Glossary of Terms

La Reforma   The name given to the liberal rebellion of Benito Juárez against the forces of Santa Anna. (p. 767)

lançados   Collection points for Portuguese trade in the interior of Africa; provided essential links between economies of African interior and factories on the coast. (p. 639)

Land Freedom Army   Radical organization for independence in Kenya; frustrated by failure of nonviolent means, initiated campaign of terror in 1952; referred to by British as the Mau Mau. (p. 983)

Las Casas, Bartolomé de   Dominican friar who supported peaceful conversion of the Native American population of the Spanish colonies; opposed forced labor and advocated Indian rights. (p. 587)

Laozi   Major Chinese philosopher; recommended retreat from society into nature; individual should seek to become attuned with Dao. (p. 104)

League of Nations   International diplomatic and peace organization created in the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I; one of the chief goals of President Woodrow Wilson of the United States in the peace negotiations; the United States was never a member. (p. 845)

Lee Kuan Yew   Ruler of Singapore from independence in 1959 to present; established tightly controlled authoritarian government; ruled through People's Action party to suppress political diversity. (p. 926)

Legalists   Chinese school of political thought; served Qin dynasty and subsequent dynasties; stressed need for the absolute power of the emperor; power enforced through strict application of laws. (p. 104)

Legions   The basic military unit of the Roman military; developed during the republic. (p. 154)

Lepanto   Naval battle between the Spanish and the Ottoman Empire resulting in a Spanish victory in 1571; demonstrated European naval superiority over Muslims. (p. 551)

Lesotho   Southern African state that survived mfecane; not based on Zulu model; less emphasis on military organization, less authoritarian government. (p. 652)

letrados   University-trained lawyers from Spain in the New World; juridical core of Spanish colonial bureaucracy; exercised both legislative and administrative functions. (p. 596)

Li Bo   Most famous poet of the Tang era; blended images of the mundane world with philosophical musings. (p. 443)

liberal   Political viewpoint with origins in Western Europe during the 19th century; stressed limited state interference in individual life, representation of propertied people in government; urged importance of constitutional rule and parliaments. (p. 702)

Liberal Democratic party   Monopolized Japanese government from its formation in 1955 into the 1990s; largely responsible for the economic reconstruction of Japan. (p. 920)

liberation theology   Combined Catholic theology and Socialist principles in effort to bring about improved conditions for the poor in Latin America (20th century). (p. 947)

Li Dazhao   [lEE dä jaU] Chinese intellectual who gave serious attention to Marxist philosophy; headed study circle at the University of Beijing; saw peasants as vanguard of revolutionary communism in China. (p. 1023)

Lin Zexu   Distinguished Chinese official during the early 19th century; charged with stamping out the opium trade in southern China; ordered blockade of European trading areas in Canton and confiscation of opium; sent into exile following the Opium War. (p. 800)

Li Yuan   Also known as Duke of Tang; minister for Yangdi; took over empire following assassination of Yangdi; first emperor of Tang dynasty; took imperial title of Gaozu. (p. 427)

Liu Bang   Founder of the Han dynasty in 202 b.c.e. (p. 112)

Livy   Roman historian who linked empire to traditions of republican past; stressed republican virtues popular in early empire. (p. 157)

llamas   Along with alpacas, domesticated animals of the Americas; basis for only form of nomadic pastoralism in the New World until European importation of larger animals in 15th century c.e. (p. 216)

Locke, John   English philosopher during 17th century; argued that people could learn everything through senses; argued that power of government came from the people, not divine right of kings; offered possibility of revolution to overthrow tyrants. (p. 531)

loess   [lO es, les, lus] Fine grained soil deposited in Ordos bend by winds from central Asia; created fertile soil for sedentary agricultural communities. (p. 63)

long count   Mayan system of dating from a fixed date in the past-3114 b.c.e.; marked the beginning of a great cycle of 5200 years; allowed precision dating of events in Mayan history. (p. 207)

Long March   Communist escape from Hunan province during civil war with Guomindang in 1934; center of Communist power moved to Shaanxi province; firmly established Mao Zedong as head of the Communist party in China. (p. 1028)

Longshan culture   One of the formative Chinese cultures located at Ordos bend c. 2000 to 1500 b.c.e.; based primarily on cultivation of millet. (p. 61)

Louis XIV   French monarch of the late 17th century who personified absolute monarchy. (p. 532)

Louis XVI   Bourbon monarch of France who was executed during the radical phase of the French Revolution (1792). (p. 700)

L'Overture, Toussaint   [lU veR tYR] Leader of slave rebellion on the French sugar island of St. Domingue in 1791; led to creation of independent republic of Haiti in 1804. (p. 756)

Loyang   Along with Xian, capital of the Zhou dynasty. (p. 426)

Luanda   Portuguese factory established in 1520s south of Kongo; became basis for Portuguese colony of Angola. (p. 640)

Luddites   Workers in Britain (1810–1820) who responded to replacement of human labor by machines during the Industrial Revolution by attempting to destroy the machines; named after a mythical leader, Ned Ludd. (p. 706)

lunar cycle   One of the principal means of establishing a calendar; based on cycles of moon; differed from solar cycles and failed to provide accurate guide to round of the seasons; required constant revision or intercalation. (p. 213)

Luo   Nilotic people who migrated from Upper Nile valley; established dynasty among existing Bantu population in lake region of central eastern Africa; center at Bunyoro. (p. 749)

Luther, Martin   German monk; initiated Protestant Reformation in 1517 by nailing 95 theses to door of Wittenberg church; emphasized primacy of faith over works stressed in Catholic church; accepted state control of Church. (p. 525)

Luzon   Northern island of Philippines; conquered by Spain during the 1560s; site of major Catholic missionary effort. (p. 671)

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