Versailles Treaty
The compromise after WW1, settled land and freedom disputes. Germany had to take full blame for the war in order for the treaty to pass, among other things. The US Senate rejected it.
Bauhaus
German interdisciplinary school of fine and applied arts that brought together many leading modern architects, designers, and theatrical innovators
John Meynard Keynes
British economist proposed radical solutions and govt should spend their way out of depression (believed in deficit financing)
Weimar Republic
The new German republic the in 1921 owed 33 billion annually to the allied reparations commission. In order to recover from its severe economic issues the annual fees were reduced each year depending on the level of German economic prosperity and Germany received large loans each year from the United States.
Pope John Paul II
This Polish Pope brought the world's attention to the solidarity movement of the Polish, calling for human rights. He became a hero of the Polish nation.
Solidarity
Polish trade union created in 1980 to protest working conditions and political repression. It began the nationalist opposition to communist rule that led in 1989 to the fall of communism in eastern Europe.
Lech Walesa
A Polish politician, a former trade union and human rights activist, and also a former electrician. He co-founded Solidarity, the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland from 1990 to 1995.
Vaclav Havel
Czech dramatist and statesman whose plays opposed totalitarianism and who served as president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992 and president of the Czech Republic since 1993 (born in 1936)
Nicolae Ceausescu
An iron-fisted communist dictator, had long combined Stalinist brutality with stubborn independence from Moscow. Soon his forces were defeated, him and his wife were captured and executed by a military court. The coalition government emerged from the fighting, although the legacy of his oppression left a very troubled country.
Mikhail Gorbachev
Head of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. His liberalization effort improved relations with the West, but he lost power after his reforms led to the collapse of Communist governments in eastern Europe.
Perestroika
a policy initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev that involved restructuring of the social and economic status quo in communist Russia towards a market based economy and society
Glasnost
Policy of openness initiated by Gorbachev in the 1980s that provided increased opportunities for freedom of speech, association and the press in the Soviet Union.
Chernobyl
nuclear power plant in Russia that had an explosion in 1986 & released radioactive materials into the air
Boris Yeltsin
Was the first President of the Russian Federation from 1991 to 1999 His era was a traumatic period in Russian history This period was marked by widespread corruption, economic collapse, and enormous political and social problems. In June 1991 he came to power on a wave of high expectations. On June 12 he was elected president of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic with 57% of the vote, becoming the first popularly elected president in Russian history. But he never recovered his popularity after endorsing radical economic reforms in early 1992 which were widely blamed for devastating the living standards of most of the Russian population. By the time he left office, he was a deeply unpopular figure in Russia, with an approval rating as low as two percent by some estimates.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Wrote "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denishovick" which was about the concentration/labor camps in Russia. He won the Nobel Price and Khrushchev had the book published as part of the De-Stalinization program. "Gulag Archipelago" had him exiled from Russia.
UN Security Council
a body of 5 great powers (which can veto resolutions) and 10 rotating member states, which makes decisions about international peace and security including the dispatch of UN peacekeeping forces
Salvador Allende
President of Chile from 1970 to 1973, a member of the Socialist Party, he attempted to institute a number of democratic reforms in Chilean politics. He was overthrown and assassinated in 1973 during a military coup lead by General Augusto Pinochet.
Juan Peron
President of Argentina (1946-1955, 1973-1974). As a military officer, he championed the rights of labor. Aided by his wife Eva Duarte Peron, he was elected president in 1946. He built up Argentinean industry, became very popular among the urban poor.
Eva Peron
Wife of Juan Peron and champion of the poor in Argentina. She was a gifted speaker and popular political leader who campaigned to improve the life of the urban poor by founding schools and hospitals and providing other social benefits.
Descamisados
Term meaning "the shirtless ones," popularized by Juan and Evita Perón to refer to the working-class masses and dispossessed.
Lazaro Cardenas
President of Mexico (1934-1940). He brought major changes to Mexican life by distributing millions of acres of land to the peasants, bringing representatives of workers and farmers into the inner circles of politics, and nationalizing the oil industry.
