final quiz/test European hist

German Rearmament: what

was an era of rearmament; growth of military. It began as soon as the treaty was signed, on a small, secret, and informal basis, but it was massively expanded after the Nazi Party came to power in 1933.

European economic community (eec): what

was created by the Treaty of Rome; a regional organization which aimed to bring about economic integration among its member states

The 'Final Solution' (aka the Holocaust): who

was formulated in procedural terms by Nazi leadership

'Stab in the back' myth: what

was the notion that the German Army did not lose World War I but was instead betrayed by the civilians on the home front, especially the republicans who overthrew the monarchy in the German Revolution; blamed the Bolsheviks, Weimar politicians, and Jews for the loss of the war

Benito Mussolini: who

an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party; a dictator

'The New Woman' : who

"New Woman" was coined by writer Sarah Grand in her article "The New Aspect of the Woman Question;" popularized by Henry James

what is to be done: the actual text

"What Is To Be Done" [...] He who does not deliberately close his eyes cannot fail to see that the new "critical" tendency in socialism is nothing more nor less than a new species of opportunism. And if we judge people not by the brilliant uniforms they deck themselves in, not by the imposing appellations they give themselves, but by their actions, and by what they actually advocate, it will be clear that "freedom of criticism" means freedom for an opportunistic tendency in Social-Democracy, the freedom to convert Social-Democracy into a democratic-reformist party, the freedom to introduce bourgeois ideas and bourgeois elements into socialism. "Freedom" is a grand word, but under the banner of free trade the most predatory wars were conducted; under the banner of free labor, the toilers were robbed. The modern use of the term "freedom of criticism" contains the same inherent falsehood. Those who are really convinced that they have advanced science would demand, not freedom for the new views to continue side by side with the old, but the substitution of the new views for the old. The cry "Long live freedom of criticism, that is heard today, too strongly calls to mind the fable of the empty barrel. We are marching in a compact group along a precipitous and difficult path, firmly holding each other by the hand. We are surrounded on all sides by enemies, and are under their almost constant fire. We have combined voluntarily precisely for the purpose of fighting the enemy, and not to retreat into the adjacent marsh, the inhabitants of which, from the very outset, have reproached us with having separated ourselves into an exclusive group and with having chosen the path of struggle instead of the path of conciliation. And now several among us begin to cry out: let us go into this marsh! And when we begin to shame them, they retort: how conservative you are! Are you not ashamed to deny us the right to invite you to take a better road! Oh yes, gentlemen! You are free not only to invite us, but to go yourselves wherever you will, even into the marsh. In fact, we think that the marsh is your proper place, and we are prepared to render you every assistance to get there. Only let go of our hands, don't clutch at us and don't besmirch the grand word "freedom"; for we too are "free" to go where we please, free not only to fight against those who are turning towards the marsh. [...] Since there can be no talk of an independent ideology being developed by the masses of the workers in the process of their movement the only choice is: either bourgeois or socialist ideology. There is no middle course (for humanity has not created a "third" ideology, and, moreover, in a society torn by class antagonisms there can never be a non-class or above-class ideology). Hence, to belittle socialist ideology in any way, to deviate from it in the slightest degree means strengthening bourgeois ideology. There is a lot of talk about spontaneity, but the spontaneous development of the labor movement leads to its becoming subordinated to bourgeois ideology, leads to its developing according to the program of the Credo, for the spontaneous labor movement is pure and simple trade unionism, is Nur-Gewerkschaftlerei [mere trade unionism], and trade unionism means the ideological enslavement of the workers to the bourgeoisie. Hence, our task, the task of Social -Democracy, is to combat spontaneity, to divert the labor movement from its spontaneous, trade unionist striving to go under the wing of the bourgeoisie, and to bring it under the wing of revolutionary Social-Democracy. [...] Social-Democrats lead the struggle of the working class not only for better terms for the sale of labor power, but also for the abolition of the social system which compels the propertyless to sell themselves to the rich. SocialDemocracy represents the working class, not in relation to a given group of employers, but in its relation to all classes in modern society, to the state as an organized political force. Hence, it not only follows that Social-Democrats must not confine themselves entirely to the economic struggle; they must not even allow the organization of economic exposures to become the predominant part of" their activities. We must actively take up the political education of the working class and the development of its political consciousness. ... The question now arises: what does political education mean? Is it sufficient to confine oneself to the propaganda of working class hostility to autocracy? Of course not. It is not enough to explain to the workers that they are politically oppressed (no more than it was to explain to them that their interests were antagonistic to the interests of the employers). Advantage must be taken of every concrete example of this oppression for the purpose of agitation (in the same way that we began to use concrete examples of economic oppression for the purpose of agitation). And inasmuch as political oppression affects all sorts of classes in society, inasmuch as it manifests itself in various spheres of life and activity, in industrial life, civic life, in personal and family life, in religious life, scientific life, etc., etc., is it not evident that we shall not be fulfilling our task of developing the political consciousness of the workers if we do not undertake the organization of the political exposure of autocracy in all its aspects? In order to carry on agitation around concrete examples of oppression, these examples must be exposed (just as it was necessary to expose factory evils in order to carry on economic agitation). [...] Such workers, average people of the masses, are capable of displaying enormous energy and self-sacrifice in strikes and in street battles with the police and troops, and are capable (in fact, are alone capable) of determining the whole outcome of our movement—but the struggle against the political police requires special qualities; it requires professional revolutionaries. And we must not only see to it to the masses "advance" concrete demands, but also that the masses of the workers "advance" an increasing number of such professional revolutionaries from their own ranks. Thus we have reached the question of the relation between an organization of professional revolutionaries and the pure and simple labor movement. [...] If you agree to discuss the question of catching the organizations and to stick to that question, then I assert that it is far more difficult to catch a dozen wise men than it is to catch a hundred fools. And this position I shall defend no matter how much you instigate the crowd against me for my "anti-democratic" views, etc. As I have already said, by "wise 
men," in connection with organization, I mean professional revolutionaries, irrespective of whether they are trained from among students or workingmen. I assert: 1) that no movement can be durable without a stable organization of leaders to maintain continuity; 2) that the more widely the masses are spontaneously drawn into the struggle and form the basis of the movement and participate in it, the more necessary is it to have such an organization, and the more stable must it be (for it is much easier for demagogues to side-track the more backward sections of the masses); 3) that the organization must consist chiefly of persons engaged in revolutionary activities as a profession; 4) that in a country with an autocratic government, the more we restrict the membership of this organization to persons who are engaged in revolutionary-activities as a profession and who have been professionally trained in the art of combating the political police, the more difficult will it be to catch the organization, and 5) the wider will be the circle of men and women of the working class or of other classes of society able to join the movement and perform active work in it.

