AQA GCSE History key terms

Nazi mobile killing units that carried out mass shootings, particularly of Jews, in occupied Eastern Europe.

The freeing of people from slavery.

Leaving a country to settle in another country.

A political system ruled by an emir. The Taliban described the Afghanistan it governed as an Islamic Emirate.

A group of territories or peoples controlled by one ruling power.

A law passed in March 1933 that allowed Hitler’s government to make laws without the Reichstag’s approval, including laws that departed from the constitution.

The fear of being surrounded by potentially hostile powers. Germany feared France to its west and Russia to its east.

The consolidation and fencing of land for private use, which could remove villagers’ customary rights to use common land.

The wars between Charles I and Parliament over royal authority, religion and control of government, which culminated in the king’s defeat and execution in 1649.

The process of religious change through which England broke with the authority of the Pope and its Church came under royal control.

A legal arrangement restricting the inheritance of an estate to a specified line of heirs.

A friendly understanding between states. An entente does not necessarily require them to fight together in a war.

The 1904 agreement between Britain and France which settled colonial disputes and improved relations, without creating an automatic obligation to fight together.

Colonial products specifically listed in trade laws, such as sugar and tobacco, whose export destinations were restricted.

An outbreak of disease affecting many people in a community or region over a particular period.

The principle that people should have equal status, rights or opportunities; campaigns may differ over who should be included.

The Equal Rights Amendment: a proposed change to the US Constitution prohibiting the denial of equal rights on grounds of sex.

A German term meaning substitute; used for replacement products such as synthetic rubber.

An increase in the scale or intensity of a conflict, such as committing more troops or expanding bombing.

Entertainment that allows people temporarily to forget difficulties in their everyday lives.

Secretly gathering information about another country, especially its military capabilities or government activities.

The European Union: a grouping of European countries cooperating economically and politically, developed from earlier organisations including the EEC.

The organised movement of people away from places threatened by danger. During the Second World War, many British children were moved from cities to safer areas.

Proposed legislation first introduced in 1679 to prevent James, Duke of York, from inheriting the throne because he was Catholic.

The political struggle of 1679–1681 over attempts to exclude James, Duke of York, from the succession.

The Pope’s formal exclusion of someone from the Catholic Church. Elizabeth I was excommunicated in 1570.

Roosevelt’s 1941 presidential order banning racial discrimination in defence employment.