18 - interwar period

hyperinflation

Extremely rapid inflation that causes a country’s currency to lose value quickly.

consumerism

The belief that buying goods and services in large amounts drives economic growth.

protectionism

Government policies that limit foreign trade to protect domestic industries.

black thursday

October 24, 1929; the major stock market crash that helped trigger the Great Depression.

great depression

A worldwide economic collapse during the 1930s marked by mass unemployment and poverty.

welfare state

A system where the government provides social services like healthcare, pensions, and unemployment aid.

franklin d roosevelt

FDR - U.S. president who led the country during the Great Depression and WWII.

new deal

FDR’s programs aimed at economic recovery, job creation, and social reform.

John Maynard Keynes

Economist who argued governments should spend money to stimulate the economy during downturns.

deficit spending

When a government spends more money than it collects in taxes.

smoot hawley tariff

U.S. law that raised tariffs on imports, worsening the Great Depression.

fascism

An authoritarian political system emphasizing nationalism, dictatorship, and control of society

adolf hitlerz

Leader of Nazi Germany and dictator during World War II.

benito mussolini

Fascist dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943.

corporatism

Economic system where the state controls cooperation between businesses and labor groups.

Il Duce

Title meaning “The Leader,” used by Mussolini.

blackshirts

Mussolini’s paramilitary followers who enforced fascist control in Italy.

francisco franco

Dictator of Spain after winning the Spanish Civil War.

spanish civil war

Conflict (1936–1939) between Republicans and Nationalists led by Franco.

popular front

Coalition of left-wing groups opposing fascism in Europe.

guernica

Spanish town bombed by German forces; became a symbol of civilian suffering.

basque region

Area in northern Spain with a distinct culture and language.

hideki tojo

Japanese prime minister during most of World War II.

emperor hirohito

Emperor of Japan during World War II.

rape of nanking

Mass violence committed by Japanese troops in China in 1937.

gestapo

Nazi Germany’s secret police.

propaganda

Information used to influence public opinion, often biased or misleading.

third reich

Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.

luftwaffe

German air force under the Nazis.

Lebensraum

Nazi idea of expanding German territory for living space.

sudetenland

German-speaking region of Czechoslovakia taken by Nazi Germany.

mein kampf

Hitler’s book outlining Nazi ideology and goals.

appeasement

Policy of giving in to demands to avoid conflict.

Neville Chamberlain

British prime minister who supported appeasement.

edouard Daladier

French leader who supported appeasement at Munich.

Anschluss

Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria in 1938.

Munich Agreement

1938 agreement allowing Germany to take the Sudetenland.

Nuremberg Laws

Nazi laws that stripped Jewish people of rights.

Ghetto

Section of a city where Jewish populations were forced to live.

Kristallnacht

1938 Nazi-led attacks on Jewish businesses and synagogues

Joseph Stalin

Dictator of the Soviet Union after Lenin.

Five-Year Plan

Soviet economic plans to rapidly industrialize.

Collectivization

Forcing farmers to work on state-controlled farms

Totalitarianism –

System where the government has total control over society

gulag

Soviet labor camp system used for punishment and imprisonment.