Turmoil Between the Wars – Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering major political, economic, and cultural terms from the interwar period, useful for exam review on Chapter 25: Turmoil Between the Wars.

New Economic Policy (NEP)

Lenin’s 1921 measure that reintroduced limited private trade and small-scale capitalism to revive the Soviet economy after the Civil War.

Collectivization

Stalin’s late-1920s policy of forcing peasants into large state-run farms, aimed at boosting grain output and tightening state control.

Holodomor

Man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine (1932–33) caused by collectivization, killing millions and reinforcing Stalin’s power.

Kulaks

Wealthier peasants branded as class enemies and persecuted during Stalin’s collectivization campaign.

Totalitarianism

Political system in which the state seeks total control over society through censorship, propaganda, and terror.

Propaganda

State-directed messaging and media manipulation used to mold public opinion and ensure conformity.

Fascist Party

Movement founded by Benito Mussolini in 1919 that promoted nationalism, militarism, and one-party rule in Italy.

March on Rome

1922 Fascist show of force that pressured Italy’s king to appoint Mussolini prime minister, paving the way for dictatorship.

Benito Mussolini

Italian Fascist leader who ruled as dictator from 1925, suppressing opposition and glorifying the nation and military.

Weimar Republic

Germany’s democratic government (1919–33) beset by political extremism, economic turmoil, and the legacy of World War I.

Treaty of Versailles

1919 agreement that imposed harsh reparations and territorial losses on Germany, fueling resentment and instability.

Hyperinflation (1923)

Collapse of German currency when rampant money printing caused prices to skyrocket and savings to vanish.

Dawes Plan

1924 U.S.-brokered program that restructured German reparations and stabilized its economy for a brief recovery.

Great Depression

Global economic crisis triggered by the 1929 U.S. stock market crash, deepening unemployment and political unrest.

National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party)

Far-right German party led by Adolf Hitler that espoused Aryan supremacy, anti-Semitism, and totalitarian control.

Adolf Hitler

Nazi leader who became German chancellor in 1933 and established a totalitarian regime through terror and propaganda.

Reichstag Fire

1933 arson attack on Germany’s parliament used by Hitler to justify emergency powers and suppress opponents.

Enabling Act

1933 law granting Hitler’s cabinet authority to enact laws without Reichstag approval, completing Nazi dictatorship.

Aryan

Nazis’ term for a supposed master race of pure Germans placed at the top of their racial hierarchy.

Nuremberg Laws

1935 statutes that stripped German Jews of citizenship and banned marriage or relations with ‘Aryans.’

Kristallnacht

“Night of Broken Glass,” a 9–10 Nov 1938 pogrom destroying Jewish property and signaling escalating persecution.

Interwar Britain

Era marked by economic decline and labor unrest yet continued democratic governance after World War I.

Interwar France

Politically unstable Third Republic focused on defense and security (e.g., Maginot Line) amid economic strains.

New Deal

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s suite of programs (1933–39) aimed at economic relief, recovery, and reform during the Depression.

Modernist Literature

Interwar movement (e.g., T.S. Eliot, Remarque) that broke traditional forms to express post-WWI disillusionment.

Dadaism

Avant-garde art movement rejecting logic and embracing absurdity as protest against war and conventional culture.

Surrealism

Artistic and literary style evolving from Dada that explored dreams and the unconscious mind in the 1920s–30s.

Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud’s theory of the unconscious, influential in interwar art, literature, and conceptions of self.

Existentialism

Philosophy emphasizing individual freedom and meaning-making in an apparently meaningless world; grew after WWI.

Jazz Age

1920s cultural era marked by the popularity of jazz music and a spirit of modernity and social change.