world history final

Opium War

Conflict between Britain and China over British sale of opium; led to British trading rights.

Commodore Matthew Perry

U.S. naval officer who forced Japan to open for trade in 1853.

China's Reaction to Western Influence

Resisted Westernization; weakened by internal rebellion and foreign powers.

Japan's Reaction to Western Influence

Embraced modernization during the Meiji Restoration; became industrialized.

Militarism

Glorification and buildup of military strength.

Alliances

Agreements between nations to support each other in conflict.

Imperialism

Competition for overseas colonies created global tension.

Nationalism

Extreme pride in one's nation or ethnic group.

Serbia/Austria-Hungary

Regional tension that sparked WWI after the archduke's assassination.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Heir to Austro-Hungarian throne, assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914.

Gavrilo Princip

Serbian nationalist who assassinated Franz Ferdinand.

Schlieffen Plan

Germany's strategy to quickly defeat France and then attack Russia.

Trench Warfare

Stalemate warfare on the Western Front involving trenches.

Russian Difficulties

Poor military leadership, low morale, and economic hardship.

Communist Revolution (Russia)

Bolsheviks overthrew the government; Lenin led a Communist regime.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Treaty between Germany and Russia ending Russia's involvement in WWI.

Lusitania

British ship sunk by German U-boat, killing Americans.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

German policy of attacking any enemy or neutral ship.

Zimmerman Note

German proposal for Mexico to join the war against the U.S.

Gallipoli Campaign

Failed Allied attempt to open a sea route to Russia through the Ottoman Empire.

Treaty of Versailles

Ended WWI; punished Germany with reparations and territorial losses.

Woodrow Wilson

U.S. President; proposed the Fourteen Points for lasting peace.

Fourteen Points

Wilson's plan for peace; included League of Nations and self-determination.

League of Nations

International organization aimed at maintaining peace; lacked power without U.S.

Bolsheviks

Radical Marxist group that seized power in Russia in 1917.

Vladimir Lenin

Leader of the Bolsheviks; established Communist regime in Russia.

Bloody Sunday

1905 massacre of peaceful Russian protesters by Czar's guards.

March Revolution

Uprising that led to Czar Nicholas II's abdication.

Duma

Russian national parliament created after the 1905 Revolution.

Czar Nicholas II

Last emperor of Russia; forced to abdicate in 1917.

Russian Civil War

War between Red (Bolsheviks) and White (anti-Bolsheviks) armies.

Joseph Stalin

Totalitarian Soviet leader after Lenin; launched brutal reforms.

Five-Year Plans

Stalin's policies to industrialize and modernize USSR.

Great Purge

Stalin's campaign of terror to eliminate political threats.

Collective Farms

State-run farms combining land and labor; caused famine.

Civil War in China

Conflict between Nationalists and Communists.

Mao Zedong

Communist leader who led the Chinese Revolution.

Communism in China

Mao's ideology, focused on peasant support and class struggle.

Long March

Communist retreat during the Chinese Civil War; boosted morale.

Weimar Republic

Weak German government formed after WWI.

Economic Problems in Germany

Hyperinflation and unemployment weakened trust in democracy.

Dawes Plan

U.S. financial aid to help Germany pay reparations and stabilize economy.

Causes of the Great Depression

Stock crash, bank failures, and global economic slowdown.

Stock Market Crash (1929)

Triggered a worldwide economic depression.

FDR (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

U.S. President who implemented the New Deal.

New Deal

Programs to create jobs and reform economy during Depression.

Rise of Hitler

Used economic crisis and nationalism to gain power in Germany.

Neutrality Acts

U.S. laws to avoid involvement in European conflicts.

Nuremberg Laws

Discriminatory laws that stripped German Jews of citizenship.

Hitler's Aggression

Violated Versailles Treaty by rebuilding military and expanding territory.

Munich Conference

Britain and France appeased Hitler by giving him Sudetenland.

Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact

Hitler and Stalin agreed not to fight; secretly split Poland.

Battle of Britain

German air assault met by strong British defense (RAF).

Luftwaffe

German Air Force.

RAF

Royal Air Force of Britain.

Maginot Line

French defense line that Germany bypassed via Belgium.

Ardennes Forest

Region Germany used to invade France unexpectedly.

Dunkirk

Massive evacuation of Allied troops across the English Channel.

Vichy France

Nazi-controlled puppet government in Southern France.

Erwin Rommel

German general in North Africa; called the 'Desert Fox.'

Operation Barbarossa

German invasion of Soviet Union; failed due to Russian winter.

Leningrad

City under brutal German siege; millions died but city held.

Lend-Lease Act

U.S. aid to Allies before joining the war.

Japanese Aggression

Expansion into China and the Pacific before WWII.

Admiral Yamamoto

Planned Pearl Harbor attack.

Pearl Harbor

Surprise attack that brought the U.S. into WWII (Dec 7, 1941).

Philippines

Key U.S. territory in Pacific; site of major battles.

MacArthur

U.S. general who promised to return to the Philippines.

Bataan Death March

Brutal forced march of U.S. and Filipino POWs by Japan.

Battle of Coral Sea

First naval battle where ships never saw each other.

Battle of Midway

Turning point; U.S. destroyed key Japanese carriers.

Island Hopping

U.S. strategy of taking strategic islands en route to Japan.

Battle of Guadalcanal

First major Allied offensive in the Pacific.

Battle of El Alamein

British victory over Rommel in North Africa.

Battle of Stalingrad

Turning point in Eastern Europe; Soviet victory.

Japanese Internment Camps

Forced relocation of Japanese-Americans during WWII.

Eisenhower

U.S. general who led D-Day invasion.

D-Day / Operation Overlord

Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France on June 6, 1944.

Battle of the Bulge

Germany's last major offensive; Allies held.

Battle of Leyte Gulf

Largest naval battle; Japan's navy was crushed.

Iwo Jima/Okinawa

Fierce island battles showing Japanese resistance.

Atomic Bomb

U.S. dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the war.

Outcome of WWII

Axis defeated; Cold War began between U.S. and USSR.

Nuremberg Trials

Nazi leaders tried for crimes against humanity.

Surrender and Occupation of Japan

U.S. rebuilt Japan into a democracy.

Japanese Constitution

New laws created during U.S. occupation; renounced war.

Postwar Germany

Divided into U.S., British, French, and Soviet zones.

Eastern Europe

Became communist under Soviet control.

Western Europe

Rebuilt with U.S. aid; became democratic.

Containment

U.S. strategy to stop the spread of communism.

Iron Curtain

Imaginary line separating communist East from democratic West.

Berlin Airlift

U.S. flew supplies into West Berlin during Soviet blockade (1948-49).