance: Emiliano Zapata was a leader of the Mexican Revolution; he organized an army to fight for land reform and the return of lands that had been taken from the peasants in the south. The Zapatistas were Zapata's army who fought opposing rebel groups and local landowners.
Great War
Definition: was a nearly global conflagration that included all the major powers of Europe, their colonies, and overseas allies. (also known as World War I)
Significance: It accelerated changes in attitudes towards gender and class and led to the collapse of the Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires. The cost of waging total war - and of rebuilding afterwards - ravaged the national economies of both the victorious European Allies and the defeated Central Powers.
self-determination
Definition: the concept meaning that a nation—a group of people with similar political ambitions—can seek to create its independent government or state.
Significance: Connects to Wilson's Fourteen Point's since they were based on a major idea—the principle of self-determination, under which nationalities would have their own states. The members of a nationality or ethnic group share a cultural heritage, often associated with the place of its members' birth or descent.
stalemate
Definition: a situation in which neither side in an argument or contest can win or in which no progress is possible.
Significance: a stalemate occured during World War I, when both the central powers and the allies used brutal weapons and tactics. Neither sides could easily defeat each other, resulting in a bloody 4 year stalemate.
total war
Definition: military conflict in which the contenders are willing to make any sacrifice in lives and other resources to obtain a complete victory. includes four things: Mobilization, refusal to compromise, the blurring of roles between soldiers and civilians, and total control of society.
Significance: World War I and World War II were both total wars, World War I being the first one in history. It used a variety of strategies including political propaganda, media, and intensified forms of nationalization to mobilize it's population. Additionally, the civilian populations got involved.
ANZAC
Definition: Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
Significance:
Gallipoli
Definition: a joint British and French operation meant to capture the capital city Constantinople and to secure a sea route to Russia.
Significance: This failed, with nearly half a million casualties.
Paris Peace Conference
Definition: an international meeting convened in January 1919 at Versailles just outside Paris. The purpose of the meeting was to establish the terms of the peace after World War.
Significance: the victors, especially Britain and France, dictated harsh terms to the defeated Central Powers, dismantled their colonial empires, and imposed economic penalties. The bitterness engendered by the peace settlement virtually ensured that another conflict would follow. Resulted in the Treaty of Versailles.
Fourteen Points
Definition: a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I
Significance:s et a new vision for global peace during World War I. President Wilson proposed open diplomacy, free trade, disarmament, and self-determination of nations. His ideas influenced the Treaty of Versailles and inspired the formation of the League of Nations.
League of Nations
Definition: an international organization, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, created after the First World War to provide a forum for resolving international disputes.
Significance: The League of Nations was formed to prevent a repetition of the First World War, but within two decades this effort failed. Economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation (particularly in Germany) eventually contributed to World War II.
trench warfare
Definition: a type of combat in which the opposing sides attack, counterattack, and defend from relatively permanent systems of trenches dug into the ground
Significance: Trench warfare led to a stalemate in WW1 due to the defensive advantage it provided. Trenches made it difficult for either side to make significant advances, leading to a deadlock. This, combined with heavy artillery and machine gun defence, made line-breaking attacks futile.
collectivize
Definition: Creation of large, state-run farms rather than individual holdings; allowed more efficient control over peasants; part of Stalin's economic and political planning; often adopted in other Communist regimes.
Significance: Under collectivization the peasantry were forced to give up their individual farms and join large collective farms (kolkhozy). The process was ultimately undertaken in conjunction with the campaign to industrialize the Soviet Union rapidly.
corporatism
Definition: Political ideology that emphasized the organic nature of society and made the state a mediator, adjusting the interests of different social groups; appealed to conservative groups in European and Latin American societies and to the military
Significance: In Italy, Benito Mussolini spearheaded the fascist corporatist economy. Corporatism emphasized state control over private companies and industries serving as the means of production. A national council settled disputes over labor, wages, capital, and natural resources.
Great Depression
Definition: a time period during the 1930s when there was a worldwide economic depression and mass unemployment.
Significance: The depression caused a change in economic thinking, including what the role of government was. In the United States, President Roosevelt protected the banks, started massive public works and farm subsidies, and established the minimum wage and Social Security.
