key terms set: authoritarian states

World War I

first truly global conflict fought between 1914 and 1918

liberalism

a belief that government can and should achieve justice and equality of opportunity.

democracy

a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them

self-determination

the right of people to choose their own form of government

Great Depression

the economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s

Vladimir Lenin

Russian founder of the Bolsheviks and leader of the Russian Revolution and first head of the USSR

Bolsheviks

a group of revolutionary Russian Marxists who took control of Russia's government in November 1917

Getulio Vargas

dictator of Brazil who started the authoritarian state dubbed Estado Novo

totalitarianism

a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition)

World War II

war fought from 1939 to 1945 between the Allies and the Axis, involving most countries in the world

Joseph Stalin

Soviet revolutionary and Communist dictator of the USSR

Adolf Hitler

German Nazi dictator during World War II

Treaty of Versailles

the treaty imposed on Germany by the Allied powers in 1920 after the end of World War I which demanded reparations from the Germans

Weimar Republic

German republic founded after the WWI and the downfall of the German Empire's monarchy

Reichstag

the parliament of Germany before 1945 with unstable coalitions

Nazi Party

the political party founded in Germany in 1919 and brought to power by Hitler in 1933

Volk

the nation as a community of racially pure Germans

SA/Stormtroopers

Nazi paramilitary group used for intimidation

Ernest Rohm

leader of the SA/Stormtroopers

Munich Putsch

a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler

Mein Kampf

'My Struggle' by Hitler, later became the basic book of Nazi goals and ideology

Joseph Goebbels

chief minister of the Nazi propaganda, and organizer of Kristallnacht

Reichstag fire

when the Reichstag was set on fire, reportedly by a Dutch communist, which was exploited by Joseph Goebbels as a way for Hitler to suspend all civil rights for Communists, socialists, liberals, and trade unionists

Enabling Act

act enabled Hitler to get rid of the Reichstag parliament and pass laws without reference to parliament

Gleichschaltung

the process through which the Nazi regime systematically Nazified German society, forcing all political, social, and cultural organizations to conform to Nazi ideology

Night of the Long Knives

a brutal, preemptive purge ordered by Adolf Hitler to eliminate perceived political enemies and SA leadership, like Ernest Rohm

Führer

Adolf Hitler's title as chancellor and head of state in Germany

SS

Nazi paramilitary organization, originating as a small bodyguard unit for Hitler

Heinrich Himmler

German Nazi who was chief of the SS and the Gestapo and who oversaw the Holocaust

Third Reich

The Third German Empire, established by Adolf Hitler in the 1930s

Death's Head Division

an SS unit which took its name from the skull and crossbones emblem its members wore on their caps, and guarded concentration camps

concentration camp

prison camps used under the rule of Hitler in Nazi Germany

Gestapo

Nazi Germany secret police

Wehrmacht

Nazi Germany armed forces

Hermann Goering

German politician in Nazi Germany who founded the Gestapo and mobilized Germany for war

"working toward the Führer"

a Nazi-era political approach where subordinates, officials, and citizens anticipated Adolf Hitler's wishes and acted to fulfill them without direct orders

Schwartz Kapelle

term used by the Gestapo to describe a group of officials within Nazi Germany who plotted to overthrow Adolf Hitler

July Bomb Plot

a failed attempt by German resistance officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and overthrow the Nazi regime

White Rose

a youth group opposed to the Nazis, named after the flower as a symbol of peace

Edelweiss

anti-Hitler group made up of German youth with strong ties to Catholicism

Swingjugend

anti-Hitler group with a passion for American jazz and acted as social non-conformists

Hjalmar Schacht's New Plan

economic plan to create employment through public works projects in Nazi Germany

German rearmament

Hitler's focus on regaining military control over and weaponry in Germany and beyond

Hermann Goering's Four Year Plan

economic plan by Goering that aimed to achieve an autarky

autarky

an economically self-sufficient nation

Albert Speer

Minister of Armaments and War Production who doubled German armament production, especially via slave labor

Ministry of Armaments and War Production

ministry that controlled the rearmament of Nazy Germany

Triumph of the Will

Nazi propaganda film to show the might of the Nazi party at a rally in Nuremberg

Führer principle

the notion of Hitler as the faultless leader to whom all Germans owed obedience

Berlin Olympics

Olympic Games held in Germany in 1936 and used as a propaganda event to show the progress made in Germany by the Nazis since 1933