lebensraum

"living space". This was the main reason for Nazi expansion in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. The idea was that Nazi's needed to expand into other countries to provide living space for the growing German race. To achieve this "living space", Nazis removed "inferior" races such as Jews and Gypsies. This is important because it was the main reason for Nazi Germany invading Poland, causing WW2.

prague spring: when

1968 (during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II.)

détente: when

1970s

charter 77 manifesto: date

1977

solidarity: when

1980

Lenin, 'What Is To Be Done?' date

1902

The Economic Consequences of the Peace: when

1920

New Economic Policy (NEP): when

1921

Goodbye to all that: when

1929

Ukrainian Famine: when

1932-22

Spanish Civil War: when

1936-1939

Sudetenland: when

1938

Lebensraum ("living space"): when

1939

Katyn Massacre: when

1940 during WWII

decolonization: when

1940s to 2011

The Wannsee Protocol: when was it written?

1943

Survival in Auschwitz: when was it written?

1947

NATO: when

1949

marshall plan: when

1949

warsaw pact: when

1955

European economic community (eec): when

1957

berlin wall: when

1961-1989

the wretched of the earth: date

1963

NATO: who

28 members started with 12 founding members

Beer Hall Putsch: when

8-9 November 1923

Survival in Auschwitz (if this is a man): who wrote it

Primo Levi

decolonization: why

Africa did very poorly after decolonization and poverty increased to the magnitude it is at today.

Reparations: when

After World War 1; (Treaty of Versailles) June 1919

Beer Hall Putsch: what

a failed coup attempt to seize power

Totalitarianism: when

The concept of totalitarianism was first developed in the 1920s by the Weimar German jurist

European economic community (eec): where

Europe

Ghettos: where

Europe (The most populated ghetto was the Warsaw Ghetto)

decolonization: who

Europe and Africa

warsaw pact: why

Focused on creating a coordinated defense among its member nations to deter an enemy attack. The Soviets could exercise tighter control over the Communist states in Eastern Europe (such as putting down revolts in Hungary and Czechoslovakia). The Iron Curtain had fully descended upon Europe

Yalta Conference: where

The conference convened in the Livadia Palace near Yalta in Crimea, USSR.

Night of Broken Glass: what

a massive, coordinated attack on jews where hundreds of synagogues were burned across Germany; tens of thousands of Jews were arrested and were starting to be placed in concentration camps

Russian Civil Wars: why is important

After this war, the communists established the Soviet Union in 1922.

warsaw pact: who

Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union (and 7 other countries)

Anschluss of Austria: where

Austria and Germany

cold war: where

Because the Cold War did not involve actual combat but rather a situation of extreme tension between the Western Bloc and Eastern Bloc, there was no specific location;

Fascism: who

Benito Mussolini is considered the founder

détente: who

Between the U.S. and the Soviet Union

Firebombing of Dresden: why

British planes and then American bombers the following day dropped thousands of tons of incendiary devices causing a firestorm that engulfed the central city. About 25,000 people were killed.

Firebombing of Dresden: who

British, American, German

Operation Barbarossa: who

Nazi Germany, Soviet Union

German Rearmament: who

Nazi party

Nuremberg Laws: who

Nazi party

Night of the Long Knives: who

Nazi party, sa leaders

The Wannsee Protocol: who wrote it?

Nazis

charter 77 manifesto: overview

Charter 77 is the name for a loose group of well-known Czech elites and protestors who joined together in 1977 to demand human rights in their country. Czechoslovakia was part of the Warsaw Pact that made it impossible to break away from the policies of the Soviet Union. The document indicts the government for violations of human rights. These human rights were technically promised in the country's 1960 Constitution, and in foreign treaties signed by Czechoslovakia. But they were rarely enforced. The document was circulated throughout much of the world, but was not allowed to be published inside Czechoslovakia.

Concentration camps vs. death camps

Concentration camps held those that were racially "undesirable" with cruel living conditions and insufficient food, which would force inmates to experience slave-like working conditions. Death camps were established between 1941 and 1943 to exterminate the Jews - in which three million Jews were killed; A Death Camp is a place where individuals are collectively sent to be killed, as soon as possible after arrival. A Concentration Camp is a place where individuals are kept and utilized in any way possible. They are given slave-like working conditions, and the food/water supply is limited; torture and pain is the order of the day.