Mexican Revolution
Fought over a period of almost 10 years form 1910; resulted in ouster of Porfirio Diaz from power; opposition forces led by Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata
PRI
Institutional Revolutionary Party which dominated Mexican politics and claimed to represent all groups
Diego Rivera
One of Mexico's most celebrated 20th centry artists. He painted a series of historical murals in the National Palace in Mexico City.
Fulgencio Batista
a Cuban president, dictator, and military leader supported by the US, serving as leader until being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution. His corrupt and repressive regime systematically profited from the exploitation of cuba's commercial interests. As a result, his July 26th Movement and other rebelling elements led a guerilla uprising against his regime which culminated in his eventual defeat.
Fidel Castro
Cuban revolutionary leader who overthrew the corrupt regime of the dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and soon after established a Communist state. He was prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and has been president of the government and First Secretary of the Communist Party since 1976.
Bay of Pigs
Landing area on Cuba's south coast where an American-organized invasion by Cuban exiles was defeated by Fidel Castro's government forces April 17-20, 1961
Cuban Missile Crisis
an international crisis in October 1962, the closest approach to nuclear war at any time between the U.S. and the USSR. When the U.S. discovered Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba, President John F. Kennedy demanded their removal and announced a naval blockade of the island; the Soviet leader Khrushchev acceded to the U.S. demands a week later.
Sandinistas
Members of a leftist coalition that overthrew the Nicaraguan dictatorship of Anastasia Somoza in 1979 and attempted to install a socialist economy. The United States financed armed opposition by the Contras. They lost national elections in 1990.
1948 War of Independence
After Israel became a state, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Egypt attacked it. The Israelis fought them off and won. Caused by the arabians not willing to recognize israel as a state. As a result, Israel gets half of the land meant for Palestine
Abdel Nasser
In 1952, he and other Egyptian Officers staged a coup. He became president of Egypt, and he strongly advocated Pan-Arabism as well as non-alignment with US or Soviet Union
Suez War
Nasser took over the Suez Canal to show separation of Egypt from the West, but Israel, the British, Iraq, and France were all against Nasser's action. The U.S. stepped in before too much serious fighting began.
PLO
A political movement uniting Palestinian Arabs in an effort to create an independent state of Palestine
Yasir Arafat
First leader of PLO- Palestinian liberation organization. Used aggressive terrorism to try to destroy Israel. Very actice throughout the 1970's and 1980's. To try to make peace with Israel, was put incharge of Palestinean Authority (PA).
6 Days War
Also known as the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, the Third Arab-Israeli War, Six Days' War, an‑Naksah (The Setback), or the June War, was fought between Israel and Arab neighbors Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The nations of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Algeria also contributed troops and arms to the Arab forces. In May 1967, Egypt expelled the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) from the Sinai Peninsula, which had been stationed there since 1957 (following the 1956 Sinai invasion to allow for a free Suez Canal), to provide a peace-keeping buffer zone. In reaction to Israeli-Syrian tensions, Egypt amassed 1000 tanks and 100,000 soldiers on the border, closed the Straits of Tiran to all ships flying Israeli flags or carrying strategic materials, and called for unified Arab action against Israel. In response, on June 5, 1967, Israel launched a pre-emptive attack against Egypt's airforce. Jordan, which had signed a mutual defence treaty with Egypt on May 30, then attacked western Jerusalem and Netanya. At the war's end, Israel had gained control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. The results of the war affect the geopolitics of the region to this day.
West Bank
In Israel, a strip of land on the west side of the Jordan River, originally controlled by Jordan, which is part of the land set aside for Arab Palestinians.
Gaza Strip
a territory along the Mediterranean Sea just northeast of the Sinai Peninsula; part of the land set aside for Palestinians, which was occupied by Israel in 1967.
Golan Heights
a hilly plateau overlooking the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee; a strategic location that has been the site of conflict in Southwest Asia for decades
Sinai Peninsula
A piece of land that is currently a part of Egypt but was a UN buffer zone from 1956-1966 and a part of Israel from 1967-1979
Anwar Sadat
Egyptian statesman who (as president of Egypt) negotiated a peace treaty with Menachem Begin (then prime minister of Israel) (1918-1981)
Yom Kippur War
This was a war fought by Israel and neighboring Arab nations where the Arabs launched a surprise attack during Yom Kippur. U.S. support for Israel during the war led to OPEC boycotting the U.S., creating an energy crisis.
