Identifications

Cecil Rhodes- worked tirelessly on behalf of British imperial expansion (1853- 1902).
His dominating economic, cultural, and political influence on southern African territories
for personal and British gain was a model of European imperialist values. I contend that
we are the finest race in the world, and that the more of the world we inhabit, the better.
Founded De Beers diamond company in 1888.
De Beers- diamond company founded by Cecil Rhodes in 1888. Given the rights to
mines in South Africa.
Rudyard Kipling- English writer and poet (1864-1936) who defined the white mans
burden as the duty of European and Euro-American peoples to bring order and
enlightenment to distant lands. Whites have to help blacks, Indians, Asians, natives, etc.
White Mans Burden- Defined by Rudyard Kipling, stating that it is the duty of
European and Euro-American peoples to bring order and enlightenment to distant lands.
Tools of Empire- Transportation (train, steam engine, railroads) led to faster transport of
raw materials, manufactured goods, soldiers, weapons. Disease (Malaria) and cures for
diseases (quinine). Telegraph exchanged messages, communicated about conflict. Maxim
gun was the first machine gun, kills more efficiently, less troops needed, whatever
happens, we have got the Maxim gun and they have not. Steamboats helped transport
goods faster, overseas colonial transport.
Henry Morton Stanley- American journalist who undertook a well publicized
expedition to find Livingstone and report on his activities. Spent a great deal of time in
the field.
David Livingstone- A Scottish miner who traveled through much of central and southern
Africa in the mid 19th century I search of suitable locations for mission posts.
King Leopold II- Employed Henry Morton Stanley to help develop commercial ventures
and establish a colony called the Congo Free State in the basin of the Congo River. To
forestall competition from Belgiums larger and more powerful European neighbors,
Leopold announced that the Congo region would be a free trade zone accessible to
merchants and businesspeople from all European lands.
Berlin Conference- (1884-1885) in Berlin. Europeans talk about how to
conquer/colonize amongst the countries. Everyone wants a piece of the cake. There was
no African representation at the conference. United States and the Ottoman Empire
observed the conference. Two ground rules: 1. Claim land and announce it to other
countries 2. Occupy that land.
Social Darwinism- People believed fit nations came to rule over less fit nations.
Stated other nations and races were more fit than others. As a result, some Europeans
believed rule in Africa was justified.
Herbert Spencer- English philosopher (1820-1903) relied on theories of evolution to
explain differences between the strong and the weak: successful individuals and races had

competed better in the natural world and consequently evolved to higher states than did
other, less fit peoples.
Scramble for Africa- Between 1875 and 1900, the relationship between Africa and
Europe dramatically changed. Within a quarter century, European imperial powers
partitioned and colonized almost the entire African continent. Prospects of exploiting
African resources and nationalist rivalries between European powers help to explain this
frenzied quest for empire.
Francis Ferdinand- archduke of Austria Hungary, who assassination in Sarajevo by a
radical Serbian nationalist, triggered the start of World War I.
Gavrilo Princip- Serbian nationalist who assassinated Francis Ferdinand.
The Central Powers- Austria, Germany, Italy
The Allies- Russia, Serbia, France, Great Britain
Western Front- Trenches ran from the English Channel to Switzerland
Verdun- In 1916, the Germans tried to break the deadlock with a huge assault on the
fortress of Verdun. The French rallying cry was they shall not pass, and they did not but
at a tremendous cost: while the victorious French counted 315,000 dead, the defeated
Germans suffered a loss of 280,000. To relieve the pressure on Verdun, British forces
counterattacked at the Somme, and by November they had gained a few thousand yards
at the cost of 420,000 casualties.
Trench warfare- type of warfare prevalent during World War I on the fronts.
Paris Peace Conference- Clemenceau, Lloyd George, and Wilson led to attempt to end
World War I. Tried to limit the power of Germany.
George Clemenceau- One of the three leaders of the Paris Peace Conference. Prime
minister of France. Wanted security from Germany. Tough negotiator
David Lloyd George- One of the three leaders of the Paris Peace Conference. Prime
minister of Great Britain. Wanted naval supremacy and return to Empire
Woodrow Wilson- One of the three leaders of the Paris Peace Conference. President of
the United States. 14 point plan for post war peace in Europe.
League of Nations- Created by diplomats in Paris in an effort to avoid future destructive
conflicts. It was the first permanent international security organization whose principal
mission was to maintain world peace. The Covenant of the League of Nations was made
an integral part of the peace treaties, and every signatory to a peace treaty had to accept
this new world organization. 26 of its 42 original members were countries outside
Europe. It had two major flaws that rendered it ineffective. First, it had no power to
enforce its decisions. Second, it relied on collective security as a tool for the preservation
of global peace.
Mandate System- Because the United States rejected the establishment of old fashioned
colonies, the European powers came up with the enterprising idea of trusteeship. Article
22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations referred to the colonies and territories of the
former Central Powers as areas inhabited by people not yet able to stand by themselves

