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W

Walesa, Lech

(1943- ) Polish labor union leader, Nobel laureate, and President of Poland from 1990 to 1995. He was instrumental in the collapse of communism in Poland and throughout Eastern Europe through the work of the labor union Solidarity.

Walpole, Robert

(1676-1745) British statesman, and first Prime Minister from 1721 to 1742.

Warsaw Pact

An international defense alliance between the Soviet Union and many of its Eastern European satellite states as a response to NATO. Formed in 1955.

Watt, James

(1736-1819) Improved upon Newcomen’s steam engine. Watt’s steam engine would be the power source of the Industrial Revolution.

Wealth of Nations

British philosopher and writer Adam Smith‘s 1776 book that described his theory on free trade, otherwise known as laissez-faire economics.

westernization

To adopt western ideas and culture.

Wheel of Life

important symbol of Buddhism. It represents the endless cycle of life through reincarnation.

White Man's Burden, The

A poem by Rudyard Kipling written in 1899. It is also the name given to the idea that the culture of the native populations where European imperialism was occurring were inferior to western nations. Some interpreted Kipling’s poem to mean that it was the duty of imperializing nations to bring western culture and sensibility to the savage native populations that were encountered in far off lands.

William and Mary

King and Queen of England from 1689 to 1702. They were placed on the throne as a result of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and ruled as limited monarchs.

Wilson, Woodrow

(1856-1924) President of the United States during World War I. He was one of the formulators of the Treaty of Versailles. He also proposed a regulating body of nations to avoid future conflicts through diplomacy in his 14 Points Speech.


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