Edexcel GCSE History key terms

An intellectual outlook which emphasised human reasoning and enquiry, encouraging people to question accepted explanations.

An approach that emphasises human welfare and the reduction of suffering.

A division of an Anglo-Saxon shire used for local administration and courts.

The campaign of 1956–57 in which Mao encouraged intellectuals to express criticisms of Communist Party rule.

Extremely rapid price increases that cause money to lose its value.

An approach to medicine that used chemical substances, including metals and minerals, to treat illness.

An intercontinental ballistic missile: a long-range missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads between continents.

A set of beliefs about how society, government and the economy should be organised.

The Elizabethan label for able-bodied people without work, whom many assumed were lazy even when jobs were unavailable.

An improvised explosive device: a makeshift bomb, often concealed and used to attack troops or vehicles.

The movement of people into a country or territory to live there.

Protection against a particular infectious disease through the body’s ability to resist the infection.

Medicines that reduce the activity of the immune system, helping prevent it from attacking a transplanted organ.

Domination of another country or region by a foreign power, through political, military or economic control.

The decisions and rules through which a government expands, governs and benefits from territories under its control.

A tax charged on goods entering a country or territory.

Compulsory recruitment into military service.

A punishment that deprives an offender of their freedom by keeping them in prison.

A bomb designed to start fires rather than cause damage mainly through a large explosive blast.

A worker bound to serve an employer for an agreed period rather than being free to leave that employment.

A person bound to work for an employer for a fixed period, often in return for passage to a colony.

People whose communities lived in a region before colonisation by outsiders. The Taíno were among the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean.

The process of repeatedly teaching particular beliefs while discouraging questioning or alternative views.

A remission of punishment for sins granted by the Church. The promise of a full indulgence offered crusaders a powerful spiritual reward.

The growth of machine-powered manufacturing and factory production.

The transformation of production through machinery and factories, which began in Britain around the middle of the eighteenth century.

Unable to make mistakes. Stalin’s propaganda presented him as infallible, rather than acknowledging that his decisions could be wrong.