Threats of Totalitarianism & Fascism

Totalitarianism

This is a political system characterized by a single party role, total state control, absolute loyalty, tools of control, and militarization.

Nazism

Developed in Post-WW1 Germany, this was rooted in racism, extreme nationalism, and anti-Semitism.

Weimar Republic

Germany’s democratic government after WW1. It included an elected president, a Reichstag, and a bill of rights.

Adolf Hitler

He was born in Austria. He led the Nazi Party and wrote Mein Kampf in prison.

Lebensraum

A German word meaning 'living space or room'. It was used by the Nazis to suggest that Germans needed more land or area for German-speaking peoples.

SA (Brownshirts)

Paramilitary used to intimidate opponents.

SS (Schutzstaffel)

Elite Nazi Force

Gestapo

Secret Police

Ministry of Propaganda

Controlled media, education, and culture.

The Third Reich

Established in 1933 when Hitler was appointed Chancellor.

Enabling act

This allowed Hitler to rule by decree.

The Holocaust

The systematic genocide of approximately 6 million Jews, many of whom were sent to concentration camps.

Auschwitz

This was a massive concentration camp located in occupied Poland.

Benito Mussolini

A former socialist who founded the Fascist Party in 1919.

March on Rome

Following this event, Benito Mussolini was appointed Prime Minister.

King Victor Emmanuel III

He appointed Benito Mussolini as prime minister.

Lateran Treaty

Improved public support by reconciling the state with the Catholic Church

Marxism

Developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, it views history as a struggle between the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat.

Bolshevik Revolution

Led by Vladimir Lenin with the slog “Peace, Bread, and Land”

Vladimir Lenin

Leader of the Bolshevik Revolution, he advocated for 'Peace, Bread, and Land' and was instrumental in establishing a communist government in Russia.

The “Reds”

Bolsheviks/communists, supported by Leon Trotsky.

The “Whites”

monarchists/liberals, was defeated by the reds.

USSR

Formed in 1922; policies moved from “war communism” to the New Economic Policy (NEP)

New Economic Policy

A temporary Soviet economic policy allowing limited capitalism to revive the economy after war communism.

Nationalists

led by Chiang Kai-shek

Communists

Led by Mao Zedong

Land Redistribution

Taking land from wealthy landlords and giving them to peasants.

Collectivization

Merging individual farms into state-controlled collective farms.

Five-Year Plans

State-directed targets for heavy industry (steel, coal)

Great Leap Forward

An ambitious program for rapid industrialization that failed due to poor planning and unrealistic quotas, causing massive famines and millions of deaths.

First Sino-Japanese War

This is the war wherein Japan occupied Seoul and defeated China’s military, gaining Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula.

Russo-Japanese War

This is the war wherein Japan destroyed the Russian Baltic Fleet at the Battle of Tsushima. This was the first Asian victory over a European colonizer.

Hakko Ichiu

“Eight corners of the world under one roof”; the divine mission to unite Asia under the Emperor.

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

A plan for an Asian block led by Japan; while promised as “freedom from western rule”, it was a system of exploitation.