APWH Vocab 20/21

Treaty of Versailles

The peace treaty signed in 1919 after World War I, which imposed harsh terms on Germany, including the loss of territory, military restrictions, and reparations payments.

Wilson's Fourteen Points

A set of principles proposed by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson for the post-war peace settlement, which emphasized self-determination, free trade, and the establishment of the League of Nations.

Central Powers

The alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria during World War I, which opposed the Allied Powers.

Allied Powers

The alliance of countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Italy, and later the United States, that fought against the Central Powers during World War I.

Black Hand

A secret Serbian nationalist organization that was responsible for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which triggered the start of World War I.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, whose assassination by a member of the Black Hand in 1914 was the immediate trigger for the start of World War I.

League of Nations

An international organization established after World War I, based on Wilson's Fourteen Points, with the goal of preventing future wars.

Woodrow Wilson

The 28th President of the United States, who played a key role in the Paris Peace Conference and the establishment of the League of Nations after World War I.

Bolshevik Revolution

The 1917 revolution in Russia that led to the establishment of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik party.

Vladimir Lenin

The leader of the Bolshevik Revolution and the first head of the Soviet Union.

United Nations

An international organization established in 1945 after World War II, with the goal of maintaining international peace and security.

Marshall Plan

A U.S. economic recovery program implemented after World War II to aid the reconstruction of Western Europe.

Nikita Khrushchev

The leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, who initiated the policy of "de-Stalinization" and the "thaw" in Soviet-Western relations.

Iron Curtain

A term used to describe the political, military, and ideological barrier that divided Western Europe from the Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe during the Cold War.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

A military alliance formed in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European countries, to counter the perceived threat of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact.

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance formed in 1955 by the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite states, as a counterpart to NATO.

Berlin Wall

A physical barrier constructed by East Germany in 1961 to prevent the flow of people from East Berlin to West Berlin, symbolizing the division between the Eastern and Western blocs during the Cold War.

Berlin Airlift

A massive operation by the United States and its allies to supply West Berlin with food and other essential supplies after the Soviet Union blockaded the city in 1948-1949.

Perestroika

A policy of economic and political restructuring initiated by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s, which contributed to the end of the Cold War.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A 1962 confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over the installation of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.