War Guilt Clause

A clause in Treaty of Versailles; declared Germany responsible for WWI; ordered Germany to pay reparation to Allied powers

Zionism

A movement to create the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

suffrage

the right to vote

Civil Disobedience

the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest. Think about Letter from Birmingham Jail (unjust laws)

Economic depression

Period when business activity slows, prices and wages drop, and unemployment rises

Inflation

A continuous rise in the price of goods and services

Appeasement

Satisfying the demands of dissatisfied powers in an effort to maintain peace and stability.

Germany's Third Reich

Hitler's new Germany where a German master race would dominate Europe for thousands of years, Nazi Regime

Lebensraum

the idea that land expansion was essential to the survival of the German people. "Living Space"

Adolf Hitler

Austrian born Dictator of Germany, implement Fascism and caused WWII and Holocaust

Benito Mussolini

Fascist dictator of Italy (1922-1943). He led Italy to conquer Ethiopia (1935), He founded the Italian Fascist Party, and sided with Hitler and Germany in World War II. In 1945 he was overthrown and assassinated by the Italian Resistance.

Cult of Personality

arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods to create an idealized, heroic, and at times worshipful image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise.

Germ Theory

the theory that infectious diseases are caused by certain microbes

Polish (Danzig) Corridor

A strip of German territory awarded to newly independent Poland by the Treaty of Versailles. It gave Poland access to the Baltic Sea and separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany. Although originally Polish, a large minority of the population was German-speaking, an the entire situation caused friction between Poland and Germany, ultimately leading to the German invasion of Poland in 1939 and World War II.

Munich Conference

a 1938 meeting of representatives from Britain, France, Italy, and Germany, at which Britain and France agreed to allow Nazi Germany to take the Sudetenland.

North European Plain

A large fertile land that extends from the Atlantic to the Ural Mountains

Propaganda

information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.

Fascism

A political system headed by a dictator that calls for extreme nationalism and racism and no tolerance of opposition (anyone who disagrees); state is priority over individual interests.

Manhattan Project

Code name for the U.S. effort during World War II to produce the atomic bomb.

United Nations

An international organization formed after WWII to promote international peace, security, and cooperation.

Nuremberg Trials

A series of court proceedings held in Nuremberg, Germany, after World War II, in which Nazi leaders were tried for aggression, violations of the rules of war, and crimes against humanity.

Winston Churchill

Prime Minister of Great Britain during WWII; led his country through its 'Darkest Hour' all the way to victory over Nazi Germany and along with Roosevelt planned many allied campaigns. He predicted an iron curtain that would separate Communist Europe from the rest of the West.

Hideki Tojo

Prime minister of Japan during World War II; was dictator of the country. He gave his approval for the attack on Pearl Harbor and played a major role in Japan's military decisions until he resigned in 1944

collective security

A system in which a group of nations acts as one to preserve the peace of all

Geneva Convention

An agreement concerning the treatment of prisoners of war

Anti-Semitism

hostility to or prejudice against Jews.

Kristallnacht

(Night of the Broken Glass) November 9, 1938, when mobs throughout Germany destroyed Jewish property and terrorized Jews.

Nuremberg Laws

Made it legal to discriminate against Jews. Placed severe restrictions of Jews, prohibited from marrying non- Jews, attending schools or universities, holding government jobs, practicing law or medicine or publishing books, withdrawing citizenship from persons of non-German blood.

Genocide

the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.

Holocaust

A plan orchestrated by Hitler to ensure German supremacy. It called for the elimination of Jews, non-conformists, homosexuals, non-Aryans, and mentally and physically disabled.

Auschwitz

a Nazi concentration camp for Jews in southwestern Poland during World War II; the largest center of mass murder during the Holocaust.

Joseph Goebbels

German propagandist minister in Nazi Germany who persecuted the Jews (1897-1945)
(A propagandist is a person who tries to persuade people to support a particular idea or group, often by giving inaccurate information.)

Heinrich Himmler

He was a German Nazi leader and was a leader of the secret police, practically the second most powerful leader during World War II; came up with the final plan to murder all of the Jews in Europe.