Life in Nazi Germany and the Weimar Republic (1918-1939)

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the social, economic, and political transformations in Germany from the Weimar Republic through the rise and control of the Nazi regime (1918-1939).

Three Ks

The Nazi belief that women belonged in the kitchen (Küche), should go to church (Kirche), and focus on children (Kinder).

Mother's Cross

An award given to women with multiple children as part of Hitler's policy to encourage a high birth rate.

Hitler Youth

An organization for boys with the aim of preparing them for the military.

League of German Maidens

An organization for girls with the aim of preparing them to be housewives.

Nuremberg Laws 1935

Laws that stripped Jews of citizenship, outlawed marriage between Jewish and German people, and took away Jews' civil and political rights.

Kristallnacht

Pogroms occurring on 9-10 Nov 1938 where Nazis unleashed violence against the Jewish population, resulting in around 30,000 being taken to concentration camps.

Kindertransport

An evacuation effort that began after Kristallnacht to bring Jewish children to Britain.

Eugenics

A subject taught in biology involving the selective breeding of the Aryan race and the belief that other races were 'untermensch' (sub-human).

Invisible Unemployment

Groups of people not included in official unemployment figures, such as women, Jews, and people in the army.

National Labour Service

Created in 1933 to provide a workforce for public works programmes like the construction of autobahns, hospitals, and schools.

Strength Through Joy

A Nazi program that rewarded workers for hard work through holidays, theatre trips, and other activities.

The Labour Front

An organization that set wages and was intended to replace trade unions.

Concordat

An agreement reached between the Nazis and the Catholic Church that separated the Church from the Nazi party and granted it certain freedoms.

Confessional Church

The Protestant opposition church led by Niemöller which preached that people should obey God, not Hitler.

Edelweiss Pirates

Working-class youth opposition who created anti-Nazi slogans and established no-go areas for the Hitler Youth.

White Rose Group

A resistance group formed by Munich University students in 1943 that published anti-Nazi leaflets.

Swing Youth

Middle-class youths who engaged in activities frowned upon by the Nazis, such as jazz music and dancing.

Reichstag Fire Decree

A decree passed using Article 48 that suspended freedom of expression, the right of free association, and public assembly.

Enabling Act 1933

A law that allowed Hitler to enact new laws without the consent of the President or the Reichstag for 4 years.

Night of the Long Knives

An event on 30th June 1934 where Röhm and around 400 members of the SA were murdered by the SS.

Gestapo

The secret police set up by Goering that arrested those showing resistance to the Nazis.

Wannsee Conference 1942

The conference where the Final Solution was passed, authorizing death camps for the large-scale murder of prisoners.

Spartacist Uprising

A communist uprising in Jan 1919 led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg involving 100,000 workers on strike in Berlin.

Freikorps

Former soldiers made unemployed by the Treaty of Versailles who were used to suppress uprisings and led the Kapp Putsch.

Article 48

A provision in the Weimar Constitution that allowed the President to suspend the constitution in an emergency.

Proportional Representation

The voting system used in the Weimar Constitution where seats are allocated based on the percentage of votes received.

Rentenmark

A new currency introduced by Stresemann in 1923 that was backed by gold to stabilize the economy after hyperinflation.

The Dawes Plan

A 1924 agreement where reparations were reduced to $£50\,\text{million}$ per year and the USA loaned Germany $25\,\text{billion}$ dollars.

Lebensraum

The Nazi policy of seeking 'living space' for the German people.

Autarky

The Nazi economic goal of self-sufficiency.

Munich Putsch 1923

Hitler's failed attempt to take over Munich with 600 SA, which led to his arrest and the writing of Mein Kampf.

Bamberg Conference 1926

A conference held to address a north/south split in the Nazi Party, reconciling economic policies for workers with nationalist and anti-Semitic goals.