Interwar Period, Great Depression, and the Rise of Totalitarianism

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing key political, social, and economic terms from the Great Depression, New Deal, interwar foreign policy, Soviet command economy, and Japanese militarism.

Fireside Chats

Radio broadcasts where FDR spoke directly to the public to explain policy and New Deal initiatives in simple terms.

3 Rs

The core framework of FDR's New Deal strategy, standing for Relief, Recovery, and Reform.

Relief

The New Deal objective focused on providing immediate assistance to citizens through public jobs and job-creating agencies.

Federal Arts Project

A New Deal program that commissioned murals in new buildings, framing men as restored ideals through labor and glorifying domestic roles for women.

Command Economy

An economic system established in the Soviet Union by Stalin that eliminated private property and placed complete economic control under the state.

5-Year Plans

Soviet economic initiatives introduced under Stalin to achieve rapid industrialization and force the state-managed collectivization of agriculture.

NKVD

The Soviet secret police responsible for carrying out political purges and executions of approximately $1\text{ million}$ people.

Mukden Incident

A 1931 event in which the Kwantung Army detonated explosives on a Japanese-owned railway in Manchuria, blamed Chinese saboteurs, and used the event as a pretext to seize Manchuria without authorization from Japan's civilian government.

Kwantung Army

An imperial Japanese army unit that operated independently of civilian political control to advance aggressive military expansion in Manchuria.

Second Sino-Japanese War

A full-scale military invasion of China launched by Japan in July 1937, exploiting a Chinese nation already weakened by civil war.

Nanking Massacre

The 1937 atrocity involving the widespread mass killing and violence against Chinese women in Nanking by imperial Japanese forces.

Hoovervilles

Makeshift shantytowns built by homeless individuals on the outskirts of major American cities during the Great Depression.

Dust Storm (1930–1940)

A major environmental disaster in the central United States that resulted in $250\text{K}\text{--}500\text{K}$ farmers losing their land.

National Negro Congress

An organization established to advocate for equal rights and present specific economic and labor demands to the US government on behalf of Black citizens.

Fascism

An authoritarian ideology asserting absolute state power over individual liberty, rejecting democracy, affirming the natural inequality of human beings, and seeking expansion through violent action.

Zaibatsu

Large industrial and financial business conglomerates that controlled $30\text{--}40\%$ of the Japanese economy prior to World War II.

Shiseido

A Japanese cosmetic company whose early 20th-century advertisements featured Western beauty ideals and modern trends.

Prohibition

The nationwide constitutional ban on alcohol sales in the United States, which officially ended in 1933.

Buying on Margin

The practice of buying stock shares by paying a small percentage of cash upfront and borrowing the remainder on credit.

Showa Restoration

A movement driven by Japanese ultra-nationalists centered around Emperor Hirohito to promote militarism and territorial expansion.