A guide to the language of history
History glossary
Understand the people, places and ideas behind the stories. Find a term, read its meaning, then explore it in context.
1–36 of 797 terms
18 Brumaire 1799
Napoleon's November 1799 coup, named from the French revolutionary calendar.
38th parallel
the latitude line used in 1945 to divide Soviet and American occupation zones in Korea.
Abbasid caliph
the Abbasid ruler who claimed leadership of the Sunni Muslim community from Baghdad.
Abbasid caliphate
the Islamic caliphal dynasty based in Baghdad until the Mongol sack of 1258.
abdicated
formally gave up a throne, office, or sovereign authority.
abdication
the formal act of a monarch giving up the throne.
Abolition
the movement to end slavery or another legal institution.
absolved
formally released from guilt or church penalty after repentance.
Achaemenid
the Persian royal dynasty founded by Cyrus the Great that ruled the first Persian Empire.
Act of Accord
the 1460 agreement keeping Henry VI king while naming Richard, Duke of York, as his heir.
Act of Uniformity
a statute requiring authorised forms of Church of England worship.
affinity
a noble’s network of followers and dependants.
African National Congress
the liberation movement and political party that led major resistance to apartheid.
air superiority
control of the skies sufficient to protect operations and limit an enemy’s freedom of action.
Akkadian Empire
an early Mesopotamian empire that united many city-states under one ruler.
al-Qaeda
the militant Islamist network led by Osama bin Laden that carried out the September 11 attacks.
Alexandria
a city founded by Alexander the Great in Egypt, now a major city on Egypt's Mediterranean coast.
Alien and Sedition Acts
1798 Federalist laws that restricted immigrants and punished criticism of the federal government.
alliance system
networks of states promising support that can deter war or widen a crisis.
Allied Powers
the major wartime coalitions that fought the Central Powers in the First World War and the Axis powers in the Second World War.
allies and allied states
states, armies, or governments cooperating in war or diplomacy, whether with Napoleon or against him.
alternate attendance
the Tokugawa policy requiring daimyo to spend regular time in Edo.
Amun
a major Egyptian god whose priesthood and temples became especially powerful in the New Kingdom.
Anatolia
the large peninsula that makes up most of modern Turkey, important in ancient trade and empire-building.
Ancient Egypt
a long-lasting civilization along the Nile Valley in what is now Egypt and Sudan.
Angles
Germanic-speaking migrants and settlers whose name helped give England its name.
Anglo-Saxon
the peoples and kingdoms of early medieval England after Roman rule and before the Norman Conquest.
Anglo-Saxons
Germanic-speaking peoples and kingdoms in early medieval England.
Annexation
the formal absorption of one territory into another state.
Anti-Rightist Campaign
the 1957 campaign that punished critics after the Hundred Flowers opening.
Antigonids
the Macedonian dynasty descended from Antigonus the One-Eyed that ruled Macedon in the Hellenistic age.
Antisemitism
hostility, prejudice, or conspiracy thinking directed against Jewish people.
apartheid
the South African system of racial segregation and white minority rule made official after 1948.
Appeasement
a policy of making concessions to avoid conflict, especially associated with Britain and France before the Second World War.
Arianism
a Christian theological position that taught Christ was subordinate to God the Father, rejected as heresy by Nicene Catholic Christianity.
Aristocracy
a privileged elite class, often based on inherited status, land, titles, and political influence.
