ap world the end of empire

Ho Chi Minh

• Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman who led North Vietnam's fight for independence and reunification

• becoming a communist icon who unified his nation against French colonialism and later U.S.-backed South Vietnam

• establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and inspiring anti-imperialist movements worldwide

Viet Minh

• nationalist front, led by Ho Chi Minh, formed in 1941 to fight for Vietnam's independence from French colonial rule and Japanese occupation during World War II

• evolving into a communist-led force that defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu

• established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam

• became the predecessor to modern Vietnam's government. 

Vo Nguyen Giap

• legendary Vietnamese general and strategist, nicknamed the "Red Napoleon," who masterminded victories against France and the United States

• developing revolutionary guerrilla warfare tactics that combined political struggle with military action

• leading North Vietnam to reunification and becoming a national hero for defeating colonial powers with limited resources

Dienbienphu

• the site of a decisive 1954 battle where communist-led Viet Minh forces defeated French colonial troops

• ending French rule in Indochina

• setting the stage for Vietnam's division and increased American involvement in the region

• ultimately leading to the Vietnam War

Geneva Conference

a major diplomatic meeting to settle issues from the Korean War and restore peace in Indochina, resulting in the temporary division of Vietnam at the 17th parallel

Ngo Dinh Diem

• South Vietnam's first president (1955-1963), a devout Catholic nationalist who built an anti-communist state but became increasingly authoritarian

• alienating his Buddhist majority through heavy-handed tactics, favoritism, and corruption

• leading to his overthrow and assassination by his own generals with U.S. approval

President Lyndon Johnson

dramatic escalation of U.S. involvement, transforming it from an advisory role to a massive ground war, authorizing sustained bombing (Rolling Thunder), deploying hundreds of thousands of troops, and ultimately withdrawing from the 1968 presidential race due to the war's political fallout

Viet Cong

communist guerrillas in South Vietnam, an armed wing of the National Liberation Front, formed later (mid-1950s) to overthrow the US-backed South Vietnamese government, often using tactics from the Viet Minh but operating within the South

Vietnamization

President Richard Nixon's strategy to end U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War by gradually withdrawing American troops while training and equipping the South Vietnamese forces (ARVN) to take over combat responsibilities, aiming for "peace with honor" and a self-sufficient South Vietnam

intifada

a term used to describe Palestinian uprisings against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

Gamal Abdel Nasser

Egypt's influential second President, a revolutionary leader, and a key figure in pan-Arabism, championing Arab unity, anti-imperialism, and socialism, who rose after the 1952 revolution that overthrew King Farouk. He's known for nationalizing the Suez Canal, challenging Western influence, implementing social reforms like land redistribution and free education, and leading Egypt through conflicts with Israel, becoming a symbol of Arab pride and independence despite authoritarian methods. 

Suez Crisis

major international conflict sparked when Egyptian President Nasser nationalized the British-French owned Suez Canal, leading to a secret invasion by Israel, Britain, and France to regain control but resulting in a humiliating withdrawal due to intense US and Soviet pressure, cementing Egypt's control, highlighting Britain's decline, and shifting global power dynamics

FLN

Algeria's primary revolutionary political and military force, leading the brutal but successful war for independence from French colonial rule (1954-1962)

Frantz Fanon

• “The Wretched of the Earth“

• psychiatrist and revolutionary thinker from Martinique whose work explained the profound psychological damage of colonialism and advocated for liberation

• arguing that decolonization requires radical self-transformation and often violent upheaval to overcome the dehumanizing structures of oppression

• influencing global anti-colonial and Black Power movements

Negritude

a literary, political, and cultural movement started by French-speaking Black intellectuals in the 1930s (like Aimé Césaire, Léopold Sédar Senghor) to reject colonial oppression, reclaim African identity, and celebrate Black heritage, culture, and values

Kwame Nkrumah

• Ghana's founding father, leading the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957

• becoming its first Prime Minister, and later President.

• A charismatic anti-colonial leader, Pan-Africanist, and political theorist, he championed African unity,

• founded the Organization of African Unity

Mau mau

• a violent anti-colonial rebellion in British Kenya primarily by the Kikuyu people

• fighting for land, rights, and self-determination against British rule

• known for guerrilla warfare, secret oaths, and brutal colonial suppression in detention camps

• ultimately contributing to Kenya's independence in 1963 by forcing Britain to recognize the unsustainable cost of empire

apartheid

• brutal system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination enforced in South Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s

• meaning "apartness" in Afrikaans, to ensure white minority rule by legally separating and oppressing non-white citizens

• restricting their movement, rights, and access to public life, forcing them into separate "homelands,"

• denying them basic freedoms

• ultimately leading to widespread global condemnation and resistance. 

African National Congress (ANC)

• South Africa's ruling political party, founded in 1912 to fight racial discrimination and apartheid

• evolving from a liberation movement into the dominant force in government after the first multiracial elections in 1994

• led by figures like Nelson Mandela

• advocating for a unitary, non-racial democracy

Nelson mandela

• a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist who became the nation's first Black president in 1994

• leading the country to a multiracial democracy after ending the racist apartheid system

F.W. de klerk

• South Africa's last president during apartheid (1989-1994),

• a key figure who dismantled the racist system, freed Nelson Mandela, unbanned anti-apartheid groups,

• negotiated the transition to a multiracial democracy,

• earning him and Mandela the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize for their joint efforts in establishing a non-racial South Africa

Great Leap Forward

• a catastrophic social and economic campaign launched by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under Chairman Mao Zedong from 1958 to 1962

• goal was to rapidly transform China from an agrarian society into a modern, industrialized socialist state through aggressive industrialization and forced collectivization

• ultimately led to the Great Chinese Famine and the deaths of millions. 

Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution

• a violent sociopolitical movement in China, launched by Mao Zedong to reassert his power, purge capitalist/traditional influences, and rekindle revolutionary fervor, mobilizing youth (Red Guards) to attack perceived "bourgeois" elements

• leading to widespread chaos, persecution, destruction of culture, and significant loss of life, fundamentally reshaping Chinese society and politics. 

Deng Xiaoping

the paramount leader who fundamentally transformed China from a centrally planned economy to a "socialist market economy" after Mao Zedong, launching "reform and opening up" in the late 1970s, making him the "Architect of Modern China" by prioritizing pragmatic economic growth while maintaining strict communist party control

Tiananmen Square

a huge city square in Beijing, is famous for hosting massive pro-democracy protests in 1989, where students and citizens demanded political reforms, an end to corruption, and more freedoms, culminating in a brutal military crackdown on June 4th when troops opened fire on unarmed civilians, leading to hundreds, possibly thousands, of deaths and arrests, an event still heavily censored in China today.

Indira Gandhi

• India's first and only female Prime Minister, daughter of the first PM Jawaharlal Nehru, serving from 1966-1977 and again 1980-1984

• known for strong leadership, nationalizing banks, overseeing the Green Revolution

• confronting Sikh extremism leading to her assassination, and imposing the controversial Emergency in the mid-70s

Rajiv Gandhi

• India's youngest Prime Minister (1984-1989), taking office at age 40 after his mother, Indira Gandhi's, assassination,

• becoming a symbol of modern India before his own assassination by a suicide bomber linked to the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) due to his controversial intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War

Islamism

• a political ideology which seeks to enforce Islamic precepts and norms as generally applicable rules for people's conduct

• whose adherents seek a state based on Islamic values and laws (sharia) and rejecting Western guiding principles

Iranian Revolution

a popular uprising that overthrew the US-backed monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, replacing it with an Islamic Republic led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

• established a theocratic government based on Shi'a Islamic principles

• ending centuries of monarchy and ushering in strict religious rule, suppressing dissent, and challenging Western influence in Iran. 

Saddam Hussien

the authoritarian President of Iraq from 1979 to 2003, known for brutally repressing dissent, fostering a cult of personality, and leading Iraq into devastating wars, including the Iran-Iraq War and the invasion of Kuwait

Iran-iraq war

a brutal, eight-year conflict sparked by Saddam Hussein's invasion of Iran, fueled by border disputes (especially over the Shatt al-Arab waterway), Iraq's desire for regional dominance, and fears of Iran's revolutionary ideology spreading after the 1979 Islamic Revolution

• Initially successful, Iraq was pushed back, leading to a bloody stalemate with trench warfare, chemical weapons, tanker warfare, and massive casualties

• ending in a UN-brokered ceasefire with no clear victor but devastating consequences for both nations. 

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Iranian hardline politician who served as Iran's President from 2005 to 2013, known for his fiery anti-Israel rhetoric, denial of the Holocaust, populist economic policies (like monthly cash handouts), and defiance of Western demands regarding Iran's nuclear program

Organization of African Unity (OAU)

“El Milagro Mexicano”

The mexican Economic Miracle

• a period of prosperity that lasted for decades from the revenues generated by PMEX

Lazaro Cardenas

• a transformative Mexican leader who fulfilled the social promises of the Mexican Revolution

• known for massive land reform (ejidos), nationalizing foreign oil (creating Pemex), empowering labor unions, and promoting indigenous rights

• establishing himself as a national hero who built a stronger, more sovereign Mexico

• also laid groundwork for future authoritarianism. 

PRI

Mexico's dominant political party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional), known for its long rule and shifts in power

Juan Peron

• a charismatic Argentine military officer and populist leader who served as President (1946-1955, 1973-1974)

• building a powerful political movement (Peronism) by championing workers' rights, industrialization, and social welfare

• heavily influenced by his popular wife Eva "Evita" Perón,

• also wielding authoritarian control and suppressing opposition before being overthrown, exiled, and later returning to power. 

Evita

• Argentina's charismatic First Lady (1946-1952) a former actress who became a powerful political force

• championing the poor and working class ("descamisados") through her charity foundation and advocacy for women's rights, including suffrage,

• remained a controversial figure accused of corruption and demagoguery

• leaving a complex legacy as a beloved icon and symbol of political patronage. 

FSLN

Nicaragua's dominant leftist political party, named after national hero Augusto C. Sandino; founded in the 1960s, it overthrew the Somoza dictatorship in 1979, established a socialist government focused on social welfare, but faced intense U.S.-backed Contra rebel warfare and later returned to power under Daniel Ortega, facing modern criticism for democratic backsliding. 

“dependency” theory

global inequality stems from wealthy "core" nations exploiting poorer "peripheral" nations, creating a cycle where resources and wealth flow from the periphery to the core, hindering development in the periphery through unequal trade, debt, and political influence, a concept rooted in colonialism and maintained by internal elites in dependent nations