Edexcel GCSE History key terms

The principle that an attack on one member of an alliance is treated as an attack on all its members.

A farm on which peasants worked together under state direction, rather than independently deciding how to farm their own holdings.

Farming in which land and resources are managed collectively rather than by individual private farmers.

A system in which members of a group shared responsibility for keeping order and could face penalties for failing to fulfil their duties.

The reorganisation of separate farms into larger units in which land, resources and agricultural work are managed collectively.

The establishment of settlements and outside control over a territory and its inhabitants.

A settlement or territory controlled by another country, whose authorities govern it and use its resources.

Racial discrimination that excluded Black people from places or opportunities, including entry to some pubs and clubs.

The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, established in 1949 to coordinate the economies and trade of Soviet-bloc countries.

The Communist Information Bureau, established in 1947 to coordinate communist parties and keep them aligned with Soviet policy.

An economy in which the state centrally decides production priorities and targets rather than leaving these decisions to individual businesses.

The person with overall command of a country’s armed forces.

Competition over trade, markets and wealth.

An appointment giving someone the rank and authority of an army officer. Before 1871, commissions in many British regiments could be purchased.

Royal officials responsible for organising recruitment and inspecting potential soldiers and their equipment.

Land over which villagers had shared rights, such as grazing animals and collecting fuel.

An association of countries, many formerly part of the British Empire, which maintained links with Britain and one another.

Accommodation in which several households share facilities, such as a kitchen and bathroom; in Soviet communal flats, a family might occupy just one room.

A large agricultural organisation that combined farming communities and organised collective production. During the early 1960s, communes remained, but more decisions passed to smaller production teams.

The ways information is transmitted, including military messages and reporting that informs the public about war.

A trench connecting different trench lines, allowing soldiers, messages and supplies to move between them with some protection.

A political and economic ideology based on collective ownership rather than private ownership of the means of production. During the Cold War, many Americans associated it with the Soviet Union and a threat to their freedoms.

A detention camp used by the Nazis to imprison political opponents and other targeted groups outside normal judicial safeguards. Prisoners faced brutal treatment and, increasingly, forced labour.

An agreement between the papacy and a state. The July 1933 Concordat between the Catholic Church and Nazi Germany promised protection for Catholic religious activity in return for the Church staying out of politics.

A system in which a man maintains another woman as a partner alongside his wife, without giving that woman the same status as his wife.

A Protestant movement established in 1934 to oppose Nazi interference in the Church.

The seizure of property by an authority, without the owner's consent.