History key terms

The extensive direction of society’s labour, resources and everyday activities towards fighting a war.

P. W. Botha’s approach to defending white rule through a combination of limited reforms, repression and military action against perceived threats inside and outside South Africa.

A war in which a country mobilises its economy and civilian population, as well as its armed forces, for the war effort.

An Indigenous people living near the Gulf coast of Mexico, including at Cempoala, whose leaders sought Spanish help against Aztec rule in 1519.

A local law officer responsible for maintaining order in a town.

A person used in a town to watch for criminal activity.

A government restriction or ban on trade with another country, usually intended to put political or economic pressure on it.

Exclusive control over trade, allowing an authority to decide who may trade and under what conditions.

Restrictions on trade intended to put pressure on a country to change its behaviour.

An organisation of workers that acts collectively to improve or defend their pay, working conditions and employment rights.

An exclusive right to conduct a particular trade, excluding unauthorised competitors.

A base where merchants buy, sell and store goods for transport elsewhere.

The shared customs, beliefs, festivals and artistic practices passed down through generations.

A serious dramatic form in ancient Greece which often used mythical stories to explore suffering, conflict and difficult moral choices.

The name associated with the forced removal and suffering of Indigenous peoples, especially the Cherokee removal beginning in 1838.

Local militia units whose members received some military training but normally continued their civilian occupations.

The forced transportation of enslaved African people across the Atlantic to work in the Americas and Caribbean.

The forced transportation of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic, principally to the Americas, where they were sold and exploited as labour.

A railway crossing a continent. The First Transcontinental Railroad connected railway routes across the United States in 1869.

A historical belief that disease could be transferred from a sick person to something else, such as an animal.

Writing a name or word from one script using the letters of another, rather than translating its meaning.

Migration through an intermediate country on the way to a further destination.

An operation that transfers a donated organ or tissue into a patient to replace something damaged or failing.

An operation that replaces a damaged or failing organ with a donated organ.

The punishment of sending a convicted prisoner overseas to serve a sentence.

The belief that, when consecrated by a priest during Mass, the bread and wine become Christ’s body and blood while retaining their outward appearance.

Groups of actors who travelled around the country performing plays.

A serious offence against the monarch or state, such as attempting to overthrow royal authority.

The place where a state's or organisation's money and other financial resources are kept.

An intervention intended to relieve or cure an illness or injury.