英美概况期末考试名词解释整理

The industrial revolution refers to the mechanization of industry and the consequent changes in social and economic organization in Britain in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Britain was the first country to industrialize.The industrial revolution A period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, production, and transportation had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions in Britain. The Industrial Revolution, was a period of unprecedented technological, economic and social change that completely transformed British culture from a largely rural, static society with limited production and division of labour into the world's first modern industrial society.the Black DeathIt was the deadly bubonic plague who spread through Europe in the 14th century. It swept through England without warning and any cure, and sparing no victims. It killed between half and one-third of the population of England. Thus, much land was left untended and labor was short. It caused far-reaching economic consequences.The Black Death----It was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. It is widely thought to have been an outbreak of bubonic plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestisis and have started in Central Asia. It came without warning, and without any cue.The Black Death is estimated to have killed30% to 60% of Europe's population and had profound effects on the course of European history. In England, it killed almost half of the total population, causing far-reaching economic consequences.the Progressive MovementThe Progressive Movement is a movement demanding government regulation of the economy and social conditions. It spread quickly with the support of large numbers of people across the country. It was not an organized campaign with clearly defined goals.(Rather, it was a number of diverse efforts at political, social, and economic reforms. In spite of limitations of the movement, it brought about changes and improvement in many fields.)Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and about 410. Britannia already had cultural and economic links with Continental Europe, but the invaders introduced new developments in agriculture, urbanisation, industry and architecture, leaving a legacy that is still apparent today. The first Romans to campaign extensively in Britain werethe forces of Julius Caesar in 55 and 54 BC, but the first significant conquest did not begin until AD 43, under Claudius.House of commonsI.House of CommonsCompositions:The House of Commons: The House of Commons is the real center of British p(651 in num.) from England (524), Wales(38), Scotland(72) and N Ireland(17)Functions: a, law passageb, authorizing taxation and public expenditurec, examining government action d. debateFeatures: a. electoral system (general election)b. general election by secret ballotc. party member elected to form a majority partyd. PM out of the majority, cabinet and shadow cabinetolitical life because it is the place where about 650 elected representatives (Members of Parliament) make and debate policy. These MPs are elected in the General Elections and should represent the interests of the people who vote for them. Manifest destiny Manifest Destiny , which conveyed the idea that the rightful destiny of the United States was included to make an empire.Manifest Destiny:a. inevitability of the founding of USAb. legitimacy of the expansion of American Territoryc. spread of American democracy being the task of American people who were chosen to do the Lord’s workContainment policy Containment was a United States policy to prevent the spread of communism abroad. A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge communist influence in Eastern Europe, China,Korea, Africa, and Vietnam. It represented a middle-ground position between appeasement and rollback.Containment(1946); “ a long term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.”The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German DemocraticRepublic (GDR) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin.The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area ("death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches and other defences.The Cold War (1947–1991) was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition existing after World War II (1939–1945), primarily between the Soviet Union and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, particularly the United States. Although the primary participants' military force never officially clashed directly, they expressed the conflict through military coalitions, strategic conventional force deployments, extensive aid to states deemed vulnerable, proxy wars, espionage, propaganda, conventional and nuclear arms races, appeals to neutral nations, rivalry at sports events, and technological competitionsCold War InfluencePoliticalWASP; military superpower from 1979Economic: economic recession; slow income risingSocial: new conservatism(middle class); rebuilding of American military strengthW The Cold War, often dated from 1947 to 1991, was a sustained state of political and military tension between powers in theWestern Bloc, dominated by the United States with NATO among its allies, and powers in the Eastern Bloc, dominated by theSoviet Union along with the Warsaw Pact. This began after the success of their temporary wartime alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the USSR and the US as two superpowers with profound economic and political differences. A neutral faction arose with the Non-Aligned Movement founded by Egypt, India, and Yugoslavia; this faction rejected association with either the US-led West or the Soviet-led East.The Berlin Wall(German: Berliner Mauer) was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR,East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding EastGermany and from East Berlin.[1] The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls,[2] which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.The Berlin Wall was officially referred to as the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart"(German: Antifaschistischer Schutzwall) by GDR authorities, implying that neighbouring West Germany had not been fully de-Nazified.[3] The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the "Wall of Shame"—a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt—while condemning the Wall's restriction on freedom of movement. Along with the separate and much longerInner German border (IGB) that demarcated the border between East and West Germany, both borders came to symbolize the "Iron Curtain" that separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. Before the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans circumvented Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and defected from the GDR, many by crossing over the border from East Berlin into West Berlin, from where they could then travel to West Germany and other Western European countries. Between 1961 and 1989, the wall prevented almost all such emigration.[4] During this period, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the wall, with an estimated death toll of over 600.In 1989, a series of radical political changes occurred in the Eastern Bloc, associated with the liberalizationof the Eastern Bloc's authoritarian systems and the erosion of political power in the pro-Soviet governments in nearby Poland and Hungary. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, a euphoric public and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the wall; the governments later used industrial equipment to remove most of the rest. The physical Wall itself was primarily destroyed in 1990. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on 3 October 1990.。