World History (Russian Revolution, Communism/Fascism, WWII, Cold War)

Bolshevik

Communist party members (radical Marxists).

Lead By Vladimir Lenin.

Marxists

Supporters of Karl Marx ideologies.

Bloody Sunday

200,000 workers were killed because they had a petition in St. Petersburg and asked the czar for better working conditions and freedom.

Soviets

Worker (hammer) and farmer (sickle) council that then became the Russian government (USSR/Soviet Union).

Communism

Political theory derived from Karl Marx.

Had ideas of shared goods and everyone gets what they need.

Proletariat

Working-class people.

Bourgeoisie

“Bougie” capitalist class people that owned the majority of society’s wealth/production.

Facism

Far-right, authoritarian, extreme nationalist political ideology.

E.g. Leaders Hitler and Mussolini.

Weimar Republic

The failed democratic government in Germany after WWI.

Suffered b/c of political instability, the Treaty of Versailles, and hyperinflation.

Il Duce

Benito Mussolini’s title used to solidify his position as an absolute ruler of Italy.

Fuhrer

Adolf Hitler’s title used to solidify his position as an absolute ruler of Germany.

Mein Kampf

The book “My Struggle” Hitler wrote while in jail that outlines his ideologies and future plans for Germany.

Lebensraum

“Room to live”: Geopolitical concept used to justify the Nazi Party’s expansionist policies/invasion of other countries.

Axis Powers

Germany, Japan, Italy

Allied Powers

Britain, France, Russia, China, USA

Anti-Semitism

Hatred for Jews.

Jewish Ghetto

Filthy neighborhoods Jewish people were forced to live in as a means for control and isolation by the Nazis.

Einsatzgruppen

Mobile death squads established by Nazis to kill Jews and political opponents.

Kristallnacht

“Night of the Broken Glass”: Jewish businesses and homes were burned and looted by Nazis.

Final Solution

Hitler’s order of death camps to exterminate the European Jewish population.

Appeasement

To satisfy another (person/country) to avoid conflict.

E.g. Britain & France gave land of Czechoslovakia to Hitler to appease him.

Blitzkrieg

“Lightning War”: the method of offensive warfare responsible for Nazi Germany’s military successes in the beginning of WWII.

Cold War

A period of ideological rivalry and political tension between the United States and the Soviet Union after WWII, lasting from the late 1940s to the early 1990s

Iron Curtain

Political (metaphorical) and physical (literal) barrier in Europe after WWII.

West (USA) vs. East (Soviet Union).

Soviet Union

Northern Eurasian empire from 1917/22-1991.

Soviet Bloc

A group of communist countries aligned with the USSR during the Cold War.

Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.

NATO

A military alliance of 32 countries from North America to Europe.

Made to provide defense against potential aggression, especially against the USSR during the Cold War.

An attack on one member is an attack on all.

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance formed in 1955 by the Soviet Union and many Eastern European countries.

Created as a counter-balance to NATO and to solidify Soviet dominance.

Mutual Assured Destruction

A military strategy where two countries have several nuclear weapons that a nuclear attack would destroy both countries.

Made to deter a nuclear attack.

Berlin Wall

A concrete barrier that divided West and East Berlin from 1961 to 1989.

It was made to prevent East Germans from fleeing into the West, preventing emigration.

Became the symbol of the Cold War and Iron Curtain.

Truman Doctrine

A US foreign policy that pledged to support democratic nations against communist threats.

It was made to prevent the spread of communism and USSR influence.

It shaped the development of NATO.

United Nation

An international organization founded in 1945 to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, and promote corporations during international problems.

Nearly every country in the world is a member.

Space Race

A Cold-War era competition between the USSR and USA to achieve superiority in spaceflight.

The two countries competed by developing advanced rocket technology.

Sputnik

The first artificial satellite launched into Earth’s orbit by the USSR.

Its launch marked the beginning of the Space Race.

Apollo 11

The first crewed mission to land humans on the moon.

Its success was a way to boost US national pride, undermine USSR prestige, demonstrate technological superiority, and shift public opinion in favor of the US.

McCarthyism

The period of intense anti-Communism in the US in the late 1940s and 1950s.

Associated with senator Joseph McCarthy as he led a campaign of public accusations and investigations against individuals suspected of disloyalty or communist affiliations, even with little evidence.

Domino Theory

A theory suggests that if one nation fell to Communism, neighboring countries would as well.

This theory was used to justify the invasion of the US in Vietnam.