Glossary

A short, plain-language reference for the recurring terms in this book, covering both East Asia and Europe.

A to F

Al-Andalus. The parts of the Iberian Peninsula under Muslim rule from the 8th to the 15th centuries.

Allies. In World War II, the coalition that fought the Axis, led mainly by Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States, and China.

Austronesian. A large family of peoples and languages spread across Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific, thought to have spread from Taiwan.

Axis. In World War II, the alliance led by Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Bolshevik. The radical faction of Russian Marxists, led by Lenin, that seized power in 1917 and founded the Soviet state.

Brexit. The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, voted for in 2016 and completed in 2020.

Byzantine. Relating to the eastern Roman Empire, centered on Constantinople, which lasted until 1453.

Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The ruling party of mainland China since 1949, founded in 1921.

Cold War. The decades of rivalry (roughly 1947 to 1991) between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies, fought without direct full-scale war between them.

Colonialism. The practice of settling and controlling territory abroad and exploiting its people and resources.

Communism. A political and economic system aiming at common ownership and a classless society, in practice run by a single ruling party.

Confucianism. A tradition of ethics and social order from the teacher Confucius, stressing family duty, learning, and respect for hierarchy.

Counter-Reformation. The Catholic Church's response to the Protestant Reformation, including reform and renewed missionary effort.

Cross-strait. Describing relations between mainland China and Taiwan, across the Taiwan Strait.

Crusades. A series of religious wars, mainly from the 11th to 13th centuries, in which European Christians sought to control the Holy Land.

Cultural Revolution. A turbulent campaign in China (1966 to 1976) launched by Mao to purge rivals and remake society, causing widespread upheaval.

Democracy. A system in which power comes from the people, usually through free elections.

Dictatorship. Rule by one person or a small group holding unchecked power.

Dynasty. A line of rulers from the same family, and the period of their rule.

Empire. A large state ruling many peoples or territories, often under one supreme ruler.

Enlightenment. An 18th-century movement of European thinkers stressing reason, science, and individual rights.

EU (European Union). A political and economic union of European states with shared markets, laws, and institutions.

Fascism. A nationalist, authoritarian movement that rejects democracy and glorifies the state and a strong leader.

Feudalism. A medieval system in which lords granted land to vassals in return for service and loyalty.

French Revolution. The upheaval beginning in 1789 that overthrew the French monarchy and spread ideas of liberty, equality, and citizenship.

G to N

Great Leap Forward. Mao's campaign (1958 to 1962) to rapidly industrialize and collectivize China, which led to a catastrophic famine.

Great Schism. The lasting split in 1054 between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Gulag. The Soviet system of forced-labor camps used to imprison political prisoners and others.

Hellenistic. The era and culture spreading Greek influence across the eastern Mediterranean and Near East after Alexander the Great.

Holocaust. The systematic murder of about six million Jews, and millions of others, by Nazi Germany during World War II.

Holodomor. The man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine in 1932 to 1933 that killed millions.

Holy Roman Empire. A loose collection of mostly German-speaking states in central Europe, lasting from the early Middle Ages until 1806.

Humanism. A Renaissance focus on human potential and on the study of classical Greek and Roman texts.

Imperialism. A policy of extending a country's power over other lands and peoples, by force or influence.

Industrial Revolution. The shift, from the late 18th century, to machine-based manufacturing, factories, and rapid economic change.

Iron Curtain. The figurative divide separating Soviet-controlled eastern Europe from the West during the Cold War.

KMT (Nationalists). The Kuomintang, the party that governed China before 1949 and later ruled Taiwan.

Liberalism. A political tradition stressing individual rights, limited government, and free institutions.

Mandate of Heaven. The Chinese idea that rulers govern by divine approval, which can be lost through misrule.

Mandopop. Popular music sung in Mandarin Chinese.

Manorialism. The medieval rural economy in which peasants worked the land of a lord's estate.

Meiji Restoration. Japan's rapid modernization and reform from 1868, which restored power to the emperor and built a modern state.

Ming. The Chinese dynasty that ruled from 1368 to 1644.

Monarchy. Rule by a king or queen, often inherited.

Napoleonic Wars. The series of wars (1803 to 1815) in which Napoleon's France fought much of Europe, spreading both conquest and revolutionary ideas.

NATO. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a Western military alliance formed in 1949.

Nationalism. Strong devotion to one's nation, often seeking its unity or independence.

Nazism. The German form of fascism led by Hitler, built on extreme racism, antisemitism, and territorial expansion.

O to Z

Polis (city-state). An independent ancient Greek city and its surrounding territory, such as Athens or Sparta.

PRC (People's Republic of China). The state founded in 1949 governing mainland China.

Protestant. A Christian who broke from the Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation.

Qing. The last Chinese dynasty, ruled by the Manchu, from 1644 to 1912.

Reconquista. The long Christian effort to retake Iberia from Muslim rule, completed in 1492.

Reformation. The 16th-century religious movement that split western Christianity and produced Protestant churches.

Renaissance. The revival of art, learning, and classical ideas in Europe from the 14th to 16th centuries.

Republic vs Empire (Roman). The Roman Republic was governed by elected officials and a senate; the Roman Empire replaced it with rule by emperors.

Risorgimento. The 19th-century movement to unify Italy.

ROC (Republic of China). The state founded in 1912, now governing Taiwan.

Sakoku. Japan's policy of national seclusion that limited foreign contact during the Edo period.

Samurai. The warrior class of pre-modern Japan, serving lords under a code of loyalty.

Schengen. The European zone allowing travel across member borders without passport checks.

Shinto. Japan's native religion, centered on nature spirits and ancestral rites.

Shogun. The military ruler who held real power in Japan while the emperor reigned in name.

Socialism. A system favoring public or collective control of the economy to reduce inequality.

Solidarity. The Polish trade union and movement that challenged communist rule in the 1980s.

Srebrenica. The site of the 1995 massacre of Bosnian Muslim men and boys during the Bosnian War.

Thirty Years' War. A devastating European war (1618 to 1648) rooted in religious and political conflict.

Tiananmen. The 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing, ended by a military crackdown.

Tsar. The title of the emperor of Russia.

Unification (Italy/Germany). The 19th-century processes that joined many separate states into the single nations of Italy and Germany.

USSR. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the communist state existing from 1922 to 1991.

Velvet Revolution. The peaceful end of communist rule in Czechoslovakia in 1989.

Versailles. The 1919 treaty that ended World War I and imposed terms on Germany.

Vichy. The French government that collaborated with Nazi Germany from 1940 to 1944.

Warsaw Pact. The Soviet-led military alliance of eastern European states, formed in 1955 to counter NATO.

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