Chapter 27 - Dictatorships and the Second World War

Totalitarianism

a radical dictatorship that exercises "total claims" over the beliefs and behavior of its citizens by taking control of the economic, social, intellectual, and cultural aspects of society

Stalinism

the name given to the Communist system in the Soviet Union during the rule of Joseph Stalin.

Fascism

a movement characterized by extreme, often expansionist nationalism; anti-socialism; a dynamic and violent leader; and glorification of war and the military

Eugenics

a pseudoscientific doctrine saying the selective breeding of human beings can improve the general characteristics of a national population, which helped inspire Nazi ideas about national unity and racial exclusion and ultimately contributed to the Holocaust

New Economic Policy (NEP)

Lenin's 1921 policy to re-establish limited economic freedom in an attempt to rebuild agriculture and industry in the face of economic disintegration, bringing economic recovery

Five-Year Plan

A plan launched by Stalin in 1928 and termed the "revolution from above,” aimed at modernizing the Soviet Union and creating a new Communist society with new attitudes, new loyalties, and a new socialist humanity

Collectivization of Agriculture

the forcible consolidation of individual peasant farms into large state-controlled enterprises in the Soviet Union under Stalin; devastating to many peasants and brought about mass starvation

Kulaks

the better-off peasants who were stripped of land and livestock under Stalin and were generally not permitted to join collective farms; many of them starved or were deported to forced-labor camps for "re-education”

Black Shirts

Mussolini's private militia, which destroyed socialist newspapers, union halls, and Socialist Party headquarters, eventually pushing Socialists out of the city governments of northern Italy

Lateran Agreement

a 1929 agreement that recognized the Vatican as an independent state, with Mussolini agreeing to give the church heavy financial support in return for public support from the pope.

National Socialism

a movement and political party driven by extreme nationalism and racism, led by Adolf Hitler; its adherents ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945 and forced Europe into World War Il

Enabling Act

an act pushed through the Reichstag by the Nazis that gave Hitler absolute dictatorial power for four years

Appeasement

the British policy toward Germany prior to World War ll that aimed at granting Hitler's territorial demands, including western Czechoslovakia, in order to avoid war

New Order

Hitler's program based on racial imperialism, which gave preferential treatment to the "Nordic" peoples; the French, an "inferior" Latin people, occupied a middle position; and Slavs and Jews were treated harshly as "subhumans”

Holocaust

the systematic effort of the Nazi state to exterminate all European Jews and other groups deemed racially inferior during the Second World War

Battle of Stalingrad

A Russian victory over Germany in winter 1942-1943 and a major turning point in the war, which led to the ultimate defeat of the Germans in May 1945

communism wanted to establish an international movement, fascism stayed within the nation (but often was expansionist); communism controls big business, levels social classes, and nationalizes industry, fascism is controlled by big business, keeps class differences, and keeps industry private

Differences between fascism and communism:

150% growth in agricultural production, 250% growth in industry, restricted consumer goods, leading to a lower living standard

Stalin’s goals for the Soviet Union:

welfare programs, class levelling, women gained more rights in the Bolshevik revolution but revoked by Stalin to strengthen traditional family roles, heavy censorship and propaganda

Society and culture under Stalin:

Stalin’s Purges/”Great Terror”

mid to late 1930s - Stalin purged the Communist Party of anyone that was loyal to Lenin or questioned his leadership. He arrested over 8 million and executed a large percentage. He replaced them with over 1 million communists were solely loyal to him

Gulag

forced labor camps during the Great Terror, millions of USSR citizens died in these camps

Benito Mussolini

fascist leader of Italy from 1922-45. Originally a Socialist, he was an early member of the Black Shirts, Italy's fascist party. He led the overthrow of the Italian government in 1922 and led Italy through WWII. He was assassinated in 1945

March on Rome

October 1922, led to Mussolini taking power from King Victor Emmanuel III

Nazism

extreme nationalism combined with racism, included hyper-nationalism, which fed the impulse to conquer other nations

Beer Hall Putsch

in 1923 the Nazis attempted to overthrow the government in Munich. It was a total failure, and Hitler received a brief prison sentence during which time he wrote Mein Kampf

Mein Kampf

"My Struggle"—a book written by Adolf Hitler during his imprisonment in 1923-1924, in which he set forth his beliefs and his goals for Germany, he particularly introduced his desire to "purify" the German race

The Third Reich

the Third Republic of Germany under Hitler (1933-1945)

Reichstag Fire

the Reichstag building was partially destroyed from a fire, Hitler claimed it an attack from the communists (all of which were later killed and jailed) and allowed Hitler to become dictator in the crisis

Night of Long Knives

June 1934; Hitler's elite personal guard arrested and shot without trial about 1,000 military and political enemies (the SA)

S.S.

