History of Independence Movements, Totalitarianism, and the Cold War

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key figures, political movements, and economic systems from the Indian independence movement, the rise of totalitarianism in Italy and the USSR, and the subsequent Cold War era.

Salt March

A 240-mile march to the sea led by Gandhi to protest the British salt monopoly and laws requiring Indians to buy salt only from the monopoly.

Soul-force

A form of resistance against the government invoked when a person refuses to obey an unjust law.

Body-force

A form of resistance where a person uses violence to compel the government to change an unjust law.

Amritsar massacre

A turning point that convinced many Indians they must gain independence rather than just self-rule and motivated Gandhi to become more involved.

Ahimsa

The principle of nonviolence believed in by Gandhi.

Civil disobedience

The refusal to obey unjust laws as a form of political protest.

Fascist party

The political party organized by Mussolini which promised to revive Roman greatness.

Five-year plans

Stalin's economic goals aimed at improving industry and agriculture, which resulted in industrial progress but failed to increase agricultural output.

Collectivization

A policy where the government took control of all businesses, distributed all resources, and forced the consolidation of agriculture.

Kulaks

Well-to-do farmers whom Stalin sent to labor camps as part of the response to peasant resistance against collectivization.

Command economy

An economic system in which all basic economic decisions are made by government officials rather than the free market.

Great Purge

The arrest and execution of hundreds of thousands of people Stalin suspected of disloyalty, replacing old revolutionaries with loyal young party members.

Russification

The policy of forcibly promoting Russian culture and destroying the religious establishment in the Soviet Union.

Hirohito

The Japanese emperor who called for Japan to surrender after the destruction of the navy/air force and the death of 110,000 civilians by atomic bombs.

United Nations

An organization founded after World War II to prevent world aggression, created because the League of Nations had failed to prevent World War II.

Marshall Plan

A program started by the United States to guard against the rebirth of Axis aggression and support post-war recovery.

NATO

An alliance established by the United States to defend its allies in Western Europe.

Warsaw Pact

The Soviet Union's military alliance formed in response to the creation of NATO.

Containment

The United States policy followed to check Soviet power around the world.

Cold War

A war of ideology between the United States and the Soviet Union where no direct armed conflict—or hot war—ever broke out.

Iron Curtain

Churchill's metaphor for the divide between East and West, where 'iron' represents strength and 'curtain' represents the division of the two areas.

Gorbachev's reforms

Changes that allowed for criticism of the government and an increase in private enterprise, eventually leading to the breakup of the Soviet empire.