AP Euro Unit 8: 20th Century Global Conflicts

World War I

(1914 - 1918) European war in which an alliance including Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and the United States defeated the alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

Totalitarianism

a form of government that permits no individual freedom and that seeks to subordinate all aspects of the individual's life to the authority of the government

Fascism

a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism; ex: Mussolini

Benito Mussolini

Italian leader; founded the Italian Fascist Party, and sided with Hitler and Germany in World War II; in 1945 he was overthrown and assassinated by the Italian Resistance

Weimar Republic/Reichstag

The democratic government of Germany between the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the assumption of power by Adolf Hitler in 1933; Weimar, Germany, was where its constitution was written; it abolished the constitutional monarchies that had previously formed the German Empire.

Hyperinflation

a situation where price increases are excessive; affected the Weimar Republic leading to internal political instability and crippled Germany economy

Nazi Party

anti-Semitic political party led by Adolf Hitler; aka: National Socialist German Workers' Party

Adolf Hitler

Led the Nazi party, and began to rule Germany in 1933 as a fascist dictator; supervised the murder of six million Jews and other supposed enemies of the Reich; began World War II by invading Poland in 1939

Anti-Semitism

a person who discriminates against or is prejudiced toward Jews; Nazi policy

Night of Broken Glass

Kristallnacht in German; in 1938 saw the organized destruction of Jewish businesses and homes in Munich

Munich Agreement

Failed 1938 pact between British PM Chamberlain and Hitler that Germany would not conquer any more land if it was given the Sudentenland (German-speaking area of Czechoslovakia); example of appeasement

Appeasement

the policy of acceding to the demands of a potentially hostile nation in the hope of maintaining peace; failed attempt to stop Hitler from invading European nations

Francisco Franco

Spanish general whose armies took control of Spain in 1939 and who ruled as a dictator until his death (1892-1975)

Spanish Civil War

1936 revolt in which General Franco succeeded in overthrowing the republican government

Axis Powers

a group of countries that opposed the Allied powers in World War II, including Germany, Italy, and Japan as well as Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia

Allied Powers

a group of countries that opposed the Axis powers in World War II; Great Britain, France, Russia, U.S.

Blitzkrieg

A form of warfare used by German forces in World War II; troops in tanks, made quick surprise strikes with support from airplanes; tactics resulted in the swift German conquest of France in 1940

Battle of Britain

the series of aerial combats that took place between British and German aircraft during the autumn of 1940 and that included the severe bombardment of British cities

Winston Churchill

British Prime Minster during most of WWII; famous for his inspiring speeches, and for his refusal to give in, even when things were going badly

Pearl Harbor

surprise attack by Japan on the U.S. naval base and other military installations December 7, 1941; brought the U.S. into WWII

Operation Barbarossa

Nazi Germany's invasion of Russia in June 1941; the largest military attack of WWII; failure of German troops to defeat Soviet forces in the campaign signaled a crucial turning point in the war

Battle of Stalingrad

successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad that was a turning point in favor of the Allies in World War II

Operation Overlord

code name given to the Allied invasion of France in June 1944; the commander of Operation Overlord was General Dwight Eisenhower

D-Day

June 6, 1944, on which the Allied invasion of Europe began during Operation Overlord

Dwight D. Eisenhower

United States general who supervised the invasion of Normandy and the defeat of Nazi Germany; 34th President of the United States (1890-1961)

Final Solution (Holocaust)

the Nazi program of annihilating the Jews of Europe during the Third Reich; established at the Wannsee Conference in 1942

"New Racial Order"

this term describes the plans of the Nazis to create a new hierarchy of races in Europe, with the Aryans leading over the "lesser" races whom they would conquer and eliminate

Auschwitz

a town in Poland: site of largest Nazi concentration camp during World War II

Island Hopping

A military strategy used during World War II in the Pacific that involved selectively attacking specific Japanese-held islands and bypassing others

Yalta Conference

second wartime meeting of British PM Winston Churchill, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt; the three leaders agreed to demand Germany's unconditional surrender and began plans for a post-war world

Manhattan Project

Code name for the U.S. production of the atomic bomb during WWII; much of the early research was done in New York City by refugee physicists in the U.S.

Hiroshima and Nagaski

In August 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world's first atomic bomb over these Japanese cities; the explosion destroyed 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure

New Physics

the age of discovery in the fields of science and physics post-WWI which led to a universe even more strange and complex than science had once thought

Max Planck

German physicist whose explanation of black body radiation in the context of measurable "quanta" initiated quantum theory (1858-1947)

Albert Einstein

20th century German physicist; developed theory of relativity; emigrated from Germany to the United States when the Nazis took power

Werner Heisenberg

A German physicist whose work broke down Newton's dependable laws to only probabilities

Weimar Republic

German republic founded after the WWI and the downfall of the German Empire's monarchy.

