Unit 2: World War II and the Holocaust

Treaty of Versailles

The monumental peace treaty signed in 1919 at the end of World War I. It imposed significant restrictions on Germany, including severe limitations on its military size and capabilities, territorial losses, and reparations, aiming to prevent future conflicts.

Great Depression

A devastating global economic crisis that began in 1929 and lasted through the 1930s. It was marked by widespread mass unemployment, severe financial instability, widespread poverty, and a drastic decline in industrial production and trade worldwide.

Demilitarized Zone

A specific territory or border area where military installations, forces, and weapons are strictly forbidden by international agreement. A prominent example was the German Rhineland, mandated by the Treaty of Versailles, to serve as a buffer zone and prevent German aggression towards France.

Appeasement

A diplomatic policy of making concessions to aggressive or dictatorial powers in an attempt to avoid war. It was famously adopted by Britain and France in the 1930s, particularly in their responses to Adolf Hitler's territorial demands, ultimately failing to prevent World War II.

Munich Conference

A pivotal diplomatic meeting held in September 1938, where representatives from Britain, France, and Italy consented to Hitler's demand for the annexation of the Sudetenland (a German-speaking region of Czechoslovakia). This agreement, a prime example of appeasement, was intended to avert war but only emboldened Nazi Germany's expansionist ambitions.

Third Reich

The official name for the Nazi regime in Germany, which lasted from 1933 to 1945. Led by Adolf Hitler, it was envisioned by him to be a 'thousand-year Reich' that would dominate Europe and establish a new racial order.

Lebensraum

A German term meaning 'living space,' central to Nazi ideology and Hitler's foreign policy. It referred to the belief that the German people needed additional territory, particularly in Eastern Europe, which would be conquered, cleared of its indigenous populations, and settled by Germans to secure food and resources.

Anti-semitism

Prejudice, discrimination, and hatred directed specifically against Jews. It was a foundational and virulent component of Nazi ideology, leading to the systematic persecution and eventual genocide of European Jews during the Holocaust.

Isolationist policies

The foreign policy approach adopted by the United States during the 1930s, characterized by a deliberate effort to avoid political and military involvement in foreign conflicts, particularly those in Europe. This was largely a reaction to the human and economic costs of World War I.

Neutrality Acts

A series of U.S. laws passed in the 1930s, designed to keep the United States out of impending European conflicts. These acts prohibited the export of arms, ammunition, and implements of war to belligerent nations, and later restricted loans and travel on belligerent ships.

Blitzkrieg

A German military strategy, meaning 'lightning war,' which involved rapid, overwhelming offensive operations. It combined synchronized powerful air support, fast-moving armored divisions (tanks), and motorized infantry to achieve swift victory by bypassing enemy lines and incapacitating communication and supply.

D-Day

The codename for the Allied forces' massive amphibious invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. This momentous operation marked the beginning of the liberation of German-occupied Western Europe from Nazi control and was a critical turning point on the Western Front of World War II.

Genocide

The deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. This crime against humanity was most infamously perpetrated by Nazi Germany against the Jewish people during the Holocaust, but it has occurred elsewhere throughout history.

Nuremberg Laws

A set of antisemitic and racist laws enacted in Nazi Germany in 1935. These laws institutionalized racial discrimination by stripping Jews of their German citizenship, prohibiting marriage and sexual relations between Jews and Germans, and laying the groundwork for further persecution and the Holocaust.

Concentration Camps vs. Extermination Camps

These were distinct types of camps used by Nazi Germany. Concentration Camps were primarily places of imprisonment, forced labor, and political detention, where brutal conditions led to mass deaths. Extermination Camps (or 'death camps') were specifically designed and operated for the sole purpose of systematic mass murder, primarily through gassing, as part of the 'Final Solution' to the Jewish Question.

Yalta Conference

A crucial meeting held in February 1945 between the 'Big Three' Allied leaders—Franklin D. Roosevelt (U.S.), Winston Churchill (UK), and Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union). They discussed the post-war reorganization of Europe, strategies for defeating Japan, the partition and occupation of Germany, and the future of Eastern European nations.

Nuremberg Trials

A series of military tribunals held by the Allied powers in Nuremberg, Germany, from 1945 to 1949. They prosecuted prominent leaders of Nazi Germany for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace, establishing important precedents for international law and accountability for atrocities.