Key Historical Terms and Events

Irish Republican Army (I.R.A.)

• Militant group fighting for Irish independence from Britain, especially active during the early 20th century.

Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk)

• Founder of modern Turkey; led reforms to secularize and modernize the nation after WWI.

Locarno Treaties (1925)

• Agreements to guarantee European borders and promote peace after WWI.

Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)

• International agreement to outlaw war as a means of national policy.

Washington Naval Conference (1921–22)

• Meeting to limit naval arms among major world powers to avoid conflict.

Années folles

• "Crazy years" in 1920s France, marked by cultural, artistic, and social dynamism after WWI.

Flappers

• Young women of the 1920s who defied traditional norms with bold fashion and behavior.

Guglielmo Marconi

• Italian inventor of wireless telegraphy; pioneer of modern radio communication.

B.B.C. (British Broadcasting Corporation)

• Britain’s main public broadcaster, established in 1922.

Lumière Brothers

• Early French filmmakers who helped invent motion pictures.

Josephine Baker

• American-born entertainer who became a French icon and civil rights activist.

New Physics

• Revolutionary 20th-century developments in physics, including relativity and quantum theory.

Postmodernism

• Cultural movement rejecting absolute truths, emphasizing fragmentation and skepticism.

Marie Curie

• Physicist and chemist who discovered radioactivity; two-time Nobel Prize winner.

Max Planck

• Physicist who originated quantum theory, altering our understanding of energy and matter.

Albert Einstein

• Theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity, reshaping physics.

Theory of Relativity

• Einstein’s theory that space and time are relative to the observer’s speed.

Friedrich Nietzsche

• Philosopher who criticized religion and morality; promoted ideas like the "übermensch."

Nihilism

• Belief in the absence of objective meaning, purpose, or value in life.

Übermensch

• Nietzsche’s ideal superior individual who creates their own values beyond traditional morality.

Georges Sorel

• French thinker who emphasized the power of myth and violence in political movements.

Sigmund Freud

• Austrian founder of psychoanalysis, exploring the unconscious mind’s role in behavior.

Psychoanalysis

• Freud’s method of treating mental illness by exploring the unconscious.

Young Fascists

• Youth organizations in Fascist Italy aimed at indoctrinating children with fascist ideology.

March on Rome (1922)

• Mussolini’s mass demonstration that led to his appointment as Prime Minister of Italy.

O.V.R.A.

• Mussolini’s secret police force that suppressed political opposition in Fascist Italy.

Lateran Accords (1929)

• Agreements between Mussolini and the Catholic Church recognizing Vatican City as an independent state.

Fascism

• Far-right, authoritarian political ideology emphasizing nationalism, dictatorship, desires and conflicts.

Herbert Spencer

• Philosopher who applied evolutionary theory to human societies ("Social Darwinism").

Social Darwinism

• Application of "survival of the fittest" ideas to justify social inequality and imperialism.

Dadaism

• Avant-garde art movement rejecting logic and embracing absurdity and chaos post-WWI.

Surrealism

• Art and literary movement exploring dreams, the unconscious, and irrational imagery.

Salvador Dalí

• Spanish surrealist artist known for bizarre, dreamlike paintings like The Persistence of Memory.

Virginia Woolf

• British modernist writer known for novels using stream-of-consciousness technique (Mrs. Dalloway).

James Joyce

• Irish modernist writer, author of Ulysses, known for complex language and stream-of-consciousness style.

Carl Jung

• Swiss psychologist who developed theories of archetypes, the collective unconscious, and personality types.

"Black Tuesday"

• October 29, 1929, the day the U.S. stock market crashed, sparking the Great Depression.

John Maynard Keynes

• British economist advocating for government intervention to stabilize economies.

Labour Party

• British political party promoting workers' rights and social justice; gained strength after WWI.

Popular Front

• Leftist coalition governments in Europe (notably France and Spain) opposing fascism in the 1930s.

Bank Runs

• Mass withdrawals of money from banks during financial crises, often causing bank collapses.

Dust Bowl

• Severe droughts and dust storms during the 1930s that devastated U.S. farming regions.

"New Deal"

• Franklin D. Roosevelt’s program to provide economic relief, recovery, and reform during the Great Depression.

