OCR GCSE History A Key Terms

The international agreement that ended the First Indochina War and temporarily divided Vietnam at the 17th Parallel.

The agreed post-war policies for Germany consisting of Demilitarisation, Denazification, Democratisation, and Decentralisation.

A highly toxic chemical defoliant used by the US to strip away jungle cover, devastating the local environment and population.

The political union of Austria with Germany in 1938, which was explicitly forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles.

A widespread social and political campaign in the USA demanding an end to military involvement in Vietnam, driven largely by the draft, economic costs, and moral outrage.

The diplomatic policy of making concessions to a revisionist or dictatorial power in order to avoid a full-scale conflict.

Resolving a dispute by submitting it to an impartial third party (the League) and agreeing to abide by their decision.

The specific rule within the Covenant where members undertook to respect and preserve the territorial integrity of all other members.

The 'War Guilt Clause' of the Treaty of Versailles that forced Germany to accept total responsibility for starting World War I.

The core clause of the NATO treaty which legally binds member states to mutual military defence.

Army of the Republic of Vietnam; the South Vietnamese national army trained and funded by the US.

A policy of total economic self-sufficiency, pursued by Nazi Germany to prepare for war and bypass international trade routes.

Pro-Soviet communists who spent WWII in the USSR and returned to their home countries in the 'baggage train' of the Red Army to take power.

A failed military landing on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by CIA-trained Cuban exiles attempting to overthrow Fidel Castro.

A global power structure dominated by two opposing superpowers, specifically the USA and USSR after 1945.

The unified economic territory formed by the merger of the British and American occupation zones in Germany on 1 January 1947.

The mass emigration of highly trained or educated professionals from East Germany to West Germany, threatening the GDR with economic collapse.

The military unit of 1,400 anti-Castro Cuban exiles trained and funded by the CIA for the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Pushing a highly volatile situation to the absolute edge of active conflict to force an opponent to back down.

A physical region separating two powerful adversaries; Stalin demanded Eastern Europe as a barrier against future Western invasions.

The largest and most powerful warships in a navy, primarily battleships and aircraft carriers.

The pseudonym used by the three journalist authors of the Guilty Men thesis in 1940, named after a Roman statesman who martyred himself rather than submit to a dictator.

The systematic suppression of historical analysis that contradicted the Communist Party's official truth in the totalitarian USSR.

The most famous border crossing point between East and West Berlin, specifically used by Allied personnel and foreign diplomats.

The principle that all members of the League of Nations would act together to defend any member that was attacked, intended to make individual large armies unnecessary.

The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, established in 1949 as the Soviet economic alternative to the Marshall Plan for Eastern Europe.

The Communist Information Bureau created in 1947 to coordinate international communist parties and ensure total loyalty to Moscow.

Compulsory enlistment for state service, typically into the armed forces, which Hitler reintroduced in 1935.

The foundational US foreign policy initiated by President Truman aimed at stopping the spread of communism beyond its 1945 borders.

A body established at Potsdam to negotiate peace treaties with Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Finland.