AP World Modern Time Period 4 (1900-Present) Key Terms Set

Cold War

A conflict that was between the US and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield due to the destructive ability of nuclear weapons, but instead fought each other ideologically through proxy wars and contests of achievements.

Tehran Conference

The first of the meetings between Great Britain, United States, and Soviet Union. This is where relations were the most amicable with the three countries, although they had disagreements over the border of Poland after the war, they agreed to fight Germany then Japan, the division of Germany into zones of occupation.

Yalta Conference (1945)

The second meeting of the three allied powers in WW2, but during this meeting disagreements begin to emerge among the three over three fundamental questions, the long term vision of Germany, polish borders after WW2, and the issue to occupied territories after the war. During the conference, they made a truce on Poland, allowing Stalin to keep Poland's eastern frontier for himself to keep his promise of fighting Japan. Outside of zones of occupation, there was no clear agreement for Germany after the war's conclusion, and the group published the declaration of liberated Europe.

Declaration of Liberated Europe

A document published during WW2, in which the allied powers agreed that all countries liberated from German control or occupied by the allied powers would be allowed to have democratic governments and be able to hold free elections without any interference from the principle allied powers.

Potsdam Conference

The last of the WW2 conferences in which relations disintegrated among the three allied powers during WW2. Truman and Stalin did not get along at the conference. In order to finalize the Polish and German question, Truman allowed Stalin to keep Poland's eastern frontier on the condition that Stalin could not get 20 billion in reparations instead take reparations out of his zone of occupation only. Despite reaching agreements on the German and Polish question, it was clear that the relations between the U.S. and Soviet Union had soured.

Iron Curtain

The metaphorical divide in Europe following WW2 between pro-communist countries i Eastern Europe and pro-capitalist countries in Western Europe was highlighted by Winston Churchill, who accused Stalin of betraying his promise of free elections in Eastern Europe.

Berlin Blockade

A crisis in Europe during 1948 between the Soviet Union and the U.S. when Stalin blockaded all entrances into Berlin from Western Europe due to the unveiling of a new German currency to help restore the German economy after WW2. Truman countered Stalin's blockade by flying supplies into the people of Western Europe. It was the first major contest between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Truman Doctrine

First policy passed by the U.S. during the Cold War which argued the U.S. would not get directly involved in wars against the Soviet Union or communist states, but would provide money, aid, weapons, and munitions to countries fighting communism.

Containment

The goal of U.S. foreign policy to win the Cold War. The U.S. believed that if communism can not spread it would collapse naturally over time.

Domino Effect Theory

The idea that if one country falls to communism others around it will fall as well. This idea guided the U.S. to participate in direct intervention if necessary to stop the spread of communism.

European Recovery Program

Also known as the Marshall Plan, the action involved the U.S. giving free money to European countries to help rebuild their economies after WW2, provided they purchased items from the U.S. Although it was designed to rebuild European countries after WW2, the plan also had a motive to contain communism, because the U.S. feared that if war-torn Europe did not recover economically, countries would turn to Communism as a solution to their problems.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Cold War alliance formed by pro-capitalist democratic countries to prevent the spread of communism into Western Europe. The alliance stated that if one country in the alliance is invaded this would prompt all other nations to declare war on that party.

Warsaw Pact

Military alliance of communist aligned countries during the Cold War. The alliance stated that if one country is invaded all other countries have to declare war on that party. Although it was designed compete with NATO, it also gave the Soviet Union justification to suppress any internal policy by a state in the alliance, they viewed as detrimental to the survival of socialism.

Non-Aligned Movement

A movement by many African and Asian countries after achieving independence to agree to stay out of the Cold War blocs.

Proxy War

a conflict where two or more opposing countries or parties support different groups or governments in a third-party nation, rather than directly engaging in combat with each other.

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

Concept that developed during the Cold War that made it impractical for the U.S. and Soviet Union to fight each other as this would result in the annihilation of each country through nuclear war.

Korean War

Proxy War in east Asia, when the communist aligned region of North Korea invaded the anti-communist region of South Korea, prompting U.S. and U.N. involvement.

Angolan Civil War

Proxy War in West Africa between the U.S. and Soviet Union and Cuba over what the new government's ideology would be.

MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola)

a Marxist-Leninist organization and Mbundu ethnic group. Backed bythe Soviet Union and Cuba that attempted to instill socialism in the new freed country of Angola during the Angolan Civil War.

UNITA:(National Union for the Total Independence of Angola)

Pro-capitalist and Ovimbundu ethnic group that the U.S. and Apartheid South Africa supported due to their determination to instill free market policies in the newly freed region of Angola.

Nicaraguan Revolution

The overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship in Latin America which led to a period of Civil Warring between pro-socialist and anti-socialist factions in Central America.

Sandanistas

Pro-Socialist revolutionaries backed by the Soviet Union and Cuba overthrew the Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua, attempting to instill socialism in the country.

Contras

Anti-socialist counter-revolutionaries who fought with the Sandinistas in Nicaragua during the 1980's. This group was backed by the U.S.

Non-Proliferation Treaty

Signed in 1968 this agreement by the Soviet Union and United States agreeing not to share nuclear technology, weapons, or information that could lead to the development of nuclear weapons. The agreement also pledged that nuclear weapons will not be advanced more than what they are and that research would only be used for the research and development of nuclear energy.

Sun Yat Sen

Chinese nationalist revolutionary, founder and leader of the Guomindang until his death, who overthrew the Qing Dynasty during the Chinese Revolution of 1911.

Kuomintang

Chinese nationalist party that usurped the Qing Dynasty, and temporarily rule China from 1911- 1949.

CCP

Chinese communist party that competed with the Nationalist party in China following the Chinese Revolution of 1911. They initially worked together to suppress regional lords who defied the central government of Chin, but during the 1930's they were engaged in a Civil War with each other.

Mao Zedong

Leader of the Chinese Communist Party that overthrew the Chinese nationalist party in 1949 after Japan's defeat, turning China into a communist country.

Great Leap Forward

China's version of the Soviet 5 Year Plans, which sought to utilize the total Chinese population to achieve rapid industrialization. Under this plan, collective farms were set up and peasants were encouraged to smelt house metal into steel to help with industrialization. The policy ended terribly with famine occurring and very little viable steel being made.

Cultural Revolution

Due to the failed modernization program of Mao Zedong, Mao blamed the program's failures on old cultural elements of China which still clung to pro-capitalist ideas. Under this directive Mao attempted to purge China or old cultural elements to bring them into unity behind Mao's socialist message.

Red Guards

Young educated Chinese youth who viewed Mao Zedong as the savior of China and attempted to force people of older generations behind Mao's policies. These people would go around China and openly confront intellectuals, teachers, doctors, corrupt officials and shame them or beat them into following Mao Zedong.

Fulgencio Batista

Cuban dictator who ruled Cuba with a iron fist before 1959, not allowing any democracy, freedoms, and Cuba's sugar fields were owned by a small elite and foreign American companies, leading to poverty among Cuba's lower classes.

Fidel Castro

Inspired by Che Guevara's socialist principles, this individual secured weapons from the Soviet Union and usurped the Cuban president, turning Cuba into a socialist country.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

Fearful of a communist country so close to its bordered, the U.S. plotted a coup against Fidel Castro by training exiled expatriates and supplied them with weapons to overthrow Fidel Castro. It turned out to be a catastrophic failure, as the battle plans were leaked to Castro before.

Cuban Missile Crisis

Wanting to achieve extra security after the failed U.S. coup against Fidel Castro, the Soviet Union transported ICBM missiles to Cuba. Upon hearing of this, the American navy blockaded Soviet ships from getting to Cuba, causing a tense standoff. WW 3 was averted by the U.S. agreeing to pulling missiles out of Turkey, and the Soviet Union would pull missiles out of Cuba.

Indian National Congress

Formed in 1885 with the initial purpose of giving Muslim and Hindu voices regarding British policies in India, the organization later argued for gradual moves to insure Indian autotomy and intendance from Britain. After WW1, they became the main leaders of Indian Independence.

Mahatmas Gandhi

Indian leader who advocated for non-violence to achieve independence from Britain.

Civil Disobedience

The intentional refusal to follow laws and orders as a form of peaceful protest. This was advocated by many leaders in the 20th century such as Mahatmas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nelson Mandela.