New Deal
Definition: was a shift in government philosophy. As a result of the New Deal, Americans came to believe that the federal government has a responsibility to ensure the health of the nation's economy and the welfare of its citizens.
Significance: the US's response to the great depression. Ordered by Franklin Roosevelt an experimental combinations of reforms to start seeking economic growth. Through immediate programs of public spending such as dams and highways the new deal tried to boost the economy by reducing unemployment.
Five-Year Plan
Definition: plans that Joseph Stalin introduced to industrialize the soviet union rapidly, beginning in 1928. They set goals for the output of steel, electricity, machinery, and most other products and were enforced by the police powers of the state.
Significance: Economic activity was pushed in the direction of heavy industries, which lead to a 350 percent increase in output, in a bid to prepare Russia for an industrialised war. The first Five Year Plan also had a revolutionary effect on society, as millions left the farms to pursue new lives in the cities.
Keynesianism
Definition: set of theories which states that governments MUST stimulate the economy by spending and funding public works projects to lower unemployment rates through jobs and reinvigorate consumer spending.
Significance: would advocate deficit spending on labor-intensive infrastructure projects to stimulate employment and stabilize wages during economic downturns. They would raise taxes to cool the economy and prevent inflation when there is abundant demand-side growth.
fascism
Definition: a political movement that promotes an extreme form of nationalism, a denial of individual rights, and a dictatorial one-party rule.
Significance: Mussolini. was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism.
totalitarian state
Definition: a form of government that attempts to assert total control over the lives of its citizens. It is characterized by strong central rule that attempts to control and direct all aspects of individual life through coercion and repression. It does not permit individual freedom.
Significance: One example of a totalitarian state being used was in Germany. required the purification and increase of the German "race" (Aryan) as well as its biological separation from the Jews, whose infusion of evil into the German bloodstream, the Nazis said, served to pollute and undermine Germany's well-being.
mandate system
Definition: an internationally sanctioned method of colonialism. It granted control over former German and Ottoman territories to members of the League of Nations after World War I.
Significance: The Mandate System revolutionized the approach of European powers toward Imperialism, forcing some, such as Britain, to not only become involved as a Mandatory within the system, but also to incorporate this new system of international politics into their current system of Empire.
Balfour Declaration
Definition: a public pledge by Britain in 1917 declaring its aim to establish "a national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine.
Significance: The declaration pledged British government support for a national home in Palestine for the Jewish people, on the understanding that 'nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights' of the communities already living there or 'the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country
civil disobedience
Definition: the refusal to obey the demands or commands of a government or occupying power, without resorting to violence or active measures of opposition; its usual purpose is to force concessions from the government or occupying power
Significance: Due to the movement priortizing taking action in a non-violent way, connects to the satyagraha movement. was Gandhi's political point of view and philosophy, which made Indians confront, challenge and go against the British government in India, but in a non violent way and through non violent actions.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Definition: Indian Muslim politician who founded the state of Pakistan. A lawyer by training, he joined the All-India Muslim League in 1913. As leader of the League from the 1920s on, he negotiated with the British/INC for Muslim Political Rights
Significance: revered as the father of Pakistan. He also sought the political union of Hindus and Muslims, which earned him the title of "the best ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity
Jawaharlal Nehru
Definition: Indian statesman. 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.
Significance: was the first Prime Minister of India, serving from 1947 until his death in 1964. Previously, he was a leader of the Indian independence movement and an ally of Mahatma Gandhi, the ideological and spiritual guide of the movement.
Chiang Kai-shek
Definition: A military officer who succeeded Sun Yat-sen as leader of the Guomindang or Nationalist party in China in the mid-1920s.
Significance: became the most powerful leader in China in the early 1930s, but his Nationalist forces were defeated and driven from China by the Communists after World War II.
satyagraha movement
Definition: Meant to be translated to "Truth Force" it was Gandhi's political point of view and philosophy, which made Indians confront, challenge and go against the British government in India, but in a non violent way and through non violent actions. Salting the Lion's tail, one of Gandhi's Satyagraha methods.
Significance: Due to the movement priortizing taking action in a non-violent way, connects to civil disobedience.