the wretched of the earth: the text

Conclusion Now, comrades, now is the time to decide to change sides. We must shake off the great mantle of night which has enveloped us, and reach for the light. The new day which is dawning must find us determined, enlightened and resolute. 1 We must abandon our dreams and say farewell to our old beliefs and former friendships. Let us not lose time in useless laments or sickening mimicry. Let us leave this Europe which never stops talking of man yet massacres him at every one of its street corners, at every corner of the world. For centuries Europe has brought the progress of other men to a halt and enslaved them for its own purposes and glory; for centuries it has stifled virtually the whole of humanity in the name of a so-called "spiritual adventure." Look at it now teetering between atomic destruction and spiritual disintegration. And yet nobody can deny its achievements at home have not been crowned with success. Europe has taken over leadership of the world with fervor, cynicism, and violence. And look how the shadow of its monuments spreads and multiplies. Every movement Europe makes bursts the boundaries of space and thought. Europe has denied itself not only humility and modesty but also solicitude and tenderness. Its only show of miserliness has been toward man, only toward man has it shown itself to be niggardly and murderously carnivorous. So, my brothers, how could we fail to understand that we have better things to do than follow in that Europe's footsteps? This Europe, which never stopped talking of man, which never stopped proclaiming its sole concern was man, we now know the price of suffering humanity has paid for everyone of its spiritual victories. Come, comrades, the European game is finally over, we must look for something else. We can do anything today provided we do not ape Europe, provided we are not obsessed with catching up with Europe. Europe has gained such a mad and reckless momentum that it has lost control and reason and is heading at dizzying speed towards the brink from which we would be advised to remove ourselves as quickly as possible. It is all too true, however, that we need a model, schemas and examples. For many of us the European model is the most elating. But we have seen in the preceding pages how misleading such an imitation can be. European achievements, European technology and European lifestyles must stop tempting us and leading us astray. 2 When I look for man in European lifestyles and technology I see a constant denial of man, an avalanche of murders. Man's condition, his projects and collaboration with others on tasks that strengthen man's totality, are new issues which require genuine inspiration. Let us decide not to imitate Europe and let us tense our muscles and our brains in a new direction. Let us endeavor to invent a man in full, something which Europe has been incapable of achieving. Two centuries ago, a former European colony took it into its head to catch up with Europe. It has been so successful that the United States of America has become a monster where the flaws, sickness, and inhumanity of Europe have reached frightening proportions. Comrades, have we nothing else to do but create a third Europe? The West saw itself on a spiritual adventure. It is in the name of the Spirit, meaning the spirit of Europe, that Europe justified its crimes and legitimized the slavery in which it held four fifths of humanity. Yes, the European spirit is built on strange foundations. The whole of European thought developed in places that were increasingly arid and increasingly inaccessible. Consequently, it was natural that the chances of encountering man became less and less frequent. A permanent dialogue with itself, an increasingly obnoxious narcissism inevitably paved the way for a virtual delirium where intellectual thought turns into agony since the reality of man as a living, working, self-made being is replaced by words, an assemblage of words and the tensions generated by their meanings. There were Europeans, however, who urged the European workers to smash this narcissism and break with this denial of reality. Generally speaking, the European workers did not respond to the call. The fact was that the workers believed they too were part of the prodigious adventure of the European Spirit. All the elements for a solution to the major problems of humanity existed at one time or another in European thought. But the Europeans did not act on the mission that was designated them and which consisted of virulently pondering these elements, modifying their configuration, their being, of changing them and finally taking the problem of man to an infinitely higher plane. 3 Today we are witnessing a stasis of Europe. Comrades, let us flee this stagnation where dialectics has gradually turned into a logic of the status quo. Let us reexamine the question of man. Let us reexamine the question of cerebral reality, the brain mass of humanity in its entirety whose affinities must be increased, whose connections must be diversified and whose communications must be humanized again. Come brothers, we have far too much work on our hands to revel in outmoded games. Europe has done what it had to do and all things considered, it has done a good job; let us stop accusing it, but let us say to it firmly it must stop putting on such a show. We no longer have reason to fear it, let us stop then envying it. The Third World is today facing Europe as one colossal mass whose project must be to try and solve the problems this Europe was incapable of finding the answers to. But what matters now is not a question of profitability, not a question of increased productivity, not a question of production rates. No, it is not a question of back to nature. It is the very basic question of not dragging man in directions which mutilate him, of not imposing on his brain tempos that rapidly obliterate and unhinge it. The notion of catching up must not be used as a pretext to brutalize man, to tear him from himself and his inner consciousness, to break him, to kill him. No, we do not want to catch up with anyone. But what we want is to walk in the company of man, every man, night and day, for all times. It is not a question of stringing the caravan out where groups are spaced so far apart they cannot see the one in front, and men who no longer recognize each other, meet less and less and talk to each other less and less. The Third World must start over a new history of man which takes account of not only the occasional prodigious theses maintained by Europe but also its crimes, the most heinous of which have been committed at the very heart of man, the pathological dismembering of his functions and the erosion of his unity, and in the context of the community, the fracture, the stratification and the bloody tensions fed by class, and finally, on the immense scale of humanity, the racial hatred, slavery, exploitation and, above all, the bloodless genocide whereby one and a half billion men have been written off. So comrades, let us not pay tribute to Europe by creating states, institutions, and societies that draw their inspiration from it. 4 Humanity expects other things from us than this grotesque and generally obscene emulation. If we want to transform Africa into a new Europe, America into a new Europe, then let us entrust the destinies of our counties to the Europeans. They will do a better job than the best of us. But if we want humanity to take one step forward, if we want to take it to another level than the one where Europe has placed it, then we must innovate, we must be pioneers. If we want to respond to the expectations of our peoples, we must look elsewhere besides Europe. Moreover, if we want to respond to the expectations of the Europeans we must not send them back a reflection, however ideal, of their society and their thought that periodically sickens even them. For Europe, for ourselves and for humanity, comrades, we must make a new start, develop a new way of thinking, and endeavor to create a new man.

Sudetenland: where

Czechoslovakia territory

UN declaration of human rights: date

December 10, 1948

Firebombing of Dresden: where

Dresden (Germany)

Fascism: where

Fascism originated in Italy during World War I, also known in Germany

Lateran Accords: when

February 11, 1929

'Stab in the back' myth: where

Germany

German Rearmament: where

Germany

Nazism: where

Germany

Reparations: where

Germany (had to pay it)

Reparations: who

Germany vs the allies

glasnost & perestroika: what

Glasnosts (openness policy reform) and Perestroika (restructuring) were a dual program; a political movement for reformation within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union; introduced profound changes in economic practice, internal affairs and international relations. Within five years, Gorbachev's revolutionary program swept communist governments throughout Eastern Europe from power and brought an end to the Cold War (1945-91), the largely political and economic rivalry between the Soviets and the United States and their respective allies that emerged following World War II. Gorbachev's actions also inadvertently set the stage for the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, which dissolved into 15 individual republics. He resigned from office on December 25, 1991.

Anschluss of Austria: who

Hitler

Operation Barbarossa: why

Hitler organized his massive military forces to the best of his abilities and encouraged invasion despite the political and economic pacts the two countries had signed the two years leading up to this moment. The failure of Operation Barbarossa was a turning point in the fortunes of the Third Reich and opened up the Eastern Front; The operation was driven primarily by an ideological desire to conquer the Western Soviet Union so that it could be repopulated by Germans, as well as to destroy the Soviet Union as a world power and Communism.

