Modern History Fitzgerald Final Study, Terms Column #3

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic downturn during the 1930s, marked by massive unemployment, bank failures, and widespread poverty.

Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is a political system where the government has complete control over all aspects of life, suppressing opposition and individual freedoms.

Fascism

Fascism is a authoritarian political ideology that emphasizes strong centralized power, nationalism, and often suppresses dissent and individual rights.

Nazism

Nazism is a far-right totalitarian ideology centered on racist nationalism, especially anti-semitism, authoritarian rule, and the belief in Aryan racial superiority.

Communism

Communism is a political and economic ideology advocating for a classless society where all property and resources are owned collectively and controlled by the community or state.

Stalin

Joseph Stalin was the dictator of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until 1953, known for his totalitarian rule, rapid industrialization, and brutal purges.

Hitler

Adolf Hitler was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945, responsible for initiating World War II and orchestrating the Holocaust.

Reichstag

The Reichstag was the name for several historic legislative bodies in German-speaking countries, including the parliament of the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, and Nazi Germany.

Enabling Act

The Enabling Act was a 1933 law that gave Adolf Hitler's government the power to enact laws without parliamentary approval, effectively establishing his dictatorship.

Nazi Party

The Nazi Party, or National Socialist German Workers' Party, was a far-right political party in Germany led by Adolf Hitler that promoted nationalism, racism, and authoritarianism, ultimately leading to World War II and the Holocaust.

Third Reich

The Third Reich was the Nazi regime in Germany from 1933 to 1945, during which Adolf Hitler ruled as a dictator and pursued aggressive expansionism, totalitarian control, and genocidal policies.

Rhineland

The Rhineland was a demilitarized region of western Germany along the Rhine River, which Hitler remilitarized in 1936 in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles.

Appeasement

Appeasement is the policy of conceding to the demands of a potentially aggressive power to avoid conflict, famously used by Britain and France toward Nazi Germany before World War II.

Anschluss

Anschluss was the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938, carried out by Hitler to unify all German-speaking peoples under one Reich.

Sudetenland

The Sudetenland was a region of Czechoslovakia with a large ethnic German population that Nazi Germany annexed in 1938 following the Munich Agreement, as part of Hitler's expansionist goals.

"Peace for our time"

"Peace for our time" was a statement made by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in 1938 after signing the Munich Agreement with Hitler, mistakenly believing it would prevent another war.

Nazi-Soviet

The Nazi-Soviet Pact, also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, was a non-aggression treaty signed in 1939 between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, which included a secret protocol to divide Eastern Europe between them.

Non-Aggression Pact

The Non-Aggression Pact was an agreement between two countries promising not to attack each other, such as the 1939 treaty between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union before World War II.

Mukden incident

The Mukden Incident was a staged explosion by Japanese forces in 1931 used as a pretext to invade and occupy Manchuria in China.

Blitzkrieg

Blitzkrieg was a fast and powerful military tactic used by Nazi Germany involving rapid, coordinated attacks with tanks, airplanes, and infantry to quickly overwhelm enemies.

Luftwaffe

The Luftwaffe was the aerial warfare branch of Nazi Germany's military during World War II.

Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain was a 1940 air campaign in which the British Royal Air Force successfully defended the UK against massive German Luftwaffe attacks.

"Greater East Asia"

The "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" was Japan's imperialist concept during World War II aiming to create a bloc of Asian nations led by Japan and free of Western powers.

Co-Prosperity

Co-Prosperity referred to Japan's propaganda idea during World War II promoting economic and political unity among Asian countries under Japanese leadership, often masking imperial control.

Sphere"

In World War II, a "sphere" referred to a region dominated or controlled by a major power, such as Japan's "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere," which aimed to unite and control parts of Asia under Japanese rule.

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor was a surprise military attack by Japan on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, which led the United States to enter World War II.

Unconditional Surrender

Unconditional surrender in World War II meant that a defeated country gave up completely without any guarantees or conditions, accepting total defeat.

Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad was a brutal and decisive World War II battle from 1942 to 1943 in which Soviet forces defeated the German army, marking a turning point on the Eastern Front.

Battle of the Coral Sea

The Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942 was a major naval battle between the United States and Japan that halted Japanese expansion and was the first aircraft carrier battle in history.

Battle of Midway Island

The Battle of Midway in 1942 was a pivotal naval battle in which the United States decisively defeated Japan, turning the tide of the Pacific War in World War II.

D-Day

D-Day was the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, marking the start of the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control during World War II.

Hiroshima & Nagasaki

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were Japanese cities where the United States dropped atomic bombs in August 1945, leading to Japan's surrender and the end of World War II.

Holocaust

The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored genocide by Nazi Germany that murdered six million Jews and millions of other targeted groups during World War II.

Shoah

Shoah is the Hebrew term for the Holocaust, referring specifically to the genocide of Jews during World War II.

Genocide

Genocide is the deliberate and systematic killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic, racial, or religious group.

Final Solution

The Final Solution was Nazi Germany's plan during World War II to systematically exterminate the Jewish population through mass murder and genocide.

Einstazgruppen

The Einsatzgruppen were Nazi mobile killing squads responsible for mass shootings and genocide, primarily targeting Jews, during World War II.

Steps to Genocide

The steps to genocide in World War II included Identification and Dehumanization, Separation/Isolation (Economic/Political), Separation/Isolation (Ghettoization), Concentration, and Extermination, ultimately leading to the mass murder of targeted groups by the Nazis.

Bourgeoisie

The bourgeoisie was the social class that owned the means of production and capital in capitalist societies, typically composed of wealthy business owners, merchants, and professionals.

"relics of feudalism"

"Relics of feudalism" are outdated social, legal, or economic structures and privileges that originated in the feudal system but persisted into later periods, often hindering progress toward modern equality and capitalism.

French Revolution

The French Revolution was a radical social and political upheaval from 1789 to 1799 in which the French people overthrew the monarchy, challenged aristocratic privilege, and sought to establish liberty, equality, and democracy.

Empire Building

In modern world history, empire building refers to the process by which a nation expands its power and influence through territorial acquisition, colonization, military conquest, or economic and political domination over other regions or peoples.

Proletariat

The proletariat is the working class in a capitalist society, composed of individuals who do not own the means of production and must sell their labor to survive.

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an individual who starts and manages a business, taking on financial risks in the pursuit of profit, and playing a key role in driving economic growth and industrial innovation.

Direct/Indirect Rule

Direct and indirect rule are colonial governance systems where direct rule involves the colonizing power exercising full control through its own officials, while indirect rule governs through existing local rulers under the authority of the colonizers.

Social Darwinism

Social Darwinism is the belief that the principles of natural selection and survival of the fittest apply to human societies, often used to justify racism, imperialism, and social inequality.

Worthy/Unworthy Victims

"Worthy" and "unworthy" victims are terms used to describe the biased way media and political narratives highlight the suffering of some victims (worthy) while ignoring or downplaying the suffering of others (unworthy), often based on political or strategic interests.

British East India Company

The British East India Company was a powerful trading corporation established by England in 1600 that gradually gained political and military control over large parts of India, acting as an agent of British imperialism until its dissolution in 1874.

Mohandas Gandhi

Mohandas Gandhi was a leader of the Indian independence movement who pioneered nonviolent civil disobedience to challenge British colonial rule.

Nationalism

Nationalism is the belief in the shared identity, culture, and interests of a nation's people, often promoting self-governance and pride in one's country.

Schlieffen Plan

The Schlieffen Plan was Germany's military strategy in World War I to quickly defeat France by invading through Belgium, then turn to fight Russia, aiming to avoid a two-front war.