History GCSE
History GCSE glossary
32 key terms for History GCSE, A to Z, each linked to the topic pages that use it.
A
- Administrative and Legal Integration
- The imposition of English common law and administrative structures through the Statute of Rhuddlan and the use of the Ragman Rolls to document Scottish…AQA
- Administrative Professionalization
- The evolution of the Privy Council and the emergence of a 'civil service' ethos under figures like Thomas Cromwell and William Cecil, shifting power from the…AQA
- Asymmetric Warfare
- The tactical and strategic disparity between state-level military forces and decentralized insurgent cells, necessitating a shift from conventional combat to…AQA
C
- Centralization of Authority
- The systematic reduction of 'bastard feudalism' and the replacement of regional magnate power with centralized legal and fiscal institutions controlled by the…AQA
- Constraints on Kingship
- The transition from absolute monarchical authority to a system of shared governance, beginning with the baronial challenges of the 13th century and…AQA
E
- Economic Volatility and Social Impact
- Analysis of how economic crises, including the 1923 hyperinflation and the 1929 Great Depression, acted as catalysts for political radicalization and the…AQA
- Economic Volatility and Systemic Failure
- Analysis of the transition from the 'Bull Market' of the 1920s to the banking crises of 1930-1933, focusing on the failure of credit systems and overproduction.AQA
F
- Federal Interventionism vs. Laissez-faire
- The ideological shift from Hoover's voluntary cooperation and limited government to FDR's Keynesian-aligned deficit spending and the creation of the 'Alphabet…AQA
- Flappers
- Young women in the 1920s who challenged traditional social norms through their dress, behavior, and lifestyle choices.Eduqas
I
- Ideological Conformity and Resistance
- The implementation of Gleichschaltung to align all aspects of German life with Nazi ideology, contrasted with the various forms of opposition and resistance…AQA
- Ideological Radicalization
- The role of Salafi-Jihadist theology in mobilizing transnational networks and the subsequent 'War of Ideas' aimed at countering extremist narratives in the…AQA
- Isolationism
- The foreign policy of avoiding political or military entanglements with other nations, particularly in Europe, following WWI.Eduqas
L
- Laissez-faire
- The policy of minimal government intervention in the economy, championed by Republican presidents to encourage business growth.Eduqas
M
- Military Architecture and Logistics
- The use of 'Iron Ring' castles (e.g., Harlech, Conwy) to project power and the reliance on naval supply lines to sustain inland garrisons.AQA
- Moral and Religious Imperatives
- The influence of Evangelicalism and Nonconformity on reform movements, specifically the Clapham Sect's role in abolitionism and the temperance movement's…AQA
N
- National Identity and Resistance
- The shift from dynastic disputes between elites to broader national resistance movements led by figures such as Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, William Wallace, and…AQA
- Nativism
- The policy or belief of protecting the interests of native-born inhabitants against those of immigrants, leading to restrictive quotas.Eduqas
P
- Political Authority and Legitimacy
- The transition from the autocratic Kaiserreich to the parliamentary Weimar Republic, and the eventual establishment of the Führerstaat, examining how power…AQA
- Pressure from Below
- Analysis of extra-parliamentary agitation, including the London Corresponding Society, the Peterloo Massacre, and the Chartist movement, as catalysts for…AQA
R
- Radicalism and Reform
- The role of extra-parliamentary pressure groups, from the Levellers to the Chartists and Suffragettes, in forcing constitutional and social change through…AQA
- Religious and Ideological Uniformity
- The imposition of the Royal Supremacy and the use of the Book of Common Prayer to forge a distinct national identity separate from the Roman Catholic Church.AQA
- Revisionism and Expansionism
- Examination of the ideological and strategic motivations behind the foreign policies of Germany, Italy, and Japan, focusing on the pursuit of 'Lebensraum',…AQA
S
- Sectarian Mobilization
- The intensification of the Sunni-Shia divide, exacerbated by the vacuum of power, the dissolution of the Iraqi army, and external regional influences from…AQA
- Social Dislocation and Migration
- The human cost of the Depression, specifically the internal migration patterns caused by the Dust Bowl and the rise of urban poverty represented by…AQA
- Sovereignty and Intervention
- The tension between established international law and the 'Bush Doctrine' of pre-emptive strike, which challenged the traditional Westphalian concept of state…AQA
- Speakeasies
- Illegal bars that operated during the Prohibition era following the ratification of the 18th Amendment.Eduqas
- State Failure and Reconstruction
- The collapse of Iraqi civil infrastructure and the inability of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to establish a stable successor state following the…AQA
T
- The Administrative Revolution
- The transition from amateur local governance to professionalized state bureaucracies, exemplified by the creation of the Poor Law Commission and the General…AQA
- The Bush Doctrine and Pre-emption
- The shift in US foreign policy towards proactive military intervention to neutralize perceived threats before they materialize, specifically targeting 'rogue…AQA
- The Emergence of Parliament
- The evolution of the Great Council into a representative legislative body, focusing on the inclusion of the 'commons' and the eventual supremacy of the House…AQA
- The Failure of Collective Security
- Analysis of the League of Nations' inability to enforce the Covenant, specifically regarding the absence of the USA, the impact of the Great Depression on…AQA
- The Policy of Appeasement
- Evaluation of British and French diplomatic strategies between 1935 and 1939, assessing whether the policy was a pragmatic attempt to buy time for rearmament…AQA
Where these terms come from
Each definition is one we publish on a History GCSE topic page or study guide. Open a term to see how each exam board words it and which topic it belongs to. For the full course, go to History revision or the glossary for every subject.
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