Sudetenland: why

Hitler stressed the importance of reuniting Germans, claiming Germany was overpopulated and encouraged allies in Sudetenland to riot causing bad press. The Appeasement at Munich Conference with Neville Chamberlain (UK) gave Hitler right to occupy Sudetenland, but Hitler broke the agreement by pursuing the rest of Czechosloakia and allowing other states (Poland and Hungary) to take areas of land they want, deeming these areas 'unstable.'

Lebensraum ("living space"): why

Hitler wants it so he takes the rest of Czechoslovakia nonagression - split up Poland; a nation's power depends on the amount of land it occupies thus a nation must expand to be strong

Nazism: who

Hitler was the leader

Lebensraum ("living space"): who

Hitler, germans

charter 77 manifesto: the text

IN THE CZECHOSLOVAK Register of Laws No. 120 of October 13, 1976, texts were published of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which were signed on behalf of our republic in 1968, reiterated at Helsinki in 1975 and came into force in our country on March 23, 1976. From that date our citizens have enjoyed the rights, and our state the duties, ensuing from them. The human rights and freedoms underwritten by these covenants constitute features of civilized life for which many progressive movements have striven throughout history and whose codification could greatly assist humane developments in our society. We accordingly welcome the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic's accession to those agreements. Their publication, however, serves as a powerful reminder of the extent to which basic human rights in our country exist, regrettably, on paper alone. The right to freedom of expression, for example, guaranteed by Article 19 of the first-mentioned covenant, is in our case purely illusory. Tens of thousands of our citizens are prevented from working in their own fields for the sole reason that they hold views differing from official ones, and are discriminated against and harassed in all kinds of ways by the authorities and public organizations. Deprived as they are of any means to defend themselves, they become victims of a virtual apartheid. Hundreds of thousands of other citizens are denied that "freedom from fear" mentioned in the preamble to the first covenant, being condemned to the constant risk of unemployment or other penalties if they voice their own opinions. In violation of Article 13 of the second-mentioned covenant, guaranteeing everyone the right to education, countless young people are prevented from studying because of their own views or even their parents'. Innumerable citizens live in fear of their own, or their children's right to education being withdrawn if they should ever speak up in accordance with their convictions. Any exercise of the right to "seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print" or "in the form of art" specified in Article 19, Clause 2 of the first covenant is followed by extra-judicial and even judicial 2 sanctions, often in the form of criminal charges, as in the recent trial of young musicians. Freedom of public expression is inhibited by the centralized control of all the communication media and of publishing and cultural institutions. No philosophical, political or scientific view or artistic activity that departs ever so slightly from the narrow bounds of official ideology or aesthetics is allowed to be published; no open criticism can be made of abnormal social phenomena; no public defense is possible against false and insulting charges made in official propaganda... Many scholars, writers, artists and others are penalized for having legally published or expressed, years ago, opinions which are condemned by those who hold political power today. Freedom of religious confession, emphatically guaranteed by Article 18 of the first covenant, is continually curtailed by arbitrary official action; by interference with the activity of churchmen, who are constantly threatened by the refusal of the state to permit them the exercise of their functions, or by the withdrawal of such permission; by financial or other transactions against those who express their religious faith in word or action; by constraints on religious training and so forth.... This state of affairs likewise prevents workers and others from exercising the unrestricted right to establish trade unions and other organizations to protect their economic and social interests, and from freely enjoying the right to strike provided for in Clause 1 of Article 8 in the secondmentioned covenant. Further civic rights, including the explicit prohibition of "arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home or correspondence" (Article 17 of the first covenant), are seriously vitiated by the various forms of interference in the private life of citizens exercised by the Ministry of the Interior, for example by bugging telephones and houses, opening mail, following personal movements, searching homes, setting up networks of neighborhood informers (often recruited by illicit threats or promises) and in other ways.... In cases of prosecution on political grounds the investigative and judicial organs violate the rights of those charged and those defending them, as guaranteed by Article 14 of the first covenant and indeed by Czechoslovak law. The prison treatment of those sentenced in such cases is an affront to their human dignity and a menace to their health, being aimed at breaking their morale. Clause 2, Article 12 of the first covenant, guaranteeing every citizen the right to leave the country, is consistently violated, or under the pretense of "defense of national security" is subjected to various unjustifiable conditions (Clause 3). The granting of entry visas to foreigners is also treated arbitrarily, and many are unable to visit Czechoslovakia merely because of professional or personal contacts with those of our citizens who are subject to discrimination. Some of our people--either in private, at their places of work or by the only feasible public channel, the foreign media-- have drawn attention to the systematic violation of human rights and democratic freedoms and demanded amends in specific cases. But their pleas have remained largely ignored or been made grounds for police investigation. Responsibility for the maintenance of rights in our country naturally devolves in the first place on the political and state authorities. Yet not only on them: everyone bears his share of responsibility for the conditions that prevail and accordingly also for the observance of legally 3 enshrined agreements, binding upon all individuals as well as upon governments.... Charter 77 is a loose, informal and open association of people of various shades of opinion, faiths and professions united by the will to strive individually and collectively for the respecting of civic and human rights in our own country and throughout the world--rights accorded to all men by the two mentioned international covenants, by the Final Act of the Helsinki conference and by numerous other international documents opposing war, violence and social or spiritual oppression, and which are comprehensively laid down in the UN Universal Charter of Human Rights. Charter 77 springs from a background of friendship and solidarity among people who share our concern for those ideals that have inspired, and continue to inspire, their lives and their work. Charter 77 is not an organization; it has no rules, permanent bodies or formal membership. It embraces everyone who agrees with its ideas and participates in its work. It does not form the basis for any oppositional political activity. Like many similar citizen initiatives in various countries, West and East, it seeks to promote the general public interest. It does not aim, then, to set out its own platform of political or social reform or change... As signatories, we hereby authorize Professor Dr. Jan Patocka, Dr. Vaclav Havel and Professor Dr. Jiri Hajek to act as the spokesmen for the Charter. ... We believe that Charter 77 will help to enable all citizens of Czechoslovakia to work and live as free human beings.

