Social Studies: War & Peace

Yr9

Local Council

The local level of government in Aotearoa led by a mayor and councillors, funded by rates collected from citizens to manage local services and community amenities.

Central Government

The national governing body of Aotearoa led by the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers alongside Members of Parliament ($120$ total), responsible for collecting taxes and making decisions that affect the entire country.

Governor-General

The official representative of New Zealand's Head of State (King Charles III) in Aotearoa who performs ceremonial duties, such as granting Royal Assent to make bills into law (currently Dame Cindy Kiro, appointed in $2021$).

Constitutional Monarchy

A system of government where a monarch serves as the official Head of State in a ceremonial capacity without making policy, while an elected government led by a Prime Minister holds executive power.

Anarchy

A state of society characterized by the absence of an organized system of government or central leadership.

Oligarchy

A form of government where power and decision-making authority are held by a small, elite group of people.

Direct Democracy

A governance system established in Ancient Athens in which all eligible citizens vote and have a direct say on every law, policy, and decision.

Representative Democracy

A democratic system in which eligible citizens vote to elect representatives (such as Members of Parliament) to debate, pass laws, and govern on their behalf.

Treaty of Versailles

The peace treaty signed in June $1919$ at the Palace of Versailles in France that officially concluded World War I, forcing Germany to take the blame for the war, forfeit territories, and pay massive financial reparations.

Axis Powers

The military alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies.

Allied Powers (Allies)

The international coalition formed during World War II to oppose the Axis powers, comprising Britain and its dominions/colonies (including New Zealand, Australia, and Canada), France, the Soviet Union, and the United States.

Theatre of War

A major geographic region where active military operations and combat take place during an armed conflict (such as the European, Asian, Pacific, and African theatres in World War II).

Pearl Harbor

The United States naval base in Hawaii that suffered a surprise attack by the Japanese military on December $7$, $1941$, causing the United States to declare war and join World War II on the side of the Allies.

Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The detonation of two US nuclear bombs over Hiroshima (August $6$, $1945$) and Nagasaki (August $9$, $1945$), killing between $150{,}000$ and $250{,}000$ people and causing Japan's surrender, which marked the end of World War II.

Sadako Sasaki

A young Japanese survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb who developed radiation-induced leukemia and became globally recognized for her effort to fold $1{,}000$ origami paper cranes for peace.

Cold War

The post-WWII geopolitical rivalry and ideological conflict between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, which lasted until the collapse of the USSR in $1991$.

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

The military deterrence doctrine postulating that a full-scale nuclear strike by one superpower against another would inevitably lead to a retaliatory strike resulting in the complete annihilation of both sides.

Space Race

The Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union from $1957$ to $1969$ to achieve superior aerospace milestones and technological dominance.

Tsar Bomba

A Soviet hydrogen bomb detonated in the Arctic Ocean on October $30$, $1961$, yielding approximately $50\,\text{megatons}$ ($3{,}300$ times more powerful than the Hiroshima weapon), making it the most powerful nuclear bomb ever tested.

New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987

Legislation passed by New Zealand that banned nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed vessels from entering NZ territorial waters and officially declared the country's land, sea, and airspace nuclear-free zones.

Führer

The supreme dictatorial title meaning 'Leader' assumed by Adolf Hitler in $1934$ after the death of President Paul von Hindenburg, merging the roles of Chancellor and Head of State.

Third Reich

The historical term used to designate the period of National Socialist (Nazi) totalitarian rule in Germany from $1933$ until its defeat in $1945$.

Enabling Act (1933)

A German constitutional amendment passed in $1933$ that gave Adolf Hitler the plenary power to pass laws without the involvement or approval of the Reichstag, creating his legal dictatorship.

Nuremberg Laws (1935)

Antisemitic laws enacted in $1935$—including the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour—that stripped Jews of citizenship, outlawed intermarriage, and defined Jewish identity by family ancestry.

Aryan

The racial categorization falsely claimed by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party to be the pure, superior German master race at the top of their racial hierarchy.

Propaganda

Information—often misleading, biased, or manipulated—disseminated through media, books, posters, and speeches to control public opinion and promote a specific ideological agenda.

Stereotyping

The practice of categorizing and judging individuals or social groups based on predetermined generalizations rather than personal reality.

Der Giftpilz

An antisemitic children's book published by the Nazi regime (translating to 'The Poisonous Mushroom') that used propaganda stories to depict Jews as poisonous threats to German society.

The Holocaust

The systematic, state-sponsored genocide carried out by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between $1941$ and $1945$, resulting in the mass murder of six million European Jews.

Yellow Star of David

A yellow star-shaped cloth badge inscribed with 'Jude' that all Jewish people over the age of six in Nazi-controlled areas were legally compelled to wear in public from September $1941$ to isolate them as 'the other.'

The Final Solution

The code name implemented by the Nazi leadership in $1941$ for the comprehensive plan to systematically murder all Jewish people across Europe.

Auschwitz

The largest Nazi concentration, forced-labour, and extermination camp complex, situated in occupied Poland, where over one million people were murdered.

Cleisthenes

The ancient Athenian statesman regarded as the father of Athenian democracy, who established the first democratic constitution in approximately $508\,\text{BC}$.

Demos and Kratos

The Ancient Greek root words forming 'democracy': 'demos' meaning 'people' and 'kratos' meaning 'power' (translating to 'power to the people').

Mixed Member Proportional (MMP)

The electoral system used in Aotearoa New Zealand where each eligible voter gets two votes: a party vote and an electorate vote.

Party Vote

The vote on a New Zealand general election ballot paper that determines the total share of the $120$ parliamentary seats each political party receives.

Electorate Vote

The vote on a New Zealand ballot paper cast by a citizen to select the specific candidate they want to represent their local geographical voting district in Parliament.

Separation of Powers

The constitutional doctrine dividing state governance into three distinct branches—the Legislature (Parliament), the Executive (Cabinet/Government), and the Judiciary (Courts)—to prevent abuses of power through checks and balances.

Legislature (Parliament)

The law-making branch of New Zealand's government composed of the House of Representatives (approx. $120$ elected MPs) and the Governor-General, responsible for debating and passing statutes.

Executive Branch

The branch of government comprising the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, and civil service departments responsible for the day-to-day administration of the country and execution of laws.

Judiciary

The independent judicial branch consisting of judges and courts (with the Supreme Court being the highest) responsible for interpreting and applying the law, resolving disputes, and ensuring legal justice.

Coalition Government

A government formed in a parliamentary system when no single political party secures an absolute majority of seats, requiring parties to negotiate and share executive power.

Full Democracy

A classification in the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index where civil liberties, free and fair elections, rule of law, government transparency, and political freedoms are strongly protected and reinforced.

Flawed Democracy

A classification in the EIU Democracy Index where elections are free and fair and basic rights are respected, but weaknesses exist such as low political participation, government distrust, or restrictions on civil liberties.

Suffrage

The legal and constitutional right to cast a vote in public political elections.

Kate Sheppard

The pioneering New Zealand suffragist who led the campaign for women's voting rights, commemorated on the New Zealand ten-dollar banknote alongside the white camellia.

1893 Women's Suffrage Petition

A landmark petition signed by over $32{,}000$ people and spanning over $270\,\text{meters}$, presented to the New Zealand Parliament to demand the franchise for women.

White Camellia

The flower presented to members of the New Zealand Parliament who supported granting women the right to vote in $1893$, which became an enduring emblem of the Kiwi suffrage movement.

Electoral Act 1893

The legislation signed into law on September $19$, $1893$, which established New Zealand as the first self-governing nation in the world to grant all women the right to vote.