Homespun Movement

Action advocated by Gandhi in which Indians would make their own clothing instead of buying British industrial cloth. It became a way to protest British control of the economy and make Indians self-sufficient.

Salt March

Event in 1930 in which Gandhi and hundreds of his followers marched 240 miles to the Indian Ocean to make their own salt instead of buying from the British who imposed heavy taxes on salt.

Quit India Movement 1942

After Britain decided to draft Indians into fighting WW2 without consulting the Indian National Congress, this sparked a wave of riots, protests, and strikes against British rule, resulting int he arrest of leaders of the INC. Although the movement failed to gain independence, it did lead to a lot of sympathy for the Indian people, as the British used violence and prison to suppress the widely peaceful protests.

Indochina

The initial name for Vietnam when it was colonized by France for its rubber.

Ho Chi Minh

Nationalist leader who led the Vietminh, a guerilla organization to fight Japan during WW2, when they invaded Vietnam and later France when they attempted to reassert control over Vietnam.

First Indochina War

A military conflict from 1946- 1954, between France and the Vietminh in which France attempted to reassert control again over Vietnam.

Geneva Accords

An agreement between Ho Chi Minh and the French government to cease hostilities during the first Indochina War. Under the agreement, Vietnam would be divided into two regions at the 17th parallel, with an agreement by both sides of Vietnam to hold a free election in 1956 to determine the future of Vietnam.

Ngo Dinh Diem

South Vietnamese president who refused to hold elections in South Vietnam, violating the terms of the Geneva Accords which started the Second Indochina War.

Second Indochina War

Known in the U.S. as the Vietnam conflict, North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam, because of its refusal to follow the Geneva Accords. The Soviet Union and China supported the communist aligned North Vietnam, while the U.S. backed the anti-communist South Vietnam.

Suez Canal

A man made waterway that was built by England during the 19th century which linked the Mediterranean Sea and Red sea which expedited the travel time to the Indian Ocean from Europe.

Gamal Abdel Nasser

Egyptian President who overthrew the Egyptian monarchy in 1956 and after assuming power nationalized Egypt's industry, banks, and the Suez Canal.

Suez Crisis

1956 event in which Gamal Abdel Nasser issued a proclamation requiring all British and French troops evacuate the Suez Canal as this was now going to be Egyptian state property. Due to its proximity to Egypt, Britain and France asked Israel to invade Egypt, which forced the Soviet Union to support Nasser since he was a socialist. The Soviet Premier, issued a demand for the British and French governments to comply with Nasser's demands. The U.S. eager to bring a quick end to the contention asked Britain and France to comply as this would allow the U.S. to hopefully expand its own influence in the region as well.

Balfour Declaration

British proclamation during WW1, that part of Britain's foreign policy would be to secure a new homeland for people to Jewish heritage provided it does not disrupt local politics in the Middle East.

Zionism

Jewish nationalism that arose among many people of Jewish descent in Europe due to the centuries of Antisemitism on the continent with the end goal of achieving a new Jewish homeland.

Mandate System

Issued by the League of Nations after WW1, in which former territories of the Ottoman Empire would be entrusted to Britain and France with the Mandate to help develop them towards Self-Rule. Under this system, Britain was entrusted with Palestine.

UN Partition Plan 1947

Due to the heavy influx of Jewish migrants after the Holocaust to Palestine, Britain gave up its ownership of the land to the UN to help reach a peaceful solution between the Jews and Arabs in Palestine. Under this plan, Palestine would be split into two states with 55% of the land going to Israel and the other 45% going to the Arabs in Palestine. Despite having a majority, the Arabs were outraged about getting less land.

Arab-Israeli War 1948

Initiated after the Jewish declaration of Israel after the UN's two state solution, Arabs in Palestine and many surrounding countries declared war on Israel, leading to a year long war. During the course of the war, Israel annexed more land than what under the initial UN plan, leading to future hostilities in the region.

Muslim League

Founded in India in 1906 to be the Islamic version of the Indian National Congress to voice Muslim concerns in India, the organization cooperated with the INC initially during Gandhi's peaceful protest, but as independence neared, the organization feared that being the minority, the Hindus would dominate the new Indian government, so the organization petitioned the British for independence under the promise for a two state solution.

India

The Hindu state that was created from the Partition of India

Pakistan

The Islamic state that was created due to the Partition of India.

