Historical Terms

Question 1

abolitionism

Answer 1

The movement to abolish slavery in the United States.

Question 2

Allies

Answer 2

Nations that united against the Germans, Italians, and Japanese (Axis) forces during World War II. Mainly comprised of the United States, England, and France. Russia joined later.

Question 3

apartheid

Answer 3

A former policy of South Africa in which the races were separated by law.

Question 4

Axis

Answer 4

Nations opposed to the Allies during World War II, including Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Question 5

Balfour Declatarion

Answer 5

Great Britain’s 1917 proclamation supporting the establishment of a separate homeland for Jews in Palestine.

Question 6

blitzkreig

Answer 6

“Lightening War” in which surprise attacks by aircraft are immediately followed by massive attacks by ground forces, as in Hitler’s 1939 invasion of Poland.

Question 7

bourgeoisie

Answer 7

According to Marx and Engels, the middle class; and prerevolutionary France, a portion of the Third Estate comprised of a middle class of artisans and merchants.

Question 8

caste

Answer 8

One of the four hereditary classes of society in Hinduism.

Question 9

Code of Hammurabi

Answer 9

Babylonian legal code that established governmental responsibility for criminal justice.

Question 10

Cold War

Answer 10

Long-term period of poor relations between the United States and the Soviet Bloc from the end of World War II until the early 1990s.

Question 11

colony

Answer 11

A territory under direct control of a stronger country.

Question 12

communism

Answer 12

Economic system in which the workers (the proletariat) control the means of production.

Question 13

Communist Manifesto

Answer 13

Seminal work by Karl Marx and in Friedrich Engel in which the basic principles of communism are outlined.

Question 14

Constitution

Answer 14

The US Constitution, “the law of the land,” was drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1789.

Question 15

Cultural Revolution

Answer 15

Campaign carried out by the Chinese Red Guards 1966-1976 with the goal of revitalizing the Chinese Communist Party and consolidating Mao Zedong’s leadership.

Question 16

cuneiform

Answer 16

Sumerian system of writing.

Question 17

Cyrillic alphabet

Answer 17

The alphabet of the Russian language and other Slavic languages.

Question 18

czar (or tsar)

Answer 18

A Russian emperor.

Question 19

Declaration of Independence

Answer 19

Written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, this document proclaimed the American colonies’ independence from Great Britain.

Question 20

détente

Answer 20

A cooling of Cold War tensions initiated during the administrations of Nixon and Brezhnev.

Question 21

diaspora

Answer 21

The scattering of specific ethnic groups throughout various parts of the world.

Question 22

dictator

Answer 22

A sole ruler with absolute power.

Question 23

domino theory

Answer 23

An idea prevalent during the Cold War that if one nation fell to Communism, neighboring nations would likewise fall.

Question 24

Five-Year Plans

Answer 24

Economic plans to increase industrial and agricultural productivity in the Soviet Union, China, and India.

Question 25

Fourteen Points

Answer 25

Post-World War I peace plan proposed by Woodrow Wilson; major points included the principle of self-determination and the establishment of an association of nations.

Question 26

Geneva Conference

Answer 26

Conference held in 1954 that divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel.

Question 27

glasnost

Answer 27

A Soviet policy introduced in 1985 by Mikhail Gorbechev emphasizing "openness" in the sharing of information and ideas.

Question 28

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Answer 28

Resolution passed by the US Congress in 1964 authorizing President Johnson to send troops into Vietnam.

Question 29

hieroglyphics

Answer 29

Ancient Egyptian picture writing.

Question 30

Huns

Answer 30

A nomadic group from Central Asia who undertook a mass migration to the Roman Empire in the 400s C.E.

Question 31

imperialism

Answer 31

The political, economic, or social domination of a strong nation over another nation or territory.

Question 32

laissez-faire capitalism

Answer 32

Economic system in which no governmental regulation of the market is advocated.

Question 33

Lend-Lease Act

Answer 33

A policy passed by the US Congress in 1941 allowing President Roosevelt to give arms and other supplies to any nation considered vital to the security of the United States.

Question 34

Magna Carta

Answer 34

Document drafted in 1215 that specifies English political and civil liberties. It forms the basis of the English common law.

Question 35

Manhattan Project

Answer 35

The US plan to develop an atomic bomb during World War II.

Question 36

Manifest Destiny

Answer 36

Belief first articulated in the mid-1800s that it was the destiny of the United States to continue to expand to the west and the Pacific Ocean.

Question 37

Marshall Plan

Answer 37

Plan put forth by US Secretary of State George C. Marshall describing how to rebuild Europe after the conclusion of World War II.

Question 38

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

Answer 38

A 1949 defense alliance initiated by the United States, Canada, and 10 Western European nations.

Question 39

New Deal

Answer 39

Set of domestic programs set forth by FDR's administration to help the United States overcomes the Great Depression.

Question 40

Prussia

Answer 40

Old name for current-day Germany. Ruled by Frederick the Great at its height of power.

Question 41

republic

Answer 41

Government in which citizens are ruled by elected representatives.

Question 42

suffrage

Answer 42

The right or privilege of voting; franchise.

Question 43

teetotaler

Answer 43

One pledged to abstinence from all intoxicating drinks.

Question 44

totalitarianism

Answer 44

One-party political system with the goal of supporting the welfare of the state above all else.

Question 45

Versailles

Answer 45

Palace near Paris that was the seat of power for many French kings, including Louis XIV. Also the site of the Treaty of Versailles, which marked the conclusion of World War I.

Question 46

Warsaw Pact

Answer 46

In 1955 defense alliance organized by the Soviet Union and several Eastern European nations.

Question 47

Waterloo

Answer 47

Site where Napoleon suffered his greatest defeat.

Question 48

Yalta

Answer 48

Island where Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin met to discuss the partitioning of Europe at the conclusion of World War II.