OPEC
International cartel that inflates price of oil by limiting supply; Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and UAE are prominent members
Menachim Begin
Prime Minister, leader of Zionist group. People were angry at this person for giving up Sinai Peninsula (Camp David Accords); used military force on British, had to deal with Nassar and Anwar Sadat
Camp David Accords
The first signed agreement between Israel and an Arab country, in which Egyptian president Anwar Sadat recognized Israel as a legitimate state and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin agreed to return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
Intafada
Means "shaking off," though it is usually translated into English as "uprising" or "resistance" or "rebellion". It is often used as a term for popular resistance to oppression.
Hosni Mubarak
succeeded the assinated Sadat as Egypt's president; worked to keep the peace with both Israel and Arab nations; faced economic pressures and a movement by Islamic groups wanting to end Western influence in Egypt
Saddam Hussein
As president of Iraq, he maintained power through the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) and the first Persian Gulf War (1991). During these conflicts, he repressed movements he deemed threatening to the stability of Iraq, particularly Shi'a and Kurdish movements seeking to overthrow the government or gain independence, respectively. While he remained a popular hero among many disaffected Arabs everywhere for standing up to the West and for his support for the Palestinians, U.S. leaders continued to view him with deep suspicion following the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He was deposed by the U.S. and its allies during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Ba'ath Party
This party overthrew Qasim in 1963 with assistance from the CIA. Word means renaissance or rebirth. An important member of this party was Michel Allaq.
Persian Gulf War
Conflict that was triggered by a dispute over oil-drilling rights, leading to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. This war ended when the U.S. intervened, crushing Iraqi resistance and liberating Kuwait.
Itzak Rabin
He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974-1977 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995
Settlement Movement
Starting in England, they were houses which connected the students of universities with their neighbors in slum cities. These houses helped education, savings, sports, and arts for people.
Hamas
a militant Islamic fundamentalist political movement that opposes peace with Israel and uses terrorism as a weapon.
Shah Reza Pahlavi
the leader of Iran after World War II that was supported by Western government and Western oil companies. He tried to weaken the political influence of religion in Iran by limiting the role of the Islamic legal and academic experts. He was forced to flee from Iran in January 1979.
Ayatollah Khomeini
A supreme religious leader of the Shiite group, and leader of Iran from 1979 to his death in 1989. The last decade of his life was filled with turmoil, notable the hostage crisis at the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the Iran-Iraq War.
Iran-Iraq War
Lasted from 1980-1988; Saddam invaded Iran in order to help establish a platform for leadership in the Arab world (invaded areas that were rich in resources), afraid of the spillover effects of the Iranian Revolution (Khomeini encouraging revolution, especially in Shiite Iraq); war was a stalemate and more closely resembled the trench warfare of WWI than other recent conflicts; helped to mobilize and unite the Iranian people in the aftermath of the revolution.
Mohandas Gandhi
A philosopher from India, this man was a spiritual and moral leader favoring India's independence from Great Britain. He practiced passive resistance, civil disobedience and boycotts to generate social and political change.
Amritsar Massacre
April 3rd of 1919. British soldiers killed close to 400 unarmed Indian men, women, and children, and wounded 1,100 more. People had gathered in the center of town to protest British occupation of their country, and to demand equality. This was a turning point in British domination of India. Independence movements became very popular and eventually forced India's independence.
Salt March
passive resistance campaign of Mohandas Gandhi where many Indians protested the British tax on salt by marching to the sea to make their own salt.
Satyagraha
the form of nonviolent resistance initiated in India by Mahatma Gandhi in order to oppose British rule and to hasten political reforms
Jawaharlal Nehru
Indian statesman. He succeeded Mohandas K. Gandhi as leader of the Indian National Congress. He negotiated the end of British colonial rule in India and became India's first prime minister (1947-1964).
Ali Jinnah
in British empire, started the Muslim League and pushed for the Muslim country of Pakistan, convinced secular nationalist, accepted Pakistan in the end
Muslim League
an organization formed in 1906 to protect the interests of India's Muslims, which later proposed that India be divided into separate Muslim and Hindu nations
Kashmir
A region in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent; India and Pakistan dispute control of it.
