OCR GCSE History A key terms

An effect on shared practices and forms of expression, such as fashion, design, language or religion.

The political movement launched by Mao Zedong in China in 1966 to reassert his authority, promote his ideas and purge perceived opponents; it lasted until 1976.

A defensive wall enclosing a castle’s courtyard, often strengthened by towers.

A tax charged on goods being imported or exported.

A leading spiritual figure in Tibetan Buddhism who also headed Tibet’s government before fleeing to India in 1959.

A payment made by Anglo-Saxon rulers to Viking forces to obtain peace or withdrawal; the term also describes the taxation used to raise these payments.

An area of northern and eastern England where Danish settlement, law and customs became established.

A Scottish attempt to establish an overseas trading colony at Darien, on the Isthmus of Panama. Its failure caused deaths, heavy financial losses and resentment against England.

A rural community in Xiyang County, Shanxi province, promoted by Mao in 1964 as a national agricultural model based on collective labour and self-reliance.

A 10% income tax imposed on Royalists to fund the regional cavalry militias used by the Major-Generals.

Charles II’s statement of April 1660 offering a conciliatory basis for his return, while leaving important settlement details to Parliament.

The decline of manufacturing industry, involving factory closures and the loss of industrial jobs.

The part of a manor retained for the lord’s own use, rather than allocated to tenants.

Keeping an area free from military forces and fortifications.

An area in which military forces and installations are prohibited.

The process of releasing soldiers and sailors from military service when they are no longer needed.

A wall on Xidan street in Beijing where people displayed posters calling for greater democracy and criticising government policies from late 1978.

The process of removing Nazi organisations, personnel, ideas and influence from German public life after the Second World War.

A historical process through which the Crown granted an alien British nationality by letters of denization; the recipient could not pass that status to their children.

Reporting another person to the authorities, for example for making an anti-Nazi comment.

The forced removal of people from their homes or country to another location.

The removal of a monarch from the throne.

A severe, prolonged economic downturn in which production and business activity fall and unemployment rises.

The process of ending the enforced separation of people by race in institutions and facilities.

An easing of tensions between rival states, particularly the USA and the communist powers during the Cold War.

Holding a person in custody without putting them on trial.

An attempt to prevent an attack by making an opponent fear the consequences of retaliation, including retaliation with nuclear weapons.