Manchukuo
Definition: a puppet state in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia, which was governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. Manchuria. Usually falls entirely within China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia.
Significance: During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese used Manchukuo as a base to conduct their invasion of the rest of China. The Manchu general Tong Linge was killed in action by the Japanese in the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin, which marked the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
Definition: during World War II (1939-45), the Japanese concept of a unified and self-sufficient bloc in the Asia-Pacific region under Japanese control.
Significance: Japan's attempt to form an economic and military bloc with propaganda consisting of nations within East and Southeast Asia against Western colonization and manipulation, but it failed because of Japan's inability to promote true mutual prosperity within the alliance.
Zionists
Definition: European Jewish movement of the 1860s and 1870s that argued that Jews return to their holy land
Significance: Upon the outbreak of World War I, political Zionism reasserted itself, and its leadership passed to Russian Jews living in England. Two such Zionists, Chaim Weizmann and Nahum Sokolow, were instrumental in obtaining the Balfour Declaration from Great Britain (November 2, 1917), which promised British support for the creation of a Jewish national home in Palestine.
Lebensraum
Definition: policy of Nazi Germany that involved expanding German territories to the east to provide land and material resources for the German people, while driving out Jewish and Slavic people.
Significance: It becomes a Nazi policy of conquest and expansion before the beginning of WW2. Hitler believed that in order for Germans to live properly, Germany must expand even by force. He also wanted to unify German people and regain lost territories.
Anschluss
Definition: political union of Austria with Germany, achieved through annexation by Adolf Hitler in 1938. Mooted in 1919 by Austria, Anschluss with Germany remained a hope (chiefly with Austrian Social Democrats) during 1919-33, after which Hitler's rise to power made it less attractive.
Significance: Led to the first act of territorial expansion committed by Nazi Germany. The other European powers did not punish the Nazis for violating international treaties. Their acceptance of the Anschluss was a significant act of appeasement. It allowed Adolf Hitler to continue his expansionary policies unchecked.
appeasement
Definition: Satisfying the demands of dissatisfied powers in an effort to maintain peace and stability.
Significance: An example of appeasement is in Germany. The policy of appeasement continued, and Hitler was convinced that his invasion of Poland, which precipitated the war in September 1939, would not provoke Britain and France into action. This appeasement policy can be considered as a major driving force for the second world war
Kristallnacht
Definition: Hitler Youth shattered the windows of about 7,500 Jewish stores and businesses, hence the name Kristallnacht (Crystal Night), and looted their goods. Jewish homes were ransacked all throughout Germany.
Significance: changed the nature of Nazi Germany's persecution of the Jews from economic, political, and social exclusion to physical violence, including beatings, incarceration, and murder; the event is often referred to as the beginning of the Holocaust.
Vichy
Definition: French collaborationist government established in 1940 in southern France following defeat of French armies by the Germans.
Significance: During the war, Vichy France conducted military actions against armed incursions from Axis and Allied belligerents and was an example of armed neutrality. The most important such action was the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon on 27 November 1942 to prevent its capture by the Axis.
blitzkrieg
Definition: German term meaning "lightning war," used to describe Germany's novel military tactics in World War II, which involved the rapid movement of infantry, tanks, and airpower over large areas.
Significance: a blitzkrieg, troops in vehicles, such as tanks, made quick surprise strikes with support from airplanes. These tactics resulted in the swift German conquest of France and Poland in 1940 (see fall of France). Blitzkrieg is German for "lightning war."
aircraft carriers
Definition: Ships that allowed planes to take off and land from their decks at sea.
Significance: Early in World War II the primary instrument for delivering naval combat power became the aircraft carrier. The reason was range: aircraft could deliver a concerted attack at 200 miles or more, whereas battleships could do so only at 20 miles or less.
Genocide
Definition: defined as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. Killing members of the group. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
Significance: One of the, if not the most significant genocides in world history was the Holocaust. It began with a simple boycott of Jewish shops and ended in the gas chambers of Auschwitz as Hitler and his Nazi followers attempted to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe. The Holocaust took the lives of close to six million Jews during the World War II era.
Nuremberg Laws
Definition: These laws embodied many of the racial theories underpinning Nazi ideology. They would provide the legal framework for the systematic persecution of Jews in Germany.
