Photosynthesis
Algeria
Brazil
China
Congo/Zaire
Cuba
Egypt
France
Germany
Ghana
India
Indonesia
Iran
Israel
Japan
Kenya
Koreas
Mexico
Nigeria
Pakistan
Philippines
Russia
Rwanda
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Singapore
South Africa
Sudan
Taiwan
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
Vietnam
African National Congress
South African political party established in 1912 by elite Africans who sought to win full acceptance in colonial society; it only gradually became a popular movement that came to control the government in 1994
blitzkrieg
German term meaning "lightning war," used to describe Germany's novel military tactics in World War II, which
involved the rapid movement of infantry, tanks, and airpower over large areas.
Bolsheviks
Russian revolutionary party led by Vladimir Lenin and later renamed the Communist Party
Castro, Fidel
Revolutionary leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008 who gradually turned to Soviet communism and engendered some of the worst crises of the cold war
Chinese Revolution
Long revolutionary process in the period 1912-1949 that began with the overthrow of the Chinese imperial
system and ended with the triumph of the Communist Party under the leadership of Mao Zedong.
collectivization
Process of rural reform undertaken by the communist leadership of both the USSR and China in which private
property rights were abolished and peasants were forced onto larger and more industrialized farms to work and share the proceeds as a community rather than as individuals.
Cultural Revolution
Massive campaign launched by Mao Zedong in the
mid-1960s to combat the capitalist tendencies that he believed reached into even the highest ranks of the Communist Party; the campaign threw China into chaos
Deng Xiaoping
Leader of China from 1976 to 1997 whose reforms essentially dismantled the communist elements of the Chinese economy
fascism
Political ideology marked by its intense nationalism and authoritarianism; its name is derived from the fasces that were the symbol of magistrates in ancient Rome.
Franz Ferdinand, Archduke
Heir to the Austrian throne whose assassination by a Serbian nationalist on June 28, 1914, was the spark that ignited World War I.
Gandhi, Mohandas K.
Political leader and the undoubted spiritual leader of the Indian drive for independence from Great Britain.
Glasnost
Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of "openness," which allowed greater cultural and intellectual freedom and ended most censorship of the media; the result was a burst of awareness of the problems and corruption of the Soviet system
Gorbachev, Mikhail
Leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991 whose efforts to reform the USSR led to its collapse
Great Leap Forward
Major Chinese initiative (1958-1960) led by Mao Zedong that was intended to promote small-scale industrialization and increase knowledge of technology; in reality, it caused a major crisis and exacerbated the impact of a devastating famine
Great Purges
Also called the Terror; massive attempt to cleanse the Soviet Union of supposed "enemies of the people"; nearly a million people were executed between 1936 and 1941, and 4 million or 5 million more were sentenced to forced labor in the gulag
Guomindang
The Chinese Nationalist Party led by Chiang Kai-shek from 1928 until its overthrow by the communists in 1949
Indian National Congress
Organization established in 1885 by Western-educated elite Indians in an effort to win a voice in the governance of India; over time, it became a major popular movement that won India's independence from Britain
Jinnah, Muhammad Ali
Leader of India's All-India Muslim League and first president of the breakaway state of Pakistan (1876-1948)
Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruholla
Important Shia ayattolah (advanced scholar of Islamic law and religion) who became the leader of Iran's Islamic revolution and ruled Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989
Khrushchev, Nikita
Leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964
Kristallnacht
Literally, "crystal night"; name given to the night of November 9, 1938, when Nazi-led gangs smashed and looted Jewish shops throughout Germany
Lenin
Adopted name of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (1870-1924), the main leader of Russia's communist revolution and head of the Soviet state from 1917 until his death
Mandela, Nelson
South African nationalist (b. 1918) and leader of the African National Congress who was imprisoned for twenty-seven years on charges of treason, sabotage, and conspiracy to overthrow the apartheid government of South Africa; he was elected president of South Africa in 1994, four years after he was finally released from prison.
Mao Zedong
Chairman of China's Communist Party and de facto ruler of China from 1949 until his death in 1976
Marshall Plan
Huge U.S. government initiative to aid in the post-World War II restoration of Europe that was masterminded by U.S. secretary of state George Marshall and put into effect in 1947
McCarthyism
Wave of anticommunist fear and persecution that took place in the United States in the 1950s
Mussolini, Benito
Charismatic leader of the Italian fascist party (1883-1945) who came to power in 1922
Nanjing, Rape of
The Japanese army's systematic killing, mutilation, and rape of the Chinese civilian population in 1938
Nehru, Jawaharlal
The first prime minister of independent India (1889-1964)
New Deal
A series of reforms enacted by the Franklin Roosevelt administration between 1933 and 1942 with the goal of ending the Great Depression
North/South gap
Growing disparity between the Global North and the Global South that appears to be exacerbated by current world trade practices
Nuremberg Laws
Series of laws passed by the Nazi-dominated German parliament in 1935 that forbade sexual relations between Jews and other Germans and mandated that Jews identify themselves in public by wearing the Star of David
Perestroika
Bold economic program launched in 1987 by Mikhail Gorbachev with the intention of freeing up Soviet industry and businesses
Satyagraha
Literally, "truth force"; Mahatma Gandhi's political philosophy, which advocated confrontational but nonviolent political action
second-wave feminism
Women's rights movement that revived in the 1960s with a different agenda than earlier women's suffrage movements; members demanded equal rights for women in employment and education, women's right to control their own bodies, and the end of patriarchal domination
Stalin
Name assumed by Joseph Vissarionovich Jugashvili (1878-1953), leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death; means "made of steel"
Treaty of Versailles
1919 treaty that officially ended World War I; the immense penalties it placed on Germany are regarded as one of the causes of World War II
Triple Alliance
An alliance consisting of Germany, Austria, and Italy that was one of the two rival European alliances on the eve of World War I
Triple Entente
An alliance consisting of Russia, France, and Britain that was one of the two rival European alliances on the eve of World War I
United Nations
International peacekeeping organization and forum for international opinion, established in 1945
Warsaw Pact
Military alliance of the USSR and the communist states of Eastern Europe during the cold war
Wilson, Woodrow
President of the United States from 1913 to 1921 who was especially noted for his idealistic approach to the end of World War I, which included advocacy of his Fourteen Points intended to regulate future international dealings and a League of Nations to enforce a new international order
zaibatsu
The huge industrial enterprises that dominated the Japanese economy in the period leading up to World War II
ASEAN
COMECON
European Union
Mercosur
NAFTA
OPEC
World War I
1914-1918
Russian Revolution
1917
World War II
1939-1945
The collapse of Soviet Union
1991
Cold War
1946-1991
End of Apartheid
1994
Cairo
Copenhagen
Djakarta
Helsinki
Hong Kong
Lagos
Los Angeles
Mexico City
Moscow