DNB

German newspaper bureau

Richard Strauss

renowned composer who cooperated and conformed to Nazi values

Martin Heidegger

philosopher who cooperated and conformed to Nazi values, betraying his intellectual values

Reich Radio Company (RRC)

the organization that oversaw the spread of Nazi propaganda via radios

Napolas

elite schools for training future Nazi leadership

Adolf Hitler Schools

schools designed to create future leaders of the Nazi Party, with a focus on physical and military education

Hitler Youth

organizations set up under Hitler to train and educate German young people in Nazi beliefs

League of German Maidens (BDM)

female youth organisation, which was used to indoctrinate the children into believing Nazi ideology and prepare them for their future lives

German Labor Front

Nazi party's compulsory state-run organization that replaced all independent trade unions

Kraft durch Freude (Strength through Joy) movement

state-operated leisure organization in Nazi Germany under the German Labour Front, designed to promote Nazism by subsidizing holidays and recreational activities

National Socialist Womanhood (NSF)

women's organization of the Nazi Party with the purpose to keep Nazi women under the control of the exclusively male party

Land Year programme

a mandatory educational and labor scheme forcing single women to spend a year working in harsh agricultural rural settings

Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring

a law under the Nazi sterilization program that sterilized people with diseases such as blindness and epilepsy

T-4

the Nazi euthanasia program

Clemens von Galen

Catholic bishop who spoke out against the Nazi euthanasia program

Nuremberg Race Laws

laws that deprived the Jewish people of all rights in Nazi Germany

deportation

an official order telling someone to leave a country

Kristallnacht

"Night of Broken Glass," when Nazis attacked Jews throughout Germany

Final Solution

Hitler's program of systematically killing the entire Jewish people

Holocaust

a methodical plan orchestrated by Hitler to ensure German supremacy. It called for the elimination of Jews, non-conformists, homosexuals, non-Aryans, and the mentally and physically disabled

Saarland

an area annexed from Germany, then was held to a vote to rejoin either France or Germany

Anti-Comintern Pact

treaty between Germany and Japan promising a common front against communism, then Italy joined later

Axis Powers

alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during World War II

Anschluss

Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria

Sudetenland

an area in western Czechoslovakia that was coveted by Hitler

Munich Conference

1938 conference at which European leaders attempted to appease Hitler by turning over the Sudetenland to him in exchange for promise that Germany would not expand Germany's territory any further

appeasement

1930s foreign policy, primarily led by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, that made concessions to Adolf Hitler to avoid another devastating war

Germany's invasion of Poland

1939 invasion that triggered the start of WW2

Lebensraum

Hitler's expansionist theory based on a drive to acquire "living space" for the German people

Nazi-Soviet Pact

secret agreement between the Germans and the Russians that said that they would not attack each other

Qing Dynasty

the last imperial dynasty of China (from 1644 to 1912) which was overthrown by revolutionaries

Sun Yatsen

Chinese revolutionary who founded the Chinese Republic

Nationalists / Kuomintang / Guomindang

political party in China led notably by Chiang Kai-Shek that opposed the CCP

Chinese Revolution of 1911

revolution that caused the collapse of China's imperial order

May Fourth Movement

a 1919 protest in China against the Treaty of Versailles and foreign influence

Mao Zedong

Chinese Communist leader from 1949 to 1976

Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

Communist party that has ruled China from 1949 to the present; most notably led by Mao Zedong

Chiang Kaishek

Chinese political leader and head of the Nationalists/Guomindang

Autumn Harvest Uprising

guerilla uprising of the Hunan peasants against the Guomindang and their landlords, led by Mao Zedong

soviet

Communist council of workers and soldiers

Futian Incident

a purge where Mao Zedong tortured and executed, including over 2000 officers and men from Red Army who were thought to be planning to betray him

Long March

6,000-mile flight of Chinese Communists from southeastern to northwestern China, which Mao Zedong led

Chinese Red Army

the military wing of the Chinese Communist Party

Marxism-Leninism

an expanded form of communism developed by Lenin from doctrines of Karl Marx

Li Lisan

the secretary general of the Chinese communist party, who opposed Mao

Wang Ming

leader of the 28 Bolsheviks in China

28 Bolsheviks

a group of communists in China who advocated for a proletarian revolution like the Soviet Union's

'Rectification of Conduct' campaign

a series of brutal purges in which Mao removed any member of the CCP he suspected of opposing his authority

Maoism

the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism developed in China by Mao Zedong

self-criticism

a Marxist-Leninist method of political hygiene and discipline, aimed at correcting ideological errors through criticizing oneself