LGCSE History (0184) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Primary source

A document, object, recording or account produced at the time of the event by someone who took part in or witnessed it, such as a letter, photograph, treaty or interview with a participant.

Secondary source

A later account that interprets or analyses past events using primary sources, such as a textbook, biography, museum display or journal article written after the period being studied.

Corroboration

Checking one source against another independent source to see whether they agree. Agreement strengthens confidence in a claim; disagreement signals that the evidence must be examined more closely.

Provenance

The origin of a source: who created it, when and where, for what audience and purpose, and whether the creator had direct knowledge of the events described.

Source reliability

How trustworthy a source is as evidence of what happened, judged from its provenance, purpose, audience, internal consistency and whether other sources support it. Bias reduces but does not always destroy reliability.

Mapungubwe

A kingdom in the Limpopo-Shashe valley, flourishing roughly 1075 to 1300. Its hilltop elite controlled trade in gold and ivory with the Indian Ocean coast and was buried with gold objects and imported Chinese ceramics.

Great Zimbabwe

Capital of a Shona-speaking state from about 1100 to 1450, famous for its dry-stone walls. It grew rich on gold and ivory trade through Sofala and declined as trade routes and grazing shifted.

Toutswe tradition

An early farming culture in eastern Botswana from about 700 to 1300, known from large cattle kraals and sorghum remains. Its people herded cattle and traded salt, ivory and copper over long distances.

Kgotla

The Tswana public assembly and court where the kgosi (chief) and headmen hear disputes and where adult men debate community matters. It symbolises consultation, though the chief retains final authority.

Mophato

A Tswana age regiment: young people of similar age initiated together, given a name and a leader, and used for labour, hunting, warfare and public works, creating lifelong loyalty to the chief.

Difaqane

The period of widespread raiding and displacement in southern Africa in the 1820s and 1830s, often linked to the rise of the Zulu kingdom and to groups such as the Kololo and Ndebele raiding Tswana settlements.

Berlin Conference 1884-85

A meeting of European powers in 1884-85 that set rules for acquiring African territory, including the principle of effective occupation, and accelerated the scramble for colonies without any African representation.

Chartered company rule

Government of a colony by a private company holding a royal charter, as with the British South Africa Company in Rhodesia from 1889. The company ruled, took land and taxed Africans for profit.

Indirect rule

A British colonial system, associated with Lord Lugard, that governed through existing African chiefs and institutions under the supervision of district officers. It was cheap but strengthened chiefs and sometimes created new chiefly powers.

Three Dikgosi appeal 1895

The 1895 journey to Britain by Khama III, Sebele I and Bathoen I to oppose the transfer of Bechuanaland to the British South Africa Company; they won continued protectorate status.

Ndebele-Shona Rising 1896-97

The 1896-97 revolt against British South Africa Company rule in Rhodesia, led by Ndebele chiefs and joined by Shona communities. It was crushed by imperial troops; causes included forced labour, cattle seizures and taxation.

Natives Land Act 1913

A 1913 South African law that barred Africans from buying or renting land outside small designated reserves, about seven per cent of the country, entrenching segregation and cheap migrant labour.

Pan-Africanism

A movement holding that African peoples share a common heritage and should unite against colonialism and racism. Key figures include W.E.B. Du Bois and Kwame Nkrumah; the 1945 Manchester congress demanded independence.

Ghana independence 1957

In March 1957 Ghana, led by Kwame Nkrumah and the Convention People's Party, became the first colony in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence from European rule, inspiring later nationalist movements.

Mau Mau uprising

A Kenyan guerrilla revolt, mainly of Kikuyu, against British colonial rule from 1952 to 1960. The state of emergency and brutal suppression discredited colonialism and hastened Kenyan independence in 1963.

Botswana independence 1966

Bechuanaland became the Republic of Botswana on 30 September 1966, with Seretse Khama as president and the Botswana Democratic Party in power after the 1965 election.

Organisation of African Unity

The Organisation of African Unity, founded in Addis Ababa in 1963, aimed to promote African unity, defend sovereignty and complete decolonisation. It was replaced by the African Union in 2002.

Treaty of Versailles 1919

The 1919 peace treaty ending the First World War. It blamed Germany, imposed reparations and territorial losses, and created the League of Nations; its terms are often linked to later resentment.

League of Nations

An international organisation set up in 1920 to keep peace through collective security and mandates. It lacked an army and American membership and failed over Manchuria and Abyssinia.

Truman Doctrine

The 1947 American promise to support nations resisting communism, first applied to Greece and Turkey. It marked the start of the Cold War policy of containment.

Cuban Missile Crisis

The 1962 confrontation after the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. A naval blockade and secret negotiations ended the crisis, prompting a nuclear test ban and a telephone hotline.

Cuito Cuanavale 1987-88

A battle in Angola in 1987-88 between Angolan and Cuban forces and South African troops. It led to the Tripartite Accord, withdrawal of foreign forces and Namibian independence in 1990.

Migrant labour system

The recruitment of African men on contracts to work in mines and towns for long periods while their families stayed in rural areas. It provided cheap labour and shaped Botswana and southern African societies.

Hut tax

A colonial tax charged on each dwelling, later often replaced by a poll tax. Because it had to be paid in cash, it forced African men into wage labour or cash-crop farming.

Rinderpest 1896-97

A cattle plague that swept southern Africa in 1896-97, killing a large share of herds. It destroyed African wealth, weakened resistance to colonial rule and led to veterinary controls and fencing.

Debswana

The diamond mining company formed in 1969 as a partnership between the Botswana government and De Beers, operating mines such as Orapa and Jwaneng and supplying most government revenue.

Botswana Meat Commission

The Botswana Meat Commission, established in 1965 to market and export beef, mainly to South Africa and Europe, making cattle a central export industry and supporting rural producers.