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Armistice
A formal agreement between warring parties to stop fighting, often to create a temporary truce while a peace treaty is negotiated.
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the consolidation of power in a single leader or small group, limited political pluralism, repression of dissent, and little to no accountability to the public.
Bolsheviks
Radical Marxist faction led by Lenin that split from the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1903, advocating a small, disciplined party of professional revolutionaries to seize power on behalf of the working class.
Censorship
Censorship in Cuba was a systematic government policy designed to eliminate dissent and control all forms of communication, including print, electronic media, arts, and academia.
Coup d’état
A coup d'état is the sudden, illegal, and often violent seizure of power from a government by a small group of people, typically the military or other political elites.
Cult of Personality
The use of mass media, propaganda, and state-controlled information to create an idealized and heroic public image of a leader, demanding unquestioning devotion. Stalin's cult portrayed him as an infallible genius and the father of the Soviet nation.
Dual Authority
The system of parallel governance that existed in Russia between February and October 1917, in which the Provisional Government held formal legal authority while the Petrograd Soviet commanded the practical loyalty of soldiers and workers. This division of power weakened both bodies and created the political vacuum that the Bolsheviks exploited.
Duma
The Duma was the elected national parliament of Russia, created by the October Manifesto of 1905. It had limited powers and could be dissolved by the tsar. Nicholas II dissolved the first two Dumas when they challenged his authority, and the Fundamental Laws of April 1906 ensured the tsar retained a veto over all legislation.
Factionalism
Rival groups within the Party competing for power.
Factionalism
The division of a political movement, party, or government into competing groups or factions, each pursuing its own interests or ideology.
Legitimacy
The public’s acceptance of a leader’s authority, often earned through wartime experience or moral leadership.
Legitimacy
Legitimacy is public acceptance of authority
Literacy Campaign
The Cuban Literacy Campaign (Campana de Alfabetizacion) was a 1961 nationwide programme in which approximately 250,000 volunteer teachers (brigadistas) were sent to rural areas to teach reading and writing. It raised Cuba's literacy rate from around 60% to 96% within a single year.
Marxism-Leninism
Communist ideology emphasizing class struggle and revolution; Mao later adapted it to focus on peasants rather than industrial workers.
Nationalization
When a government takes control of private industries or property, usually to strengthen national sovereignty.
Nationalization
Government takeover of private industries, expanding state control.
Politburo
Politburo was the highest policy-making body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, responsible for all major political and economic decisions. Its members were the most powerful figures in the USSR.
Propaganda
Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view. States use propaganda through media, education, and public events to shape public opinion.
Provisional Government
Temporary government formed after the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in February 1917, intended to govern Russia until a democratically elected Constituent Assembly could be convened.
Totalitarianism
A system of government in which the state holds total authority over society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life, including political, economic, and cultural domains.
Vanguard Party
A small, tightly organised party of professional revolutionaries that leads the working class toward revolution. Developed by Lenin in What Is To Be Done? (1902), the vanguard party concept argued that the proletariat could not achieve revolutionary consciousness on its own and needed a disciplined elite to guide it. This became the organisational model for the Bolshevik Party.