AP World Unit 5 Vocab 1

Tehran Conference

The 1943 "Big Three" meeting (Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill) where the Allies committed to launching Operation Overlord (D-Day). It was crucial for coordinating a cross-channel invasion of France and marked the first time the three leaders met in person to discuss the post-war world.

Potsdam Conference

The final 1945 meeting of WWII Allied leaders (Truman, Stalin, Atlee) held in Germany to negotiate terms for the end of the war. It revealed growing tensions between the US and USSR, as Truman hinted at the atomic bomb and the leaders struggled to agree on the administration of occupied Germany.

Cultural revolution (China)

Launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 to preserve "true" Communist ideology by purging capitalist and traditional elements. It resulted in widespread chaos, the formation of the Red Guards, and the persecution of intellectuals, significantly setting back China's economic and social development for a decade.

Spanish civil war

A 1936-1939 conflict between the Republicans and the Nationalists (led by Francisco Franco). It is often called a "dress rehearsal" for WWII because Hitler and Mussolini used it to test new military technology, such as the saturation bombing of Guernica.

Yalta Conference

A February 1945 meeting where the "Big Three" planned the final defeat of Nazi Germany and the post-war reorganization of Europe. A key outcome was the agreement to divide Germany into four occupation zones and Stalin’s vague promise of free elections in Eastern Europe.

Fascism

A far-right, authoritarian ultranationalist political ideology characterized by dictatorial power and forcible suppression of opposition. Rising to prominence in early 20th-century Europe, it emphasized the state over the individual, as seen in Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany.

Central Powers

The WWI alliance consisting primarily of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. They fought against the Allied Powers and were ultimately defeated, leading to the collapse of these three major empires and a massive redrawing of the global map.

Allied Powers (WWI)

The coalition led by France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, and later the United States. Their victory led to the Treaty of Versailles and the creation of the League of Nations, though the heavy toll of the war set the stage for future global instability.

Allied Powers (WWII)

The "Big Three" (Great Britain, USSR, USA) and China, united to fight the Axis. This alliance was unique for joining capitalist democracies with a communist state to defeat the shared existential threat of global fascism.

Axis Powers

The WWII alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan. They sought to expand their territories through military conquest—Germany in Europe, Italy in the Mediterranean, and Japan in Asia—aiming to establish a "New Order" based on racial or national supremacy.

League of Nations

An international organization created after WWI to prevent future conflicts through collective security. It ultimately failed because it lacked an army and the US did not join, proved by its inability to stop the Japanese invasion of Manchuria or the rise of Nazi Germany.

Appeasement

The diplomatic policy of making political or material concessions to an aggressive power to avoid conflict. Most famously associated with Neville Chamberlain’s 1938 Munich Agreement, which allowed Hitler to annex the Sudetenland in a failed attempt to prevent WWII.

Kulak

A category of relatively affluent farmers in the later Russian Empire and early Soviet Union. During Stalin's "dekulakization" in the late 1920s, they were labeled class enemies, leading to their mass arrest, deportation, or execution as agriculture was forcibly collectivized.

Treaty of Versailles

The 1919 peace treaty that ended WWI, imposing harsh "war guilt" clauses, heavy reparations, and territorial losses on Germany. Many historians argue these punitive terms created the economic and political resentment that allowed the Nazi Party to rise to power.

Holocaust

The state-sponsored, systematic persecution and genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945. Resulting in the death of 6 million Jews, it led to the development of modern international human rights laws and the "Genocide Convention."

Reparations

Payments intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war. Post-WWI, Germany was forced to pay 132 billion gold marks, causing hyperinflation and economic collapse that destabilized the Weimar Republic and fueled radicalism.

Great Depression

The severe worldwide economic downturn that began with the 1929 US stock market crash and lasted through the 1930s. It caused global unemployment to skyrocket and led many nations to turn toward radical political movements or increased government intervention.

New Deal

A series of programs, public work projects, and financial reforms enacted by FDR between 1933 and 1939. It transformed the US government's role in the economy, creating lasting institutions like Social Security to provide a "safety net" for citizens.

Anti-Semitism

Hostility to or prejudice against Jewish people. While existing for centuries, it reached a lethal peak in the 20th century when it was adopted as official state ideology by the Nazi Party to justify the "Final Solution."

Communism

A political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating for a classless society in which all property is publicly owned. In the 20th century, it became a global force following the 1917 Russian Revolution, defining the geopolitical "East vs. West" struggle of the Cold War.

Human rights

The basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a direct response to the atrocities of WWII, establishing a global standard for the protection of individuals against state abuse.

