Chapter 25 Vocab

Hitler

Definition: Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 - 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party). He was chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and dictator of Nazi Germany (as Führer und Reichskanzler) from 1934 to 1945. Hitler was at the centre of Nazi Germany, World War II in Europe, and the Holocaust. Significance: Adolf Hitler, as the leader of Nazi Germany, was fundamental in the history of the 20th century. Radical thinking cause him to allow research into unorthodox issues which forever changed the history of the world (polio vaccine, rockets, etc). His actions regarding the Holocaust inspired the founding of Israel which has affected the modern world in so many different ways.

Sein Fein

Definition: An Irish republican political movement founded in 1905 to promote independence from England and unification of Ireland. Significance: Sein Fein would inspire years of civil war in Ireland which wouldn't be resolved until the very end of the 20th century.

Mussolini

Definition: Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 1883 - 28 April 1945) was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 until his ousting in 1943. He ruled constitutionally until 1925, when he dropped all pretense of democracy and set up a legal dictatorship. Known as Il Duce ("the leader"), Mussolini was one of the key figures in the creation of fascism. Significance: As one of the first fascist leaders, he became an example to the more powerful Adolf Hitler who would eventually take over Germany. He was also fundamental in World War II serving as Hitler's ally.

Fascism

Definition: Fascism is a form of radical authoritarian nationalism that came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe. Influenced by national syndicalism, fascism originated in Italy during World War I, combining more typically right-wing positions with elements of left-wing politics, in opposition to communism, socialism, liberal democracy and traditional conservatism. Significance: Fascism spread rapidly in Europe during the 20th century. By the 1940s, fascism was spreading throughout Europe with the help of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini who invaded countries and made them fascist.

Stresemann

Definition: Gustav Stresemann (May 10, 1878 - October 3, 1929) was a German politician and statesman who served as Chancellor in 1923 (for a brief period of 102 days) and Foreign Minister 1923-1929, during the Weimar Republic. He was co-laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926. Significance: Gustav Stresemann was important in the fall of the Weimar Republic - the lack of competent leaders led to the fall of the Weimar Republic and rise of Nazi Germany.

Stalin

Definition: Joseph Stalin (18 December 1878 - 5 March 1953), was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. Significance: Joseph Stalin, as the leader of the Soviet Union, was fundamental in the start and ending of World War II. Beginning the war by siding with Hitler, he allowed the conflict to grow out of control and become one of the most destructive wars in the history of mankind. Later regretting his decision after being betrayed by Hitler, he ended the war by helping Allied forces capture Germany.

Trotsky

Definition: Leon Trotsky (7 November 1879 - 21 August 1940) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army. Significance: As one of the founding fathers of the Soviet Union, he inspired countless communist revolutions and created one of two superpowers of the 20th century.

Mein Kampf

Definition: Mein Kampf is an autobiographical manifesto by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, in which he outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926. The book was edited by the former Hieronymite friar Bernhard Stempfle, who later died during the Night of the Long Knives. Significance: The Mein Kampf explained the thoughts that Adolf Hitler had regarding race, with this information, modern day historians can further understand what Hitler thought.

Third International

Definition: The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International (1919-1943), was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919. The International intended to fight "by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and for the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the State." Significance: The Third International allowed the Soviet Union to gain some recognition by other communist countries.

Dawes Plan

Definition: The Dawes Plan was an attempt following World War I for the Triple Entente to compromise and collect war reparations debt from Germany. The Dawes Plan (as proposed by the Dawes Committee, chaired by Charles G. Dawes) was an attempt in 1924 to solve the reparations problem, which had bedeviled international politics following World War I and the Treaty of Versailles. Significance: The Dawes Plan failed and also inspired German hatred which would the allies would eventually feel during World War II.

Kellogg-Briand Pact

Definition: The Kellogg-Briand Pact is a 1928 international agreement in which signatory states promised not to use war to resolve "disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them". Parties failing to abide by this promise "should be denied of the benefits furnished by this treaty". It was signed by Germany, France and the United States on August 27, 1928, and by most other nations soon after. Sponsored by France and the U.S., the Pact renounced the use of war and called for the peaceful settlement of disputes. Significance: The Kellogg-Briand pact inspired the founding of the United Nations. While the idea failed to prevent World War II, it has prevented countless other wars.

