Practice Flashcards for Living under Nazi Rule and The Making of America

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key individuals, organizations, laws, and events from both 'Living under Nazi Rule' and 'The making of America' as described in the lecture notes.

SS (Schutzstaffel)

Originally Hitler's bodyguards, they grew into the most powerful Nazi organisation; controlled concentration camps, police by $1936$, and enforced racial policies.

Heinrich Himmler

The leader of the SS (Schutzstaffel) who oversaw nearly $250,000$ members by $1939$.

Gestapo

The Secret State Police who investigated anti-Nazi activities, arrested people without trial, and relied on public informers.

Dachau

A specific concentration camp run by the SS to hold political opponents and destroy resistance.

Joseph Goebbels

The Propaganda minister who aimed to control what Germans saw, heard, and believed.

People's receivers

Cheap radios sold to millions of Germans to allow Hitler's speeches to reach people directly in their homes.

Nuremberg rallies

Events featuring military displays and speeches by Hitler used to display Nazi power and encourage loyalty.

Hitler cult

The portrayal of Hitler as Germany's savior, a strong leader, and a defender against communism.

Autobahns

Road works and public works projects created to provide jobs and improve German infrastructure.

Conscription

Introduced in $1935$, this policy required young men to enter military service, reducing unemployment statistics.

RAD (Reich Labour Service)

Introduced in $1935$, requiring young men to work on construction and agricultural projects.

Rearmament

The process of building up armed forces and military industries, which was a major reason unemployment fell.

Strength through joy (KdF)

A program providing workers with cheap leisure activities and holidays.

Kinder, Kuche, Kirche

The Nazi view of women's roles, meaning children, kitchen, and church.

Hitler youth

Compulsory membership by $1939$ for boys to receive military training and girls to learn motherhood preparation.

Manifest Destiny

The belief that Americans had a God-given duty to expand westwards across North America to spread democracy.

Oregon Trail

The main route west traveled by thousands of people moving to Oregon.

Annexation of Texas

The $1845$ event that added a large territory to the USA and increased tensions with Mexico.

Mexican-American War

A conflict from $1846$ to $1848$ resulting in the USA gaining territories including California and New Mexico.

The Forty-Niners

The people who traveled to California in $1849$ seeking gold at Sutter's Mill.

Mormons

A religious group founded by Joseph Smith in $1830$ that migrated west to Utah due to persecution for their beliefs and polygamy.

Brigham Young

The leader who took over the Mormons after Joseph Smith's death in $1844$ and led them to the Great Salt Lake.

Missouri compromise

An $1820$ agreement that allowed Missouri to be a slave state to maintain a political balance.

Kansas-Nebraska act

Allowing settlers to decide slavery themselves via Popular Sovereignty, leading to violence in 'Bleeding Kansas'.

Dred Scott Case

An $1857$ decision by the court stating that enslaved people were not citizens.

Abraham Lincoln

The winner of the $1860$ election whose victory caused several Southern states to leave the union.

Buffalo

An animal central to Plains culture, providing food, clothing, and shelter until numbers collapsed by the $1880s$.

Reservations

Lands the government forced Native Americans onto, leading to the loss of traditional lifestyles.

Battle of the Little Bighorn

A significant Native American military victory against US forces.

Wounded Knee Massacre

An event that marked the end of major Native American resistance.

Jim Crow Laws

Laws that separated Black and White Americans in schools, transport, and public facilities.

Sharecropping

An economic system that left many African Americans trapped in debt and poverty.

Literacy tests and Poll taxes

Methods used to restrict African Americans from voting after Reconstruction ended in $1877$.