under the strenuous conditions of the modern world. The League divided the mandates
into three classes based on the presumed development of their populations in the
direction of fitness for self-government. The administration of the mandates fell to the
victorious powers of the Great War. The Germans interpreted the mandate system as a
division of colonial booty by the victors, who had conveniently forgotten to apply the
tutelage provision to their own colonies. The establishment of mandates in the former
territories of the Ottoman Empire violated promises by French and British leaders during
the war. They had promised Arab nationalists independence from the Ottoman empire
and had promised Jewish nationalists in Europe a homeland in Palestine. Where the
Arabs hoped to form independent states, the French and the British had established
mandates. The Allies views the mandate system as a reasonable compromise between the
reality of imperialism and the ideal of self-determination. To the peoples who were
directly affected, the mandate system smacked of continued imperial rule draped in a
cloak of respectability.
Rene Magritte- painter, The Menaced Assassin Time Transfixed Elective
Affinities
Salvador Dali- painter, Persistence of Time
Sigmund Freud- father of psychiatry
Black Thursday- October 24, 1929, stock market crashes, beginning the global
depression, spreads to the rest of the world.
The Great Depression
Hooverville- shanties, communities of shacks.
The New Deal- Franklin Delano Roosevelts plan. Prevent the collapse of the banking
system, provide jobs and farm subsidies, workers unions, minimum wages, provide social
security, government insure savings. Some controversial aspects include burning small
crops/fields to stabilize prices of crops; necessary to revive the economy.
Lenin- founder of the communist Russia. True intellectual, well educated. Fighting for
equality, against capitalism, against exploitation of workers and bourgeoisie. Wanted
everyone to have a say. Works in theory but not in practice. Not as successful
economically.
Joseph Stalin- not an intellectual, from poor peasant family in Georgia, had inferiority
complex (battle with smallpox), did not like intellectuals. Determined and clever.
Becomes Lenins right hand man, takes over after his death. In power until 1953. Not
charismatic. Parents had wanted him to become a priest. Stalin meant Man of Steel.
First 5 year Plan- Stalin decided to replace Lenins LEP with an ambitious plan for
rapid economic development, known as the First Five Year Plan. The basic aims of this
and subsequent five-year plans, first implemented in 1929, were to transform the Soviet
Union from a predominantly agricultural country to a leading industrial power. The First
Five Year Plan set targets for increased productivity in all spheres of the economy but

emphasized heavy industry (especially steel and machinery) at the expense of consumer
goods. It set unrealistically high production targets.
GULAG- the Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies. 14 million,
difficult to estimate how many died. On the verge of death, prisoners were released. 476
major gulags in Russia. Political prisoners, prisoners of war from WWII, anyone with an
infraction. Sent without trial. Soviets sent for the smallest infractions. Not for segregation
like concentration camps, but used for punishment and free labor. Built railroads, dams
and roads.
Benito Mussolini- led the fascist movement in Italy. He was incredibly influential,
connected with the people during his speeches. Seems like a nicer guy compared to
Hitler.
Fascism- A political movement and ideology that sought to create a new type of society,
developed as a reaction against liberal democracy and the spread of socialism and
communism. The term derives from the fasces, an ancient Roman symbol of punitive
authority consisting of a bundle of wooden rods strapped together around an axe.
Adolf Hitler- After his postwar political awakening, he came into contact with an
obscure political party sympathetic to his ideas. In 1921 he became chairman of the party
now known as the National Socialist German Workers Party. National Socialism made
its first major appearance in 1923 when party members and Hitler attempted to overthrow
the democratic members Weimar Republic that had replaced the German empire in 1919.
Hitler was jailed, and the Nazi movement and its leader descended into obscurity. When
Hitler emerged from prison in 1924, he resolved his movement and launched it on a path
of legality. Hitler and his followers were determined to gain power legally through the
ballot box and, once successful, to discard the very instrument of their success.
NazismEugenics- Good genes. Hereditary disabilities cannot reproduce.
Anti Semitism- prejudice against Jews. It was a key element in the designs to achieve a
new racial order and became the hallmark of National Socialist rule.
Nuremberg Laws- 1935. Deprived all Jews of German citizenship, prohibited Jews to
fly the German flag, no Jews could employ German citizens as domestics, sexual
relations between Aryans and Jews are a crime, no marriage between Aryans and Jews,
and Jews could not hold public office including teaching positions.
Kristallnacht- November 9 and 10, 1938: the beginning of the Holocaust.
Auschwitz- most famous concentration camp. In Poland.
Rape of Nanjing- 400,000 Chinese used for bayonet practice, massacred. 7,000 women
raped. One third of homes destroyed. Aerial bombing of urban center.
Axis Powers- Italy, Germany and Italy.
Munich Conference- Held in September 1938, European politicians consolidated the
policy that came to known as appeasement. Attended by representatives of Italy, France,
Great Britain, and Germany, the meeting revealed how most nations outside the

