Historical Terms Flashcards
Balfour Declaration
Great Britain’s 1917 proclamation supporting the establishment of a separate homeland for Jews in Palestine
Code of Hammurabi
Babylonian legal code that established government responsibility for criminal justice
Communist Manifesto
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel
Constitution
ratified in 1789
Cultural Revolution
Campaign carried out by Chinese Red Guards to revitalize the Communist Party and consolidate Mao Zedong’s leadership. (1966-1976)
cuneiform
Sumerian system of writing
Cyrillic alphabet
Russian alphabet (and other Slavic languages)
détente
A cooling of Cold War tensions initiated during Nixon and Brezhnev
domino theory
the idea that if one nation fell to Communism, neighboring nations would likewise fall
Five-Year-Plans
Economic plans to increase industrial and agricultural productivity in the Soviet Union, China, and India.
Fourteen Points
Post WWI peace plan proposed by Woodrow Wilson.
Geneva Convention
Conference held in 1954 that divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel.
glasnost
A Soviet policy introduced in 1985 by Gorbachev emphasizing “openness” in the sharing of info and ideas.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Congress’ resolution authorizing President Johnson to send troops to Vietnam
Huns
A nomadic group from central Asia who undertook a mass migration to the Roman Empire in the 400s
Lend-Lease Act
Congress passed in 1941 allowing Roosevelt to give arms and other supplies to any nation considered vital to the security of the US
Magna Carta
1215- basis of English common law
Marshall Plan
Put forth by US Secretary of State George Marshall describing how to rebuild Europe after the conclusion of WWII
NATO
A 1949 defense alliance initiated by the US, Canada, and 10 Western European nations
Prussia
Old name for current day Germany. Frederick the Great ruled at height of its power
totalitarianism
One party political system with the goal of supporting the welfare of the state above all else.
Versailles
Palace near Paris that was the seat of power for many French kings, including Louis XIV. Treaty of Versailles marked the conclusion of WWI.
Warsaw Pact
A 1955 defense alliance organized by the Soviet Union and several Eastern European nations
Waterloo
Napoleon’s greatest defeat
Yalta
Island where Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin met to discuss the partitioning of Europe at the conclusion of WWII.