Study Guide
Key Terms and People and Graphic Organizers
Social Darwinism: an application of Charles Darwin's scientific theories of natural selection and the survival of the fittest to the struggle between nations and races; used in the late 1800s to justify imperialism and racism.
Rhodes, Cecil: (1853–1902) British imperialist and business magnate; he was one of the foremost advocates of expanding the British Empire and was a strong believer in the superiority of the “Anglo-Saxon” race.
Suez Canal: Egyptian waterway connecting the Mediterranean and Red seas; built in 1869 by Franco-Egyptian company; in 1875 Britain bought Egypt's share in the canal.
Berlin Conference: (1884–1885) a meeting at which representatives from European nations agreed upon rules for the European colonization of Africa.
Leopold II: (1835–1909) King of Belgium from 1865 to 1909; he financed an expedition to the Congo and assumed the title of sovereign of the Congo Free State. His armies treated the Congolese brutally and exploited them as workers.
Shaka: (died 1828) Founder of the Zulu Empire; he reorganized the army and introduced new fighting tactics. He subdued neighboring peoples, consolidating an empire that encompassed most of southern Africa.
Rhodes, Cecil: (1853–1902) British imperialist and business magnate; he was one of the foremost advocates of expanding the British Empire and was a strong believer in the superiority of the “Anglo-Saxon” race.
Suez Canal: Egyptian waterway connecting the Mediterranean and Red seas; built in 1869 by Franco-Egyptian company; in 1875 Britain bought Egypt's share in the canal.
Berlin Conference: (1884–1885) a meeting at which representatives from European nations agreed upon rules for the European colonization of Africa.
Leopold II: (1835–1909) King of Belgium from 1865 to 1909; he financed an expedition to the Congo and assumed the title of sovereign of the Congo Free State. His armies treated the Congolese brutally and exploited them as workers.
Shaka: (died 1828) Founder of the Zulu Empire; he reorganized the army and introduced new fighting tactics. He subdued neighboring peoples, consolidating an empire that encompassed most of southern Africa.
Kwame Nkrumah: (1909–1972) Ghanaian nationalist leader and statesman who pushed for Ghanaian independence from Great Britain and was elected Ghana’s first president in 1957.
Jomo Kenyatta: (c.1893–1978) African political leader and first president of Kenya from 1964 to 1978. Also a leader of the African nationalist movement.
Mau Mau: a violent movement in Kenya during the 1960s, led by Kikuyu farmers, to rid the country of white settlers.
apartheid: the South African government's official policy of legalized racial segregation throughout the society.
African National Congress: political organization in South Africa (founded in 1912) which developed into the main opposition force to apartheid.
Nelson Mandela: (1918–2014) Former guerrilla fighter and statesman who helped end apartheid and became the first black president of South Africa.
Sharpeville Massacre:(1960) an incident in which South African police fired on a crowd of apartheid protesters, killing 67 people.
Soweto Uprising: (1976) a major student protest against apartheid that took place in the township of Soweto. The peaceful march turned violent, killing more than 600 people and wounding 4,000.
F. W. de Klerk:(1936–) South African statesman and president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994; He began the process of ending apartheid in South Africa by lifting the ban on antiapartheid parties and releasing Nelson Mandela from prison.
One-party system: political system in which a single political party controls the government and elections are rarely competitive.
Patronage: the practice of rewarding political loyalty with well-paying government positions.
Mobutu Sese Seko: (1930–1997) President of Zaire who made himself dictator and, over the course of his rule, amassed great wealth for himself at the expense of his people, who remained in poverty. (p. 945)
Desertification: the transformation of habitable land to desert through a change in climate or destructive land use
Negritude movement: African and Afro-Caribbean literary movement founded in Paris in the 1930s that rejected European models and promoted pride in African cultural identity.
David Ben-Gurion: (1886–1973) Israeli statesman who founded the Histadrut labor organization and was head of the Mapai Labor Party from 1930 to 1965.