Squadristi

• "Black shirts" – Fascist paramilitary groups in Italy that used violence to intimidate political opponents.

Il Duce

• Title meaning "The Leader," used by Benito Mussolini, head of Fascist Italy.

Night of the Long Knives (1934)

• Purge in which Hitler eliminated SA leaders and other political enemies.

Autobahn

• German highway system expanded under Hitler as a symbol of national strength and to reduce unemployment.

Schutzstaffeln (SS)

• Elite Nazi military organization responsible for enforcing Nazi policies and running concentration camps.

Gestapo

• Nazi secret police force tasked with suppressing opposition and enforcing Nazi rule.

Hermann Göring

• High-ranking Nazi official, head of the Luftwaffe (Air Force), and a key figure in the regime.

Heinrich Himmler

• Leader of the SS and a principal architect of the Holocaust.

Joseph Goebbels

• Nazi Minister of Propaganda who controlled media and promoted Nazi ideology.

Benito Mussolini

• Italian dictator and founder of Fascism; ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943.

German Revolution (1918–1919)

• Political upheaval that ended the German Empire and led to the Weimar Republic.

Weimar Republic

• Democratic government of Germany between WWI and the rise of Hitler (1919–1933).

Paul von Hindenburg

• German general and president who appointed Hitler as Chancellor in 1933.

Rentenmark

• Currency introduced in Germany (1923) to stabilize hyperinflation during the Weimar Republic.

Dawes Plan (1924)

• U.S.-backed plan to restructure Germany’s reparations and stabilize its economy.

Freikorps

• Right-wing paramilitary groups composed mainly of WWI veterans; fought against communists in Germany.

"Stab-in-the-back" myth

• False belief that Germany was betrayed internally (especially by Jews and communists) in WWI, rather than militarily defeated.

Adolf Hitler

• Leader of the Nazi Party who became dictator of Germany and instigated WWII and the Holocaust.

Mein Kampf

• Hitler’s autobiography outlining his ideology of Aryan supremacy and anti-Semitism.

Sturmabteilung ("brown shirts")

• Nazi paramilitary force used to intimidate rivals and protect Nazi rallies.

Beer Hall Putsch (1923)

• Failed Nazi coup attempt in Munich; Hitler was arrested and imprisoned.

N.S.D.A.P. (Nazi Party)

• National Socialist German Workers' Party; Hitler’s political party in Germany.

Reichstag Fire (1933)

• Fire at the German parliament building, used by Nazis to justify cracking down on communists and consolidating power.

Enabling Act (1933)

• Law giving Hitler dictatorial powers by allowing him to enact laws without parliamentary approval.

Society of the Godless

• Soviet organization promoting atheism and opposing religious institutions during Stalin’s rule.

Komsomol

• Communist youth organization in the Soviet Union aimed at training young people in party loyalty.

Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)

• Conflict between Republicans and Nationalists in Spain; Nationalists under Franco ultimately won.

Francisco Franco

• Spanish general who led the Nationalists to victory in the Spanish Civil War and ruled as dictator until 1975.

Abraham Lincoln Brigade

• American volunteers who fought for the Republicans against fascism in the Spanish Civil War.

Appeasement

• Policy of making concessions to aggressive powers (like Nazi Germany) to avoid conflict.

Lebensraum

• Hitler’s idea of "living space" for Germans, used to justify expansion into Eastern Europe.

Rome-Berlin Axis (1936)

• Alliance between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.

Blitzkrieg

• "Lightning war"; German military strategy emphasizing rapid, overwhelming attacks.

Neville Chamberlain

• British Prime Minister associated with the policy of appeasement toward Hitler.

Sudetenland

• Region of Czechoslovakia with many ethnic Germans; annexed by Hitler in 1938.

Aryanism

• Racist belief in the superiority of the "Aryan" (pure Germanic) race, central to Nazi ideology.

Führerprinzip

• Nazi leadership principle stating that the Führer's word is absolute and unquestionable.

Nuremberg Race Laws (1935)

• Nazi laws that institutionalized racial discrimination, especially against Jews.

Triumph of the Will

• Propaganda film directed by Leni Riefenstahl glorifying Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Kristallnacht (1938)

• "Night of Broken Glass," violent Nazi attacks on Jewish businesses, synagogues, and homes.

