Eduqas GCSE History key terms

The Communist Party’s senior organisational official. Stalin used this position to influence appointments and build support within the party.

A widespread stoppage of work across several industries. In Britain in 1926, workers struck in support of miners resisting worse employment terms.

Differences in attitudes, values and behaviour between younger and older generations.

The study of genes, how they work and how they are inherited.

The deliberate destruction of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

An organism’s complete set of genetic material.

The landowning social class below the nobility, often involved in local government.

The Nazi organisation that replaced independent trade unions in 1933 and controlled workers' pay, hours and conditions.

The joining of East and West Germany into one country in 1990.

The understanding that micro-organisms can cause decay and infectious disease.

Government dominated by elderly leaders.

The Nazi secret state police, which identified and persecuted opponents using surveillance, informants and arrests.

An area in which Jews were forced to live separately from the surrounding population under Nazi control, often in severely overcrowded and deprived conditions.

Gorbachev’s policy of greater openness, which allowed more public discussion and criticism of Soviet government and society.

An unofficial barrier, often caused by prejudice, that prevents women from reaching senior positions.

A singing group performing short songs called glees, historically often for male voices but also for female or mixed voices.

A monetary system linking a currency’s value to gold. Britain’s return in 1925 at the pre-war exchange rate made British exports more expensive abroad.

The Soviet state planning organisation responsible for setting economic production targets.

An organisation that oversees a sport, including its rules and competitions.

A machine that plays recorded sound from discs; also called a phonograph or record player.

An extended journey around continental Europe undertaken mainly by wealthy young men to complete their education, especially between 1660 and 1820.

A severe worldwide economic downturn beginning in 1929, during which production and trade fell and unemployment increased.

Hitler’s aim of creating one state containing all German-speaking people.

The large-scale movement of black Americans from the southern USA to northern cities, seeking work and escape from racial oppression.

The Soviet name for the war against Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945, presenting it as a struggle to defend the homeland.

Stalin’s return to more traditional family policies in 1936, including banning abortion and making divorce more difficult and expensive.

The division between the western Catholic and eastern Orthodox Churches, conventionally dated to 1054.