FINAL EXAM - 20TH CENTURY TO PRESENT/ RUSSIAN REVOLUTION/COLD WAR/WWII

Bloody Sunday

1905; peaceful march by russians turned deadly when Czar's guards fire on crowd, killing hundreds

February Revolution

the revolution against the Czarist government which led to the abdication of Nicholas II and the creation of a provisional government in March 1917

Abdication

giving up control authority

Petrograd and Moscow

The capital of Russia was moved from Petrograd to Moscow during World War I because Petrograd was too close to the front lines. It was less vulnerable to a push by the Germany army than was Moscow because Moscow was much farther away from the fighting and possible capture.

Soviets

A Russian council composed of representatives from the workers and soldiers.

Peace to the Army, Land to the Peasants, Factories to the Workers

Lenin's slogan; gets soldiers on his side by saying if he wins, he'll end the war immediately

Red Army

the regular army of the former Soviet Union

October Revolution

Bolsheviks led by Leon Trotsky and Lenin claimed power in name of the soviets and proclaimed a full-scale revolution with support of workers and troops

Bolsheviks

A group of revolutionary Russian Marxists who took control of Russia's government in November 1917

Post-Lenin Succession

after Lenin dies in 1924, question of who will take over; Lenin's friend Trotsky vs Josef Stalin; Stalin exiles Trotsky and becomes the new Russian leader

USSR

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Created by Lenin in 1922.

Five Year Plan

Stalin's economic policy to rebuild the Soviet economy after WWI. tried to improve heavy industry and improve farm output, but resulted in famine

Gulag

Russian prison camp for political prisoners

Great Purge

A campaign of terror directed at eliminating anyone who threatened Stalin's power

Remilitarization of Rhineland

Violating the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler rebuilt German Army and had it occupy the area between Germany and France, known as the Rhineland.

Anschluss

Union of Austria and Germany

Sudetenland

an area in western Czechoslovakia that was coveted by Hitler

Czechoslovakia

Small East European democracy betrayed into Hitler's hands at Munich

Munich Conference

1938 conference at which European leaders attempted to appease Hitler by turning over the Sudetenland to him in exchange for promise that Germany would not expand Germany's territory any further.

Poland

September 1,1939; invaded by Hitler; WWII begins. The German attack on this country was swift and fierce, using the blitzkrieg offensive. Soon, this country was defeated and split in half by Hitler and Stalin.

Ideologies

sets of beliefs about politics and society that help people make sense of their world

potsdam Conference

July 26, 1945 - Allied leaders Truman, Stalin and Churchill met in Germany to set up zones of control and to inform the Japanese that if they refused to surrender at once, they would face total destruction.

Division of Germany/Berlin

Germany and Berlin divided into US, Soviet, French, and British sectors as a result of Potsdam; US, French, and British sectors combined into West Germany in an attempt to unite Germany, but the USSR refused to give back their part b/c they wanted "protection"

Cold War

A conflict that was between the US and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years.

NATO vs Warsaw Pact

In 1949, the prospect of further Communist expansion prompted the United States and 11 other Western nations to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Soviet Union and its affiliated Communist nations in Eastern Europe founded a rival alliance, the Warsaw Pact, in 1955.

Marshall Plan

A United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952)

Truman Doctrine

1947, President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey

Iron Curtain

Winston Churchill's term for the Cold War division between the Soviet-dominated East and the U.S.-dominated West.

Berlin Wall

A wall separating East and West Berlin built by East Germany in 1961 to keep citizens from escaping to the West

Glasnost

a policy of the Soviet government allowing freer discussion of social problems

Perestroika

A policy initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev that involved restructuring of the social and economic status quo in communist Russia towards a market based economy and society

Fall of Berlin Wall

The removal of the wall that separated East and West Germany in 1989. Symbolized the end of the Cold War.

Dissolution of USSR

December 1991