revisionist sphere had decided to deal with territorial expansion by aggressive nations,
especially Germany. In conceding demands to Hitler, or appeasing him, the British and
French governments extracted a promise that Hitler would cease further efforts to expand
German territorial claims. Their goal was to keep peace in Europe, even if it meant
making major concessions. Because of public opposition to war, the government of
France and Britain approved the Munich accord. Hitler, however, refused to be bound by
the Munich agreement, and in the next year German troops occupied most of
Czechoslovakia.
Operation Barbarossa- On June 22, 1941, Hitler ordered his armed forces to invade the
Soviet Union. For the campaign, the German military assembled the largest and most
powerful invasion force in history, attacking with 3.6 million soldiers, 3700 tanks, and
2500 planes. By December 1941, the Germans had captured the Russia heartland,
Leningrad had come under siege, and German troops had reached the gates of Moscow.
Germany seemed assured of victory. However, German Blitzkrieg tactics that had earlier
proved so effective in Poland and western Europe failed the Germans in the vast expanses
of Russia. The arrival of winter helped Soviet military efforts and prevented the Germans
from capturing Moscow.
Vichy France- puppet government with Germany. South of France. Northern France
under German control.
Pearl Harbor- December 7, 1941. Japan destroys US Navy in Pacific. Hitler, Mussolini
declare war on the US on Dec. 11th, 1941. US joins Great Britain and USSR.
D Day- June 6, 1944.
Hiroshima- United States dropped devastating atomic bomb on August 6, 1945. The
atomic bombs either instantaneously vaporized or slowly killed by radiation poisoning
upward of 200,000 people.
Comfort Women- Asian women forced into prostitution by Japanese forces. 20/30 men
per day, in warzones. Large scale massacres at the end of war to hide crimes, and social
ostracism for survivors.
Iron Curtain- imaginary line divides west from east, democracy from communism. It
was an ideological barrier.
Kitchen Debate- 1959. Nixon and Khrushchev talked. Took place in Russia.
Daisy Spot- 1964. For Johnson campaign, fear of nuclear war. Love each other, or die
Korean War- (1950-1953). Japan had territory during WW2, lost war. Korean peninsula.
US wants presence, wants to spread democracy. Split into North Korea and South Korea,
by US and Soviet Union.
Warsaw Pact- alliance of seven communist European nations. Soviet Union, Albania,
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Germany.
NATO- North Atlantic Treaty Organization: maintain peace.
United Nations- Successor to the League of Nations, an association of sovereign nations
that attempts to find solutions to global problems.

Marshall Plan- Plan for economic aid for countries in Western Europe, to countries
willing to vow not to turn communist. $13 billion
Truman Doctrine- 1947, United States policy supporting the enemies of communism.
Prevents the spread of communism. US worried about the domino effect.
Red Scare- a fear of communism in the United States.
Cuban Missile Crisis- a 14-day confrontation in October 1962 between the Soviet Union
and Cuba on one side and the United States on the other side. The crisis is generally
regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear
conflict and is also the first documented instance of mutual assured destruction (MAD)
being discussed as a determining factor in a major international arms agreement.
Fidel Castro- (1926- ) Headed a revolutionary movement in Cuba to overthrow the
autocratic Fulgencio Batista y Zaldivar, whose regime had gone to great lengths to
maintain the countrys traditionally subservient relationship with the United States,
especially with the US sugar companies that controlled Cubas economy. Castros new
regime gladly accepted a Soviet offer of massive economic aid, including an agreement
to purchase half of Cubas sugar production, and arms shipments. Castro declared his
support for the USSRs foreign policy.
Nikita Khushchev- (1894-1971) Soviet Premier who extracted an open pledge from
Kennedy to refrain from attempting to overthrow Castros regime and a secret deal to
remove US missiles from Turkey. He embarked on a policy of de-Stalinization, ending
the rule of terror and the partial liberalization of Soviet society.
Vietnam War- North Vietnam vs South Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh- Vietnamese leader organized against Japan, for freedom. Wants
independence for Vietnam from France. French opposed.
Ngo Dinh Diem- (1901-1963) the first president of the Republic of (South) Vietnam.
Supported by the United States.
Agent Orange- napalm herbicide. Meant for deforestation. Had devastating effects on
health.
Kent State University- four students rallying against the Vietnam War were killed by
troops from the National Guard.
War in Afghanistan- US vs Soviets in Afghanistan, preventing the spread of
communism.
Berlin Wall- Wall separating East Berlin from West Berlin. East German regime decided
to open the Berlin Wall to intra-German traffic on November 9, 1989. The end of a
divided Berlin was also in sight, literally, as thousands of east and west Berliners tore
down the Berlin Wall in the last weeks of 1989. Symbolized the end of Cold War and fall
of the Soviet Union, and the fall of communism.
Mikhail Gorbachev- (1931- ) Policies espoused by Gorbachev, who came to power in
1985, represented an effort to address the economic deterioration, but they also unleashed
a tidal wave of revolution that brought down communist governments. As communism

