Key Figures and Movements in Early 20th Century History

Hacienda

a large plantation

Emiliano Zapata

grew up a peasant. In 1897, he began a long struggle against the hacienda system to regain peasant land. Zapata built up a strong following and played an essential role in ousting Victoriano Huerta in 1914. After Venustiano Carranza was elected president, he turned on Zapata. Zapata's revolutionaries went to war with the moderates who supported Carranza. In 1919, Carranza's army ambushed and killed Zapata.

Venustiano Carranza

served as a leader in the Mexican Revolution in support of political, rather than social, reform. He was elected the first president after the revolution, and though he signed the Constitution of 1917.

Nationalization

takeover of property or resources by the government

Economic nationalism

an emphasis on domestic control and protection of the economy

Cultural Nationalism

pride in the culture of one's country

Good Neighbor Policy

policy in which American President Franklin Roosevelt promised that the United States would interfere less in Latin American affairs

Apartheid

a policy of rigid racial segregation in the Republic of South Africa

Pan-African

movement which began in the 1920s that emphasized the unity and strength of Africans and people of African descent around the world

Marcus Garvey

founded the Universal Negro Improvement and Conservation Association and African Communities League (UNIA) in Jamaica in 1914, with the goal of building a Black-governed nation. Finding little support, Garvey moved to the United States and established the UNIA in Harlem. Garvey taught his followers about the African culture and preached the need for Blacks to form a strong, independent economy. His adamant belief in separation of the races brought many enemies, and he was deported in 1927.

Balfour Declaration

statement issued by the British government in 1917 supporting the idea of a homeland for Jews in the Palestine Mandate

Mohandas Gandhi

was a mediocre student who went through a period of rebellion during his early teens. He married at age 13 and later was sent to England to attend law school. In 1891, Gandhi accepted a position in South Africa.

Civil disobedience

the refusal to obey unjust laws

Untouchable

in India, a member of the lowest caste

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

was an Indian Muslim politician and leader of the Muslim League, which was founded in 1906 to protect Muslim interests in India. The League worked closely with the Indian Congress Party early on but later diverged from the Congress when Jinnah and other Muslims began to lobby for their own state. Jinnah helped found Pakistan in 1947 and was its first governor-general.

Twenty-One Demands

list of demands given to China by Japan in 1915 that would have made China a protectorate of Japan

May Fourth Movement

cultural movement in China that sought to reform China and make it stronger

Mao Zedong

was born in central China to a peasant family. He helped form the Chinese Communist Party in 1921. After Jiang Jieshi launched 'extermination campaigns' against the Communists, Mao led his army on the epic Long March. Mao briefly joined with the Guomindang to suppress Japanese aggression, but the partnership did not last after World War II ended. The People's Republic of China was established in 1949. Mao initiated drastic reforms, some of which had disastrous consequences. Mao's use of terror and intolerance of opposition became internationally notorious.

Manchuria

historic province in northeastern China; rich in natural resources

Hirohito

became emperor in 1926 when his father died. Many believed he was a living god, descended from the sun goddess. Japanese military ultranationalists built a cult around the emperor, reviving ancient warrior values and suppressing most democratic freedoms. Although Hirohito was invested with supreme authority theoretically, he did little more than approve the policies presented by his ministers. He was more interested in marine biology, authoring several books on the subject. Hirohito was the longest reigning monarch in Japanese history, serving as emperor for an astonishing 63 years until his death in 1989.

Vanguard

group of elite leaders

Ultranationalist

extreme nationalist

Asia Minor

a peninsula in western Asia between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea

Reza Khan

joined the Iranian military at a young age. After leading the 1921 coup, Khan became the minister of war and then prime minister. Four years later, he was elected as shah and continued to radically reform both the government and nation. At the start of World War II, the Soviet Union and Britain occupied Iran. Khan abdicated, and his son became shah. The British exiled Khan to Mauritius and then Johannesburg, where he died.

Pan-Arabism

movement in which Arabs sought to unite all Arabs into one state