Key Terms

🌍 World War II – Key Terms

  • Treaty of Versailles: 1919 peace treaty that punished Germany after WWI with harsh terms, leading to resentment and economic crisis.

  • Weimar Republic: Germany’s democratic government from 1919–1933, blamed for losing WWI and signing the Treaty.

  • Hyperinflation: A period in early 1920s Germany when money lost all value, causing chaos and distrust in the government.

  • Nationalism: Extreme pride in one's country; used by Nazis to justify expansion and superiority.

  • Communism: Political ideology promoting class equality; feared by many, used by Nazis to gain support.

  • Antisemitism: Hatred or prejudice against Jewish people; central to Nazi beliefs.

  • NSDAP / Nazi Party: Hitler’s political party that rose to power in Germany by promising to fix economic and national problems.

  • Adolf Hitler: Leader of the Nazi Party and Germany (1933–45); led the country into WWII and orchestrated the Holocaust.

  • Joseph Goebbels: Nazi propaganda minister who spread Nazi messages and antisemitic ideas.

  • The Great Depression: Global economic crash in 1929; hit Germany hard and helped Nazis gain power.

  • The League of Nations: Weak international peacekeeping group after WWI; failed to stop aggression in the 1930s.

  • European Theatre: The part of WWII fought in Europe, mainly between Nazi Germany and Allied forces.

  • Pacific Theatre: Area of WWII fighting between Japan and the Allies across Asia and the Pacific.

  • Tripartite Pact: 1940 agreement between Germany, Italy, and Japan to form the Axis Powers.

  • Munich Agreement: 1938 deal where Britain and France let Hitler take part of Czechoslovakia to avoid war (appeasement).

  • Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: 1939 secret agreement between Nazi Germany and the USSR to not attack each other and split Poland.

  • The Axis Powers: Alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during WWII.

  • The Allied Powers: Countries fighting against the Axis, mainly Britain, USA, USSR, France, and others.

  • Invasion of Manchuria: 1931 Japanese takeover of part of China; start of Japanese aggression in Asia.

  • Winston Churchill: British Prime Minister during most of WWII; strong leader against Hitler.

  • Benito Mussolini: Fascist leader of Italy who joined Hitler and Japan in the Axis.

  • The Hoare-Laval Pact: Failed 1935 British-French deal that tried to appease Italy for invading Abyssinia.

  • Appeasement: Giving in to an aggressor to avoid conflict; used with Hitler before WWII.

  • Japanese expansionism: Japan’s aggressive takeover of Asia for resources and power.

  • Bombing of Darwin: 1942 Japanese attack on Australia, the largest ever on Australian soil.

  • Fall of Singapore: 1942 capture of British stronghold by Japan; major loss for Allies and Australia.

  • Bombing of Pearl Harbour: Surprise 1941 Japanese attack on US naval base; brought the USA into WWII.

  • The Kokoda Campaign: 1942 battles in Papua New Guinea where Australians fought to stop Japanese invasion.

  • Propaganda: Biased media used to shape opinions; Nazis and Allies used it during WWII.

🕍 The Holocaust – Key Terms

  • Antisemitism: Hatred of Jews; deeply rooted in Europe and central to Nazi beliefs.

  • Classification: First stage of genocide—dividing people into groups (e.g., Jews vs. Aryans).

  • Symbolisation: Using symbols to identify groups (e.g., Jews had to wear the yellow star).

  • Discrimination: Denying rights (e.g., under the Nuremberg Laws).

  • Dehumanisation: Making people seem less than human (e.g., comparing Jews to rats).

  • Polarisation: Dividing society and silencing moderates (e.g., Kristallnacht).

  • Organisation: Planning genocide (e.g., SS and Nazi government).

  • Preparation: Victims forced into ghettos, camps; plans for extermination made.

  • Extermination: Mass killings in camps (e.g., Auschwitz).

  • Persecution: Targeted attacks on Jews' rights, lives, and communities.

  • The Nuremberg Laws: 1935 Nazi laws stripping Jews of citizenship and banning intermarriage.

  • The Yellow Star badge: Symbol Jews were forced to wear to identify themselves.

  • Ghettos: Enclosed city areas where Jews were forced to live in terrible conditions.

  • Concentration camps: Places where Jews and others were imprisoned, tortured, and used for forced labor.

  • Death camps: Special camps designed for mass murder (e.g., Treblinka, Auschwitz).

  • Propaganda: Used to spread Nazi beliefs and antisemitism.

  • Joseph Goebbels: Nazi minister who controlled media and pushed antisemitic propaganda.

  • The Final Solution: Nazi plan to exterminate all Jews in Europe.

  • The Wannsee Conference: 1942 meeting where Nazi leaders planned the Final Solution.

  • The SS: Hitler’s elite force who ran the camps and carried out mass killings.

  • Pogrom: Violent attacks against Jews (e.g., Kristallnacht).

  • Kristallnacht: 1938 “Night of Broken Glass” – Jewish businesses, homes, and synagogues destroyed.

  • Aryanisation: Removing Jews from jobs and businesses, giving them to non-Jews.

  • Der StĂĽrmer: Nazi newspaper spreading antisemitic lies.

  • Lebensraum: Nazi idea of needing “living space” for Germans in Eastern Europe.

  • Volksgemeinschaft: Nazi idea of a “people’s community” that excluded Jews and minorities.

  • Operation Barbarossa: 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union, breaking the Nazi-Soviet pact.

  • Einsatzgruppen: Nazi killing squads who shot Jews in Eastern Europe before camps.

  • Heinrich Himmler: SS leader who helped run the Holocaust.

  • 1933 Boycott of Jewish businesses: Nazis told Germans not to shop at Jewish stores.

🌱 Geography – Changing Environments Key Terms

  • Global warming: Long-term rise in Earth’s temperature.

  • Anthropogenic Climate Change: Climate change caused by human activity.

  • Natural Climate Change: Climate change from natural events like volcanoes or solar cycles.

  • Environment: The natural world around us, including land, air, water, and life.

  • Urbanisation: Growth of cities as more people move from rural areas.

  • Atmosphere: The air layer surrounding Earth.

  • Biosphere: All living things on Earth.

  • Lithosphere: Earth’s crust and upper mantle (landforms).

  • Hydrosphere: All water on Earth (oceans, rivers, lakes, etc.).

  • Interconnection (environmental change): How one environmental change can cause another.

  • Direct environmental change: Immediate, visible impacts (e.g., cutting trees).

  • Indirect environmental change: Long-term or chain effects (e.g., pollution causing ocean warming).

  • Enhanced greenhouse effect: More gases trap more heat = Earth warms faster.

  • Deforestation: Cutting down forests for farming or building; harms ecosystems.

  • PQE: Pattern, Quantify, Explain – a method to describe geographical data.

  • SHEEPT: Factors causing change: Social, Historical, Economic, Environmental, Political, Technological.

  • Short-term environmental change: Quick changes (e.g., flood, fire).

  • Long-term environmental change: Gradual changes (e.g., climate change, desertification).