Significance:
Sun Yat-sen
Definition: was the leader of the Chinese revolutionaries who overthrew the Qing Dynasty and established the Republic of China. The three principles can be loosely translated to "nationalism, self-determination, and social welfare."
Significance: The revolutionary ideas of Sun Yat-sen extensively influenced officers and soldiers of the New Army in Wuchang, and many participated in revolutionary organizations. The uprising itself broke out largely by accident. Revolutionaries intent on overthrowing the Qing dynasty had built bombs and one accidentally exploded.
propaganda
Definition: The dissemination of information, ideas, rumors, etc. in order to make people feel a certain way towards a certain culture, political ideology, etc.
Significance: Used several times in both World Wars to instill a sense of nationalism into the nation's people and to mobilize them. Examples of this are urging men to go enlisted in the army or encouraging women to join the workforce.
Treaty of Versailles
Definition: was signed on June 28, 1919, and officially ended the war between Germany and the Allied Powers. The controversial War Guilt clause blamed Germany for World War I and imposed heavy debt payments on Germany.
Significance: The Treaty of Versailles led to World War II because its terms punished Germany harshly. The economy collapsed, the government lost power, the military was weak, and the Germans were angry. Because of these factors, Germans became loyal to Hitler and there was the perfect storm in Germany which caused World war II
Weimar Republic
Definition: the country that was established after the German Empire crumbled when it lost World War I. It failed largely due to the Treaty of Versailles and the harsh terms placed on Germany.
Significance: In its 14 years in existence, the Weimar Republic faced numerous problems, including hyperinflation, political extremism, and contentious relationships with the victors of the First World War, leading to its collapse during the rise of Adolf Hitler. Because of it's weakness, Hitler was able to emerge and
deficit spending
Definition: occurs when government spending exceeds its revenue. often refers to intentional excess spending meant to stimulate the economy
Significance: deficit spending helped raise the United States out of the Great Depression and that the practice helped the country supply the military during World War 2.
New Economic Plan (NEP)
Definition: was the economic policy of the government of the Soviet Union from 1921 to 1928. This represents a temporary retreat from its previous policy of extreme centralization and doctrinaire socialism.
Significance: Famine, urban plight, and a flourishing black market were all consequences of the draconian Soviet policy, though the Red Army was victorious in the war. The NEP was introduced in order to aid the recovery of the ruined Soviet economy, and to quell the uproar amongst the urban and rural population.
Russian Civil War
Definition: was a multi-party war in the former Russian Empire fought between the Bolshevik Red Army and the White Army, the loosely allied anti-Bolshevik forces.
Significance: The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social change in the Russian Empire, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government following two successive revolutions and a bloody civil war.
Spanish Civil War
Definition: war pitting authoritarian and military leaders in Spain against republicans and leftists between 1936 and 1939; Germany and Italy supported the royalists; the Soviet Union supported the republicans; led to victory of the royalist forces.
Significance: ended with the victory of Nationalist forces under Francisco Franco and the consolidation and absorption of all right wing political factions into Franco's dictatorship. helped contribute to WWII because it was a playground for the new army of Hitler and a facist government emerged in Spain.
decolonization
Definition: refers to the process by which colonial empires, especially those of European powers, granted independence to their colonies in the aftermath of World War II .
Significance: Without question, the process of decolonization eroded Britain's pretense of 'world power' status. Lacking economic clout or the strategic bases essential to independently project global military power, Britain was compelled to accept relegation to the status of a European middle power.
Pan-Arabism
Definition: a political movement emerging in the mid-to-late nineteenth century and reaching its acme in the 1960s.
Significance: advocated the political, cultural, and socioeconomic unity of Arabs across the different states that emerged after decolonization, from the Mashreq (Arab East) to the Maghreb (Arab West).
Munich Agreement
Definition: Germany, Italy, Great Britain, and France sign the Munich agreement, by which Czechoslovakia must surrender its border regions and defenses to Nazi Germany. German troops occupy these regions between October 1 and 10, 1938.
Significance: British and French prime ministers Neville Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier sign the Munich Pact with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. The agreement averted the outbreak of war but gave Czechoslovakia away to German conquest.
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