Trench warfare

A type of land warfare using occupied fighting lines consisting largely of trenches. It defined the Western Front of WWI, leading to a brutal stalemate where soldiers faced "No Man's Land," mud, disease, and minimal territorial gains for years.

Poison gas

A chemical weapon first used on a large scale during WWI (such as chlorine and mustard gas). Its horrific effects led to its ban in the 1925 Geneva Protocol, though it remains a significant concern in modern chemical warfare discussions.

Kaiser Wilhelm II

The last German Emperor, whose aggressive "Weltpolitik" (world policy) and naval buildup alienated other European powers. His support for Austria-Hungary in 1914 helped escalate a regional Balkan crisis into the global catastrophe of WWI.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne whose assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, by Gavrilo Princip acted as the "spark" that triggered the alliance systems of Europe and started WWI.

Arthur Zimmerman

The German Foreign Secretary who sent a 1917 telegram proposing an alliance with Mexico against the US. The interception of this "Zimmerman Telegram" by British intelligence was a primary factor in the US decision to enter WWI.

Sun Yat-Sen

The "Father of Modern China" who led the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty. He founded the Kuomintang (KMT) and established the "Three Principles of the People": nationalism, democracy, and livelihood.

Tsar Nicholas II

The last Emperor of Russia whose perceived weakness, poor leadership during WWI, and refusal to reform led to the 1917 Russian Revolution and the eventual execution of his entire family by the Bolsheviks.

Rasputin

A Siberian mystic who gained immense influence over the Russian Tsarina Alexandra by claiming to heal her son’s hemophilia. His presence at court discredited the monarchy and contributed to the public's loss of faith in the Romanovs.

Vladimir Lenin

The Bolshevik leader who orchestrated the 1917 October Revolution and became the first head of the Soviet Union. He adapted Marxism into "Leninism," emphasizing a vanguard party to lead the revolution and pulling Russia out of WWI.

Winston Churchill

The British Prime Minister during WWII known for his "iron will" and soaring oratory that rallied the UK during the Blitz. He later coined the term "Iron Curtain" to describe the divide between Western democracy and Soviet communism.

Joseph Stalin

The General Secretary of the Communist Party who transformed the USSR into an industrial and military superpower through "Five-Year Plans" and brutal purges. He led the Soviet Union through WWII and into the early Cold War.

Douglas Macarthur

A prominent US General who led the Allied forces in the Pacific during WWII and oversaw the successful occupation of postwar Japan. He was later famously relieved of command by Truman during the Korean War for insubordination.

Ataturk (Mustafa Kemal)

The founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. Following WWI, he implemented radical Westernizing reforms, including secularizing the government, adopting the Latin alphabet, and granting women the right to vote.

F.D. Roosevelt

The 32nd US President who led the nation through the Great Depression with his "New Deal" and through most of WWII. He was the only president elected four times and was a key architect of the United Nations.

Benito Mussolini

The Italian leader who founded the National Fascist Party and ruled as "Il Duce." He sought to recreate the Roman Empire, invaded Ethiopia, and became Hitler's primary European ally until his downfall in 1943.

Harry S. Truman

The US President who succeeded FDR and made the critical decision to use atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He also established the "Truman Doctrine," which pledged to contain the spread of communism globally.

Hideki Tojo

The Prime Minister of Japan during most of WWII and a proponent of the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy. He was the primary architect of Japanese expansionism and was later executed for war crimes.

Chiang Kai Shek

The leader of the Republic of China and the Kuomintang (KMT). He led China during the Second Sino-Japanese War and later lost the Chinese Civil War to Mao’s communists, fleeing to Taiwan to establish a government-in-exile.

Adolf Hitler

The leader of the Nazi Party and Führer of Germany (1933–1945). His invasion of Poland started WWII, and his "Lebensraum" (living space) policy and radical anti-Semitism led directly to the Holocaust.

Dwight Eisenhower

The Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during WWII who planned and supervised the D-Day invasions. He later served as the 34th US President, overseeing the early Cold War and the interstate highway system.

Emperor Hirohito

The 124th Emperor of Japan who presided over the country's transition from a militaristic imperial power to a modern constitutional monarchy. He was allowed to remain on the throne after WWII as a symbol of national unity.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

The theoretical physicist often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role as the scientific director of the Manhattan Project. After the war, he became a vocal advocate for international control of nuclear weapons.

Puyi

The last Emperor of China (Qing Dynasty), who was deposed as a child in 1912. He was later installed by the Japanese as the "puppet" ruler of Manchukuo during WWII, symbolizing the loss of Chinese sovereignty to foreign powers.