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.
1–11 of 11 terms · W
Clear filtersWall Street Crash
the 1929 collapse in US stock prices that helped trigger the Great Depression.
Wannsee Conference
the 20 January 1942 meeting where senior Nazi officials coordinated the Final Solution across occupied Europe.
War Communism
the emergency Bolshevik economic policy of 1918 to 1921, built around nationalisation, grain requisitioning, and coercive control.
War on Terror
the U.S.-led global campaign against al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other militant groups after 9/11.
Wars of the Roses
the fifteenth-century dynastic conflicts between rival claimants from the houses of Lancaster and York.
Warsaw Pact
the Soviet-led military alliance of Eastern European communist states during the Cold War.
water frame
a water-powered spinning machine that produced strong cotton yarn for factory-scale production.
Weimar Republic
Germany's democratic republic between the First World War and Nazi rule.
Western Front
the main First World War battlefront in France and Belgium, famous for trench warfare and attrition.
Western Roman Empire
the western half of the Roman Empire, centered on Italy and western Europe, whose last emperor was deposed in 476 CE.
World Trade Organization
the global trade body China joined in 2001, accelerating its integration into world supply chains.