Metropole

A large city of a former colonial empire, in which former colonial subjects migrated to after achieving independence.

Francisco Franco

Spanish dictator in Spain who ruled Spain from 1939-1975, installing a brutal authoritarian and fascist regime that used violence to eliminate political dissident, censored free press, suppressed outside languages such as Catalan Basque, and did not allow any labor unions.

Martin Luther King Jr.

American civil rights leader who used sit ins, boycotts, and protests to demand equality in American society.

Montgomery Bus Boycotts

A series of boycotting public transportation in Alabama to protest Jim Crow laws in the South.

Jim Crow Laws

Series of laws found in Southern states that segregated public spaces. Although the Supreme court ruled it was acceptable as long as the segregated places were equal to each other.

Brown V. Board of Education

Landmark Supreme Court Case in which segregation in schools was overturned in the USA.

Civil Rights Act

Legislation passed in 1964 that granted African Americans and other minorities equality such as eliminating poll taxes, literacy test, and elimination of unfair hiring practices.

Apartheid

Racial segregation policy in South Africa, which placed South Africans into legally classified categories with whites being at the top and people of color being lower. People of African descent were segregated in public spaces and in white communities, they would have to possess a pass book to be in the region. Education was also segregated with white schools giving students a higher education, while schools for Africans were less than, often focusing on menial labor. These laws also banned Africans from serving in government or being allowed to vote.

African National Congress (ANC)

A group of intellectual Africans in South Africa who formed to protest the unjust apartheid policies there with the end goal of establishing democratic and equal South Africa.

Nelson Mandela

ANC leader imprisoned in South Africa for his role in violent opposition to the Apartheid program. Although initially a supporter of civil disobedience, he changed his mind after the Sharpesville Massacre and began to support violent means to end Apartheid. While in prison he wrote an autobiography in which he outlined the unjustness of Apartheid and the peaceful attempts he made before being imprisoned to end it. He ultimately spent 27 years in prison, but after being released he became South Africa's first Black president.

Sharpesville Massacre

Event in 1960, in which began as a peaceful protest to Apartheid resulted in the death of 69 men, women, and children.

Long Walk to Freedom

An autobiography written by Nelson Mandela in which he outlined the the unjustness of Apartheid and the peaceful attempts he made to overturn it before being imprisoned. The book became an international best seller and garnered a lot of international sympathy for Mandela and the ANC which pressured the South African government to release Mandela, leading him to become the first Black President of South Africa.

Al Qaeda

Terrorist organization formed by Osama Bin Laden with the intent of turning the Middle East back into a Islamic fundamentalist state and expelling all American influences and American puppet states in the Middle East.

September 11th Attacks

An event in 2001, in which two planes hijacked by Islamic fundamentalists supported by Al Qaeda crashed into the World Trade Center Buildings in New York City.

radio

A device which used electromagnetic Waves to receive and sometimes transmit messages. Became one of the first means of public communications, which was used for listening to news, music, and talk shows.

Smartphones

A form of cellular phone that has access to the internet. Due to cellular phones, people can use them everywhere and they can access social media and instantly keep up to date on world events.

Internet

A global network of interconnected computers and servers that enables the sharing of information, communication, and access to digital resources via standardized protocols.

Birth Control

A form of contraception was available after WW2, which prevented women from getting pregnant allowing them greater reproductive freedom and pursuing higher education and careers before choosing to become pregnant, but also lowering global fertility rates.

Nuclear Power

A form of energy produced by splitting atoms (nuclear fission) or combining them (nuclear fusion), generating heat used to produce electricity, typically in power plants, with minimal greenhouse gas emissions.

Chernobyl Incident

A nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine where, on April 26, 1986, a catastrophic explosion and reactor meltdown occurred, releasing massive amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere. It is considered the worst nuclear disaster in history, leading to widespread environmental contamination and long-term health effects.

Vaccines

A biological preparation that stimulates the immune system to recognize and fight specific pathogens (e.g., viruses or bacteria) by mimicking an infection.Prevents diseases by building immunity before exposure to the pathogen

Anti-Biotic

A medication used to kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria, treating bacterial infections directly. Treats diseases by directly targeting bacteria that have already caused an infection.

