:3 Flashcards
(25 cards)
League of Nations
An organization for international cooperation established in Geneva, Switzerland in 1920. It’s principle mission was to create and maintain world peace. It fell in 1946 because of internal weakness and external conflict.
United Nations
An intergovernmental organization that aims to keep peace and security. It was a established in California as a preventative measure for more war after WWII. Now, the headquarters reside in NYC and there are 193 member states.
Hyperinflation
Economic term for rapid, very high inflation. Defined as a more than 50% price increase per month for goods and services.
Fascism
A far-right, authoritarian political ideology and movement. Most of the country’s power is held by one ruler or a small group of people. In order to uphold suppression and aggression are commonly used.
Communism
A sociopolitical, philosophical and economic ideology under socialism founded by Karl Marx. It strives for the absence of the state, social class and private property. Instead the government or community would own land or factories.
Benito Mussolini
Founder of fascism and former Prime Minister of Italy. Ally of Nazi Germany and Japan in WWII. He was executed in 1945 by Italian partisans.
Vladimir Lenin
Founder of the Russian Communist Party, leader of the Bolshevik Revolution and the first head of the Soviet state. He was a progressive revolutionary heavily inspired by Marxism–creating his own political ideology called Leninism. He died in 1924 without leaving a successor.
Joseph Stalin
Politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union after the death of Lenin. He used his connections from being General Secretary while Lenin ruled to be chosen as his successor. He modernized and led the Soviet Union to power through mass imprisonment and brutality. Died of a stroke in 1953 at 74 years old.
Leon Trotsky
Communist theorist and Soviet politician. Was the leader of Soviet military forces during the 1917 revolution. Later became the Soviet commissar of foreign affairs. Exiled by Stalin in 1929
NEP (New Economic Policy)
Soviet government policy from 1921-1928. The focus of its economic reforms were liberalization, privatization and globalization. It included liberalized trade and investment policy, public sector changes and capital and financial sector reforms.
Five Year Plans
Attempts to rapidly industrialize the Soviet Union. There were four of these plans. The first focused on advancing industry, construction and transportation. The second put heavy industry as top priority. The third focused on preparing for the war and the fourth and final was to rebuild after WWII. The first saw a lot of success while the others saw minimal.
Israel
Country in West Asia founded in 1948. After the 1947-1948 civil war in Palestine the state of Israel came to control. This allowed millions of Jewish victims of the Holocaust to take refugee in the newfound state.
Palestine
Among former Ottoman territories then placed under British control in 1922. Officially recognized as a country by the United Nations in 1988.
Velvet Revolution
The period in which the communist regime of Czechoslovakia was dissolved. Came as a culmination of years of public discontent and resistance. Called the Velvet Revolution for its non-violence.
Velvet Divorce
The dissuasion of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Occurred 3 years after the Velvet Revolution which ended the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Called the Velvet Divorce for its non-violence.
Collapse of the Soviet Union
Event that dissolved the Soviet Union in 1991. Caused by economic stagnation, over-extension of the military and events like the cold war. This collapse formed 15 new Nations included countries like Russia, Ukraine, and Latvia.
Boris Yeltsin
Soviet and Russian politician and statesman. President of Russia from 1991 until 1999 when he resigned. He resigned when public support moved to the prime minister, Vladimir Putin. Yeltsin chose Putin as his successor and Putin started his presidency in 2000.
Collectivization
The organization of all of a country’s production into government management and possession. This forced peasantry to give up their individual farms and join huge collectives. This saw some success in the production of grain exports but caused famine in the countryside.
Gulag
System of forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. It was set up to house political prisoners and criminals of the Soviet Union. At its peak it imprisoned millions.
Austrian Anschluss
Annexation of the state of Austria in Nazi Germany in 1938. More than 99% of Austrians supported the connection because they believed it would help their economy. Anschluss means “connection” or “joining”
Adolf Hitler
Austrian-born German politician. Started Nazi Germany and became its dictator in 1933 until his death in 1945. Supported the eraser of the Jewish race or the Holocaust.
Appeasement Policy
Diplomatic strategy that involves making connections to a brutal foreign power to avoid future conflicts. Most known for Neville Chamberlains appeasement towards Hitler which allowed him to expand German territory unchecked.
Neville Chamberlain
Prime Minister of the UK from 1937 to 1940. Known for his support of appeasement towards Hitler and the annexation of Czechoslovakia.
Holocaust
Genocide against European Jewish people during WWII. Nazi Germany and its supported murdered 6 million Jewish people and 5 million non Jewish people. This genocide was systematic and state-sponsored.
