8.1-8.4 Spider Quiz

Politics, Economy, and Governments

  • League of Nations – International organization created after WWI to promote peace and cooperation.

  • Allied Reparations Commission – Allied body that determined how much Germany had to pay after WWI.

  • Ruhr Valley – Germany’s industrial region occupied by France and Belgium in 1923 when Germany stopped reparations payments.

  • Dawes Plan – 1924 plan that reorganized German reparations and provided U.S. loans to stabilize Germany’s economy.

  • Treaty of Locarno – 1925 agreements in which Germany accepted its western borders and promised peaceful relations.

  • Great Depression – Worldwide economic crisis beginning in 1929 that caused unemployment and political instability.

  • Fascism – Authoritarian political ideology emphasizing nationalism, dictatorship, and suppression of opposition.

  • General Strike (1926) – Major British labor strike supporting coal miners protesting wage cuts and longer hours.

  • John Maynard Keynes – Economist who argued governments should spend more during economic crises to stimulate demand.

  • National Bloc Government – Conservative coalition that governed France after WWI.

  • Cartel of the Left – Coalition of French radical and socialist parties elected in 1924.

  • Popular Front – Alliance of left-wing parties formed in the 1930s to oppose fascism.

  • New Deal – Programs introduced by Franklin D. Roosevelt to combat the Great Depression.

  • Mustafa Kemal Atatürk – Founder of modern Turkey who introduced secular reforms and modernization.

  • Mahatma Gandhi – Led Indian resistance to British rule through nonviolent protest.

  • Jawaharlal Nehru – Leader in the Indian independence movement and later first prime minister of India.

  • Totalitarian State – Government that attempts to control all aspects of society and individuals’ lives.


Italy and Fascism

  • Trieste, Fiume, Dalmatia – Territories Italy expected after WWI but did not fully receive.

  • Avanti! – Italian socialist newspaper once edited by Benito Mussolini.

  • Benito Mussolini – Fascist dictator of Italy who came to power in 1922.

  • Squadristi – Fascist paramilitary groups that used violence against socialists and opponents.

  • Acerbo Law – 1923 law giving the largest party two-thirds of seats in parliament, helping Mussolini gain power.

  • OVRA – Fascist secret police that suppressed opposition in Italy.


Nazi Germany

  • Adolf Hitler – Leader of Nazi Germany and dictator from 1933–1945.

  • Weimar Germany – Democratic German government from 1919 to 1933.

  • Paul von Hindenburg – German president who appointed Hitler chancellor in 1933.

  • Mein Kampf – Hitler’s book explaining Nazi ideology and goals.

  • Lebensraum – Nazi belief that Germany needed more “living space,” especially in Eastern Europe.

  • German Workers’ Party – Early nationalist party Hitler joined that became the Nazi Party.

  • Nazis – Members of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

  • Beer Hall Putsch – Failed Nazi coup attempt in Munich in 1923.

  • Enabling Act – 1933 law allowing Hitler to rule without parliament.

  • Ernst Röhm – Leader of the SA executed during the Night of the Long Knives.

  • Heinrich Himmler – Head of the SS and major organizer of Nazi repression.

  • Nuremberg Laws – 1935 laws that removed citizenship and rights from Jews.

  • Kristallnacht – 1938 Nazi attacks destroying Jewish businesses and synagogues.


Soviet Union

  • War Communism – Economic policy during the Russian Civil War involving state control of industry and forced grain collection.

  • New Economic Policy (NEP) – Lenin’s policy allowing limited private trade to revive the economy.

  • Leon Trotsky – Bolshevik leader and founder of the Red Army.

  • Joseph Stalin – Soviet dictator who industrialized the USSR and ruled through terror.

  • Politburo – Top policy-making committee of the Communist Party.

  • Five-Year Plan – Stalin’s program for rapid industrialization and economic growth.

  • Purges – Stalin’s campaigns eliminating perceived political enemies.


Other Authoritarian Leaders

  • Francisco Franco – Nationalist leader who ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War.

  • António de Oliveira Salazar – Authoritarian leader of Portugal who created the Estado Novo regime.


Mass Culture and Intellectual Life

  • BBC – Major British radio broadcasting organization that shaped mass culture.

  • The Birth of a Nation – Influential early film known for new cinematic techniques and racist themes.

  • The Triumph of the Will – Nazi propaganda film glorifying Hitler and the Nazi Party.

  • 1936 Summer Olympics – Olympic Games used by Nazis to promote Germany’s power.

  • Kraft durch Freude – Nazi program providing controlled leisure activities for workers.

  • The Decline of the West – Book arguing Western civilization was declining.

  • Margaret Sanger – Advocate for birth control and women’s reproductive rights.

  • Dada – Artistic movement rejecting traditional logic and culture after WWI.

  • Hannah Höch – Dada artist known for photomontage works.

  • Surrealism – Art movement exploring dreams and the unconscious.

  • Salvador Dalí – Surrealist painter famous for dreamlike imagery.

  • Functionalism – Architectural style emphasizing practicality and simplicity.

  • James Joyce – Modernist writer known for stream-of-consciousness techniques.

  • Virginia Woolf – Modernist author exploring characters’ inner thoughts.

  • Hermann Hesse – Writer focused on personal identity and spirituality.

  • Carl Jung – Psychologist who developed ideas about the collective unconscious.

  • Werner Heisenberg – Scientist who created the uncertainty principle in quantum physics.


Road to WWII

  • Sudetenland – German-speaking region of Czechoslovakia annexed by Germany in 1938.

  • Geneva Disarmament Conference – International meeting (1932–1934) attempting to reduce military forces.

  • Munich Conference – 1938 meeting allowing Germany to take the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia.

  • Appeasement – Policy of giving concessions to aggressive nations to avoid war.

  • Neville Chamberlain – British leader associated with appeasement at Munich.

  • Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact – 1939 agreement between Germany and the USSR promising not to attack each other and secretly dividing Poland.

  • Chiang Kai‑shek – Leader of Nationalist China who fought against Japanese expansion.