Indira Gandhi
Daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister. She was also prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977.
Taliban
fundamentalist Muslim group, gained power, restored order, but imposed an extreme form of Islam on Afghanistan, supported al-Qaeda
Osama Bin Laden
Saudi Arabian multimillionaire and leader of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda. He is responsible for numerous terrorist attacks on the United States including the destruction of the World Trade Center.
Al-Qaeda
Islamic terrorist organization led by Osama bin Laden. They are responsible for numerous terrorist attacks, including the destruction of the World Trade Center buildings in New York City.
Sun Yat-sen
Chinese physician and political leader who aimed to transform China with patriotic, democratic, and economically progressive reforms.
3 Principles of the People
Sun Yat-sen's 3 goals for China: strong national government, a democratic government, better living conditions
Kuomintang Party
the party founded by Sun Yat-Sen after his return from Japan and taken over by Chiang Kai-Shek after his death, aided by soviets, chiang not communist but Sun was
Chiang Kaishek
Leader of the Guomindang, he headed the the Guomindang nationalist government in China from the late 1920 until 1949. He tried to destroy the communists in China.
Chinese Communist Party
Party formed in 1923 when Sun Yat-Sen merged the Third Communist International and the KMT to create the first of many liberation fronts. This front was completely anticonservative and anti-imperialist, but not fully communist. Eventually it would separate from and defeat the KMT under Mao Zedong in 1927.
Mao Zedong
This man became the leader of the Chinese Communist Party and remained its leader until his death. He declared the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and supported the Chinese peasantry throughout his life.
Long March
The 6,000-mile (9,600-kilometer) flight of Chinese Communists from southeastern to northwestern China. The Communists, led by Mao Zedong, were pursued by the Chinese army under orders from Chiang Kai-shek.
Great Leap Forward
China's second five-year plan under the leadership of the impatient Mao, it aimed to speen up economic development while simultaneously developing a completely socialitst society. This plan failed and more than 20 million people starved between 1958 and 1960.
Cultural Revolution
Campaign in China ordered by Mao Zedong to purge the Communist Party of his opponents and instill revolutionary values in the younger generation.
Deng Xiaoping
Communist Party leader who forced Chinese economic reforms after the death of Mao Zedong. He was the leader of the Central Committee Secretariat. He came to power after Mao stepped away following GLF. He rolled back Mao's reforms but kept China's communistic views in tact.
Tiananmen Square
Site in Beijing where Chinese students and workers gathered to demand greater political openness in 1989. The demonstration was crushed by Chinese military with great loss of life.
Emperor Hirohito
Emperor who forced the Japanese government to surrender, which ended World War II
Japanese Economic Miracle
Japan's transformation after World War II into a major economic power.
Pan-Africanism
Philosophy based on the belief that Africans share common bonds and are a unified people. Adopted this to break from colonial rule.
Kwame Nkrumah
Leader of nonviolent protests for freedom on the Gold Coast. When independence was gained, he became the first prime minister of Ghana. He develpoped economic projects, but was criticized for spending too much time on Pan-African efforts, and neglecting his own countries' issues
Jomo Kenyatta
Kenyan Nationalist who used strong leadership to help gain Kenya's independence, and became the first president; presented Kikuyu grievances to the British government in London.
Frantz Fanon
an Algerian revolutionary who was an influential propeonent of national liberation for colonial peoples through violent revolution
Nelson Mandela
leader of the African National Congress who was jailed for his opposition to apartheid in South Africa. He was later elected president in 1994 when free elections were established, and was instrumental in a new democratic constitution being written in 1996.
African National Congress
An organization dedicated to obtaining equal voting and civil rights for black inhabitants of South Africa. Founded in 1912 as the South African Native National Congress, it changed its name in 1923. Eventually brought equality.
Steve Biko
(1946-1977) An organizer of black consciousness movement in South Africa, in opposition to apartheid; murdered while in police custody
Apartheid
Laws (no longer in effect) in South Africa that physically separated different races into different geographic areas.
