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 1a,b,c,d,e; 13 b,c; 15 a,b,c
Salvador Allende
 This
leader tried to use
constitutional means to bring about
a socialist society. Although he
increased wages for industrial
workers and nationalized many
corporations, he was not widely
supported, especially by wealthy
Chilean landowners.
Augusto Pinochet
 This
Chilean general led a military
takeover of the country, had the
president shot, and set up one of
the most brutal dictatorships in
Chile’s history.
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.
Sandinistas
 This
group of Marxist guerillas
overthrew the Somoza family of
Nicaragua and gained control of
the poverty stricken country.
Contras
 This
US supported group were
opposed to the Marxist guerillas
who took control of Nicaragua and
eventually brought about free
elections.
NAFTA
 The
purpose of this agreement is to
make trade easier and more
profitable between Mexico,
America, and Canada.
Julius Nyerere
 This
nationalist leader embraced
“African socialism” based on
traditional African culture. He
introduced a command economy,
nationalized all banks and foreignowned businesses and tried to
prevent the emergence of a wealthy
elite in Tanzania.
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.
Idi Amin

This person was the brutal
dictator of Uganda who was
deposed in 1979.
Mau-Mau
 This
group of Kikuyu guerilla
warriors fought against white
settlers to regain fertile farmlands
for native Kenyans.
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.
apartheid
 This
was the system of laws that
separated the white from the black
South Africans.
Desmond Tutu
 Awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize in
1984, this Anglican Archbishop
supported economic sanctions
against his own country and other
nonviolent means to challenge the
system of racial segregation in
South Africa.
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.
Robert Mugabe

This Rhodesian nationalist leader
fought against white minority rule and
helped bring about independence in
1980. The country was renamed
Zimbabwe after an ancient African
kingdom and this man was elected
president. He insisted on one party rule
and tolerated little opposition.
trade embargo
 This
term refers to prohibiting
economic interactions with a
certain country as a penalty.
Ayatollah Khomeini

This fundamentalist Shia cleric from Iran
took over the Shah’s government and
restored strict Islamic law to guide all areas
of Iranian life.
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.
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.
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and
Isaeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin
in 1978
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.
Yitzak 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.
Saddam Hussein
 This
Sunni leader took control of
the Iraqi government in 1979 and
launched an attack on Iran in 1980
and invaded Kuwait in 1990.
Captured by coalition forces in
December, 2003, he was tried and
executed in 2006.
Persian Gulf War
 This
conflict occurred when the
leader of Iraq invaded Kuwait in
1990. The United States led an
international force that destroyed
most of Iraq’s armed forces but
failed to spark an internal uprising
to depose the leader.
Tiananmen Square
 This
pro-democracy and freedom
demonstration in April 1989
stunned Chinese officials and led to
a massive military crackdown.
Great Leap Forward
 Mao
Zedong began this radical
program to speed up economic
growth.
Little Red Book
 This
was a collection of Mao
Zedong’s thoughts…and was
hailed as the “most important
source of knowledge in all
areas.”
Kim Il Sung
 This
person was the communist
dictator of The People’s
Republic of Korea (North
Korea).
bioethics
 This
term deals with the moral
choices in medical research, like
whether or not genetic
engineering is “right” or not.
Nehru Dynasty
 This
family of Indian politicians
included Jawaharlal, Indira, and
Rajiv. Indira and Rajiv were
both assassinated during their
service to India
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.