AP World Purple Flashcards

Mao Zedong

Leader of the Chinese Communist Party who established the People’s Republic of China after defeating the Nationalists in 1949

Mohandas Ghandi

Leader of the Indian independence movement and advocate of nonviolent resistance. Became leader of the Indian National Congress in 1920

Korean War

Cold War conflict in which North Korea invaded South Korea, leading to UN intervention and a divided Korea at the 38th parallel

Vietnam War

Prolonged Cold War conflict in Southeast Asia between communist North Vietnam and US-backed South Vietnam.

By 1976, North Vietnam took over South Vietnam

Great Depression

Worldwide economic downturn beginning with the 1929 US stock market crash, marked by falling production, income, and global instability linked to war debts

United Nations

International organization founded in 1945 to promote world peace and cooperation. It replaced the League of Nations

Soviet Five-Year Plan

Stalin’s economic programs that set production quotas to rapidly industrialize the USSR, increasing heavy industry while causing shortages of consumer goods.

Russian Revolution

March: Czar Nicholas II abdicated, ending Romanov rule; a provisional government failed to solve Russia’s problems.

October: Lenin and the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government, withdrew from WWI, and created the USSR

Non-Aligned Movement

group of postcolonial nations that sought to remain independent of both the US and Soviet blocs during the Cold WarC

Cold War

Post WWII power struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union involving ideological conflict, military alliances, and proxy wars

Apartheid

System of legal racial segregation in South Africa begun in 1948 to maintain white minority rule; opposed by the African National Congress and ended in the early 1990sR

Rwandan Genocide

The purposeful killing of the Tutsi and moderate Hutu populations in Rwanda by the Hutu majority. During 100 days in 1994, estimated 500,000 and 1 million Rwandans murdered

Gamal Nasser

Egyptian nationalist leader, second president of Egypt, co-founder of the Non-Aligned Movement, and Cold War power-balancer between the US and USSR

Decolonization

Post-WWII process in which colonies gained independence as European powers withdrew, often amid nationalist pressure and Cold War challenges

Green Revolution

Introduction of new farming methods, especially in India, that increased crop yields of rice and wheat; expanded use of chemical fertilizers and genetically engineered crops

Kwame Nkrumah

Leader of Ghana’s independence movement, first prime minister of an independent Africa nation (1957), and advocate of Pan-Africanism

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

In 1948 the UN issued this document which affirms the principle of equality of all

Algerian Independence

Former French colony where post-WWII Arab Islamic nationalist movements led to violence and negotiations, resulting in independence from France in 1962

Camp David Accords

Peace agreement between Israel and an Arab nation; Egypt recognized Israel, and Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula

Nelson Mandela

Anti-arpartheid leader and South Africa’s first Black president, elected in 1994. He was the country’s first elected in a fully representative democratic election

Perestroika and Glastnost

Policies introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev

Perestroika restructured the Soviet economy by allowing limited free-market reforms

Glasnost increased openness and freedom of expression

Both weakened Communist control and contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union

Kristallnacht

Night of the Broken Glass-was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party’s paramilitary forces along with civilians throughout Nazi Germany

Khmer Rouge

Communist regime led by Pol Pot that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, causing that deaths of over 2 million people through forced labor and executions

SALT

Strategic Arms Limitations Talks. US-Soviet negotiations begun in 1969 to limit nuclear weapons stockpiles

Munich Conference

meeting where Britain and France allowed Germany to annex part of Czechoslovakia in exchange for Hitler’s promise of no further expansion

Yalta Conference

Meeting of the “Big Three“ (Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin) to plan the post-WWII order. Focused on rebuilding Europe, reestablishing governments, and creating a system of collective security.

Long March

The 6,000 mile retreat of Chinese Communists from SE to NW China. Led by Mao Zedong, they were pursued by the Chinese army under orders from Chiang Kai-shek.

Ensured the survival of the Communist Party

Sputnik

First artificial satellite launched by the Soviet Union, intensifying Cold War competition and beginning the space race

Iron Curtain

Winston Churchill’s term for the Cold War division between the Soviet dominated East and the US dominated West

Berlin Wall

Barrier built by East Germany to stop emigration to the West, symbolizing Cold War division and Communist repression

Berlin Airlift

US and British operation that supplied West Berlin by air after the Soviet Union blocked land access, marking an early Cold War confrontation

Yasser Arafat

The founder of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), originally employed guerilla warfare and terrorism against Israel in his struggle for an independent Palestinian state

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Military alliance made up of 12 non-communist countries including the United States that support each other if attacked

Great Leap Foward

Chairman Mao Zedong’s campaign to rapidly industrialize China through collectivized agriculture, which resulted in widespread famine

Cultural Revolution

Political policy started in China by Mao Zedong movement to eliminate political rivals and reinforce communist ideology, leading to mass violence and social disruption

Spanish Civil War

Conflict in Spain between fascist and Republican forces that served as a prelude to WWII and tested new military tactics. This ended in 1939 with a victory for the Rebels

Balfour Declaration

Statement issued by Britain favoring the establishment of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine

Postdam Conference

Meeting where Harry Truman issued an ultimatum to Japan to surrender based on atomic bomb testing, Germany was divided into four occupation zones, and the UN was created

PLO

Organization formed to represent Palestinians and seek the establishment of an independent Palestinian state

Mandate System

League of Nations system that placed former Ottoman and German territories under European control after WWI

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of North Vietnam who led the fight for Vietnamese independence and opposed US involvement during the Vietnam War

Six Day War

war in which Israel defeated Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, increasing tensions in the Middle East and expanding Israeli-controlled territory

Tiananmen Square

Site in Beijing of pro-democracy protests led by students and workers to demand greater political openness in China. Violently suppressed by the Chinese military.

Persian Gulf War

A US-led war fought to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait after Iraq’s invasion, reinforcing US military presence and influence in the Middle East

Fourteen Points

The war aims outlined by President Wilson, which he believed would promote lasting peace; called for self-determination, freedom of the seas, free trade, end to secret agreements, reduction of arms and a league of nations

Kemal Ataturk

Turkish statesman who abolished the caliphate and founded Turkey as a modern secular state

New Economic Policy (NEP)

Lenin’s policy to re-establish limited economic freedom in an attempt to rebuilt agriculture and industry in the face of economic disintegration

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Leader of the Muslim League who advocated for and became the founder of Pakistan