Nationalist Party
The party of Chiang Kai-shek. They ruled China from 1928 until the victory of the Communists in 1949. This party led a revolution against the emperor 1911. They also tried to establish a democracy. When they were defeated by the communists they fled to Taiwan. They still rule Taiwan today.
Divestment
The elimination or removal of a right or title, usually applied to the cancellation of an estate in land.
Joseph Stalin
Bolshevik revolutionary, head of the Soviet Communists after 1924, and dictator of the Soviet Union from 1928 to 1953. He led the Soviet Union with an iron fist, using Five-Year Plans to increase industrial production and terror to crush opposition
Reds v. Whites
a war between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks for power of the Russian government.
Kulaks
Rich peasants in the Russian Empire who owned larger farms and used hired labour. They were their own class.
New Economic Policy
Policy proclaimed by Vladimir Lenin in 1924 to encourage the revival of the Soviet economy by allowing small private enterprises. Joseph Stalin ended the N.E.P. in 1928 and replaced it with a series of Five-Year Plans.
5 Year Plan
Stalin's plan to reorganize the industry and agriculture to catch up with the industrialized west with collectivization of farms and unrealistic production quotas in factories
Collectivization
system in which private farms were eliminated, instead, the government owned all the land while the peasants worked on it.
Show Trials
Confessions extracted by torture. 8 million executed or sent out to forced labor camps and never seen again.
Ruhr Crisis
between 1923 and 1925, by troops from France and Belgium, was a response to the failure of the German Weimar Republic under Chancellor Cuno to pay reparations in the aftermath of World War I.
Adolf Hitler
This dictator was the leader of the Nazi Party. He believed that strong leadership was required to save Germanic society, which was at risk due to Jewish, socialist, democratic, and liberal forces.
Mein Kampf
'My Struggle' by Hitler, later became the basic book of nazi goals and ideology, reflected obsession
Lebensraum
Hitler's expansionist theory based on a drive to acquire "living space" for the German people
Beer Hall Putsch
In 1923 the Nazis attempted to overthrow the government in Munich. It was a total failure, and Hitler received a brief prison sentence during which time he wrote Mein Kampf.
Enabling Act
transferred legislative power to Hitler and his cabinet and allowed him to suspend parts of the Weimar constitution; enabled Hitler to get rid of the Reichstag parliament and pass laws without reference to parliament
Night of the Long Knives
Purge of Adolf Hitler's potential political rivals in the Sturmabteilung (SA). targeted SA leaders and members who were associated more with socialism than with nationalism, and were viewed as a threat to the continued support for Hitler within the Army.
Nuremburg Laws
laws approved by the Nazi Party in 1935, depriving Jews of German citizenship and taking some rights away from them
Kristallnacht
(Night of the Broken Glass) November 9, 1938, when mobs throughout Germany destroyed Jewish property and terrorized Jews.
Blackshirts
Members of Italian fascists before WWII. It was led by Mussolini. Helped solidify Mussolini's control
Benito Mussolini
Fascist dictator of Italy (1922-1943). He led Italy to conquer Ethiopia (1935), joined Germany in the Axis pact (1936), and allied Italy with Germany in World War II. He was overthrown in 1943 when the Allies invaded Italy.
Lateran Agreement
a 1929 agreement that recognized the Vatican as a tiny independent state, with Mussolini agreeing to give the church heavy financial support. In turn, the pope expressed his satisfaction and urged Italians to support Mussolini's government.
Appeasement
Satisfying the demands of dissatisfied powers in an effort to maintain peace and stability.
Mukden Incident
a "Chinese" attack on a Japanese railway near the city of Mukden (had actually been carried out by Japanese soldiers disguised as Chinese); used by Japan as an excuse to seize Manchuria
Manchukuo
Military takeover of Manchuria by the Japanese. Was not supported by the civilian government, which fell apart in response. Condemned by the newly formed League of Nations
Invasion of the Rhineland
Needed to distract Germans from economic crisis at home and Abyssinia led to remilitarization early, Used the Franco-Soviet Pact as a blackmail saying it was contradicting the Locarno Agreement, Musolini had been isolated from other Stresa Powers because of Abyssinia and therefore told Germany that he would not cooperate with Britain and France when German troops entered this territory. The French refused to invade and fight without the back up of Britain
Anschluss
The union of Austria with Germany, resulting from the occupation of Austria by the German army in 1938.
