In Between the Wars (1919–1939)

Benito Mussolini ("Il Duce")

The founder of Fascism who became the totalitarian dictator of Italy after capitalizing on economic unrest.

Adolf Hitler ("Der Fuhrer")

The totalitarian Nazi dictator of Germany who used extreme nationalism, racism, and terror to control the state.

Aryans

The Nazi term for a Germanic "master race" characterized by blonde hair and blue eyes.

Kulaks

Wealthy Russian peasants who fiercely resisted Stalin’s collective farming; they were executed or sent to labor camps by the millions.

Sudetenland

A border region of Czechoslovakia containing millions of ethnic Germans, which Hitler demanded and received at the Munich Conference.

Rhineland

A demilitarized buffer zone between Germany and France; Hitler openly violated the Treaty of Versailles by sending troops there in 1936.

Command Economy

An economic system where the central government makes all decisions regarding production, prices, and wages.

Collective Farms

Massive, government-owned agricultural estates created by Stalin by seizing private peasant land.

Appeasement

The policy of giving in to an aggressive nation’s demands (like Hitler's territorial expansions) in the hope of avoiding a war.

Dawes Plan

An American loan program designed to stabilize Germany's hyperinflated economy in the 1920s so they could pay reparations to France and Britain.

Great Depression

A severe, worldwide economic collapse triggered by the US stock market crash in October 1929.

Great Purge

Stalin's campaign of domestic terror aimed at eliminating anyone inside the Communist Party or military who threatened his total power.

Weimar Republic

The weak, unstable democratic government established in Germany after WWI; it was widely blamed for Germany's economic ruin.

Isolationism

A foreign policy of avoiding political or military entanglements with other countries, heavily favored by the US during the 1930s.

Kristallnacht

"Night of Broken Glass"; a highly organized 1938 Nazi pogrom where Jewish synagogues, homes, and businesses across Germany were systematically destroyed.

Mein Kampf

"My Struggle"; the book written by Hitler while in prison, detailing his core beliefs in Aryan supremacy, anti-Semitism, and Lebensraum (living space).

Munich Conference (1938)

A meeting where Britain and France chose to appease Hitler by letting him take the Sudetenland in exchange for a promise to stop expanding.

March on Rome (1922)

A massive rally of Fascist "Blackshirts" that forced the Italian King to appoint Mussolini as Prime Minister.

Nuremberg Laws (1935)

Nazi laws that stripped Jewish citizens of their German citizenship and banned marriage between Jews and non-Jews.

Non-Aggression Pact (1939)

A shocking public agreement between Hitler and Stalin promising not to attack each other, secretively planning to divide Poland between them.

Totalitarianism

A system of government where a single dictator exercises absolute, total control over every aspect of public and private life.

Fascism

A political movement emphasizing extreme nationalism, militarism, blind loyalty to a dictator, and the denial of individual rights.

WWI influence on interwar years

Economically: Left European nations bankrupt, leading to Great Depression. Politically: Shattered trust in democracies, opening paths for dictators. Socially: Created disillusioned citizens who turned to pop culture.

Conditions helping Fascists rise

Severe economic chaos (unemployment, inflation), fear of a communist revolution, and deep national humiliation following World War I.

Fascism vs. Communism

Fascism believes in a strict class system and protects private property; Communism seeks a classless society where the government owns all property.

Hitler vs. Stalin

Similarities: Both totalitarian dictators using secret police, terror, censorship, and youth indoctrination. Differences: Hitler was right-wing Fascist (racial purity); Stalin was left-wing Communist (state control).