OCR GCSE History A key terms

A metaphor for the division between Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe and the West, used by Winston Churchill in his March 1946 speech at Fulton in the USA.

A supporter of the restoration of James VII and II, or his Stuart descendants, to the throne after his removal in 1688.

State and local laws associated especially with the southern USA that enforced racial segregation and helped maintain African Americans’ unequal position.

Legal restrictions reserving particular occupations, especially skilled jobs, for white workers.

A company owned by investors who buy shares, allowing money from many investors to be combined.

A skilled worker employed by a master; in Spitalfields, journeyman silk weavers worked at looms.

A skilled weaver employed and paid by the day rather than running the business.

The application of laws, including settling disputes and dealing with offences.

Martin Luther’s teaching that a person is made right with God through faith, rather than earning this through good works.

A castle’s substantial main tower, which could combine defence with residential accommodation.

A facility established primarily for mass murder, including through poison gas.

The organised evacuation of around 10,000 mainly Jewish children to Britain in 1938–39, without their parents.

The Communist Party of Germany, which opposed the Weimar political order and gained support during the Depression.

The ‘Night of Broken Glass’: the state-organised attacks on Jewish communities on 9–10 November 1938, accompanied by mass arrests and imprisonment.

A white supremacist organisation whose members used threats, assaults and bombings to resist racial equality.

The organisation founded in 1900 by trade unions and socialist groups to secure independent Labour representation in Parliament; it adopted the Labour Party name in 1906.

A shortage of available workers to fill jobs.

The belief that government should interfere as little as possible in business and the economy.

Members of a religious community who are not ordained clergy.

A person who owns land and receives rent from others who farm it.

The redistribution of agricultural land from landlords and wealthier owners to peasants who own little or no land.

China's system of forced-labour camps, used to punish prisoners and attempt to reform their political beliefs through labour.

A sailor from South Asia employed on ships, including those serving British trade routes.

The girls’ branch of the Nazi youth movement, which combined physical activities with preparation for domestic life and motherhood.

Meaning ‘living space’: the Nazi aim of acquiring territory, especially in Eastern Europe, for German settlement and exploitation.

The acceptance of a government or leader’s right to exercise power.

Official written permission from a government to attack enemy shipping and seize prizes.