Treaty of Versailles

the treaty imposed on Germany by the Allied powers in 1920 after the end of World War I which demanded exorbitant reparations from the Germans

John Maynard Keynes

British economist who argued that for a nation to recovery fully from a depression, the govt had to spend money to encourage investment and consumption

reparations

As part of the Treaty of Versailles, money Germany was ordered to pay to the Allies to repay the costs of the war; opposed by the U.S., it lead to a severe depression in Germany.

Dawes Plan

successfully resolved the issue of World War I reparations that Germany had to pay; ended a crisis in European diplomacy following World War I and the Treaty of Versailles

Kellogg-Briand Pact

agreement attempting to eliminate war as an instrument of national policy; part of a series of peacekeeping efforts after World War I

Stock Market Crash

In October 1929, when value of stock fell so low, people were left with huge debts; banks ran out of money and closed, people lost jobs; start of Great Depression.

Great Depression

the economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in October 1929 and continuing through the 1930s

New Deal

historic program in the U.S. during which President Franklin Roosevelt's economic policies were implemented to bring relief during the Great Depression

Keynesian economics

theory based on the principles of John Maynard Keynes stating that government spending should increase during business slumps and be curbed during booms

Popular Front

An alliance of all left-wing parties to enact social and economic reforms in 1930s France and Spain

Russian Revolution

Prompted by labor unrest, personal liberties, and elected representatives, this political revolution occurred in 1917 when Tsar Nicholas II was murdered and Vladimir Lenin sought control to implement his ideas of socialism.

militarism

A policy of glorifying military power and keeping a standing army always prepared for war; one of the MAIN causes of WWI

Alliances of WWI

Allies - Triple Entente: Russia, Britain, France, US (joins later)
Central Powers - Triple Alliance: Austria-Hungary, Germany, Italy (dropped out), Ottoman Empire (joins later)

Imperialism

A policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries politically, socially, and economically; one of the MAIN causes of WWI

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Heir to Austro-Hungarian throne who was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist in June 1914; his death is the spark that caused WW I.

Armistice Day

November 11, 1918; Germany signed an armistice (an agreement to stop fighting) ending WWI; the U.S. holiday is known as Veterans Day

Paris Peace Conference

1919, meeting of the Allies at the end of WWI, excluded Germany and Russia; concluded with Treaty of Versailles

Woodrow Wilson

President of the U.S. in WWI and the leading figure at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919; unable to persuade the U.S. Congress to ratify the Treaty of Versailles or join the League of Nations

Fourteen Points

Woodrow Wilson's post-WWI plan, most of which was rejected by European leaders following the war

League of Nations

established in 1920 to promote international cooperation and peace; first proposed in 1918 by Pres. Wilson, although the U.S. never joined; essentially powerless, it was officially dissolved in 1946

War Guilt Clause

A provision in the Treaty of Versailles by which Germany acknowledged that it alone was responsible for WWI

Mandate System

Allocation of former German colonies and Ottoman possessions to the victorious powers after World War I; to be administered under League of Nations supervision

Tsar Nicholas II

Ruler of Russia during WWI, abdicated throne during Russian Revolution; was assassinated by Bolsheviks

Provisional Government

A temporary Russian government created by the Duma after the abdication of the tsar; decided to remain in WWI, costing it the support of the Soviets and the people.

Petrograd Soviet

The St. Petersburg council of workers, soldiers, and intellectuals who shared power with the provisional government of Russia

Bolshevik Revolution

The overthrow of Russia's Provisional Government in the fall of 1917 by Lenin and his Bolshevik forces, made possible by the government's losses in the war, its failure to bring political reform, and a decline in the conditions of everyday life

Vladimir Lenin

Russian founder of the Bolsheviks and leader of the Russian Revolution and first head of the USSR (1870-1924)

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

Enrico Fermi

Italian-American physicist; created first controlled nuclear reaction

Niels Bohr

Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922

Joseph Stalin

dictator of Soviet Union who succeeded Lenin as head of the Communist Party and created a totalitarian state by purging all opposition (1879-1953)

Kulaks

Rich peasants in Russia who owned larger farms and used hired labor; resisted Stalin's forced collectivization, and millions were arrested, exiled, or killed.

Isolationism

A policy of nonparticipation in international economic and political relations; U.S. policy after WWI; contributed to rise of fascism

"New Woman"

A response to the traditional roles of wife and mother; early 20th century women remained unmarried until later in their lives, gained education, organized for women's suffrage, and worked outside the home

Lost Generation

Group of writers in 1920s who shared the belief that they were lost in a greedy, materialistic world that lacked moral values and often choose to emigrate to Europe; ex: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Stein

Nuremberg Laws

in 1935, established legal basis in Nazi Germany for discrimination against Jews

Neville Chamberlain

British Prime Minister at beginning of WWII; most remembered for his ill-advised policy of appeasement toward Nazi Germany prior to World War II