unraveled throughout eastern and central Europe, Gorbachev desperately tried to save the
Soviet Union from disintegration by restructuring the economy and liberalizing society.
Perestroika- Gorbachev contemplated different kinds of reform, using this terms, also
known as restructuring, to describe his efforts to decentralize the economy.
Glasnost- A terms that referred to the opening of Soviet society to public criticism and
admission of past mistakes.
Kwame Nkrumah- Politician from Ghana (1909-1972). A leader from the first subSaharan African nation to gain independence from colonial rule, became a persuasive
spokesperson for pan-African unity. His ideas and his stature as an African leader
symbolized the changing times in Africa.
Year of Africa- (1960-1962) independence period of African nations from colonial rule.
Apartheid- South African system of separateness that was implemented in 1948 and
that maintained the black majority in a position of political, social, and economic
subordination.
Bantustan- segregated, separated communities in the Apartheid. Couldnt move without
permission from whites. Not allowed to leave. Had menial jobs.
Nelson Mandela- South African politician. Peaceful protests for the end of Apartheid.
Imprisoned in 1962, and released in 1990. Elected president of South Africa in 1994.
Patrice Lumumba- democratically elected prime minister of Congo. He criticized
Belgium for committing crimes against humanity. Belgium says he is a radical, and they
tell the USA that he had Soviet ideals and is pro-communist. USA aids other Congo
party, and the CIA captures him.
Mobutu- friendly with the USA. Given Lumumba, who was previously captured by the
CIA. He kills Lumumba with acid, so there was no evidence. He comes to rule and makes
tremendous amounts of $$$, by the Congo becomes brutal country like it is today.
Tutsi- Taller Rwandans, closer to Europeans on the racial scale. 14% of the population.
Very similar to the Hutu, same language and religion (Roman Catholic). The minority,
but put into power/rule by the Belgians. They depended on Belgium, and when the
Belgians leave, the Hutu take over.
Hutu- The majority of the population of Rwanda. Oppressed by the Belgian supported
Tutsi.
Rwandan Genocide- 1994. Full scale genocide. 100 days, where between 500 thousand
to 1 million people are killed, primarily with machetes. 20% of population were killed.
Mohandas Ghandi- Hindu man from India who preached non-violence independence
movement from Britain. Pacifist movement. Killed by one of his own people, another
Hindu.

Timeline
Conquest of the Americas- 1492. Began with Columbus in the West Indies.
Transatlantic Slave Trade- 1500 to 1800. Began with the conquest of the
Americas.
Protestant Reformation- 1517 to 1648. Began with Luthers 95 Theses
Scientific Revolution- 1543 to 1700. Began with Copernicus
Catholic Reformation- 1545 to 1648. Began with the Council of Trent
Enlightenment- early 1700s. Began in France, reason rather than faith or
traditions.
Industrial Revolution- 1760 to 1830. Tremendous increase of manufacturing and
new processes and inventions.
French Revolution- 1789 to 1799. Began with rebellion of Third Estate against
King Louis XVI.
Haitian Revolution- 1791 to 1804. Began with slave revolt, ended with
independence in 1804 from France.
European Imperialism- 1830 to 1945. Berlin Conference
World War 1- July 1914 to November 1918. Began with assassination of Franz
Ferdinand and ended with Treaty of Versailles.
Russian Revolution- 1917. Dismantled Tsarist autocracy in Russia
Global Depression- 1929 to 1945. Began with the Black Tuesday, October of
1929, and ended with the end of World War 2.
World War 2- 1939 to 1945. Began with German invasion of Poland.
Decolonization- 1945. Began with the end of World War 2
Cold War- 1947 to 1991. US versus Soviet Union, versus communism.
Fall of Berlin Wall- November 9, 1989. Symbolized the end of communism. East
and West Berlin united.
9/11- September 11, 2001. Al Qaeda terrorist attacks.