LGCSE History (0184) key terms

An object, document, image, or account produced at the time of the event or by someone directly involved. It offers direct evidence but still needs checking for purpose and perspective.

A later account that interprets or explains past events using primary evidence. Textbooks, documentaries, and journal articles are examples; their value depends on the author's research and argument.

A slant or preference in a source that favours one side, person, or outcome. It may appear in selected facts, emotional language, omissions, or tone, but it does not automatically make a source useless.

The extent to which a source can be trusted as accurate evidence for a particular question. Historians judge it by provenance, purpose, audience, consistency, and agreement with other sources.

The process of comparing separate sources to see whether they support, contradict, or add to one another. Strong agreement across independent sources usually increases confidence in a claim.

The origin and history of a source: who made it, when, where, for whom, and why. Provenance helps historians assess purpose, audience, and possible bias before using evidence.

A historian's explanation or reading of the past, built from evidence and assumptions. Different interpretations may emphasise causes, perspectives, or significance differently and can be debated.

A traditional Tswana assembly and public meeting place where adults discuss community matters, hear disputes, and advise the chief. It remains an important institution of consultation and customary governance in Botswana.

The Tswana institution of chieftainship, including the chief's authority over land, justice, ritual, and community affairs. Bogosi is inherited within ruling families but is expected to serve through consultation and responsible leadership.

A Tswana cattle-clientage arrangement in which poorer people cared for cattle owned by wealthier patrons. Clients received milk, calves, or loans in return, creating ties of loyalty and dependence.

Tswana age regiments that grouped young men for military service, labour, public works, and social discipline. Membership was organised by age sets and strengthened loyalty to the chief and community.

A period of widespread warfare, migration, and state-building in southern Africa during the early nineteenth century. Its causes and scale are debated, and it affected many societies beyond the Zulu kingdom.

A large stone-walled city and trading centre that flourished in southern Africa between about the eleventh and fifteenth centuries. It reflects powerful local African state formation and involvement in Indian Ocean trade.

Exchange of goods across large regions, often using caravans, rivers, or coastal routes. In pre-colonial southern Africa it linked ivory, gold, copper, and cattle to Indian Ocean and Atlantic markets.

A meeting of European powers in 1884–1885 that set rules for claiming African territory. It did not directly partition all of Africa but encouraged imperial competition and formal colonial expansion.

A territory where a local ruler keeps some authority but a stronger outside power controls defence and foreign affairs. In colonial Africa, protectorates often became indirect forms of imperial rule.

A colonial system that governed through existing local chiefs and customary institutions under European supervision. It reduced administrative costs but could reshape traditional authority and create new tensions.

A colonial policy, especially associated with France, that aimed to absorb selected colonised people into the ruler's culture, language, and legal system. Only a small minority usually gained full rights.

A colony where Europeans settled permanently, took land, and demanded political power. Settler interests often shaped harsh labour, taxation, and land policies that excluded Africans.

A colonial tax levied on dwellings or households, usually payable in cash. It forced Africans into wage labour or cash-crop production to earn money and helped fund colonial administration.

Organised use of force by Africans against colonial conquest, taxation, land seizure, or oppressive rule. Examples include uprisings and guerrilla campaigns, though many were defeated by superior colonial firepower.

A political movement or feeling that emphasises a shared national identity and the right of a people to govern themselves. Anti-colonial nationalism demanded independence and challenged foreign rule.

A movement promoting solidarity among Africans and people of African descent. It encouraged cooperation against colonialism and racism and influenced independence leaders and regional organisations.

The right of a territory's people to manage their own internal affairs through elected institutions. It may fall short of full independence if foreign control of defence or foreign policy remains.

A political system in which only one party is legally allowed to hold power. Some post-independence governments claimed it promoted unity, but critics saw it as suppressing opposition.

Indirect economic or political control of an independent country by a stronger foreign power. It can operate through debt, trade dependence, multinational companies, or military influence rather than formal colonial rule.

A formal agreement between states or groups to cooperate for mutual benefit, often including military support. Alliances can deter aggression but may also widen local conflicts into larger wars.

A policy of making concessions to an aggressive power to avoid war. It is closely linked to British and French responses to Nazi expansion in the 1930s and is often criticised as encouraging further demands.

An international organisation founded after the First World War to promote peace and collective security. It lacked strong enforcement powers and failed to stop major aggression in the 1930s.

A prolonged rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies after 1945. It involved ideology, arms races, alliances, propaganda, and proxy conflicts, though direct superpower war was avoided.

A Cold War strategy, especially American, of limiting the spread of communism. It used military alliances, economic aid, propaganda, and sometimes intervention, shaping conflicts in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

A policy of avoiding firm membership in either Cold War bloc while pursuing national independence and development. Non-aligned states tried to gain aid and influence from both superpowers.

The growth of towns and cities as more people live and work in urban areas. In southern Africa, colonial taxation, mining, and jobs pulled migrants to towns, creating housing and sanitation problems.

A system where workers leave home for months or years to work elsewhere, often in mines or farms. It separated families, spread disease, and tied rural households to cash wages.

An economic system in which goods, taxes, and labour are exchanged mainly for money. Colonial taxation and wage work drew African households into cash transactions and reduced reliance on subsistence production.

An organisation of workers that seeks better pay, conditions, and rights through collective action. Colonial governments often restricted unions, but they became important in nationalist and labour struggles.

Money sent by a migrant worker to family members at home. Remittances supported rural households, paid school fees and taxes, and linked villages to distant labour markets.

The movement of individuals or groups to a different social or economic position. Education, wage employment, migration, and political change can create new opportunities but also new inequalities.