World History 1500 to Present

1. World History 1500 to Present Unit 6 Vocab and Topics: Major world social, economic, and political developments since 1945, Migrations, Ongoing Conflicts, War, and Advancing Technology SOLs: WHII 1-e; 12 c; 13a-d;14 a-c; 15b; 16 a-d

2. Jawaharlal Nehru This person was a close associate of Mohandas Gandhi and supported western style industrialization of India. He was also the head of a powerful political family of Indian politicians.

5. Muhammad Ali Jinnah This Indian followed Islam rather than Hinduism and lead the call for a separate Muslim state called Pakistan in Northern India.

7. Indira Gandhi This prime minister developed the nuclear program in India and established a close relationship with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, although kept India “nonaligned.” She was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984.

9. Benazir Bhutto This was the first female head of a Muslim state (Pakistan) and was killed by a suicide bomber during a political campaign in 2007.

11. Liberation Tigers of Tamil This militant group of Hindu Sri Lankans waged a violent struggle for a separate nation.

13. Corazon Aquino After Ferdinand Marcos fled the Philippines after being accused of helping to murder this woman’s husband, she became more powerful and in 1986, was elected president of the Philippines.

15. Kwame Nkrumah This man renamed the Gold Coast “Ghana”, the first British colony to gain independence. He favored “African socialism” and hoped that Pan-Africanism would bring unity to the newly independent countries of Africa.

17. Jomo Kenyatta After the British granted independence to Kenya in 1963, this man became the first prime minister and worked hard to unite the various ethnic and language groups inside the country. Once Kenya was a republic, he was the first president.

19. Mau-Mau This group of Kikuyu guerilla warriors fought against white settlers to regain fertile farmlands for native Kenyans.

21. Mobutu Sese Seko This person ruled Zaire for 32 years by force, one-party rule and favoritism to political supporters. He was finally overthrow in 1997 and the country was renamed The Democratic Republic of the Congo.

23. Gamal Abdul Nasser This person was the president of Egypt, nationalized the Suez Canal, built the Aswan High Dam and established a close relationship with the Soviet Union.

25. Suez Crisis This event happened in 1956 when the Egyptian president sent troops to seize control of a strategic passage between the Mediterranean and Red Seas. Although the Egyptians were defeated, pressure from the world community allowed them to retain control of the structure.

27. Golda Meir This Russian-Jew emigrated to the United States and later to Israel where she served as ambassador to the Soviet Union, minister of labor, foreign minister, and finally prime minister of Israel.

29. Yom Kippur War This was a joint Arab nation attack on Israel on the holiest of Jewish holidays in 1973 to recapture territory lost to Israel in the 1967 Six Day War. The Israeli counterattack was successful in regaining its territory and a truce was signed after a few weeks.

31. Yasir Arafat This person was awarded a joint Nobel Peace prize for his work at negotiating a peace with Israel in 1993. Unfortunately, another intifada began in 2000 and went for over a year. As head of the PLO, he eventually became the head of a semi-independent area called the Palestinian Authority.

33. Yitsak Rabin This Israeli was awarded a joint Nobel Peace prize for his work at negotiating a peace with the Palestinians in 1993. He was assassinated by a Jewish student who did not support his peace policies.

35. Camp David Accords This 1979 agreement was the first signed document between Israel and an Arab nation and officially ended hostilities between Egypt and Israel.

36. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Isaeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1978

37. Taliban This conservative Islamic group battled for control of Afghanistan after the Soviets withdrew. By 1998, they controlled 90% of the country and applied an extreme interpretation of Islamic law to all aspects of Afghan society.

39. Juan Peron • This former labor secretary focused on the workers and urban middle classes of Argentina to win their political support. He was elected president in 1946 and soon nationalized railways, banks, shipyards, communications and other essential services to free Argentina from foreign investors.

41. apartheid This was the system of laws that separated the white from the black South Africans.

43. Nelson Mandela • This leader of the ANC at first supported non violent methods of achieving equality in South Africa but later turned to more violent methods. He was arrested and spent 27 years in prison. Once South Africa held free elections, he was elected the first black president.

45. Mikhail Gorbachev This person was the last president of the Soviet Union and was instrumental in bringing new reforms to Soviet life.

46. Mikhail Sergeyevich GorbachevМихаил Сергеевич Горбачёв

47. Glasnost and Perestroika In 1985, these new reform policies of “openness” and “restructuring” helped Soviet citizens discuss problems without censorship and helped the economy become more efficient and productive.

49. Lech Walesa This Polish union leader of Solidarity became a national hero in 1980 and in 1990 was elected President of Poland. His “shock therapy” reforms did not lead to immediate growth and he was defeated in later elections.