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Alliance
an agreement between countries to support each other militarily or politically.
Angevin Empire
The collection of territories controlled by the Plantagenet dynasty from 1154, stretching from Scotland to the Pyrenees, including England, Normandy, Anjou, and Aquitaine.
Appeasement
A diplomatic policy of making political or material concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict, most associated with British policy towards Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
April Theses
A set of political demands published by Lenin in April 1917 upon his return to Russia from exile. The Theses called for no cooperation with the Provisional Government, an end to the war, land redistribution to peasants, and the transfer of all power to the soviets. The slogans "Peace, Land, Bread" and "All Power to the Soviets" became central to Bolshevik propaganda.
Article 48
emergency powers that allowed rule by decree
Astrolabe
A navigation tool used to measure latitude by observing the stars.
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.
Autocracy
Autocracy is a system of government by one person with absolute power.
Black Death
A devastating global epidemic of bubonic plague that occurred in the mid-14th century, peaking in Europe between 1347 and 1350
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.
Brezhnev Doctrine
The Brezhnev Doctrine was the Soviet policy (articulated after the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia) asserting Moscow's right to intervene militarily in any socialist state where socialism was deemed under threat. It effectively limited the sovereignty of all Warsaw Pact members until renounced by Gorbachev in 1988.
Brezhnev Doctrine
Soviet foreign policy doctrine (from 1968) asserting the right to intervene militarily in any socialist state where socialism was threatened. Used to justify the invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968) and later Afghanistan (1979).
Capetian Dynasty
The ruling dynasty of France from 987 to 1328, beginning with Hugh Capet, which gradually consolidated royal authority over the French kingdom.
Centralization
Concentration of political authority in the national government.
Charter of 1814
A constitutional document issued by Louis XVIII upon the Bourbon Restoration, granting limited civil liberties, a bicameral legislature, and recognition of some revolutionary-era reforms, while preserving royal authority.
Example
The Charter guaranteed equality before the law and religious toleration, but the king retained executive power and could rule by ordinance.
Charter of 1814
A constitutional document issued by Louis XVIII upon his restoration, granting a bicameral legislature, equality before the law, and religious toleration while preserving royal executive authority.
Collectivisation
The policy of consolidating individual landholdings and labour into collective farms, implemented most notably by Stalin in the Soviet Union from 1929, often through coercion and force.
Committee of Public Safety
The executive body that effectively governed France during the Terror (1793-1794), dominated by Robespierre from July 1793. It directed the war effort, implemented the levée en masse, and oversaw the policy of revolutionary terror.
Common Law
A system of law developed in England from the 12th century onwards, based on judicial decisions and precedents rather than written statutes. It was standardised across the kingdom under Henry II through the use of royal courts and itinerant justices, replacing the patchwork of local customs.
Concordat of 1801
An agreement between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII that restored the relationship between the French state and the Catholic Church while maintaining state control over clerical appointments and church property.
Danegeld
Danegeld was a tax levied in Anglo-Saxon England to pay tribute to Viking raiders or to fund defence against them. First collected under Aethelred the Unready in 991, it became a regular form of national taxation that demonstrated the administrative efficiency of the Anglo-Saxon state.
Danelaw
The Danelaw refers to the area of northern and eastern England under Danish law and control, established by the Treaty of Wedmore (878) between Alfred the Great and the Viking leader Guthrum. It retained distinct Scandinavian legal customs and place names.
Demokratizatsiya
Gorbachev's policy of limited political reform (from 1988), introducing competitive elections and reducing the Communist Party's monopoly on power. It led to the creation of the Congress of People's Deputies in 1989 and the repeal of Article 6 in 1990.
Détente
Détente was a period during the Cold War in the 1970s when the USA and USSR sought to reduce tensions and improve relations through diplomacy, arms control, and trade agreements.
It included initiatives such as the SALT treaties, increased cultural exchanges, and efforts to avoid direct military confrontation between the superpowers.