History key terms

An emergency mobilisation plan for the Reserve Army which the July 1944 conspirators intended to use to seize power after killing Hitler.

A fortified settlement in Iron Age Europe; the plural is oppida. Such settlements could be important centres of local power.

Disagreement with a government or its policies, which may be expressed privately or publicly.

The study of light and vision.

A sacred place where people sought a god’s answer or advice, usually communicated through a priest or priestess.

Accounts of the past passed between people and generations by word of mouth.

The skill or practice of public speaking.

A dangerous test believed to allow God to demonstrate whether a person was innocent or truthful.

An overland migration route used by settlers travelling towards Oregon, crossing the Rocky Mountains through South Pass.

Criminal activity carried out by groups with continuing organisation, often using violence and bribery to protect their profits.

The immune system attacking a transplanted organ because it recognises it as foreign.

The eastern Christian tradition associated with the Patriarch of Constantinople, distinct from the western Catholic Church headed by the pope.

An interpretation of the Cold War’s origins that places the main responsibility on Soviet expansion and presents American policy as a defensive response.

The established critical interpretation that appeasement was a serious misjudgement which failed to prevent war.

An Athenian voting procedure that could send a citizen away for ten years without convicting him of a crime; he retained the income from his property.

A piece of broken pottery on which a citizen scratched the name of the person he wanted ostracised. The plural is ostraka.

The empire ruled by the Ottoman sultan, centred on modern-day Turkey; it fought alongside Germany and Austria-Hungary in the First World War.

To move around the side of an enemy formation so that it can be attacked from the side or rear.

Moving troops around the side of an enemy formation to attack a position less protected than its front.

A person declared outside the protection of the law.

A Roman victory ceremony of lower status than a full triumph.

A superior ruler who claims authority over another ruler, including a right to demand loyalty and service.

Producing more goods or crops than buyers are willing or able to purchase at a profitable price.

Keeping more animals on an area of land than its grazing can support.

The Pan Africanist Congress, an anti-apartheid organisation that organised the anti-pass protest at Sharpeville in March 1960.

An implanted electrical device that helps control an abnormal heart rhythm.

The speed at which change takes place.

Bringing an area under control by ending or suppressing resistance. It does not necessarily mean that its inhabitants willingly accepted Roman rule.

The belief that war and violence are wrong.

Relating to non-Christian religious beliefs or practices; Puritans used this description for customs with pre-Christian roots.