National Socialism: Ideology, Gleichschaltung, and the Road to World War II

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering Adolf Hitler's ideology, the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship through Gleichschaltung and key emergency laws, and the foreign policy milestones leading to the outbreak of World War II.

Revisionspolitik (Revisionist Policy)

The foreign policy pursued by Germany until $1937$ that aimed to overturn the terms of the Versailles Treaty, including leaving the League of Nations ($1933$), reintroducing compulsory military service ($1935$), and remilitarizing the Rhineland ($1936$).

Lebensraum im Osten ("Living Space in the East")

Adolf Hitler's primary ideological foreign policy objective to militarily conquer eastern European territories to sustain, expand, and nourish the Germanic "master race."

Hoßbach-Niederschrift (Hossbach Memorandum)

An unauthorized record written by Colonel Friedrich Hoßbach documenting a secret meeting on November $5$, $1937$, in Berlin, where Adolf Hitler revealed his plan to solve Germany's "space problem" through violent military conquest.

Hitler-Stalin-Pakt (Hitler-Stalin Pact)

A non-aggression treaty concluded in August $1939$ between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union guaranteeing mutual neutrality in case of war and containing a secret additional protocol to divide Poland between them.

Blitzkrieg ("Lightning War")

Rapid, offensive military campaigns lasting only a few weeks, utilized by the German Reich to conquer Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and northern France in $1940$.

Vernichtungskrieg (War of Annihilation)

The large-scale military campaign launched by Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union in $1941$, characterized by unprecedented ideological brutality and total destruction.

Gleichschaltung (Coordination / Synchronization)

The systematic process of eliminating political opposition and forcing all state governments, administrative bodies, media, cultural institutions, and civic organizations to conform strictly to National Socialist ideology.

Reichstagsbrandverordnung (Reichstag Fire Decree)

The 'Decree for the Protection of People and State' enacted on February $28$, $1933$, which suspended fundamental Weimar constitutional rights, including freedom of the press and assembly, allowing arbitrary arrests and home searches.

Ermächtigungsgesetz (Enabling Act)

The law passed by the Reichstag on March $23$, $1933$, which allowed the cabinet to enact laws independently of parliament—even those violating the Weimar Constitution—thereby dismantling parliamentary democracy.

Tag von Potsdam (Day of Potsdam)

The ceremonial opening of the newly elected Reichstag on March $21$, $1933$, marked by a handshake between Hitler and Reich President Paul von Hindenburg to symbolize the union of monarchist-conservative tradition and the National Socialist regime.

Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums

An April $1933$ civil service law providing a legal facade for removing political dissidents (such as SPD and KPD supporters) and Jewish officials, reserving civil servant status exclusively for "Aryans" and regime loyalists.

Schutzhaft ("Protective Custody")

Arbitrary extrajudicial detention used by the Nazi regime to imprison political opponents, particularly communists and social democrats, in concentration camps without trial.

Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF)

The National Socialist organization formed in May $1933$ after the dissolution of independent trade unions, uniting workers and employers under state control to permeate the workforce with Nazi ideology.

Schriftleitergesetz (Editor Law)

A central regulatory law granting Joseph Goebbels' Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda strict supervision and control over journalists and press publications.

Volksgemeinschaft ("People's Community")

The Nazi ideological concept of a racially and culturally homogeneous society that eliminated individual rights and class differences, subordinating every citizen entirely to the state's goals.

Führerprinzip (Leader Principle)

An authoritarian governing principle that rejected democratic debate in favor of an all-powerful leader whose orders were to be obeyed unconditionally by all subordinates.

Sozialdarwinismus (Social Darwinism)

The distorted application of evolutionary biology to human societies, positing that human "races" exist in a continuous "racial struggle" ($Rassenkampf$) where only the strongest survive.

Rassenschande ("Racial Defilement")

The ideological and legal prohibition against marriage or sexual intercourse between "Aryans" and non-"Aryans" (particularly Jews) in order to maintain alleged "racial purity."

Hitlerjugend (HJ) and Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM)

Compulsory youth organizations for boys (HJ) and girls (BDM) up to the age of $18$, designed to separate young Germans from familial influence and provide premilitary drills and ideological indoctrination.

Rest-Tschechei

The derogatory Nazi term for the remaining rump Czech territory occupied by the German Wehrmacht in March $1939$ after the secession of Slovakia and the earlier annexation of the Sudetenland.