Interwar Period

Hyperinflation (Europe)

Extremely rapid and uncontrollable inflation that causes money to lose its value, famously occurring in Weimar Germany after WWI, where money became virtually worthless.

Consumerism (North America)

An economic and social order on buying goods in large quantities and ever-increasing amounts; especially prominent in the U.S. during the 1920s.

Protectionism (Global)

Government policies that restrict imports from other countries to protect domestic industries, often through methods such as tariffs.

Black Thursday (North America)

October 24, 1929; the day the New York Stock Exchange crashed, helping trigger the Great Depression.

Great Depression (Global)

A worldwide economic collapse beginning in the U.S. in 1929, marked by mass unemployment and falling production.

Welfare State (Europe; North America)

A government system that provides social services like unemployment benefits, healthcare, and pensions, in order to protect the well-being of its citizens, especially those in financial need.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (North America)

The 32nd U.S. president who led the country through most of the Great Depression and WWII with his “New Deal” programs.

New Deal (North America)

Franklin Roosevelt’s series of government programs, work projects, and financial reforms aimed at economic recovery and relief during the Great Depression.

John Maynard Keynes (Europe)

British economist who argued that in order for nations to recover from the depression, governments should use deficit spending to stimulate economies during downturns.

Deficit Spending (Europe)

Government spending more money than it collects in taxes to boost economic activity. Funds raised by borrowing rather than from taxation.

Smoot-Hawley Tariff (North America)

A 1930 U.S. law that raised tariffs and worsened the Great Depression by reducing global trade.

Fascism (Europe)

A far-right authoritarian political ideology emphasizing extreme nationalism, dictatorial rule, militarism, and suppression of opposition.

Adolf Hitler (Europe)

Dictatorial leader of Nazi Germany (1933-1945) whose expansionist and racist policies led to WWII and the Holocaust.

Benito Mussolini (Europe)

Italian fascist dictator (Il Duce) who forged a paramilitary movement, rose to power in the 1920s, and created the first fascist state.

Joseph Stalin (Europe)

Soviet leader who ruled through terror, rapid industrialization, and centralized control.

Five-Year Plan (Europe)

Stalin’s state-directed economic plans focused on rapidly industrializing the Soviet Union and improving agricultural production.

Collectivization (Europe)

Stalin’s policy of forced consolidation of individual peasant farms to give up private farms into large, state-owned collective farms to replace private agriculture with state-controlled production.

Totalitarianism (Europe)

A system of government that is centralized and dictatorial, where the state controls all aspects of public and private life.

Gulag (Europe)

A network of forced labor camps in the Soviet Union used to punish criminals and political opponents.

Corporatism (Europe)

An economic system under fascism where the state controls industries and the economy through cooperation with state-controlled business and labor groups.

Il Duce (Europe)

Title meaning “The Leader,” used by Benito Mussolini.

Blackshirts (Europe)

Fascist paramilitary group of Mussolini’s National Fascist Party that helped Mussolini intimidate political opponents, and gain and maintain power in Italy.

Francisco Franco (Europe)

Fascist dictator of Spain after leading the Nationalist forces to victory in the Spanish Civil War.

Spanish Civil War (Europe)

A conflict (1936-1939) between fascist Nationalists and republican forces that served as a prelude to WWII.

Popular Front (Europe)

Coalition of left-wing groups (Socialists, Communists, Radicals) opposing fascism, that briefly held power in France and Spain in the 1930s.

Guernica (Europe)

Basque town bombed by German and Italian planes during the Spanish Civil War, symbolizing civilian suffering in modern warfare.

Basque Region (Europe)

Area in northern Spain with a strong cultural identity that resisted Francisco Franco’s centralized rule.

Hideki Tojo (East Asia)

The Prime Minister of Japan and lead general of the Imperial Japanese Army who led Japan during much of WWII.

Emperor Hirohito (East Asia)

The 124th Emperor of Japan during WWII; a figurehead of the Japanese Empire during its expansionist era and became a symbol of national unity and authority.

Rape of Nanking (East Asia)

An episode of mass murder and mass rape committed by Imperial Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing, China in 1937.

National Socialist Party (Nazi Party) (Europe)

Hitler’s far-right political party in Germany promoting extreme nationalism, racism, and authoritarianism.

Gestapo (Europe)

Nazi Germany’s, and German-occupied Europes’ secret police force used to eliminate opposition.

Propaganda (Global)

Government-controlled information, usually of a biased or misleading nature used to influence public opinion, promote a particular political cause or point of view, and maintain power.

Third Reich (Europe)

The “Third Empire”; Nazi Germany’s regime under Hitler (1933–1945).

Luftwaffe (Europe),The aerial warfare branch of the German Wehrmacht (armed forces) during WWII.

Luftwaffe (Europe)

The aerial warfare branch of the German Wehrmacht (armed forces) during WWII.

Lebensraum (Europe)

Nazi belief that Germany needed to expand into Eastern Europe for “living space” and for the “Aryan” race.

Sudetenland (Europe)

German-speaking region of western Czechoslovakia taken by Nazi Germany in 1938 at the Munich Conference.

Mein Kampf (Europe)

Hitler’s autobiographical manifesto outlining his political ideology and future plans for Germany

Appeasement (Europe)

The policy of giving in to aggressor demands in order to avoid conflict and war, used by Britain and France in the 1930s.

Neville Chamberlain (Europe)

British Prime Minister (1937-1940) best known for his policy of appeasement toward Hitler.

Édouard Daladier (Europe)

French Prime Minister who supported appeasement and signed the Munich agreement at the start of WWII at the Munich Conference.

Anschluss (Europe)

The 1938 annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany.

Munich Agreement (Europe)

1938 agreement allowing Nazi Germany to annex portions of Czechslovakia (the Sudetenland).

Nuremberg Laws (Europe)

Antisemitic and racist laws stripping Jews of citizenship and rights in Nazi Germany.

Ghettos (Europe)

Segregated sections of cities where Jews were forced to live under miserable conditions before being sent to concentration camps under Nazi rule.

Kristallnacht (Europe)

“Night of Broken Glass”; 1938 state-sponsored pogrom (riot) involving widespread destruction of Jewish businesses and synagogues in Germany.