A GLOSSARY OF HISTORICAL TERMS

Amnesty

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General pardon, especially against the State.

Anarchy

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A state of disorder created by the absence of government.

Anarchism

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A political doctrine which advocates abolition of the State.

Appeasement policy

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The policy of pacifying and satisfying others at a certain cost.

Armistice

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An agreement to suspend hostilities in order to negotiate for peace

Autarky

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Policy of economic self-sufficiency of a nation. Secured at the cost of other nations.

Autocracy

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Absolute government in the hands of a person.

Autonomy

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Powers to manage internal affairs.

Ballot

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Method of secret voting

Balance of Power

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To preserve equality of strength between countries so that no single country becomes powerful enough to be a source of danger to others.

Bureaucracy

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The form of government which is conducted by officials, who are specially trained for the services. Those officers control the policy of the government; they are responsible only to their chiefs and not to the public.

Bolshevism

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An alternative term used for a communist in Russia.

Collective Security

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The principle formerly laid down in the League of Nations that all the nations should collectively guarantee the security of each individual nation. E.g. NATO and Warsaw Pact are collective organizations. The Warsaw Pact was dissolved on March 31, 1991.

Colonialism

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This is an ideology by which a state or a nation exercises complete control over the peoples of a weaker nation. The power that sub-ordinates is called the colonizing power and the peoples that are sub-ordinated are called the colonized.

Communism

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It may mean either the type of society in which property is invested in the community, every individual receiving what he needs and working according to his capacity, or it may mean the revolutionary movement which seeks to achieve that type of the society by overthrowing the capitalist system and establishing a dictatorship of the proletariat. Modern communism has it basis in Marxism, as developed by the Russian revolutionary leader, Lenin (1870 - 1924).

Continental system

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A number of decrees issued by Napoleon under which he prohibited the European countries under his domination to trade with England.

Cold War

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A state of apparent peace between two powerful countries or blocs, but who show malice against each other through the press, radio, etc. It is used to describe the relationship that had existed between the Soviet Union and the Western powers since 1947.

Consuls

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Commercial representatives abroad are styled as consuls.

Democracy

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"Government of the people, by the people, for the people." (Abraham Lincoln)

Decolonization

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This term refers to the transfer of power from the colonizer to the colonized. The erstwhile colonial powers gave up their colonies in Asia, Africa and South America and other parts of the world. The former colonized nations took up the responsibility of administration.

Dictatorship

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A form of government in which all power rests in a single individual or the system of one-man rule. E.g. Hitler’s rule in Germany and Mussolini’s in pre-war Italy.

Fascism

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A nationalist, anti-Communist and authoritarian political system evolved by Mussolini and his followers in Italy after 1922.

Feudalism

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A social and political system existing in Europe during the Middle Ages, based on the relationship between lord and vassal.

Imperialism

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The practice, by a country of acquiring and administering colonies and dependencies after it has achieved national unity and embarked upon commercial or industrial expansion.

Nationalism

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It is an intense feeling of devotion and love for one’s own nation. Nurtured to an extreme it can lead to fanaticism.

Nazism

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The doctrine propounded by Hitler in his book, which aims at aggressive nationalism.

Neo-colonialism

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This is the modern brand of colonialism. It is used to describe the strong control that former colonizing powers continue to hold in the economic, political and military fields.

Plebiscite

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A direct vote of qualified voters in regard to some important public question.

Republic

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A State, especially a democratic State, which has a non-hereditary head as (president) distinguished from a State like Britain which has a hereditary head (King or Queen) with limited powers, of course.

Secularism

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The policy of showing equal respect to all religions; there is no discrimination on the basis of religion.

Socialism

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A political and economic theory according to which land, transport, chief industries, natural resources are managed by the State, or by public bodies in the interests of the community as a whole.

Syndicalism

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It is a revolutionary brand of socialism which was popular in France. It regards the trade union organization as the onces the foundation of the new society and the instrument whereby it is to be brought about.

Totalitarianism

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A form of rule in which the State (or those who are in power) dominates every sphere of the individual’s life.