Lenin, 'What Is To Be Done?' overview

In 1900, after a period of political exile in Siberia, the Russian radical Vladimir Ulyanov left Russia for Switzerland, where he continued his campaign for world revolution under the name Vladimir Lenin. By this time, Lenin, along with his wife Nadya and other exiles such as Leon Trotsky, were seasoned agitators and debaters. The Marxists of this era spent a great deal of time and energy not only denouncing the capitalist system but also arguing with one another about the best means by which to accomplish its overthrow. Lenin was one of those horrified by Eduard Bernstein's "revisionism" and by the rise of the trade union movement. He was convinced that these modifications would appeal to workers fearful of joining the revolutionary movement, but would simply slow down and lengthen the period of capitalist exploitation. Thus in 1902 Lenin penned a long pamphlet, entitled "What Is To Be Done?" (a title he adopted from a famous Russian radical novel of the nineteenth century), in which he laid out his plans for forcing the advent of a revolution, even in the face of dwindling support for radical measures on the part of the proletariat. Lenin's plans entailed the deployment of professional revolutionaries, including a "vanguard" of foresightful intellectuals, who would seek to awaken working class consciousness and spark a revolution when the time was right—even if the workers were not ready to simply rise up as one and throw off their chains, as Marx had envisioned. Lenin's changes to Marx's ideas as laid out here were crucial to the radicals' rethinking of their strategies. His hotheaded devotion to this path, and his unwillingness to condone the efforts of Bernstein and the Social Democrats, forced a split in the Russian socialist movement in 1903, dividing the Mensheviks (the more moderate Social Democrats) from Lenin's Bolsheviks. This schism—which would prove important in Russia—was also echoed elsewhere in Europe, where the more radical communists and the moderate Social Democrats began to part ways

the wretched of the earth: overview

In 1961, the decolonization movement in Africa was gaining steam. One by one, African colonies were gaining independence from their European rulers. In some cases, such as Algeria, European forces fought bloody wars, in vain, to hold on to their colonies. Yet, when many former colonies gained independence, they sought to modernize their countries by seeking western support to build dams and infrastructure. In the conclusion of Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon, a French-educated African socialist who had fought in the Algerian resistance against French rule, urges newly independent countries to reject copying Europe. He argues that Europe's terrible record of exploiting people all around the world compromised its rhetoric of enlightenment and human rights. The ultimate consequence of European culture had been two world wars; why should the rest of the world seek to imitate this inhumane and self-destructive behavior? Fanon argues that if Africa wants to be like Europe, it should simply retain the colonial yoke

Hitler's Comments at a Dinner with the Chiefs of the Army and the Navy: overview

It has often been observed that Adolf Hitler was put into power by Germany's old conservative elite, which included members of the military, such as Reich president Paul von Hindenburg. These men, it has been said, hoped to use Hitler to smash the socialists, and then planned to push him out of power again. If this is the case, the chiefs of the army and navy who heard Hitler's comments at an official dinner less than a week after his assuming the chancellorship must have been shocked. Hitler clearly had no intention of being a short-term chancellor, and he had already developed extensive plans for his regime. In the following document, composed of notes taken down during that dinner, we can see that the Fuhrer has already worked out grand, and highly radical, strategies for reorienting German domestic and foreign policies, and for mobilizing (or terrorizing) the population to back his "struggles." In retrospect, it is striking how many of the aims enunciated here were ones Hitler continued to pursue throughout his regime.

Benito Mussolini: where

Italy

The Economic Consequences of the Peace: author

John Maynard Keynes

Operation Barbarossa: when

June 1941 to January 1942

The Economic Consequences of the Peace: overview

Keynes was a British economist who became the most influential economic thinker of the 20th century. In 1920,wrote a short work criticizing the Treaty of Versailles for failing to stabilize Europe's economy. He saw the vindictive nature of the Treaty, and the punishments heaped upon the losing powers, as dangerous to the future peace of Europe.

Lateran Accords: who

Kingdom of Italy and Holy See (Roman Catholic Church)

Anschluss of Austria: when

March 1938

show trails: why

Most charged were accused of conspiring with western powers to assassinate Stalin and other Soviet leaders. Led to the execution of many of the defendants and officials were given a script to read of their confession, whether true or not. Stalin's purpose was to get rid of anyone who may be a potential rival to him as leader.

The Wannsee Protocol: overview:

Nazi Document on the 'Final Solution' On July 31, 1941, Hermann Göring (1893-1946), acting on Hitler's instructions, ordered Reinhard Heydrich (1904-1942), head of the Reich Security Main Office, to draw up a complete plan for the "final solution of the Jewish question." Heydrich's so-called Special Operations Units [Einsatzgruppen] had already been working for weeks to "cleanse" the conquered territories through mass shootings of Jews and other designated enemies of the people. Although these mass shootings were supposed to continue up to the end of the war, the SS leadership sought to develop more efficient methods for carrying out the planned annihilation of Europe's approximately 11 million Jews. To accelerate the future deportation and murder of the European Jews and to coordinate the efforts of the state and party offices involved, Heydrich hosted a secret conference on January 20, 1942. It was held in Berlin at a Wannsee villa used by the Reich Security Main Office as a guest house and conference center. The fifteen participants, high-ranking representatives of the SS, the NSDAP, and the government, approved a program of annihilation that was actually already well under way. The protocol was discovered in Berlin in 1947 by Robert Kempner, assistant U.S. chief counsel in the Nuremberg Trials. A year later, it was used as important piece of evidence in the trial against the leading officials of the ministries.

Lebensraum ("living space"): where

Nazi Germany

Night of Broken Glass: where

Nazi Germany

Night of the Long Knives: where

Nazi Germany

T-4 Program: where

Nazi Germany

Hitler-Stalin Pact (aka Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact): where

Nazi Germany (hitler), soviet union (stalin), for Poland

Operation Barbarossa: what

Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union

Battle of Stalingrad: who

Nazi Germany vs soviet union

NATO: what

North Atlantic Treaty Organization founded as a intergovernmental military alliance whereby member states agree to mutual defense in response from an attack from an external party; military alliance

Night of Broken Glass: when

Nov. 9, 1938

Nuremberg Laws: where

Nuremberg

UN declaration of human rights: overview

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.

