Edexcel GCSE History key terms

A royal court which could hear cases against powerful people who might escape punishment in local courts.

The argument that individual US states should control their own affairs rather than be directed by the federal government; Southern opponents used it to resist school desegregation.

An oversimplified belief about a whole group of people that ignores differences between individuals.

A medical procedure that prevents a person from having children. The Nazis forcibly sterilised people they considered hereditarily ‘unfit’.

A place where migrants pause during a journey before travelling onwards to another destination.

A narrow passage of water connecting two larger bodies of water.

The narrow sea passage connecting the Gulf of Aqaba to the Red Sea, used by shipping travelling to and from Israel.

Reagan’s proposed missile-defence programme, announced in 1983, which included developing space-based technology to intercept incoming nuclear missiles.

A programme introduced in South Vietnam in 1962 that relocated rural people into fortified settlements, aiming to separate them from the Vietcong and strengthen support for Diem.

The overall planning of a war or campaign, including objectives and how forces will be used.

An organised refusal by workers to work, usually to press for changes in pay or working conditions.

A public meeting at which people accused of being enemies of the revolution were denounced and humiliated; attacks on landlords could also involve physical violence.

A movement in which students organised demonstrations and other campaigns against US involvement in Vietnam.

Accepting another ruler’s authority and agreeing to obey them.

An institution whose members pay subscriptions to support a shared collection of books they can use or borrow.

A tax granted to the monarch; Wolsey’s subsidies assessed people’s ability to pay more accurately than the older fifteenths and tenths.

The passing of the throne from one monarch to the next.

Uncertainty or conflict over who should become the next ruler.

A strategically important waterway in Egypt linking the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, providing a shorter shipping route between Europe and Asia.

The 1764 British law that reduced the duty on imported molasses but strengthened enforcement to collect revenue from colonial trade.

A high-level meeting between political leaders to discuss important international issues.

An explanation that attributes illness to forces beyond the natural world, such as divine punishment.

A country with exceptional military, economic and political power, able to influence events internationally.

Routes used to bring an army food, equipment and reinforcements.

Agreement with and approval of a government, its leader or its policies.

A trench behind the front line where troops could retreat and reorganise.

The highest court in the United States, whose decisions can establish whether laws violate the US Constitution.