Colonialism, WW1, and the Rise of Totalitarianism

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and terms from a lecture on Colonialism, WW1, and the Rise of Totalitarianism.

Colonialism

Taking control of another land and ruling it as a colony.

Berlin Conference

1884-1885: European countries divided Africa without consulting Africans.

Central Powers

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire.

Entente

France, Russia, UK, USA (joins in 1917).

"Sick Man of Europe"

Term used to describe the decline of the Ottoman Empire, reflecting its political instability and weakening power in relation to European nations.

Treaty of Versailles

Ended WW1, which placed blame on Germany and caused communism in Russia under Lenin.

Trench Warfare

A type of combat in which opposing troops fight from trenches facing each other.

No-Man’s Land

The area between opposing trenches, characterized by danger and destruction.

Total War

A war that requires complete mobilization of society’s resources, military and civilian.

Machine guns

Automatic weapons capable of firing multiple rounds rapidly.

Posion Gas

Chemical weapons used by German Troops in 1915 to kill other troops.

The Meiji Restoration (1868)

Launched Japan’s modernization and industrialization, enabling it to compete with Western powers.

Raw Materials

Cotton, rubber, gold, diamonds, tea, etc.

Cash Crops

Colonies were forced to grow crops like sugar or cotton instead of food

Exploitation

Colonized people worked in poor conditions and had little control over their resources

Export economies

Colonies economies were built around sending goods to the empire, not for local benefit

Maxim Gun

Invented in 1884 by Hiram Stevens, the first automatic machine gun, gave Europeans huge military advantages

Steamships

Allowed for faster movement of troops and goods.

Telegraphs

Improved communication across long distances in empires.

Railroads

Built in colonies to extract and transport raw materials more easily.

Social Darwinism

Misuse of Darwin’s ideas to argue that stronger races were meant to dominate weaker ones.

Triple Alliance

Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.

Triple Entente

Alliance between France, Britain, and Russia.

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

1914, Archduke of Austria-Hungary was killed by a Serbian nationalist as they wanted independence from Austria-Hungary

Treaty of Versailles

1919; The peace treaty that ended WW1 and punished Germany, weakening its power.

Rise of Totalitarian Leaders

New dictators used propaganda, fear, and military force to gain total control over their countries

Weakness of the League of Nations

An international group created after WW1 to keep peace, but it had no real power; weak.

Shift in Global Power

Old empires weakened (Britain, France), new threats rose (Germany, Japan, USSR).

Fascism

A far-right, authoritarian ideology that promotes extreme nationalism, a strong military, and loyalty to a dictator.

Communism

A system advocating collective ownership of property and classless society.

Nazism

A form of fascism in Germany under Hitler that added extreme racism, especially anti-Semitism.

Totalitarianism

A government system where a dictator has total control over politics, economy, media, and military.

Appeasement

A policy of giving in to aggressive demands to avoid war (used by Britain/France toward Hitler).