APWH VOCAB #18 - InterWar Period

hyperinflation

Extremely rapid inflation that makes currency nearly worthless, experienced severely by Germany in the early 1920s.

consumerism

An economic system emphasizing mass consumption of goods, which expanded in the 1920s and collapsed during the Great Depression.

protectionism

Economic policy using tariffs and trade barriers to protect domestic industries, which worsened the Great Depression.

Black Thursday

October 24, 1929, the day the U.S. stock market crashed, signaling the beginning of the Great Depression.

Great Depression

A global economic downturn beginning in 1929 that caused massive unemployment, poverty, and political instability worldwide.

welfare state

A system in which the government provides social services (unemployment aid, pensions, healthcare) to protect citizens' well-being.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

U.S. president who responded to the Great Depression with the New Deal and expanded federal government intervention.

New Deal

Roosevelt's programs aimed at economic recovery, relief for the unemployed, and reform of the financial system.

John Maynard Keynes

Economist who argued that governments should use spending to stimulate economies during downturns.

deficit spending

Government practice of spending more money than it collects in revenue to stimulate economic growth.

Smoot-Hawley Tariff

U.S. tariff law that raised import taxes and worsened global trade during the Great Depression.

fascism

An authoritarian political ideology emphasizing nationalism, militarism, and obedience to a single leader.

Adolf Hitler

Leader of Nazi Germany whose totalitarian regime pursued expansion, racial purity, and genocide.

Benito Mussolini

Fascist dictator of Italy who emphasized nationalism, militarism, and state control of society.

corporatism

Fascist economic system where the state controls cooperation between businesses, labor, and government.

Il Duce

Title meaning 'The Leader,' used by Mussolini to emphasize his authority.

Blackshirts

Fascist paramilitary group in Italy that used violence to suppress opposition.

Francisco Franco

Authoritarian ruler of Spain who came to power after the Spanish Civil War.

Spanish Civil War

Conflict (1936-1939) between Republicans and Nationalists that led to Franco's dictatorship.

Popular Front

Coalition of leftist groups opposing fascism, especially in France and Spain.

Guernica

Spanish town bombed by German aircraft during the Spanish Civil War, symbolizing civilian suffering.

Basque Region

Area in northern Spain whose civilian population was targeted during the bombing of Guernica.

Hideki Tojo

Japanese military leader and prime minister who supported aggressive expansion during World War II.

Emperor Hirohito

Emperor of Japan during World War II who symbolized national unity under militarist rule.

Rape of Nanking

Massacre and atrocities committed by Japanese troops in China in 1937.

National Socialist Party

The Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler that promoted fascism, nationalism, and antisemitism.

Gestapo

Nazi Germany's secret police force used to eliminate opposition and enforce state control.

propaganda

Government-controlled information used to influence public opinion and promote ideology.

Third Reich

Nazi term for Germany under Hitler's rule (1933-1945).

Luftwaffe

German air force used extensively in World War II.

Lebensraum

Nazi belief that Germany needed territorial expansion for the survival of the Aryan people.

Sudetenland

German-speaking region of Czechoslovakia annexed by Germany in 1938.

Mein Kampf

Hitler's autobiographical book outlining Nazi ideology and plans for expansion.

appeasement

Policy of conceding to aggressive demands to avoid conflict, used by European leaders toward Hitler.

Neville Chamberlain

British prime minister who pursued appeasement before World War II.

Édouard Daladier

French leader who supported appeasement at the Munich Conference.

Anschluss

1938 annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany.

Munich Agreement

1938 agreement allowing Germany to take the Sudetenland to avoid war.

Nuremberg Laws

Nazi laws that stripped Jews of citizenship and legal rights.

ghettos

Segregated urban areas where Jews were forced to live under Nazi rule.

Kristallnacht

1938 pogrom against Jews in Germany involving violence, destruction of synagogues, and arrests.

Gulag

A system of forced labor camps in the Soviet Union under Stalin used to punish political opponents and supply labor for industrial projects.

Joseph Stalin

Leader of the Soviet Union after Lenin who transformed the USSR into a totalitarian state through industrialization, collectivization, and political repression.

Five-Year Plan

Stalin's government program that set production quotas for heavy industry and infrastructure to rapidly industrialize the Soviet economy.

Totalitarianism

A system of government in which the state exercises total control over politics, the economy, society, culture, and often private life, using propaganda and repression.

Collectivization

Stalin's policy of consolidating individual farms into state-controlled collective farms, aimed at increasing agricultural output but causing widespread famine and resistance.