Unit 8: Years of Crisis / Road to WWII

Weimar Republic

Germany’s new goverment that was set up in 1919

Had many struggles from the beginning

Inflation

An increase in the price of goods over time and the decease in the value of money

Reparations

The compensation for war damage paid by a defeated state

The Great Depression

Many people made a lot of money buying and selling stocks on the stock market

October 29, 1929: millions of people sold their stocks and stock prices dropped: billions of dollars were lost

World trade dropped, investment stopped, banks failed

Fascism

A political movement that promoted extreme nationalism and militarism

Denies individual rights and dictatorial rule

Leader: Benito Mussolini

Nazism

A fascist movement that developed in in 1920-30’s Germany

Promoted the belief of the racial superiority of Germans

Leader: Adolf Hitler

Nuremburg Laws

Antisemitic laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany in 1935 to lessen the power of Jews

Anti-Semitism

Hostility or prejudice against Jewish people

Appeasement

Britain’s policy in the 1930’s of allowing Hitler to expand German territory unchecked: Emboldened Hitler and lead eventually to WWII

Munich Conference

A meeting that ended in an agreement between Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy that permitted Germany to annex the Sudetenland

Japanese Expansion

The country began taking over countries such as Hong Kong, Guam, Wake Island, and the Philippines

A main cause of WWII