Modern World History & Civil Rights Review (1919–1991)

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, individuals, and events from the lecture notes on Power and Authority (1919–1946), modern Iran, the Cold War, and the US Civil Rights Movement.

Paris Peace Conference (1919)

The meeting of the 'Big Four' (Wilson, Clemenceau, Orlando, Lloyd George) to determine the peace terms ending World War I.

War Guilt Clause (Art. 231)

A provision in the Treaty of Versailles that forced Germany to accept entire responsibility for causing all the loss and damage of the war.

Diktat

The German term for the Treaty of Versailles, reflecting their resentment that it was a 'dictated peace' with no real negotiation.

Stab-in-the-back myth

The belief among German nationalists and soldiers that the army had not been defeated on the battlefield but was betrayed at home by Jews, socialists, and communists.

Collectivisation

Stalin's policy of forcing individual peasant households into collective farms, which resulted in famine and the branding of 'kulaks' as enemies of the state.

March on Rome (Oct 1922)

The event that led to King Victor Emmanuel III inviting Benito Mussolini to govern, marking the rise of the Fascist Party in Italy.

Autocratic bureaucracy

Historian Ian Kershaw’s term for Japan's power structure under Tojo, where the leader was 'first among equals' in a military oligarchy rather than a personality cult.

Article 48

A part of the Weimar Constitution that allowed the President to rule by emergency decree without the Reichstag, often used by Hindenburg to normalize authoritarian rule.

Reichstag Fire (Feb 1933)

An event blamed on Communists that Hitler used to justify the Decree for the Protection of People and State, granting him emergency powers.

Enabling Act (March 1933)

Legislation that allowed Hitler to make laws without the consent of the Reichstag, effectively creating a legal dictatorship.

Night of the Long Knives (June 1934)

A purge of the SA leadership, including Ernst Röhm, carried out by Hitler and the SS to secure the loyalty of the German Army.

Führerprinzip

The Nazi ideological principle that the leader's will is the supreme law, requiring absolute obedience.

Volksgemeinschaft

The 'people's community'—a Nazi ideal of a classless, racially 'pure' unified German nation.

Nuremberg Laws (Sept 1935)

Anti-Semitic legislation that stripped Jewish people of their German citizenship and banned 'race-mixing' or marriages between Jews and non-Jews.

Lebensraum

Meaning 'living space,' this was Hitler’s ambition to expand German territory, particularly eastward into the Soviet Union.

Anschluss

The Nazi annexation of Austria into the German Reich.

Operation Countenance

The joint invasion of neutral Iran by Britain and the USSR in August 1941 to secure oil supplies and a supply route to the Soviet Union.

National Front

The nationalist coalition led by Mohammad Mosaddeq that advocated for the nationalisation of Iran's oil industry.

Operation Ajax (TPAJAX)

The 1953 covert operation by the CIA and British intelligence that overthrew Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq and restored the Shah to power.

SAVAK

The Shah’s secret police, established with CIA and Israeli assistance, which used surveillance and torture to suppress political dissidents.

White Revolution (1963)

A reform program launched by the Shah aiming to modernise Iran through land redistribution, literacy campaigns, and granting women the right to vote.

Black Friday (8 September 1978)

A turning point in the Iranian Revolution when government troops fired on mass demonstrations in Tehran, killing dozens and hardening opposition to the Shah.

Détente

A period of reduced Cold War tensions characterized by diplomatic visits and arms limitation treaties like SALT I and SALT II.

SALT I (1972)

The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks agreement that froze missile stockpiles and ended the race for Anti-Ballistic Missiles (ABMs).

Helsinki Agreement (1975)

A multi-nation accord that recognized existing European borders and included (vague) commitments to respect human rights.

Glasnost

Gorbachev’s policy of 'openness,' which encouraged freedom of speech and information to expose and reform the failings of the Soviet system.

Perestroika

Gorbachev’s policy of 'restructuring,' which introduced limited free-market elements and democratisation to the Soviet economy.

Velvet Revolution

The peaceful transition of power in Czechoslovakia in 1989 that resulted in the collapse of the communist government.

Executive Order 8802

A 1941 order by FDR that banned racial discrimination in the defense industries following pressure from A. Philip Randolph.

Double V Campaign

A slogan used by African Americans during WWII representing victory over fascism abroad and victory over racism at home.

Jim Crow laws

A system of laws in the Southern US that enforced total racial segregation in schools, transport, and public facilities based on the 'separate but equal' doctrine.

Freedom Rides (1961)

A form of direct action by CORE where integrated bus riders traveled through the South to test the desegregation of interstate travel facilities.

Greensboro sit-ins (1960)

A non-violent protest started by four students who sat at a segregated Woolworths lunch counter, eventually leading to the desegregation of the chain.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

A year-long economic protest (1955–1956) sparked by Rosa Parks’ arrest, which proved the effectiveness of mass non-violent pressure and launched MLK as a national leader.