| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Opium Wars | Wars (there were two) between China and Britain fought over Britain's trade of Indian-grown opium to China. China tried to outlaw the trade, but the British traders ignored it, causing this war. The British won easily and forced China to accept British trade and took control of the Chinese port city of Hong Kong (which the British controlled until 1997) in the Treaty of Nanjing. |
| Long March | During the Chinese Civil War, fought in the 1930's between the Communists and Nationalists, the Nationalist chased the Communists across the country, one step away from defeating them. On this retreat (despite heavy losses) the Communists became stronger under the leadership of Mao Zedong. The Nationalists never defeated the Communists and after World War II, the Communists took over China, sending the Nationalists retreating to the island of Taiwan. |
| Great Leap Forward | Chinese Communist five-year plan under Mao Zedong in the 1950's that was designed to industrialize China. But due to the failures of the government-run communes, a famine resulted, killing millions. It took decades for the Chinese economy to recover. |
| Four Modernizations | Chinese Communist five-year plan under Deng Xiaoping in the 1970's designed to industrialize China by learning about industry from Western nations, such as the United States. The Chinese sent students abroad to learn Western technology and bring back their knowledge to China. This plan was successful and put China on the path to where it is today. |
| Balkans | Area of southeastern Europe where Greece, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, etc. are today. This is where World War I started, due to ethnic rivarlies in the area. In the 1990's, similar ethnic rivalries led to war and "ethnic cleansing" as the Serbs attempted to rid their country of other groups through mass-murder. |
| Reconquista | In the Middle Ages, Spanish absolute monarchs fought to reconquer Spain from the Moors (Muslims who took over Spain in the 700's). The Roman Catholic Spaniards also targeted Jews. Many Muslims and Jews were tortured or killed for heresy (saying things against the Church) in the Spanish Inquisition (Church trials). |
| Rwanadan genocide | Rwanda is a country in East Africa where, in 1994, two rival ethnic groups--the Hutus and the Tutsis--had only recently ended a bitter civil war. In retaliation for allegedly assassinating the Hutu president, Hutus militia groups went on a 100 day killing spree, mass murdering 800,000 Tutsis as the world sat by, unresponsive. |
| Vladimir Lenin | Bolshevik leader of the second Russian Revolution of 1917, became the first leader of the Soviet Union, the world's first communist country. |
| New Economic Policy | Started in the 1920's, this was a communist five-year plan in the Soviet Union with a goal of industrializing the country. |
| Mikahail Gorbachev | Leader of the Soviet Union in the 1980's. Gorbachev was a reformer and attempted to save a struggling Soviet Union by adding some limited freedom to the Soviet economy (peristrioka) and society (glasnost). These reforms were too little too late and could not prevent the collapse of the Soviet Union. |
| peristrioka | 1980's Soviet program of Gorbachev that added some elements of capitalism to the Soviet economy, such as allowing private ownership of some businesses, in an attempt to start economic growth |
| glasnost | 1980's Soviet policy of Gorbachev that allowed more 'openness,' meaning less censorship of the media and having more contact with the West, especially with the United States |
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