World History (Russian Revolution, Communism/Fascism, WWII, Cold War)

Bolshevik

Communist party members (radical Marxists).

Lead By Vladimir Lenin.

Marxists

Supporters of Karl Marx ideologies.

Bloody Sunday

200,000 workers were killed because they had a petition in St. Petersburg and asked the czar for better working conditions and freedom.

Soviets

Worker (hammer) and farmer (sickle) council that then became the Russian government (USSR/Soviet Union).

Communism

Political theory derived from Karl Marx.

Had ideas of shared goods and everyone gets what they need.

Proletariat

Working-class people.

Bourgeoisie

“Bougie” capitalist class people that owned the majority of society’s wealth/production.

Facism

Far-right, authoritarian, extreme nationalist political ideology.

E.g. Leaders Hitler and Mussolini.

Weimar Republic

The failed democratic government in Germany after WWI.

Suffered b/c of political instability, the Treaty of Versailles, and hyperinflation.

Il Duce

Benito Mussolini’s title used to solidify his position as an absolute ruler of Italy.

Fuhrer

Adolf Hitler’s title used to solidify his position as an absolute ruler of Germany.

Mein Kampf

The book “My Struggle” Hitler wrote while in jail that outlines his ideologies and future plans for Germany.

Lebensraum

“Room to live”: Geopolitical concept used to justify the Nazi Party’s expansionist policies/invasion of other countries.

Axis Powers

Germany, Japan, Italy

Allied Powers

Britain, France, Russia, China, USA

Anti-Semitism

Hatred for Jews.

Jewish Ghetto

Filthy neighborhoods Jewish people were forced to live in as a means for control and isolation by the Nazis.

Einsatzgruppen

Mobile death squads established by Nazis to kill Jews and political opponents.

Kristallnacht

“Night of the Broken Glass”: Jewish businesses and homes were burned and looted by Nazis.

Final Solution

Hitler’s order of death camps to exterminate the European Jewish population.

Appeasement

To satisfy another (person/country) to avoid conflict.

E.g. Britain & France gave land of Czechoslovakia to Hitler to appease him.

Blitzkrieg

“Lightning War”: the method of offensive warfare responsible for Nazi Germany’s military successes in the beginning of WWII.

Cold War

USA vs Soviet Union after WWII.

Did not involve direct military contact between them.

Caused due to ideological & political differences between the USA & USSR.

Iron Curtain

Political (metaphorical) and physical (literal) barrier in Europe after WWII.

West (USA) vs. East (Soviet Union).