Green Revolution

A movement starting the 1970s that involved the development of high-yielding varieties of cereal grains, expansion of irrigation infrastructure, modernization of management techniques, and distribution of hybridized seeds, synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides to farmers to increase the food supply for third-world countries.

Norman Borlaug

Founder of Green Revolution: Increased wheat and maize yield worldwide that led him to receive 1970 Nobel Peace Prize.

GMOs

Genetically modified organisms. Organisms created by combining natural or synthetic genes using the techniques of molecular biology designed to improve crop yields and prevents pests from eating crops.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Last leader of the Soviet Union whose liberalization of the Soviet Union led to the collapse of the Eastern Bloc from 1989-1991.

Glasnost

Russian for transparency, which was one of Gorbachev's policies to revitalize the Soviet Union. It aimed to give news papers and other journalists the ability to be critical of the Soviet Union leadership as a way to steer the Soviet Union back to prosperity. It also allowed other political parties to run against the communist party in elections allowing more competition in the government.

Perestroika

A Russian word meaning restructuring, it was a policy by Mikhail Gorbachev to revitalize the Soviet Economy by inserting some degree of free market principles into the Soviet economy.

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

Also known as Star Wars, it was a vision by Ronald Reagan in which the U.S. would produce a satellite system that could anticipate the trajectory of missiles and nuclear warheads and defeat them with a complicated system of lasers. Although many argued it was unfeasible, it pressured the Soviet Union into an arms race which led to a strain on their resources leading to widespread discontent in the Soviet Union.

Soviet-Afghan War

A proxy war in which the U.S. supplied military aid to the Mujadeen to fight the Soviet Occupation in Afghanistan. The spending and loss of life by the Soviet Union put a strain on the Soviet Union that ultimately led to its collapse.

Fall of the Berlin Wall

Recognized as the unofficial end of the Cold War. Once a rumor circulated that East Germany would ease restrictions going to West Berlin, the gate of East Berlin was flooded with thousand of East Germans hoping to get out of the Soviet Union. Unable to quell the growing crowds the East German troops allowed the East Germans pass to west Berlin. Afterwards, Germans began dismantling the Berlin Wall with no response from the Soviet Union. The inaction by the Soviet Union was a signal that countries in the Soviet Union were allowed to leave. This marked a string of countries leaving the Soviet Union from 1989-1991.

Heart Disease

any disease of the heart muscle or other working parts of the heart. This tended to grow during the 20th and 21st centuries due to people living longer due to modern vaccines and antibiotics.

Alzheimer's disease

a progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, finally, physical functioning. This disease is usually found in people of older age to the degradation of the brain's tissue and neurotransmitters.

Malaria

A blood related disease often found in second and third world countries that is carried by mosquitoes, due to lack of funding in those regions to combat the disease, which in serious cases can lead to death

HIV/ AIDS

A disease epidemic from the late 1970's to the early 1990's characterized by an immune system disorder, that can result in death if not treated properly. Due to research, retroviral drugs have been engineered that can prevent death for people with this disease provided the disease has not progressed along. Many parts of the world, especially in Africa are still experiencing issues with this disease.

Spanish Flu

An epidemic in 1918, where soldiers returning from WW1, brought home a deadly and contagious disease killing anywhere from 50-100 million people worldwide.

Deforestation

The removal of trees faster than forests can replace themselves leading to a growth in greenhouse gases.

Kyoto Protocol (1997)

The main international treaty on global warming, which entered into effect in 2005 and mandates cuts in carbon emissions. Almost all the world's major countries, except the United States, are participants.

greenhouse effect

Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases leading to rising of global temperatures.

Desertification

A type of land degradation in which a relatively dry land region becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation and wildlife.

Loans for shares program

the Russian government sold former state enterprises such as oil and natural gas to former KGB leaders, who had money as a form of loan for the Russian state to get back on its feet. The businesses were bought, but since they were not profitable, they were not able to pay back the loans and ultimately just kept them.

Neoliberalism

Post WW2 form of Capitalism, which sought to reduce, but not elimnate government invovlement in the economy, which advocated privatization, deregulation, and free trade but allows for targeted government interventions, such as monetary policy or legal frameworks. This was supported by many 20th century leaders after WW2 such as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.