Eduqas GCSE History key terms

An overseas settlement used to hold convicted offenders and make them work.

An action expressing repentance for sin.

A Nazi court established in 1934 to try alleged enemies of the state, making the courts an instrument of political repression.

Gorbachev’s policy of restructuring the Soviet economy and, more broadly, society, intended to overcome stagnation and make socialism work more efficiently.

Knowingly giving false evidence under oath.

Trotsky’s belief that socialism’s survival in the USSR depended on revolution spreading internationally.

Greater acceptance of behaviour, especially sexual behaviour, that had previously been strongly disapproved of.

A society more tolerant of individual choices and less committed to enforcing traditional restrictions on private behaviour.

A system in which the monarch personally retains final authority over major government decisions.

A building used to isolate people suffering from an infectious disease.

Using deceptive electronic messages or websites to trick people into revealing sensitive information, such as bank details.

Policing provided by separate organisations with limited coordination rather than by one unified force.

A long spear used by infantry, increasingly combined with firearms in Tudor armies.

A journey to a place considered sacred, made for religious reasons.

A public punishment in which an offender’s head and hands were secured in a wooden framework.

The use of exchanges between American and Chinese table-tennis players in 1971 to help improve relations between their countries.

A radio station broadcasting without authorisation; British offshore stations such as Radio Caroline became important sources of pop music in the 1960s.

A disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Bubonic plague was spread mainly by infected fleas; pneumonic plague could spread between people through respiratory droplets.

A large grave used to bury many victims during a plague outbreak.

An economic system in which the state sets production priorities and directs the use of resources, rather than leaving these decisions mainly to competing businesses.

A writer of plays intended for performance in a theatre.

A public vote on a particular question, such as whether a territory should join another country.

A blade inserted into a musket’s muzzle to turn it into a thrusting weapon for close combat.

A form of plague affecting the lungs that can spread between people through droplets from coughing.

Illegally taking game animals or fish, often associated historically with rural poverty.

An organised or collective violent attack on a particular community, especially a Jewish community.

An elected official introduced in 2012 to oversee policing in a force area and provide a link between the police and the public.