Hitler's elite personal guard, grew dramatically in influence as Hitler's private army and secret police; led by Heinrich Himmler

Nuremberg Laws

1935, deprived Jews of all rights of citizenship; marriage or sex between Jews and other Germans was prohibited

Kristallnacht

"Night of broken glass," occurring in November 1938. This marked the beginning of overtly violent Nazi attacks against the Jewish population in Germany

Gestapo

joined the S.S. with the political police to expand its network of special courts and concentration camps

Hitler Youth

Nazis indoctrinated these with views of German racial superiority and Jews as the sources of Germany's problems; membership eventually became mandatory

Spanish Civil War

a conflict from 1936 to 1939 that resulted in the installation of fascist dictator Francisco Franco as ruler of Spain; Franco's forces were backed by Germany and Italy, whereas the Soviet Union supported the opposing republican forces

Francisco Franco

Spanish General; organized the revolt in Morocco which led to the Spanish Civil War. Leader of the Nationalists (right wing), supported by Hitler and Mussolini, won the Civil War after three years of fighting

Neville Chamberlain

(1937-1940) British Prime Minister who as Prime Minister pursued a policy of appeasement toward fascist Germany

Winston Churchill

a noted British statesman who led Britain throughout most of World War II as Prime Minister and along with Roosevelt planned many allied campaigns. He predicted an iron curtain that would separate Communist Europe from the rest of the West

“Peace in Our Time”

Chamberlain returned, with this quote, to Britain a hero after Hitler stated that he would make no more territorial demands in Europe

Demilitarization of the Rhineland

Hitler sent 400,000 troops into Rhineland; Rhineland was a permanently demilitarized zone according to the Versailles and Locarno agreements; the remilitarization of it was viewed as a direct threat to France's security. Earned him great psychic and diplomatic triumph over his generals and the French

Invasion of the Sudetenland

the German-Speaking province in western Czechoslovakia that Hitler demanded Germany receive

Invasion of Czechoslovakia

was invaded by Germany in March 1939, they did not resist the invasion

Invasion of Poland

1939 military invasion of Poland by Hitler, the last straw for the Allies as Britain and France declared war

Lebensraum

“living space” justification for German expansion into ethnically German regions

Rome-Berlin Axis

Hitler’s alliance with Mussolini in 1936, and later Japan, forming the Axis Powers

Nazi-Soviet Pact

secret agreement between the Germans and the Russians that said that they would not attack each other; 1 week after signed Poland was invaded and WWII began

Blitzkrieg

German for "lightning war"; a strategy for the conduct of the war in which motorized firepower quickly and overwelmingly attacks the enemy, leaving it unable to resist militarily or psychologically. It was was first used on alrge scale by the German army in WWII

Battle of France

1940 German invasion of northern and eastern France, very quick

Battle of Britain (The Blitz)

after quickly defeating most of Western Europe, the Nazis launched an aerial attack against Great Britain in 1940. Believing that the bombing raids would force England's surrender, the raids, targeting both military and civilian targets, lasted until 1941. The British Army withstood the brutal Luftwaffe assault, and Hitler shelved his plan for the invasion of Britain

Vichy France

(1940-1944) Southern pro-Nazi French headed by Marshal Petain; govern themselves as loyal to Nazis, traitors to the "Free French" in northern France

Battle of the Bulge

(December 1944-January 1945) After recapturing France, the Allied advance became stalled along the German border. In the winter of 1944, Germany staged a massive counterattack in Belgium and Luxembourg which pushed a 30 mile "bulge" into the Allied lines. The Allies stopped the German advance and threw them back across the Rhine with heavy losses

Siege of Leningrad

Fall 1941 - Nazi's surrounded the city of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) for almost 900 days. While the Soviets eventually pushed the Nazis out of Russia, over 1 million Soviet citizens died as a result of the blockade - making it the deadliest siege in human history

Operation Barbarossa

(Commenced June 22, 1941) The codename for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II; the largest military operation in WWII.

Rape of Nanking

(1937) 6-week period following the Japanese capture of the city of Nanjing. Thousands of civilians were murdered and raped by soldiers of Imperial Japanese Army

D-Day

On June 6, 1944, Allied forces invaded German-held France at Normandy. It was a decisive Allied victory

VE Day

Victory in Europe Day, May 8, 1945

VJ Day

Victory in Japan Day, August 14, 1945

The Big Three

the leaders of the Allied nations during and after WWII: the US president Roosevelt, the British prime minister Churchill, and the Soviet Union's premier Stalin. The term referred to the meetings held by these leaders to discuss the running of the war and postwar concerns such as the demarcation boundaries

The New Three

Truman, Attlee, and Stalin

Tehran Conference

1943, First meeting of the Big Three; allies agreed to an invasion of Western Europe in 1944; Stalin reaffirmed the Soviet commitment to enter the war against Japan once Germany had been defeated

Potsdam Conference

July 1945 - The place at which the three allied leaders, Truman, Stalin, and Attlee, met to discuss the distribution of Germany and the ultimatum that they would issue to Japan demanding their immediate surrender - real Cold War tensions start here with free elections in the east and German divisions

Yalta Conference

FDR, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta. Russia agreed to declare war on Japan after the surrender of Germany and in return FDR and Churchill promised the USSR concession in Manchuria and the territories that it had lost in the Russo-Japanese War - Poland relocated, UN created, Germany zonation, reparations to USSR

the US is the western superpower, the USSR is the eastern superpower, fascism on decline, creation of the UN, the prominence of Europe declines

Outcomes of WWII: