U-Z

  1. United Nations : An international body composed of many countries that seeks to promote peace, prosperity, and cooperation around the world. It was formed in 1945 at the end of World War II.
  2. Untouchables : Members of Hindu society thought to have been removed from the Caste System, with no hope of returning to it, due to their misdeeds in previous lives. Work that is deemed unclean for all other Hindus is reserved for these Outcasts. After winning its independence from Great Britain in 1947, India adopted a national constitution which stated that "Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden." Since that time many Caste reforms have been enacted to diminish discriminatory practices in India. Today, the Caste System still exists in practice, despite the many laws designed to legally abolish it.
  3. urbanization : The movement of people to urban areas in search of work.
Vocabulary V
  1. vaccine : A prevention treatment containing weakened microbes of the kind of disease one is guarding against. It is administered to stimulate the immune system against that disease.
  2. vassal : A person owing service to a feudal lord.
  3. Vedas : A Hindu holy book which is a collection of Aryan hymns that were transmitted orally before being written down in the 6th century BCE.
  4. Viet Cong : The name of the Vietnamese communist who fought against South Vietnam and the United States during the Vietnam War.
  5. Vietnam Conflict/War : A war in the country of Vietnam, first between the French and Vietnamese, as France was attempting to hold onto its colony. The second war was between the United States and the communist forces of North Vietnam, as the U.S. was attempting to keep South Vietnam free from communism. The North Vietnamese eventually won, forcing the United States to withdraw.
  6. violence : The use of force to injure someone or to damage something.
  7. Voltaire : (1694-1778) French philosopher. He believed that freedom of speech was the best weapon against bad government. He also spoke out against the corruption of the French government, and the intolerance of the Catholic Church.
  8. von Bismarck, Otto : (1815-1898) Appointed Prussian chancellor in 1862. he began a program of war to unify all the German states under the control of Prussia. His policy was known as Blüt und Eisen or Blood and Iron. He was the most powerful statesman in Europe as chancellor of the new German Empire from 1871 to 1890. He was known as the Iron Chancellor.
Vocabulary W
  1. Warsaw Pact : An international defense alliance between the Soviet Union and many of its Eastern European satellite states as a response to NATO. Formed in 1955.
  2. Wealth of Nations : British philosopher and writer Adam Smith‘s 1776 book that described his theory on free trade, otherwise known as laissez-faire economics.
  3. westernization : To adopt western ideas and culture.
  4. White Man's Burden, The : A poem by Rudyard Kipling written in 1899. It is also the name given to the idea that the culture of the native populations where European imperialism was occurring were inferior to western nations. Some interpreted Kipling’s poem to mean that it was the duty of imperializing nations to bring western culture and sensibility to the savage native populations that were encountered in far off lands.
  5. William and Mary : King and Queen of England from 1689 to 1702. They were placed on the throne as a result of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and ruled as limited monarchs.
  6. Wilson, Woodrow : (1856-1924) President of the United States during World War I. He was one of the formulators of the Treaty of Versailles. He also proposed a regulating body of nations to avoid future conflicts through diplomacy in his 14 Points Speech.
  7. working class : Lowest class in most social class systems, including factory workers, miners, and others.
  8. World War I : (1914 – 1918) European war in which an alliance including Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and the United States defeated the alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria.
  9. World War II : (1939 – 1945) A war fought in Europe, Africa and Asia between the Allied Powers of Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States against the Axis Powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan.
Vocabulary Y
  1. Yeltsin, Boris : (1931- ) President of Russia. He was elected before the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. He served until 1999. Yeltsin was instrumental in keeping a cout d’etat from occurring which would have returned hard line communists to power in Russia.
  2. Yin and Yang : Symbol used to illlustrate the natural harmony that exists in the world. Everything must have an opposing force that allows the harmonious universe to exist.
Vocabulary Z
  1. Zen Buddhism : A blending of Buddhism from India with Taoism from China. It is predominately practiced in China and Japan.
  2. Zionism : Jewish nationalist movement to establish a homeland in Palestine. This movement began in the late 1800s, as anti-Semitic feelings intensified in Europe. The main leader of this movement was a journalist by the name of Theodor Herzl. Herzl's dream of a homeland for Jewish peoples was realized in 1948 with the creation of Israel.