Global History Regents Exam Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the Global History Regents Exam topics, including the Enlightenment, Revolutions, Imperialism, World Wars, the Cold War, Decolonization, and Human Rights violations.

The Enlightenment

An intellectual and cultural movement in the 17th-18th centuries emphasizing reason, individualism, and skepticism toward traditional authority.

what was reason during the Enlightment?

The belief that human reason could be used to solve problems and improve society.

Natural Rights

Fundamental rights such as life, liberty, and property inherent to all humans, not granted by government (John Locke)

Popular Sovereignty

The idea that political authority ultimately rests with the people, not a monarch (king).

Separation of Powers

Dividing government into legislative, executive, and judicial branches to prevent tyranny, as proposed by Montesquieu.

Social Contract

An agreement where the governed give up some rights to the government in exchange for protection, proposed by Rousseau and Locke.

Laissez-faire

An economic doctrine advocating for minimal government intervention in the economy (Adam Smith).

John Locke

Thinker who emphasized natural rights, consent of the governed, and the right to revolution if government fails.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Advocated for the “general will” and popular sovereignty, believing in direct democracy.

Baron de Montesquieu

Proposed the separation of powers into three branches of government.

1. Legislative Branch

2. Executive Branch

3. Judicial Branch

Voltaire

Championed freedom of speech, religious toleration, and criticized absolutism, and religious intolerance.

Adam Smith

Authored The Wealth of Nations, articulating principles of capitalism, free markets, and the “invisible hand”.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Pioneering feminist who argued for women's equality in education and public life.

Impact of the Enlightenment

• Challenged absolute monarchs and the divine right of kings.

• Inspired political revolutions in America, France and Latin America.

• Influenced the development of democratic principles and constitutions.

• Led to “enlightenment despots” (e.g., Catherine the Great, Frederick the Great) who implemented reforms but absolute power.

• Transformed economic thought, laying the foundation for modern capitalism.

Causes of the French Revolution (1789-1799)

• Deep social inequality (Estate System), economic crisis, heavy taxation on the Third Estate, influence of Enlightenment ideas, inspiration from the American revolution.

Estate System

The deep social inequality in France where the Third Estate bore the burden of heavy taxation, causing the French Revolution.

Reign of Terror (1793-1794)

The radical phase of the French Revolution led by Maximilien Robespierre.

Simón Bolívar

Known as 'The Liberator,' he led independence movements in Gran Colombia against Spanish rule.

Who are Jose de San Martin and Miguel Hidalgo?

Jose de San Martin liberated Argentina, Chile, and Peru during the Latin American revolution in the early 19th century.

Caudillos

Military strongmen who rose to power in Latin America following independence.

Toussaint Louverture

A former enslaved person and military leader who led the Haitian Revolution, the first successful slave rebellion in history.

Agricultural Revolution

A shift in farming methods that led to increased food supply and population growth, serving as a cause for the Industrial Revolution.

Proletariat

The industrial working class that grew during the Industrial Revolution.

Bourgeoisie

The middle class that rose to prominence during the Industrial Revolution.

Imperialism

The domination by one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country or region.

Social Darwinism

The ideological belief that some races or nations are superior and destined to dominate others.

White Man's Burden

The perceived duty of Westerners to 'civilize' non-Western peoples by spreading Christianity and Western culture.

Berlin Conference (1884-1885)

A meeting where European nations divided Africa among themselves without any African representation.

Sepoy Mutiny (1857)

A rebellion by Indian soldiers that led to the establishment of the British Raj (direct British rule) in India.

Opium Wars

Conflicts that resulted in unequal treaties and the establishment of foreign Spheres of Influence in China.

Meiji Restoration (1868)

A period in Japan of rapid modernization, industrialization, and adoption of Western technology in response to foreign pressure.

Suez Canal

A waterway completed in 1869 connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas, reducing travel time between Europe and Asia.

MAIN Causes of WWI

The four long-term causes of WWI: Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism.

Trench Warfare

The dominant military strategy on the Western Front during WWI, resulting in stalemates and high casualties.

Treaty of Versailles (1919)

The peace treaty that ended WWI, imposing harsh penalties and a 'war guilt clause' on Germany.

Fascism

A totalitarian ideology characterized by extreme nationalism, militarism, and the suppression of opposition, seen in Mussolini's Italy.

Appeasement

The policy of granting concessions to aggressive totalitarian regimes in an attempt to avoid war.

Holocaust

The systematic genocide of 6 million Jews and millions of others by the Nazi regime during WWII.

Iron Curtain

Winston Churchill's term for the ideological and physical division between Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe and Western Europe.

Containment

U.S. foreign policy aimed at preventing the spread of communism, implemented through the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan.

Domino Theory

The belief that if one country in a region fell to communism, surrounding countries would eventually follow.

Proxy Wars

Conflicts such as the Korean and Vietnam Wars where superpowers supported opposing sides without direct engagement.

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

The concept that an all-out nuclear war would result in the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender.

Glasnost

Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of 'openness' within the Soviet Union.

Perestroika

Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of economic restructuring in the Soviet Union.

Apartheid

A system of racial segregation in South Africa that was dismantled in the 1990s.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

The first president of Turkey who implemented Westernization and secularism to modernize the nation.

Pol Pot

Leader of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia who oversaw the 'Killing Fields' genocide in an attempt to create an agrarian utopia.

Ethnic Cleansing

A campaign practiced by Slobodan Milošević in Bosnia to forcibly remove and massacre Bosnian Muslims and Croats.

Rwandan Genocide (1994)

The slaughter of approximately 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus by Hutu extremists in 100 days.