Key Movements and Figures in 20th Century History
SNCC – Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a key organization in the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. It was started by young leaders of the sit-in protests, initiated on February 1st by four Black students in North Carolina. SNCC grew into a large organization with many supporters in the North who helped raise funds to support its work in the South, allowing full-time workers to receive a $10 per week salary.
Mao Zedong – A Chinese Communist revolutionary and the founding father of the People’s Republic of China. He governed as Chairman of the Communist Party of China from 1949 until his death in 1976. His Marxist-Leninist theories, military strategies, and political policies are known as Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought.
Atlantic Charter – A pivotal policy statement issued on August 14, 1941, early in World War II, that defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. It was drafted by the leaders of Britain and the United States and later agreed to by all the Allies. The Charter stated the ideal goals of the war, such as the disarmament of aggressor nations. It set goals for the post-war world and inspired many international agreements.
Apartheid – Literally meaning “apart-hood,” it was a system of racial segregation in South Africa enforced through legislation by the National Party (NP) governments from 1948 to 1994. It curtailed the rights of the majority Black inhabitants and maintained Afrikaner minority rule. Legislation classified inhabitants into four racial groups: “black”, “white”, “coloured”, and “Indian”.
Indian National Congress – A political party in India that became a pivotal participant in the Indian Independence Movement. With over 15 million members and over 70 million participants in its struggle against British colonial rule, it is the largest and one of the oldest democratically-operating political parties in the world.
Truman Doctrine – An international relations policy set forth by U.S. President Harry Truman on March 12, 1947. It stated that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent them from falling into the Soviet sphere. Historians often consider it the start of the Cold War and the containment policy to stop Soviet expansion.
Ho Chi Minh – A Vietnamese communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1945–1955) and president (1945–1969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). He was a key figure in the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945, as well as the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Việt Cộng (NLF or VC) during the Vietnam War.
Nation of Islam – A syncretic new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan, by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad on July 4, 1930. The Nation of Islam’s stated goals are to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans in the United States and all of humanity.
Mikhail Gorbachev – The seventh and last undisputed leader of the Soviet Union, serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. Gorbachev initiated his new policy of perestroika (restructuring) and its attendant radical reforms in 1986. He introduced glasnost and perestroika in an attempt to overcome economic stagnation.