Hyperinflation

• Extreme devaluation of currency, notably experienced in Weimar Germany in the early 1920s.

U.S.S.R.

• Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; communist state established after the Russian Revolution.

Joseph Stalin

• Soviet dictator who industrialized the USSR, led during WWII, and initiated mass purges.

Great Purge

• Stalin’s campaign of political repression, involving mass arrests, executions, and labor camps.

Collective farm

• Large government-controlled farms formed by consolidating smaller private farms in the Soviet Union.

Five Year Plans

• Stalin’s programs for rapid industrial and economic growth in the USSR.

Holodomor

• Man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine (1932–1933) causing millions of deaths.

Gulag

• Soviet system of forced labor camps for political prisoners and dissidents.

Siege of Leningrad

• Prolonged German blockade of the Soviet city of Leningrad (1941–1944) causing mass starvation.

Battle of Stalingrad

• Major Soviet victory in WWII; turning point against Germany on the Eastern Front.

Pearl Harbor (1941)

• Surprise Japanese attack on U.S. naval base in Hawaii; led the U.S. to enter WWII.

Erwin Rommel

• German general, known as the "Desert Fox," who led forces in North Africa.

Afrika Korps

• German expeditionary force in North Africa under Rommel.

El Alamein (1942)

• Key Allied victory in North Africa, turning the tide against Axis forces.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

• Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during WWII; later became U.S. President.

D-Day (June 6, 1944)

• Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France at Normandy, crucial for liberating Western Europe.

George S. Patton

• Aggressive and successful U.S. general during WWII, known for leading armored divisions.

Battle of the Bulge (1944–45)

• Germany’s last major offensive in WWII, fought in Belgium’s Ardennes region.

V-E Day (May 8, 1945)

• "Victory in Europe" Day; the official end of WWII in Europe.

Josip Broz (Tito)

• Communist leader of Yugoslavia who resisted Nazi occupation and later ruled Yugoslavia independently from the USSR.

Charles de Gaulle

• Leader of Free French Forces during WWII; later President of France.

French Resistance

• Underground movement that opposed Nazi occupation in France through sabotage and intelligence.

Bernard Law Montgomery

• Prominent British general who commanded Allied forces in North Africa and Europe.

Munich Conference (1938)

• Meeting where Britain and France allowed Hitler to take Sudetenland in hopes of preventing war.

Luftwaffe

• German air force during WWII.

Dunkirk

• Site of massive Allied evacuation from France in 1940 after German forces trapped them at the coast.

Vichy France

• Southern France under a Nazi-collaborationist government after the 1940 German victory.

Winston Churchill

• British Prime Minister during WWII known for his leadership and defiance against Nazi Germany.

Operation Barbarossa (1941)

• Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union, breaking their non-aggression pact.

Axis Powers

• Military alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during WWII.

Battle of Britain (1940)

• Aerial battle where Britain’s Royal Air Force successfully defended the UK from German attack.

"The Blitz"

• Sustained German bombing campaign against British cities, especially London, during WWII.

Zyklon B

• Poison gas used in Nazi extermination camps to murder large groups of victims.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

• German theologian and anti-Nazi dissident involved in resistance; executed by the Nazis.

Manhattan Project

• Secret U.S. project during WWII to develop the atomic bomb.

Yalta Conference (1945)

• Meeting between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin to plan postwar Europe and the defeat of Japan.

Potsdam Conference (1945)

• Postwar meeting to finalize plans for Europe and issue the Potsdam Declaration to Japan demanding surrender.

Lend-Lease

• U.S. program providing military aid to Allies before formally entering WWII.

Operation Valkyrie

• Failed 1944 plot by German officers to assassinate Hitler and overthrow the Nazi regime.

Holocaust

• Systematic, state-sponsored genocide of six million Jews and millions of others by Nazi Germany.

Einsatzgruppen

• Mobile Nazi killing squads responsible for mass shootings of Jews and others in Eastern Europe.

"Final Solution"

• Nazi plan for the systematic extermination of Europe’s Jewish population.

Auschwitz-Birkenau

• Largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp, located in occupied Poland.