UN declaration of human rights: the text

PREAMBLE Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law, Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations, Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms, Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge, Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction. Article 1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Article 2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. Article 3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Article 4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. Article 5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Article 6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law. Article 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination. Article 8. Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law. Article 9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. Article 10. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him. Article 11. (1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence. (2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed. Article 12. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Article 13. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. Article 14. (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. (2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. Article 15. (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality. Article 16. (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses. (3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State. Article 17. (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property. Article 18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. Article 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Article 20. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association. Article 21. (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country. (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures. Article 22. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality. Article 23. (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection. (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests. Article 24. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay. Article 25. (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection. Article 26. (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace. (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children. Article 27. (1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. (2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author. Article 28. Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized. Article 29. (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. (3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. Article 30. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein

solidarity: where

Poland

1989 revolution: who

Poland (first to get rid), Germany, prague, Czech, Europe

Katyn Massacre: who

Polish nationals by NKVD (Russia's secret police)

solidarity: what

Polish trade union; first trade union in a Warsaw Pact country not controlled by a communist party. It was a social movement using civil resistance to advance the causes of workers' rights and social change. The government was forced to negotiate with the party and opposition led to semi-free elections in 1989.

Survival in Auschwitz: overview

Prim Levi (1919 - 1987) was an Italian chemist. In 1944, he was deported to Auschwitz, a Nazi concentration camp in Poland, where he remained for one year. Levi wrote about his nightmarish experiences in objective, scientific detail, believing that subjective commentary was unnecessary and that the events would speak for themselves. The following excerpt from his memoir describes the ritual in which prisoners were selected for condemnation.

Collectivization: why is it important

Riots and destruction of livestock because people refused to give up lands; no organization; people didn't wanna work; the people made less money; led to the Ukraine famine

Goodbye to all that: overview

Robert Graves was one of many middle-class English boys who went directly from school to war in 1914. Although moved by patriotic enthusiasm at first, Graves discovered that the reality of war was quite different from what the propaganda and poetry had led him to expect. Indeed, the war provided him with a different sort of education, putting him into close quarters with members of the lower classes, whom he might never have known, and illuminating clearly the stupidity, arrogance, and hypocrisies of the upper classes. He served as an officer in the trenches, and was badly wounded at the Battle of the Somme. During the war he got to know several other poets, including the author of several important pacifist texts, Siegfried Sassoon. Like Sassoon, Graves came to hate the war, but also to regard it as "real life." Both had great trouble readjusting to civilian life. In January 1918, Graves married the artist Nancy Nicholson, whose left-wing political views he shared; their first baby was born just after the armistice. Demobilized, in 1919 Graves caught the Spanish Flu and nearly died. The following passage offers interesting insight into the feelings of some members of the generation of Graves and Nicholson, who after the war found it impossible to return to normalcy, embracing instead various sorts of radicalism in order to distance themselves from the now intolerably oppressive and meaningless cultural and political world of their parents. Graves would go on to become a highly successful poet and novelist, and Nicholson a successful painter, though their marriage broke down in the 1930s, and ended in divorce in 1949

Goodbye to all that: author

Robert graves

Russian Civil Wars: where

Russia

Katyn Massacre: why

Russia had invaded eastern Poland as part of a secret clause in the August 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Germany, and annexed this territory directly into the Soviet Union. The Polish army officers that the Russian army had captured were seen to be too opposed to this to ever come to terms with it, and Stalin believed they would never be reconciled to being a part of the Soviet Union. As this might cause wider opposition, and other problems for the Soviet regime,Stalin decided to murder them all.

Katyn Massacre: where

Russia; Though the killings took place at several different locations, the massacre is named after the Katyn Forest, where some of the mass graves were first discovered.

show trails: what

Series of three public show trials - in which outcome was decided beforehand

Battle of Stalingrad: where

Stalingrad in southern Russia

Battle of Stalingrad: why

Stalingrad was an important target because it was Russia's center of communications and a center for manufacturing; The heavy losses inflicted on the German Wehrmacht make it arguably the most strategically decisive battle of the whole war It was a turning point in the European theatre of World War II; German forces never regained the initiative in the East and withdrew a vast military force from the West to replace their losses

Night of the Long Knives: what

The "purge" against other Nazi party members who were seen as a direct threat to Hitler's power and influence (which is mentioned in the video) was known as the "Night of Long Knives" because most that were killed that night were killed by knife.

prague spring: why

The First Secretary Dubcek wanted partial decentralization and democratization. It failed to reform communism because the Soviet Union and other members of the Warsaw Pact invaded the country to stop the reforms.

marshall plan: overview

The Marshall Plan channeled over $13 billion dollars from the US to help finance the economic recovery of Europe between 1948-1951. The US couldn't consume its excess production, and needed an export market. US also wanted to prevent western Europe from turning communist. The Marshall Plan comes with strings attached, stating that Europe needs to engage in free trade and accept US advisors to reform the economy. This is important because not only does it help Europe get back on it's feet after the war, preventing the spread of communism, but it also consolidated the cold war, as the Soviet Union prevented the eastern European puppet nations from accepting the deal.

