AQA GCSE History key terms

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a religious movement whose followers settled in Utah after experiencing persecution elsewhere in the United States.

Land held by a continuing institution, particularly the Church, rather than an individual who would eventually die. The term means ‘dead hand’.

A castle with a raised earth mound, called a motte, and an enclosed courtyard, called a bailey.

A castle consisting of a tower on a raised earth mound, the motte, and an enclosed courtyard, the bailey. Early Norman examples commonly used timber.

A society containing established communities of people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds.

The September 1938 agreement through which Britain, France, Germany and Italy allowed Germany to take the Sudetenland.

A collective fine imposed on the local community when a Norman was murdered and the killer was not handed over.

A refusal by soldiers or sailors to obey their officers.

The situation in which both sides can inflict devastating nuclear retaliation, meaning that a nuclear attack risks the destruction of the attacker as well.

The killing of hundreds of Vietnamese civilians by American soldiers at My Lai on 16 March 1968.

Iraq’s national representative assembly, elected in January 2005 as part of the transition towards elected Iraqi government.

A US state-based military force that can be called upon to deal with emergencies and civil unrest. The Ohio National Guard was deployed at Kent State University in 1970.

A shared sense of belonging to a nation, expressed through features such as language, symbols, memories and loyalty.

A contributory scheme in which payments by workers, employers and government supported benefits such as sickness payments and medical care.

The transfer of privately or locally controlled institutions into state ownership and control.

The belief that a people should govern themselves; in colonies, this encouraged demands for independence from imperial rule.

A movement bringing together opponents of South Vietnam’s government, which became dominated by communists. Its armed fighters were known as the Vietcong.

A national, cultural or linguistic group that forms a smaller part of a country’s population than the dominant group.

The principle that a national group should be able to decide its own political future.

Hostility towards immigrants based on the belief that established inhabitants and their culture should take priority.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization: a military alliance established in 1949 by the USA, Canada and Western European countries to provide collective security against the Soviet Union.

An explanation of illness based on processes within the body or its physical surroundings rather than supernatural forces.

The use of ships to prevent goods and vessels entering or leaving an enemy's ports.

Laws regulating shipping and colonial trade to favour English merchants, ships and national power.

A labourer employed on major construction projects, especially canals and railways.

A mass organisation which promoted naval expansion through rallies and propaganda and helped put pressure on the Reichstag to approve funding.

The National Socialist German Workers’ Party, led by Adolf Hitler: an extreme nationalist, racist and antisemitic party opposed to democracy and communism.