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Important People in AP World History Flashcards

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400863581Adam SmithScottish professor of philosophy. Developed the idea of free enterprise, critical of mercantilism. Wrote Wealth of Nations.0
400863582Alexander the Greatson of Philip II; received military training in Macedonian army and was a student of Aristotle; great leader; conquered much land in Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Mesopotamia; goal was to conquer the known world1
400863583Chiang Kai-ShekGeneral and leader of Nationalist China after 1925. Although he succeeded Sun Yat-sen as head of the Guomindang, he became a military dictator whose major goal was to crush the communist movement led by Mao Zedong. (p. 788)2
400863584ConstantineRoman emperor (r. 312-337). After reuniting the Roman Empire, he moved the capital to Constantinople and made Christianity a favored religion.3
400863585Fidel CastroCuban socialist leader who overthrew a dictator in 1959 and established a Marxist socialist state in Cuba (born in 1927)4
400863586Genghis KhanA Mongolian general and emperor of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, known for his military leadership and great cruelty. He conquered vast portions of northern China and southwestern Asia.5
400863587Ho Chi Minhleader of the Communist Party in Indochina after WWII; led Vietnamese against the French, then North Vietnamese against the United States in the Vietnam War6
400863588Ignatius of Loyola(1491-1556) Spanish churchman and founder of the Jesuits (1534); this order of Roman Catholic priests proved an effective force for reviving Catholicism during the Catholic Reformation.7
400863589John LockeEnglish philosopher who advocated the idea of a "social contract" in which government powers are derived from the consent of the governed and in which the government serves the people; also said people have natural rights to life, liberty and property.8
400863590Josef Stalinwas general secretary of the Communist party, became the leader and dictator of Russia after Lenin's death. He brought Russia out of recession and made Russia the second leading industrial superpower during the Second World War Followed Lenin, pragmatist, socialism in one country, forced rapid industrialization, Great Purges, collectivization. 1927-19539
400863591Julius CaesarMade dictator for life in 45 BCE, after conquering Gaul, assassinated in 44 BCE by the Senate because they were afraid of his power10
400863592Karl MarxGerman philosopher, economist, and revolutionary. With the help and support of Friedrich Engels he wrote The Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867-1894). These works explain historical development in terms of the interaction of contradictory economic forces, form the basis of all communist theory, and have had a profound influence on the social sciences.11
400863593Mao ZedongLeader of the Chinese Communist Party (1927-1976). He led the Communists on the Long March (1934-1935) and rebuilt the Communist Party and Red Army during the Japanese occupation of China (1937-1945). (789)12
400863594Martin Luthera German monk who became one of the most famous critics of the Roman Catholic Chruch. In 1517, he wrote 95 Theses, or statements of belief attacking the church practices.13
400863595Maximilien Robespierre"The incorruptable;" the leader of the bloodiest portion of the French Revolution. He set out to build a republic of virtue. His execution ended the Reign of Terror.14
400863596Miquel HidalgoThe Catholic priest who led a revolt against Spanish rule around 1810, but was unsuccessful and executed.15
400863597Mikhail GorbachevHead of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. His liberalization effort improved relations with the West, but he lost power after his reforms led to the collapse of Communist governments in eastern Europe. (p. 863)16
400863598Mohandas GandhiA philosopher from India, this man was a spiritual and moral leader favoring India's independence from Great Britain. He practiced passive resistance, civil disobedience and boycotts to generate social and political change.17
400863599Muhammadthe Arab prophet who founded Islam (570-632)18
400863600Nelson MandelaSouth African statesman who was released from prison to become the nation's first democratically elected president in 1994 (born in 1918)19
400863601Ngo Dinh DiemSouth Vietnamese president that was catholic and strongly opposed communism. His poor leadership and corrupt government spelled doom20
400863602Simon BolivarThe most important military leader in the struggle for independence in South America. Born in Venezuela, he led military forces there and in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.21
400863603SuleimanKnown as the Magnificent. Ottoman sultan who brought the Ottoman Empire to its height; he succeeded in defeating the Habsburgs and capturing Vienna.22
400863604Sun Yat-senFirst leader of the Nationalist revolution against the Manchu dynasty.23
400863605Timur-i LangLast major nomad leader; 14th-century Turkic ruler of Samarkand; launched attacks in Persia, Fertile Crescent, India, southern Russia; empire disintegrated after his death in 1405., Also known as Tamerlane; leader of Turkic nomads; beginning in 1360s from base at Samarkand, launched series of attacks in Persia, the Fertile Crescent, India, and southern Russia; empire disintegrated after his death in 1405.24
400863606Leon TrotskyRussian revolutionary intellectual and close adviser to Lenin. A leader of the Bolshevik Revolution (1917), he was later expelled from the Communist Party (1927) and banished (1929) for his opposition to the authoritarianism of Stalin.25
400863607Vladimir LeninRussian founder of the Bolsheviks and leader of the Russian Revolution and first head of the USSR (1870-1924)26
400863608Winston ChurchillA noted British statesman who led Britain throughout most of World War II and along with Roosevelt planned many allied campaigns. He predicted an iron curtain that would separate Communist Europe from the rest of the West.27
400863609Wu TiHan "Warrior Emperor" who greatly expanded the empire, (140-87 BCE); promoted peace; supported Confucianism; Conducted trade with the Parthian Empire in the Middle East. He also conducted the first civil service examinations in the world.28
400863610Zheng HeAn imperial eunuch and Muslim, entrusted by the Ming Emperor Yongle with a series of state voyages that took his gigantic ships through the Indian Ocean, from Southeast Asia to Africa. (pp. 355, 422)29

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