Night of the Long Knives: why is it important

The Night of the Long Knives not only removed the SA leaders but also got Hitler the army's oath that he so needed

T-4 Program: why

The T-4 program allowed Nazis to murder approximately 70,000 of the handicapped from 1939-1941; In total 200,000 of those 'unfit' were killed

The Economic Consequences of the Peace: the text

The [Versailles] Treaty includes no provisions for the economic rehabilitation of Europe,— nothing to make the defeated Central Empires into good neighbors, nothing to stabilize the new States of Europe, nothing to reclaim Russia; nor does it promote in any way a compact of economic solidarity amongst the Allies themselves; no arrangement was reached at Paris for restoring the disordered finances of France and Italy, or to adjust the systems of the Old World and the New. ... It is an extraordinary fact that the fundamental economic problems of a Europe starving and disintegrating before their eyes, was the one question in which it was impossible to arouse the interest of the Four. ... Europe consists of the densest aggregation of population in the history of the world. This population is accustomed to a relatively high standard of life, in which, even now, some sections of it anticipate improvement rather than deterioration. ...The danger confronting us, therefore, is the rapid depression of the standard of life of the European populations to a point which will mean actual starvation for some (a point already reached in Russia and approximately reached in Austria).... Lenin is said to have declared that the best way to destroy the Capitalist System was to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. By this method they not only confiscate, but they confiscate arbitrarily; and, while the process impoverishes many, it actually enriches some. ...These "profiteers" are, broadly speaking, the entrepreneur class of capitalists, that is to say, the active and constructive element in the whole capitalist society, who in a period of rapidly rising prices cannot help but get rich quick whether they wish it or desire it or not. ... The inflationism of the currency systems of Europe has proceeded to extraordinary lengths.... What then is to be done? The tentative suggestions of this chapter may appear to the reader inadequate. But the opportunity was missed at Paris during the six months which followed the Armistice, and nothing we can do now can repair the mischief wrought at that time. Great privation and great risks to society have become unavoidable. All that is now open to us is to redirect, so far as lies in our power, the fundamental economic tendencies which underlie the events of the hour, so that they promote the re-establishment of prosperity and order, instead of leading us deeper into misfortune. We must first escape from the atmosphere and the methods of Paris. Those who controlled the Conference may bow before the gusts of popular opinion, but they will never lead us out of our troubles....

j' accuse overview

The great realist novelist Émile Zola was a lifelong republican. Along with the actress Sarah Bernhardt, Zola was deeply distressed by the case of the Alsatian Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus, who was court-martialed and sentenced to life in prison—on scanty and suspicious evidence—of selling French state secrets to the Germans in 1894. The accusations were clearly guided by anti-Semitic sentiments, which were whipped up by the right-wing press, and especially by Eduoard Drumont, the publisher of the journal La libre parole (The Free Word) and author of La France juivre (Jewish France; 1886). In 1896, new evidence implicated Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, a major in the French army and a member of the French branch of the powerful Hungarian noble house. But the courts ignored the evidence, declared Esterhazy innocent, and reconfirmed Dreyfus's guilt. It was this verdict that enraged Zola and other republicans. In January 1898, Zola wrote the following blistering open letter to the president of the French Republic, entitled 'J'accuse'("I accuse you!"), in which he denounced France's military and justice systems, as well as the Catholic Church, for condemning an innocent man. In the end, Dreyfus was given a new trial, and found innocent. He served his country in the First World War, and was awarded the Legion of Honor medal in 1918. Esterhazy escaped to Belgium and then England, where he (almost certainly the guilty party) died in 1923.

Yalta Conference: why

The leaders agreed to demand Germany to surrender and begin plans for a post-war world. Stalin agreed to permit free elections in Eastern Europe and could enter the Asian war against Japan to receive lands lost. Stalin later broke his promise of free elections and installed governments dominated by the Soviet Union.

berlin wall: why

The plan was to keep Western fascists from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state.

decolonization: what

The process of giving African colonies independence after being under British rule; The U.S. used aid packages and sometimes military intervention to assure the newly independent nations would adopt governments based on those in the West. Many new nations joined the UN.

glasnost & perestroika: why

The program swept communist governments in Eastern Europe from power and brought an end to the Cold War. Led to the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union into 15 individual republics.

Hitler's Comments at a Dinner with the Chiefs of the Army and the Navy: the text

The sole aim of general policy: the regaining of political power. The whole State administration must be geared to this end (all departments!). 1. Domestic policy: Complete reversal of the present domestic political situation in Germany. Refusal to tolerate any attitude contrary to this aim (pacifism!). Those who will not be converted must be broken. Extermination of Marxism root and branch. Adjustment of youth and of the whole people to the idea that only a struggle can save us and that everything else must be subordinated to this idea. (Realized in the millions of the Nazi movement. It will grow.) Training of youth and strengthening of the will to fight with all means. Death penalty for high treason. Tightest authoritarian State leadership. Removal of the cancer of Democracy! 2. Foreign policy: Battle against Versailles. Equality of rights in Geneva; but useless if people do not have the will to fight. Concern for allies. 3. Economics: The farmer must be saved! Settlement policy! Further increase of exports useless. The capacity of the world is limited and production is forced up everywhere. The only possibility of re-employing part of the army of unemployed lies in settlement. But time is needed and radical improvement not to be expected since living space too small for German people. 4. Building up of the armed forces: Most important prerequisite for achieving the goal of regaining political power. National Service must be reintroduced. But beforehand the State leadership must ensure that the men subject to military service are not, even before their entry, poisoned by pacifism, Marxism, Bolshevism or do not fall victim to this poison after their service. How should political power be used when it has been gained? That is impossible to say yet. Perhaps fighting for new export possibilities, perhaps—and probably better—the conquest of new living space in the east and its ruthless Germanization. Certain that only through political power and struggle can the present economic circumstances be changed. The only things that can happen now—settlement—stopgap measures. Armed forces most important and most Socialist institution of the State. They must stay unpolitical and impartial. The internal struggle not their affair but that of the Nazi organizations. As opposed to Italy no fusion of Army and SA intended— most dangerous time is during the reconstruction of the Army. It will show whether or not France has statesmen: if so, she will not leave us time but will attack us (presumably with eastern satellites).

Spanish Civil War: why is it important

The war increased tensions in the lead-up to World War II and was largely seen as a possible war by proxy between the Communist Soviet Union and the Fascist Axis of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.; Franco then ruled Spain for the next 36 years; The war also witnessed the first ever deliberate aerial bombing of a city. On April 27th 1937, the ancient city of the Basques - Guernica - was bombed and destroyed by the Condor Legion of Germany. For Hitler it was a useful experiment into the value of bombing civilian targets. For the Nationalists, it took out a city of spiritual importance for the Basques. For Europe, the warning posed by this bombing was obvious. Hence the attempts by Chamberlain and Daladier to create a formula for Europe to avoid any chance of a repetition of Guernica. Aerial bombing and its consequences were to terrify western Europe.

