Edexcel GCSE History key terms

The Nazi policy of transferring Jewish-owned businesses into non-Jewish ownership, including through confiscation.

An infection-prevention approach to surgery that aims to keep disease-causing microbes out of the wound.

A licence or contract granting the right to supply enslaved Africans to Spain’s American colonies.

The process of absorbing a group into another society. US assimilation policies pressured Indigenous peoples to adopt English, Christianity and individual farming while abandoning their own cultural practices.

An instrument used to measure the angle of the Sun or stars above the horizon, helping sailors estimate their latitude.

The belief that the positions of stars and planets influence human life and health.

Someone who has applied for protection in another country and is awaiting a decision on their claim.

The belief that no god or gods exist.

A simplified model linking European manufactured goods sent to Africa, enslaved Africans transported to the Americas, and plantation products shipped to Europe.

Beliefs and feelings held within a population, including acceptance, suspicion or hostility towards particular groups.

A strategy of wearing down an enemy’s manpower and resources until it can no longer continue fighting.

A royal court in the Spanish Empire whose judges administered justice.

The longstanding alliance between France and Scotland, which threatened England with enemies to its south and north.

Government measures intended to reduce spending relative to income, including spending cuts and tax increases.

German motorways whose construction formed part of Nazi public works programmes.

A system of government in which the ruler holds supreme power without being accountable to an elected parliament.

A degree of self-government. Palestinian autonomy proposals concerned self-government in the West Bank and Gaza, not an immediately established independent Palestinian state.

An Indian woman employed by a family as a nanny or nursemaid, sometimes accompanying the family to Britain.

A small, locally built furnace used during the Great Leap Forward to try to increase metal production using mass labour rather than specialist industrial facilities.

A group of microorganisms; particular types of bacteria cause particular diseases, including tuberculosis and cholera.

The enclosed courtyard below the motte, containing buildings and space for people, animals and supplies.

An entertainment in which dogs were set against a restrained bear or bull.

A smaller group within a tribe, with its own chief and considerable independence.

Wire fitted with sharp points, used to make fences that contain livestock and protect land.

A practitioner who cut hair and carried out procedures such as bloodletting, tooth extraction and surgery.

Rural community health workers in China who received short medical training and provided basic treatment and preventive care while continuing agricultural work.

A powerful noble who held land from the king and owed him service.