| A | B |
|---|
| 38th parallel | the dividing line between North and South Korea |
| African Bantu | group of people who migrated to southern Africa from Western Africa |
| al-Fatah | considered terrorist group by US, armed movement fighting for Palestinian principles and joined PLO |
| al-Qaeda | worldwide network of militant Islamic fundamentalists |
| apartheid | racial segregation policy instituted by South Africa; it discriminated against people of color |
| Bay of Pigs | inlet located on the coast of Cuba; it was where U.S. forces attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro |
| Civil Conservation Corps (CCC) | group of laborers used for conservation projects in the American Wilderness formed by request of FDR |
| Civil Rights Act of 1964 | President Johnson signed this into law. It outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin |
| Equal Pay Act of 1963 | law that requires equal wages for men and women doing the same job. |
| Euro | common currency used by participating European Union countries |
| European Economic Community (EEC) | formed tp create a common market in Europe and eliminate trade barriers |
| European Theatre | term used in the U.S. for the portion of World War II that was fought in Europe |
| European Union (EU) | organization of 25 countries across Europe; members work together on activities such as defense, economic policies, and foreign affairs. |
| fascism | political philosophy in which the state has control over all aspects of life; usually an oppressive government that punishes dissent; a dictator is usually in charge |
| February Revolution | the part of the Russian Revolution where the czar was taken from power in 1917 |
| Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) | independent federal agency that insures the deposits in commercial banks |
| Final Solution | Nazi plan to exterminate European Jews during World War II |
| First Opium War | trade war between Great Britain and the Qing Empire in China from 1839 to 1842 |
| Fuhrer | an absolute leader, tyrant |
| Gaza Strip | a 25-mile long strip of land along the Meditteranean Sea; it is now a self-governing region |
| Marshall Plan | post-World War II plan in which the U.S. provided aid to European nations to help with reconstruction |
| Neutrality Acts | series of U.S. congressional acts that allowed the President to stop shipment of military supplies to other countries |
| New Deal | FDR's programs and policies to promote economic recovery and social reform |
| North American Free Trade Agreement | an agreement between the United States , Canada, and Mexico to promote trade with one another. |
| demilitarized zone | area between two powers where the military is not allowed; sometimes it is an international border |
| Dien Bied Phu | a French military base in Vietnam where the Vietminh defeated the French ending their influence in Indochina |
| no-man's land | the western front of World War I, where Germany was fighting the Allied forces in a stalemate |
| North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) | an agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico to promote trade with one another |
| North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) | formed in 1949 to protect Western Europe from Soviet expansion; origninal members: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United States |
| October Revolution | also called the Bolshevik Revolution; this was the second part of the Russian Revolution in 1917 that brought the Bolsheviks to power |
| Pacific Theatre | term used in the U.S. for all military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it during World War II |
| Palestine | a former region located between the Mediterranean Sea and Dead Sea; currently consisting of Israel and West Bank |
| perestroika | a word meaning "restructuring"; it referred to the changes about to be made to the Soviet economy during the 1980s and 1990s |
| quota | the number of people that is either used as a minimum or a limit; quotas are sometimes used for immigration |
| raj | the British rule of India |
| Reichstag | the German parliament; the former German parliamentary building, which was burned down, presumably by Nazis |
| Republic of Columbia | a group of South American countries united as one country |
| Rough Riders | soldiers in the U.S. Volunteer Cavalry recruited by Theodore Roosevelt to fight in the Spanish-American War |
| Russian Revolution | a political movement in Russia resulting in the overthrow of the Provisional Government that had replaced the Russian Czar system, and led to the establishment of the Soviet Union |
| scapegoat | a person or group of people who are unfairly blamed for an existing problem or situation |
| Sepoy | a soldier working for the British East India Company, recruited from the native population of India |
| socialism | system in which the means of making and distributing goods is owned by everyone in common, or by a centralized government that plans and controls the economy |
| totalitarianism | a government where individual rights come after the government's goals and where strict control over individual rights is controlled by force |
| Truman Doctrine | signed into law in 1947 by U.S. President Truman, this act offered aid to countries threatened by communism or totalitarianism |
| veto | the Constitutional right of one branch of the U.S. government to refuse the proposal of another |
| Vietcong | communist Vietnamese fighters of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam that fought between 1954 and 1976 |
| Warsaw Pact | alliance set up under a mutual defense treaty signed in Warsow, Poland, in 1955 by Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union; also called the Eastern Bloc |
