Edexcel GCSE History key terms

A pilotless, jet-propelled flying bomb used against London from June 1944, nicknamed the ‘doodlebug’ or ‘buzz bomb’.

A ballistic missile used against London from September 1944. It travelled through the upper atmosphere before descending towards its target, giving civilians little warning.

Giving a vaccine to prepare the immune system to protect against a particular infection.

Moving from place to place without a settled home or regular employment, often surviving through begging.

A person who holds land from a superior lord in return for loyalty and agreed obligations.

Special clothing worn by clergy when conducting religious services.

A person who has served in the armed forces, especially during a war.

The power of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to block a substantive resolution.

A disputed region between Normandy and the French king’s territories, important in the struggle between Richard I and Philip II.

A court dealing with maritime matters, including trade offences, which operated without a jury.

The deputy to the Chancellor, the head of the German government.

A royal representative who governed a territory on behalf of the Spanish monarch.

Communist guerrilla fighters operating in South Vietnam, allied with North Vietnam against the South Vietnamese government and the USA.

Nixon’s policy of withdrawing US troops while strengthening South Vietnamese forces so that they could take over the fighting.

A group of citizens who take law enforcement and punishment into their own hands outside the established legal system.

A person who punishes suspected criminals without lawful authority.

The name the English gave to a region of Atlantic North America in honour of Elizabeth I, the ‘Virgin Queen’. Roanoke Island was chosen for its first English settlement.

The British argument that MPs represented the interests of all British subjects, including people who did not elect them and colonists who had no elected MPs.

An inspection checking whether clergy and churches were following religious requirements.

The simultaneous firing of weapons by a group of soldiers.

Movement in which people choose to relocate, for example to seek work or join family.

The process of signing up to become eligible to vote.

A Lakota/Dakota spiritual concept meaning ‘Great Mystery’, also commonly translated as ‘Great Spirit’, associated with sacred power throughout the natural world.

French-speaking people from the southern Low Countries; Protestant Walloon refugees settled in Canterbury during the sixteenth century.

The collapse of share prices on the New York stock market in October 1929, which helped trigger a worldwide economic depression.

The Bolshevik economic policy introduced in 1918 during the Russian Civil War, involving state control of industry, compulsory grain collection and a ban on private trade.

The lord’s guardianship of an under-age heir and their inherited land until the heir came of age.