Hitler & Mussolini Quiz

Marinus van der Lubbe

A Dutch council communist convicted of, and executed for, setting fire to the German Reichstag building on 27 February 1933, an event known as the Reichstag fire.

Kurt von Schleicher

A German general and the second to last Chancellor of Germany during the era of the Weimar Republic. An important player in the German Army's efforts to avoid the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. Rose to power as a close advisor to President Paul von Hindenburg. Seventeen months after his resignation, he was assassinated by order of his successor, Adolf Hitler, in the Night of the Long Knives.

Joseph Goebbels

A German politician and the Reich Minister of Propaganda under Adolf Hitler. Was known for his toxic anti-semitism and supported the extermination of Jews.

Fascism

A form of radical authoritarian nationalism. It combines more typically right-wing positions with elements of left-wing politics, but is often placed on the far-right within the traditional left-right spectrum. It borrows theories and terminology from socialism but replaced socialism's focus on class conflict with a focus on conflict between nations and races.

The Enabling Law

A law that gave Hitler the power to make laws without the Reichstag for a period of four years.

The March on Rome

A march by which Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (Partito Nazionale Fascista, or PNF) came to power in the Kingdom of Italy.

The Night of the Long Knives

A purge that took place in Nazi Germany from June 30 to July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political murders. Leading figures of the left-wing Strasserist faction of the Nazi Party were murdered, as were prominent conservative anti-Nazis. Many of those killed were leaders of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary Brownshirts.

Crystal Night

A series of coordinated deadly attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and Austria on 9-10 November 1938, carried out by SA paramilitary forces and non-Jewish civilians. German authorities looked on without intervening. The name comes from the shards of broken glass that littered the streets after Jewish-owned stores, buildings, and synagogues had their windows smashed.

The Lateran Pact

Agreements made in 1929 between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See, settling the "Roman Question," a dispute regarding the temporal power of the popes as rulers of a civil territory in the context of the Italian Risorgimento. It recognized the Vatican as an independent state, with Mussolini agreeing to give the church financial support in return for public support from the pope at the time.

The Brown Shirts

Also known as the Sturmabteilung, AKA the SA (Storm Battalion). Played a key role in Hitler's rise to power, and as the first Nazi paramilitary group served as intimidation to the opposition.

Rocco Laws

Also known as the Syndical Laws of 1926, dictated that in each industrial sector there could be only one trade union and employers organization.

Adolf Hitler

An Austrian-born German politician who was the leader of the Nazi Party and was at the centre of World War II in Europe and the Holocaust.

Avanti

An Italian daily newspaper, born as the official voice of the Italian Socialist Party. Its headquarters were set on fire by Mussolini's Blackshirts on 15 April 1919, and it was banned by the government in 1926. It became infused with the militarist and irredentist attitudes of its editor at the time, future Fascist leader Benito Mussolini. Mussolini's dissent caused his ousting from the party.

Acerbo Law

An Italian electoral law passed by the Italian Parliament in November 1923. It's purpose was to give Mussolini's fascist party a majority of deputies.

Luigi Facta

An Italian politician, journalist and last Prime Minister of Italy before the leadership of Benito Mussolini.

Giacomo Matteotti

An Italian socialist politician. On 30 May 1924, he openly spoke in the Italian Parliament alleging the Fascists committed fraud in the recently held elections, and denounced the violence they used to gain votes. Eleven days later he was kidnapped and killed by Fascists.

Article 48

An article of the Weimar Constitution that allowed the President, under certain circumstances, to take emergency action without prior consent from the Reichstag.

The Nuremberg Laws

Antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany introduced at the 1935 annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). The two laws were the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour, which forbade marriages and extramarital intercourse between Jews and Germans and the employment of German females under 45 in Jewish households, and the Reich Citizenship Law, which declared that only those of German or related blood were eligible to be Reich citizens; the remainder were classed as state subjects, without citizenship rights.

Victor Emanuel

Assumed the title of King of Italy, becoming the first King of a unified Italy in centuries. The Italians gave him the epithet Father of the Fatherland.

Ernst Rohm

Co-founder of the SA (Storm Battalion) and later became its commander. During the 'Night of Long Knives', he was executed under Hitler and Himmler's orders.

Squadristi

Consisted of fascist squads who were led by the Ras from 1918-1924. Were mainly used to combat the growing Socialist movement which was a big opponent of Fascism. Fascist squads would participate in strikebreaking, organizing tax strikes in socialist controlled towns and intimidating voters at election time.

The Navajos Gang

Groups made up of 14-17 year-olds. Many liked to beat up members of the Hitler Youth and in some cities, like Cologne, they became a problem for authorities. During the 2nd World War, their activities became more serious as they helped spread Allied propaganda and sometimes helped Allied airmen to escape. In 1944 a group took part in an attack on the Gestapo in which a senior officer was killed. As a result, 12 members of the group were publicly hanged.

The Black Shirts

Originally the paramilitary wing of the Italian National Fascist Party. Similar to the Nazi Sturmabteilung, they played a role in intimidating and inciting violence against the opposition.

The Grand Fascist Council

The main body of Mussolini's Fascist government in Italy.

Erich Lundendorff

Was a German general, victor of Liège and of the Battle of Tannenberg. After the war, he became a prominent nationalist leader, and a promoter of the stab-in-the-back legend, convinced that the German Army had been betrayed by Marxists and Republicans in the Versailles Treaty. He took part in the unsuccessful coups d'état of Wolfgang Kapp in 1920 and the Beer Hall Putsch of Adolf Hitler in 1923.