Gamal Abdel Nasser : (1918–1970) Egyptian army officer, political leader, and first president of the republic of Egypt who helped lead a military coup that forced King Farouk to abdicate. He banned existing political parties and undertook an ambitious land reform program to gain support for his regime among the poor.
Suez Crisis: (1956) Egypt's confrontation with Britain, France, and Israel over control of the Suez Canal.
Baghdad Pact: during the Cold War, a U.S.-led alliance against communism in the Middle East.
Pan-Arabism:political movement in the 1950s and 1960s promoting Arab unity.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi: (1919–1980) Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979; during his reign, Iran’s oil industry was controlled by foreign interests. He was overthrown in a revolution led by the Ayatollah Khomeini.
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC): an organization made up of representatives from oil rich countries that attempts to regulate the production of oil exports to maximize revenue.
Six-Day War: (June, 1967) war between Israel and Egypt, Syria, and Jordan where Israel's victory gave it control of areas with large Palestinian populations, including the West Bank and Gaza.
Yom Kippur War: (1973) A war launched by Egypt and Syria against Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur and the Israeli counterattack, supported by the United States which repulsed the Syrians and Egyptians
Golda Meir: (1898–1978) Israeli politician who was the prime minister of Israel during the Yom Kippur War and sought assistance and supplies from the United States.
Anwar Sadat: (1918–1981) Egyptian soldier and statesman who launched the Yom Kippur War against Israel.
Menachem Begin: (1913–1992) Israeli politician and prime minister who signed a peace treaty with Anwar Sadat that ended thirty years of conflict between Israel and Egypt.
Camp David Accords: (1978) a peace agreement mediated by U.S. President Carter between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin
intifada: a violent uprising by Palestinians against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the late 1980s
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini: (c. 1900–1989) Iranian political and religious leader who led a revolution to overthrow the Shah of Iran’s government in 1979 and ruled the country for the next ten years.
Iranian Revolution: (1978–1979) a revolution against the shah of Iran led by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which resulted in Iran becoming an Islamic republic with Khomeini as its leader
Gamal Abdel Nasser : (1918–1970) Egyptian army officer, political leader, and first president of the republic of Egypt who helped lead a military coup that forced King Farouk to abdicate. He banned existing political parties and undertook an ambitious land reform program to gain support for his regime among the poor.
Suez Crisis: (1956) Egypt's confrontation with Britain, France, and Israel over control of the Suez Canal.
Baghdad Pact: during the Cold War, a U.S.-led alliance against communism in the Middle East.
Pan-Arabism:political movement in the 1950s and 1960s promoting Arab unity.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi: (1919–1980) Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979; during his reign, Iran’s oil industry was controlled by foreign interests. He was overthrown in a revolution led by the Ayatollah Khomeini.
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC): an organization made up of representatives from oil rich countries that attempts to regulate the production of oil exports to maximize revenue.
Six-Day War: (June, 1967) war between Israel and Egypt, Syria, and Jordan where Israel's victory gave it control of areas with large Palestinian populations, including the West Bank and Gaza.
Yom Kippur War: (1973) A war launched by Egypt and Syria against Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur and the Israeli counterattack, supported by the United States which repulsed the Syrians and Egyptians
Golda Meir: (1898–1978) Israeli politician who was the prime minister of Israel during the Yom Kippur War and sought assistance and supplies from the United States.
Anwar Sadat: (1918–1981) Egyptian soldier and statesman who launched the Yom Kippur War against Israel.
Menachem Begin: (1913–1992) Israeli politician and prime minister who signed a peace treaty with Anwar Sadat that ended thirty years of conflict between Israel and Egypt.
Camp David Accords: (1978) a peace agreement mediated by U.S. President Carter between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin
intifada: a violent uprising by Palestinians against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the late 1980s
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini: (c. 1900–1989) Iranian political and religious leader who led a revolution to overthrow the Shah of Iran’s government in 1979 and ruled the country for the next ten years.
Iranian Revolution: (1978–1979) a revolution against the shah of Iran led by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which resulted in Iran becoming an Islamic republic with Khomeini as its leader