AQA GCSE History key terms

A state in which police and security organisations exercise extensive powers to monitor, intimidate and punish people, without effective protection of individual rights.

Stresemann’s approach of cooperating with the post-war settlement to build trust and negotiate concessions for Germany.

The strip of territory established by the Versailles settlement to give Poland access to the sea, separating East Prussia from the rest of Germany.

The small group of senior Communist Party leaders that made the most important political decisions in the Soviet Union.

A Bolshevik political official attached to a military unit to supervise loyalty and promote the party’s aims.

A marriage arranged to strengthen political relationships, alliances or a ruler’s position.

Ideas seeking fundamental changes to existing political institutions or the distribution of power.

The way people and places have their interests represented in Parliament through elected MPs.

A situation in which competing political forces prevent meaningful progress or agreement.

A tax charged on individuals rather than on the value of their property or income.

A compulsory local tax used to finance assistance for the poor.

A fabricated Catholic conspiracy publicised by Titus Oates in 1678, alleging plans to kill Charles II and place his Catholic brother James on the throne.

The principle that settlers in a territory should decide whether slavery would be permitted there.

Latin for ‘after death’; in this succession dispute, an earlier promise naming who should become king after the reigning king died.

A thick soup or stew, commonly made with peas, beans and other available ingredients.

A condition in which people lack the resources needed to obtain essentials such as sufficient food, clothing and shelter.

A minimum level of income needed to afford basic necessities. People below it cannot reliably meet those needs.

The period of reform in Czechoslovakia in 1968, led by Alexander Dubček, which sought to make communist rule less restrictive.

A prejudgement about a person or group, rather than a judgement based on their individual actions or qualities.

A system of Church government led by elected elders rather than bishops.

The army’s removal of MPs who opposed its plans in 1648, leaving a reduced House of Commons known as the Rump Parliament.

An inheritance principle giving priority to the eldest child’s family line over younger branches. This supported John Balliol’s claim to the Scottish throne.

A privately operated raider authorised by a government to attack specified enemy targets.

Raiding enemy shipping with permission from a government.

A communal toilet, often connected to a pit that collected human waste.

A body of advisers appointed to assist the monarch with government.

The nationwide US ban on the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcoholic drinks, in force from 1920 to 1933.