Sudetenland
The area near Czechoslovakia that was mainly German ethnicity that Germany took.
Munich Conference
1938 conference at which European leaders attempted to appease Hitler by turning over the Sudetenland to him in exchange for promise that Germany would not expand Germany's territory any further.
German-Soviet Non-Agression Pact
1939 agreement dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence. Pledged that Germany and the Soviet Union would never attack eachother. Both were neutral if war occured
Dunkirk
a city in northern France on the North Sea where in World War II (1940) 330,000 Allied troops had to be evacuated from the beaches in a desperate retreat under enemy fire
Stalingrad
City in Russia, site of a Red Army victory over the Germany army in 1942-1943. This battle was the turning point in the war between Germany and the Soviet Union.
El Alamein
Town in Egypt, site of the victory by Britain's Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery over German forces led by General Erwin Rommel in 1942
Midway
Battle in the Pacific; Japan hoped to force America into negotiations in the Pacific, turning point in the war in the Pacific
D-Day
June 6, 1944 - Led by Eisenhower, over a million troops (the largest invasion force in history) stormed the beaches at Normandy and began the process of re-taking France. The turning point of World War II.
Manhatten Project
Secret American program during World War II to develop an atomic bomb
Yalta
When FDR, Churchill, and Stalin meet; they agreed to wage war on Japan, to divide Germany into 4 equal parts, on the big 5's veto, and to hold free elections for the liberated countries
Potsdam
the place at which the three allied leaders, Truman, Stalin, and Atlee, met to discuss the distribution of Germany and the ultimatum that they would issue to Japan demanding thier immediate surrender
Truman Doctrine
President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology
Marshall Plan
Introduced by Secretary of State George G. Marshall in 1947, he proposed massive and systematic American economic aid to Europe to revitalize the European economies after WWII and help prevent the spread of Communism.
Berlin Airlift
Joint effort by the US and Britian to fly food and supplies into West Berlin after the Soviet blocked off all ground routes into the city
Containment
a policy of creating strategic alliances in order to check the expansion of a hostile power or ideology or to force it to negotiate pecefully
NATO
an international organization created in 1949 by the North Atlantic Treaty for purposes of collective security
Warsaw Pact
treaty signed in 1945 that formed an alliance of the Eastern European countries behind the Iron Curtain; USSR, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania
Korean War
The conflict between Communist North Korea and Non-Communist South Korea. The United Nations (led by the United States) helped South Korea.
20th Party Congress
Khrushev's secret speech denounced the leadership of long time dictator Joseph Stalin. This was a completely new and different direction from the Russia of old
Sputnik
The world's first space satellite. This meant the Soviet Union had a missile powerful enough to reach the US.
Hungarian Revolt
When the Hungarians tried to win their freedom from the Communist regime in 1956, they were crushed down by Soviet tanks. There was killing and slaughtering of the rebels going on by military forces.
Kitchen Debate
was a famous discussion between Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev. It signaled that the U.S acknowledged their setback in technology since Nixon focused on technological luxuries.
U-2 Incident
The incident when an American spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. The U.S. denied the true purpose of the plane at first, but was forced to when the U.S.S.R. produced the living pilot and the largely intact plane to validate their claim of being spied on aerially. The incident worsened East-West relations during the Cold War and was a great embarrassment for the United States.
Berlin Wall
In 1961, the Soviet Union built a high barrier to seal off their sector of Berlin in order to stop the flow of refugees out of the Soviet zone of Germany. The wall was torn down in 1989.
Leonid Brezhnev
Seized power from Nikita Khrushchev and became leader of the Soviet Communist party in 1964. Ordered forces in to Afghanistan and Czechoslovakia.
Prague Spring
was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union
Common Market
an international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members
Charles de Gaulle
French general and statesman who became very popular during World War II as the leader of the Free French forces in exile (1890-1970)
Maragret Thatcher
1st woman prime minister from 1979-1990 who limited social welfare, restricted union power and controlled inflation
Falkland Islands War
Between Britain and Argentina, centered around their claims to control over these islands. Thatcher showed British military strength.
