Sean de lap history exam prep

Lateran Pacts (1929)

Mussolini's deal with the Pope: Vatican an independent state; Catholicism Italy's state religion.

1933 Concordat

Hitler's deal with Vatican: church non-interference in politics for state non-interference in church.

Reichskirche

Nazi attempt to merge 28 Protestant churches into one state-controlled church under Bishop Müller.

Confessional Church

Resisting Protestant church led by Niemöller (jailed in Dachau) and Bonhoeffer (executed).

Mit Brennender Sorge (1937)

Papal encyclical condemning Nazi ideology and persecution of the Church.

Cardinal von Galen (1941)

Bishop whose public sermons forced Nazis to temporarily halt the T4 euthanasia program.

Catholic Action (1931)

Major Church-State dispute in Italy over Catholic lay organization's control of youth.

Hitler's 3 Foreign Policy Aims

1. Overturn Versailles, 2. Unite German peoples (Anschluss), 3. Lebensraum in East.

1934 Pact with Poland

10-Year Non-Aggression Pact; a deceptive move to lull Poland and isolate it.

Anglo-German Naval Agreement (1935)

Britain let Germany build a navy 35% the size of its own; undermined Versailles.

Remilitarization of Rhineland (1936)

Hitler sent troops into demilitarized zone; France/Britain did nothing.

Anschluss (March 1938)

Union with Austria. Seyss-Inquart invited Nazis in after Schuschnigg resigned.

Munich Agreement (Sept 1938)

Britain/France gave Hitler Sudetenland; "peace for our time."

Nazi-Soviet Pact (Aug 1939)

Non-aggression pact with Stalin; secret clause to divide Poland.

Quote: Hugh Trevor-Roper

"The Second World War was Hitler's personal war… He intended it, he prepared for it, he chose the moment for launching it."

Enabling Act (March 1933)

Law passed by Reichstag giving Hitler power to rule by decree for 4 years.

Gleichschaltung

"Coordination"; the process of Nazifying all German institutions and banning rivals.

Night of the Long Knives (1934)

Purge of SA (Röhm) and other rivals; secured army support.

SS & Gestapo

The twin pillars of the Nazi police state and terror apparatus.

Key Stat: Unemployment

Fell from 6 million (1933) to 2 million (1938) via public works & rearmament.

Nuremberg Laws (1935)

Reich Citizenship Law (stripped Jews of rights) and Blood Law (forbade mixed marriages).

Kristallnacht (Nov 1938)

"Night of Broken Glass." State pogrom; 20,000+ Jews sent to concentration camps.

Ghettos (e.g., Warsaw)

Sealed Jewish districts. Warsaw held 450,000; 50,000 died from conditions there.

Einsatzgruppen

SS mobile killing squads; murdered over 1 million Jews in the USSR via mass shootings.

Wannsee Conference (Jan 1942)

Meeting chaired by Heydrich to coordinate the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question."

Auschwitz-Birkenau

Largest extermination camp; over 1 million Jews murdered there.

Hungary 1944 Example

250,000 Jews deported & murdered in 46 days. Deportations stopped by Pope/Red Cross pressure.

Key Stat: Holocaust Death Toll

Approximately 6 million Jews murdered.