Labour Party

Definition: The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1900, the Labour Party overtook the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s and formed minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-31. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after which it formed a majority government under Clement Attlee. Significance: The Labour Party was fundamental in British history and has played a prominent war even today.

Lateran Treaty

Definition: The Lateran Treaty was one of the Lateran Pacts of 1929 or Lateran Accords, agreements made in 1929 between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See, settling the "Roman Question". They are named after the Lateran Palace, where they were signed on February 11, 1929. The Italian parliament ratified them on June 7, 1929. Italy was then under a Fascist government, but the succeeding democratic governments have all upheld the treaty. In 1947, the Lateran Pacts were incorporated into the democratic Constitution of Italy. Significance: The Lateran Accord settled the Roman Question and finally gave rest to the question of the independence of the Vatican.

The Locarno Agreements

Definition: The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland, on 5-16 October 1925 and formally signed in London on 1 December, in which the First World War Western European Allied powers and the new states of Central and Eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war territorial settlement, and return normalizing relations with defeated Germany (which was, by this time, the Weimar Republic) Significance: The Locarno Agreements caused widespread discontent in Germany which would allow radical parties such as the Nazi Party to rise into power.

Nazi

Definition: The National Socialist German Workers' Party, commonly known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945. Its predecessor, the German Workers' Party (DAP), existed from 1919 to 1920. Significance: Nazi Party was fundamental in the start of World War II which forever changed modern Europe.

New Economic Policy

Definition: The New Economic Policy (NEP) was an economic policy of Soviet Russia proposed by Vladimir Lenin, who called it "state capitalism". Significance: The New Economic Policy led to millions of people dying because of hunger; it provided an example of the bad side of communism.

Invasion of the Ruhr

Definition: The Occupation of the Ruhr between 1923 and 1925, by troops from France and Belgium, was a response to the failure of the German Weimar Republic under Chancellor Wilhelm Cuno to pay reparations in the aftermath of World War I. Significance: The Invasion of the Ruhr inspired German opposition to the government of post-war Germany. With this opposition, new parties such as the Nazi Party were formed which would eventually take over Germany and start World War Two.

Storm Troopers

Definition: The Sturmabteilung (Storm Detachment or Assault Division, or Brownshirts) functioned as the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Their main assignments were providing protection for Nazi rallies and assemblies, disrupting the meetings of the opposing parties, fighting against the paramilitary units of the opposing parties (especially the Rotfrontkämpferbund) and intimidating Slavic and Romani citizens, unionists and Jews (e.g. the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses). Significance: The Strumabteilung allowed Hitler to rise which allowed World War II to start.

Weimar Republic

Definition: The Weimar is the name given by historians to the federal republic and semipresidential representative democracy established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government. It is named after Weimar, the city where the constitutional assembly took place. During this period, and well into the succeeding Nazi era, the official name of the state was German Reich, which continued on from the pre-1918 Imperial period. Significance: The Weimar Republic failure to restore Germany economy caused widespread discontent in German which allowed radical parties such as the Nazi Party to rise into power.

Lenin

Definition: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (22 April 1870 - 21 January 1924) was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He served as the leader of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1917, and then concurrently as Premier of the Soviet Union from 1922, until his death. Politically a Marxist, his theoretical contributions to Marxist thought are known as Leninism, which coupled with Marxian economic theory have collectively come to be known as Marxism-Leninism. Significance: Lenin is fundamental in the history of Europe because he helped shaped the modern day Europe and one could argue the world. The nation that he founded, the Soviet Union, would find itself as one of the most powerful countries in the world during the 20th century.

War Communism

Definition: War communism or military communism was the economic and political system that existed in Soviet Russia during the Russian Civil War, from 1918 to 1921. Significance: War Communism allowed the Soviet Union to survive during it's infancy creating an example to other communist leaders of what to do in the immediate aftermath of a takeover of a country.