Simone de Beauvoir
French author of The Second Sex. She argued for women's rights and was also a prominent figure in the existentialist movement. She died in 1986.
Guernica
a Spanish town that was brutally bombed and was full of innocent civilians it was supposed to encourage fear, Picasso painted a famous painting capturing it
Mustafa Kemal
Led the Turkish nationalist overthrow of the Ottoman sultan in 1922. He then became the president of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. To modernized Turkey, he separated Islamic laws from the nation's laws. He modeled the new legal system off of European law and also some U.S. law. Women had more right under his rule. They were allowed to vote and hold public office. Finally, his last reform was government-funded programs to industrialize Turkey and to bring about great economic growth. He died in 1938 known as Ataturk, "father of the Turks."
Rape of Nanjing
a six-week period following the Japanese capture of the Chinese city of Nanjing. During this period, hundreds of thousands of civilians were murdered and 20,000-80,000 women were raped by soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army.
Wannsee Conference
A meeting in which the "Final solution" and use of concentration camps were decided in 1942, Heydrich was the chief executor of the "Final Solution". Held in Berlin
Holocaust
A methodical plan orchestrated by Hitler to ensure German supremacy. It called for the elimination of Jews, non-conformists, homosexuals, non-Aryans, and mentally and physically disabled.
Auschwitz
Nazi extermination camp in Poland, the largest center of mass murder during the Holocaust. Close to a million Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and others were killed there.
1972 Munich Olympics
Palestinians used violent tactics to force Israel to negotiate land return; Plane hijacking and 9 Israeli athletes killed as a result
Oslo Accords
An agreement in 1993 in which Israeli prime minister Rabin granted Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
"Ethnic Cleansing"
the mass expulsion and killing of one ethic or religious group in an area by another ethnic or religious group in that area
Josip Tito
Marxist Leninist communist who hated stalin. Soviet forces never allowed to come in and liberate Yugoslavia. He creates his own communist authoritarian regime. Not under stalin's control.
Slobodan Milosovic
One-time communist party official who took up pan-Serb cause in late 1980s and was largely responsible, as a demagogue and dictator, for the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the more recent conflict in Kosovo. Milosovic had been on trial at The Hague in the Netherlands on war crimes charges. He died, in March of 2006, before his case was concluded.
Red Guards
The youths who led Mao's Cultural Revolution. Wore red arm bands and carried his book. Terrorized Chinese citizens and determined who went to camps.
Ho Chi Minh
Vietnamese communist statesman who fought the Japanese in World War II and the French until 1954 and South vietnam until 1975 (1890-1969)
Tony Blair
British Prime minister who accuses Hussein of terrorism and creating Weapons of Mass destruction.
"Little Tigers"
earliest and most successful imitators of the Japanese model for economic development; they were Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan; turned disadvantages into advantages through a program of export-driven industrialization; corporations from these 4 states undercut original Japanese products w/ lower-costing versions; the original 4 were later joined by Indonesia, Thailand, & Malaysia
Club of Rome
founded in 1967. composed of economists and scientists who work to specify the economic and population growth in relation to the earth's capacity. often classified as melodramatic
HIV/AIDS
One of the most destructive pandemics in recorded history, claiming the lives of 25 million people since scientists first identified it in 1981
NAFTA
A pact that unites Canada, Mexico, and the United States in one of the world's largest free-trade zones. It builds on a free-trade agreement between the United States and Canada that became effective in 1989
Sara/Dara
Islamic version of Barbie and Ken, except with more clothes
"Comfort Women"
women from Japanese colonies & occupied territories (mainly from Korea & China) forced to serve in military brothels ("comfort houses" or "consolation centers") during WWII; many were war casualties; either killed or had to live with deep shame after war
Beatles
a rock group from Liverpool who between 1962 and 1970 produced a variety of hit songs and albums (most of it written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon)
Pink Floyd
Began in mid-1960s as a psychedelic blues band, named after bluesmen Pink Anderson and Floyd Council; Experimented with long improvisations, electronic effects, and light shows
European Union
an international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members
9/11
A series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States in 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings.