WHAP Vocabulary Test #3

Gandhi

Leader of the Indian Independence Movement known for a strategy of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience

Kurds

an Iranian ethnic group in the Middle East; reinvented themselves as Muslims after the Arab invasion and conquest, as Sunni Muslims after the Ottoman Turks conquest, as Shiite Muslims after the Persian conquest

Cuban Missile Crisis

a period in 1962 in which the United States militarily tried to prevent the Soviet Union from delivering nuclear weapons to Cuba; closest the world has come to nuclear war

Joseph Stalin

Bolshevik revolutionary, head of the Soviet Communists after 1924, and dictator of the Soviet Union from 1928 to 1953

Bay of Pigs

the failed attempt by US-backed Cuban exiles to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro

League of Nations

an international organization, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, created after the First World War to provide a forum for resolving international disputes.

Zealot

an aggressive political party whose concern for the national and religious life of the Jewish people led them to despise even Jews who sought peace and conciliation with the Roman authorities.

Malign

evil in nature, influence, or effect

Socialism

A political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Capitalism

an economic system based on open competition in a free market, in which individuals and companies own the means of production and operate for profit.

Great Depression

a time period during the 1930s when there was a worldwide economic depression and mass unemployment.

Mexican Revolution

Armed rebellion in which the Mexican people fought for political and social reform, especially against neocolonialism

Total War

military conflict in which the contenders are willing to make any sacrifice in lives and other resources to obtain a complete victory

Pearl Harbor 

the surprise military attack conducted by the Japanese navy on the United States naval base in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. This attack led to the entry of the United States into World War II.

Detract

To diminish or impair in quality character or value.

Xenophobia

fear and contempt of strangers or foreigners or of anything designated as foreign, or a conviction that certain foreign individuals and cultures represent a threat to the authentic identity of one's own nation

Globalization

the spread of ideas, products, and practices from one place to another, facilitated by advances in transportation, communication, and technology

Cold War

a period of economic, political and military tension between the United States and Soviet Union from 1945 to 1991.

McDonaldization

the process by which a society takes on the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant (efficiency, calculability, predictability, & control); extension of world trade to the Soviet Union

Global Warming

worldwide scientific consensus that the increased burning of fossil fuels and the loss of trees have begun to warm the earth's atmosphere artificially and significantly, causing climate change

Iranian Revolution

The revolution witnessed the deposing of the ruling Shah of Iran (the leader of Iran's pro-western monarchy) and his replacement with the Ayatollah Khomeini

Great Leap Forward

a campaign led by the Chinese Communist Party from 1958 to 1962, under Chairman Mao Zedong's leadership. It aimed to rapidly transform China from an agrarian economy into a socialist society through rapid industrialization and collectivization.

Pervade

Stresses a spreading diffusion throughout every part of a whole

Alleviate

To bring to a state of peace, quiet

Warsaw Pact

a treaty that established a mutual-defense organization. It was composed originally of the Soviet Union and Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.

Usurp

Take a position of power or importance illegally or by force.

Panama Canal

a constructed waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the Isthmus of Panama

Fourteen Points 

a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I

Quotidian

a fancy way of saying "daily" or "ordinary.”

Spanish Flu/Influenza

an unusually deadly influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. Lasting from February 1918 to April 1920

Suez Crisis

when the Egyptian Government seized control of the Suez Canal from the British and French owned company that managed it

Ho Chi Minh

led the communist forces of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War (1955- 1975); created league of indepence for Vietnam

Feminine Mystique

the social expectations and limitations placed on women in the 1950s and 60s. The feminine mystique dictated that women were defined by their sexual roles, and they were expected to focus on their appearance to attract a husband

Sun Yat-Sen

leader of the Chinese revolutionaries who overthrew the Qing Dynasty and established the Republic of China

Fascism

A political movement that promotes an extreme form of nationalism, a denial of individual rights, and a dictatorial one-party rule.

Interpolate

the act of estimating a value within two known values that exist within a sequence of values

Circumnavigate

sailing completely around something

Colonialism

Attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory

Space Race

a Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to develop aerospace capabilities, including artificial satellites, unmanned space probes, and human spaceflight

D-Day

the day on June 6, 1944, when Allied forces launched an amphibious invasion on the beaches of Normandy, France

Blitzkrieg

a method of offensive warfare designed to strike a swift, focused blow at an enemy using mobile, maneuverable forces, including armored tanks and air support.

Good Neighbor Policy

a foreign policy approach adopted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt towards Latin America in the 1930s. It aimed to foster friendly relations and non-intervention in the affairs of Latin American countries.

Camp David Accords

agreements between Israel and Egypt signed on September 17, 1978, that led in the following year to a peace treaty between those two countries, the first such treaty between Israel and any of its Arab neighbours

OPEC

the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, was founded in 1960 with the stated goal of controlling the global supply and price of oil

9/11/01

series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks committed in 2001 by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda against targets in the United States,

Truman Doctrine

established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces.

Reciprocal

Given, felt, or done in return

 Manhattan Project

a research and development project during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons

Blackshirts

paramilitary group in the Kingdom of Italy. They were part of the National Fascist Party

Myopic

lacking in foresight or discernment

Collectivization

Creation of large, state-run farms rather than individual holdings; allowed more efficient control over peasants; part of Stalin's economic and political planning; often adopted in other Communist regimes.

 Proxy War

conflicts in which two opposing powers avoid direct military confrontation by supporting opposing sides in a third country

World Health Organization

An organization attached to the united Nations that is concerned with the health and well being of all people

V-E Day

victory in Europe. A definition for V.E. day is the day of the formal surrender of the German armies during WWII

Cultural Revolution

an upheaval launched by Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong during his last decade in power (1966–1976) to renew the spirit of the Chinese Revolution; red guards, student led

Berlin Wall

a fortified barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. It was built by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) to prevent its citizens from fleeing to West Germany.

38th Parallel

Boundary dividing North and South Korea

Holocaust

systematic state-sponsored killing of six million Jewish men, women, and children and millions of others by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II

Iran Contra Affair

A United States political scandal where the senior officials of the Reagan Administration made an arms deal with Israel which benefited the Contras in Nicaragua being a breach of an arms embargo.

V-J Day

Victory Over Japan or VJ Day, it is celebrated in August every year because Aug. 6, 1945, was the date of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, followed on Aug. 9, 1945, by the bombing of Nagasaki. Then on Aug. 15, 1945, came the surrender of the Empire of Japan to end World War II.

Central Powers

the wartime military alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire

Marshall Plan

an American initiative passed in 1948 for foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $12 billion in economic recovery programs to Western European economies after World War II.

Nelson Mandela

South African anti-apartheid revolutionary who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.

Iranian Revolution

popular uprising in Iran in 1978–79 that resulted in the toppling of the monarchy on February 11, 1979, and led to the establishment of an Islamic republic

Civil Disobedience

the refusal to obey the demands or commands of a government or occupying power, without resorting to violence or active measures of opposition

Che Guevara

a prominent communist figure in the Cuban Revolution (1956–59) and a guerrilla leader in South America who became a powerful symbol for revolutionary action

Iran Hostage Crisis

On November 4, 1979, Iranian students seized the embassy and detained more than 50 Americans, ranging from the Chargé d'Affaires to the most junior members of the staff, as hostages

Viet Cong

the guerrilla force that, with the support of the North Vietnamese Army, fought against South Vietnam (late 1950s–1975) and the United States (early 1960s–1973)

Suffragist

the right to vote in electing public officials and adopting or rejecting proposed legislation

Enfranchise

used when a group of people are given voting rights or freedoms they didn't have before

Iron Curtain

the imaginary line dividing Europe between Soviet influence and Western influence

Antebellum

the pre-Civil War era

AIDS

virus that compromises the ability of the infected person's immune system to ward off disease

European Union

International organization comprising 27 European countries and governing common economic, social, and security policies

Pol Pot

Khmer political leader who led the Khmer Rouge totalitarian regime (1975–79) in Cambodia that imposed severe hardships on the Cambodian people

African Union

an intergovernmental organization of states on the African continent that seeks to enhance the security, economic development, and economic integration of its member-states

Persian Gulf War

a war fought between a coalition led by the United States and Iraq to free Kuwait from Iraqi invaders

Mutual Assured Destruction

principle of deterrence founded on the notion that a nuclear attack by one superpower would be met with an overwhelming nuclear counterattack such that both the attacker and the defender would be annihilated

G7

an informal grouping of seven of the world's advanced economies, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the European Union.

Third Reich

the Nazi regime in Germany from January 30, 1933, to May 8, 1945

Subjugate

bring under domination or control, especially by conquest

Battle of Britain

the successful defense of Great Britain against the air raids conducted by the German air force in 1940 after the fall of France during World War II

Star Wars

a program first initiated on March 23, 1983 under President Ronald Reagan. The intent of this program was to develop a sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system in order to prevent missile attacks from other countries, specifically the Soviet Union

Fundamentalism

a self-proclaimed return to the "fundamentals" of a religion and is marked by a militant piety and exclusivism

USSR

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), it was a federal socialist state that existed from 1922 until its dissolution in 1991

Anonymity

the condition of being anonymous

Utopian Socialism

socialism that is achieved through the moral persuasion of capitalists to surrender the means of production peacefully to the people

Autocratic

a form of government in which one ruler has absolute control and decision-making power