World History II Final Exam Study Guide: Key People, Events, and Concepts

Wilhelm II

Kaiser (emperor) of Germany who built up Germany's military and supported Austria-Hungary after Franz Ferdinand's assassination.

Franz Ferdinand

Archduke of Austria-Hungary whose assassination on June 28, 1914, triggered World War I.

Gavrilo Princip

Serbian nationalist and member connected to the Black Hand who assassinated Franz Ferdinand.

T.E. Lawrence

British officer who helped Arabs fight the Ottoman Empire.

V.I. Lenin

Led the Bolshevik Revolution, pulled Russia out of WWI, and established communist rule.

Woodrow Wilson

U.S. President during WWI who proposed the Fourteen Points and wanted the League of Nations.

Verdun

Longest battle of WWI between France and Germany with over 700,000 casualties.

Gallipoli

Allied invasion of the Ottoman Empire that resulted in a major Allied defeat.

Triple Alliance

Military alliance consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire.

Triple Entente

Military alliance consisting of Britain, France, Russia, and later joined by the United States.

The Black Hand

Serbian nationalist group that planned the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.

New Weapons

Included machine guns, poison gas, tanks, airplanes, and submarines.

Trench Warfare

Combat method where soldiers fought from trenches, resulting in very little land gained and unsanitary conditions.

October Revolution

Bolsheviks took over Russia, led by Lenin.

HMS Lusitania

British passenger ship sunk by Germany, which helped turn American opinion against Germany.

Treaty of Versailles

Ended WWI, blamed Germany, forced reparations, and created resentment that helped lead to WWII.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)

Created the New Deal to help Americans during the Great Depression.

Benito Mussolini

Dictator of Italy and founder of Fascism.

Paul von Hindenburg

German president who appointed Hitler Chancellor.

Adolf Hitler

Nazi leader and dictator of Germany who started WWII.

Joseph Stalin

Soviet dictator who used Five-Year Plans and forced collectivization.

Roaring Twenties

Period of economic boom characterized by new inventions and increased consumer spending.

Black Tuesday

Stock market crash on October 29, 1929, leading to bank failures, business closures, and rising unemployment.

New Deal

Programs that created jobs, regulated banks, built infrastructure, and helped unemployed families.

Fascism

Political ideology characterized by extreme nationalism, dictatorship, military strength, and government above individual rights.

Hyperinflation

Extremely rapid inflation, notably in Germany after WWI.

Nazi Party

Political party led by Hitler that promised jobs and national pride.

Five-Year Plans

Stalin's plans for industrialization in the Soviet Union.

Collectivization

Process of combining private farms into government farms, leading to famine, especially in Ukraine.

Sudetenland

German-speaking region of Czechoslovakia that Hitler demanded.

Vichy France

French government that cooperated with Germany during WWII.

Free French

Movement led by Charles de Gaulle that continued fighting Germany.

Luftwaffe

German Air Force during WWII.

RAF

Royal Air Force of Britain.

Winston Churchill

British Prime Minister who refused to surrender during WWII.

Battle of Stalingrad

Turning point in Europe marked by a major Soviet victory.

D-Day

June 6, 1944, when Allied forces invaded Normandy, marking the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe.

Greater Germany

Hitler's goal to unite all German-speaking people.

Lebensraum

German term meaning 'Living Space', referring to expansion into Eastern Europe.

Axis Powers

Alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during WWII.

Nazi-Soviet Pact

Agreement between Germany and the USSR not to attack each other before WWII.

Blitzkrieg

German term for 'Lightning War', characterized by fast attacks using tanks and aircraft.

Operation Barbarossa

German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.

Holocaust

Murder of six million Jews, as well as targeted Roma, disabled people, political opponents, and others.

Sun Yat-sen

Founder of modern China.

Chiang Kai-shek

Leader of Chinese Nationalists.

Mao Zedong

Leader of Chinese Communists.

Hideki Tojo

Japanese Prime Minister during WWII.

Douglas MacArthur

American general in the Pacific during WWII.

Harry Truman

Ordered atomic bombs to be dropped on Japan.

Japanese-American Internment

Executive Order 9066 that relocated Japanese Americans into camps.

442nd Regiment

Japanese-American soldiers who were one of the most decorated U.S. military units.

Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941, when Japan attacked the U.S.

Midway

Major American naval victory during WWII.

Guadalcanal

Beginning of the Allied offensive in the Pacific.

Island Hopping

Military strategy of skipping heavily defended islands during WWII.

Manhattan Project

U.S. project that developed the atomic bomb.

United Nations

International organization created after WWII to promote peace.

George Kennan

Developed the containment policy during the Cold War.

Ronald Reagan

U.S. President who helped pressure the Soviet Union.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Introduced Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring) in the USSR.

Boris Yeltsin

First President of Russia after the collapse of the USSR.

Germany

Divided into East and West after WWII.

NATO

Western military alliance formed after WWII.

Warsaw Pact

Communist military alliance formed in response to NATO.

Berlin Wall

Barrier that separated East and West Berlin during the Cold War.

Non-Aligned Movement

Group of countries that stayed neutral during the Cold War.

Containment

U.S. policy aimed at stopping the spread of communism.

Marshall Plan

American financial aid program to help rebuild Europe after WWII.

Berlin Airlift

Operation to supply West Berlin after the Soviet blockade.

Sputnik

First satellite launched into space by the Soviet Union.

NASA

U.S. agency created after the launch of Sputnik.

Korean War

Conflict between North Korea (communist) and South Korea (supported by the U.S.).

Vietnam War

Conflict aimed at containing communism, known as the first 'television war.'

SALT I & II

Treaties that limited nuclear weapons during the Cold War.

Glasnost

Policy of political openness introduced by Gorbachev.

Perestroika

Economic reform policy introduced by Gorbachev.

Theodor Herzl

Founder of the Zionist movement advocating for a Jewish homeland.

David Ben-Gurion

First Prime Minister of Israel.

Yasser Arafat

Leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Anwar Sadat

President of Egypt who signed peace agreements with Israel.

Menachem Begin

Prime Minister of Israel who signed peace agreements with Egypt.

Ayatollah Khomeini

Leader of the Iranian Revolution that established an Islamic Republic.

Arab Nationalism

Movement advocating for unity among Arab nations.

Zionism

Movement supporting the establishment of a Jewish homeland.

Israel

Country created in 1948 as a homeland for Jews.

Suez Crisis

Event where Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, leading to international conflict.

Six-Day War

Conflict in which Israel defeated neighboring Arab nations.

OPEC

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries controlling oil production.

Iranian Revolution

1979 event that transformed Iran into an Islamic Republic.

Iran-Iraq War

Long and costly war between Iran and Iraq from 1980 to 1988.

Great Leap Forward

Mao's attempt to industrialize China that failed and caused famine.

Cultural Revolution

Movement aimed at destroying 'old' Chinese traditions.

People's Republic of China

Communist China established in 1949.

Economic Miracle

Rapid economic growth in Japan after WWII.

Japanese Occupation

Period when Japan occupied much of East Asia before and during WWII.

Genocide

Deliberate destruction of a group.

Conscription

Mandatory military draft.

Squadristi

Mussolini's Blackshirts, paramilitary forces.

Propaganda

Information used to influence public opinion.