Hitler-Stalin Pact (aka Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact): why

This pact was important because it caused Stalin and the Soviet Union to be caught off guard and gave them reason to join the war against Germany; The pact was a prelude to WWII and prevented a two front war (It remained in force for nearly two years, until the German government of Adolf Hitler ended the pact by launching an attack on the Soviet positions in Eastern Poland)

The great depression: when

This started with collapse of the US stock market in 1929 .

European economic community (eec): why

This was a precursor to the EU and was incorporated into the EU in 1993. The EEC aimed for economic union of its member nations, ultimately leading to political union.

T-4 Program: what

Tiergarten 4 was the address of the Berlin headquarters of the Nazi Euthanasia program aimed to improve "racial hygiene" of Germans.

Survival In Auschwitz: the text

Today is working Sunday, Arbeitssonntag: we work until 1 p.m., then we return to camp for the shower, shave and general control for skin disease and lice. And in the yards, everyone knew mysteriously that the selection would be today. The news arrived, as always, surrounded by a halo of contradictory or suspect details: the selection in the infirmary took place this morning; the percentage was seven percent of the whole camp, thirty, fifty percent of the patients. At Birkenau,1 the crematorium chimney has been smoking for ten days. Room has to be made for an enormous convoy arriving from the Poznan ghetto.2 The young tell the young that all the old ones will be chosen. The healthy tell the healthy that only the ill will be chosen. Specialists will be excluded. German Jews will be excluded. Low Numbers3 will be excluded. You will be chosen. I will be excluded. At 1p.m. exactly the yard empties in orderly fashion, and for two hours the gray unending army files past the two control stations where, as on every day, we are counted and recounted, and past the military band which for two hours without interruption plays, as on every day, those marches to which we must synchronize our steps at our entrance and our exit. It seems like every day, the kitchen chimney smokes as usual, the distribution of the soup is already beginning. But then the bell is heard, and at that moment we realize that we have arrived. Because this bell always sounds at dawn, when it means the reveille;4 but if it sounds during the day, it means "Blocksperre," enclosure in huts, and this happens when there is a selection to prevent anyone avoiding it, or when those selected leave for the gas, to prevent anyone seeing them leave. Our Blockaltester5 knows his business. He has made sure that we have all entered, he has the door locked, he has given everyone his card with his number, name, profession, age and nationality and he has ordered everyone to undress completely, except for shoes. W wait like this, naked, with the card in our hands, for the commission to reach our hut. We are hut 48, but one can never tell if they are going to begin at hut 1 or hut 60. At any rate, we can rest quietly at least for an hour, and there is no reason why we should not get under the blanket on the bunk and keep warm. Many are already drowsing when a barrage of orders, oaths and blows proclaims the imminent arrival of the commission. The Blockaltester and his helpers, starting at the end of the dormitory, drive the crowd of frightened, naked people in front of them and cram them in the Tagesraum which is the Quartermaster's office.6 The Tagesraum is a room seven yards by four: when the drive is over, a warm and compact human mass is jammed into the Tagesraum, perfectly filling all the corners, exercising such a pressure on the wooden walls as to make them creak... The Blockaltester has closed the connecting-door and has opened the other two which lead from the dormitory and the Tagesraum outside. Here, in front of the two doors, stands the arbiter7 of our fate, an SS subaltern.8 On his right is the Blockaltester, on his left, the quartermaster of the hut. Each one of us, as he comes naked out of the Tagesraum into the cold October air, has to run the few steps between the two doors, give the card to the SS man and enter the dormitory door. The SS man, in the fraction of a second between two successive crossings, with a glance at one's back and front, judges everyone's fate, and in turn gives the card to the man on his right or his left, and this is the life or death of each of us. In three or four minutes a hut of two hundred men is "done," as is the whole camp of twelve thousand men in the course of the afternoon. Jammed in the charnel-house9 of the Tagesraum, I gradually felt the human pressure around me slacken, and in a short time it was my turn. Like everyone, I passed by with a brisk and elastic step, trying to hold my head high, my chest forward and my muscles contracted and conspicuous. With the corner of my eye I tried to look behind my shoulders, and my card seemed to end on the right. As we gradually come back into the dormitory we are allowed to dress ourselves. Nobody yet knows with certainty his own fate, it has first of all to be established whether the condemned cards were those on the right or the left. By now there is not longer any point in sparing each other's feelings with superstitious scruples. Everybody crowds around the oldest, the most wasted-away, and most "muselmann";10 if their cards went to the left, the left is certainly the side of the condemned.

Ukrainian Famine: where

Ukraine

Ukrainian Famine: who

Ukrainians

Joseph Stalin: why is he important

Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. However, he ruled by terror, and millions of his own citizens died during his brutal reign.

Goodbye to all that: the text

When I was well enough to travel [after recovering from the Spanish Flu], Nancy, I, and the baby went up to Harlech, where Nicholson [Nancy's father] had lent us his house to live in. We were there for a year. I discarded my uniform, having worn nothing else for four and a half years, and looked into my school trunk to see what I had to wear. There was only one suit that was not [a] school uniform and I had grown out of that. I found it difficult to believe that the war was over. When I had last been a civilian I had been still at school, so I had no experience of independent civilian life. ... I was still mentally and nervously organized for war; shells used to come bursting on my bed at midnight even when Nancy was sharing it with me; strangers in day-time would assume the faces of friends who had been killed. When strong enough to climb the hill behind Harlech and revisit my favourite country, I found that I could only see it as a prospective battlefield. I would find myself working out tactical problems, planning how I would hold the Northern Artro valley against an attack from the sea, or where I would place a Lewis gun if I were trying to rush Dolwreiddiog Farm from the brow of the hill, and what would be the best position for the rifle-grenade section. I still had the army habit of commandeering anything of uncertain ownership that I found lying about; also a difficulty in telling the truth--it was always easier for me now when overtaken in any fault to lie my way out. I applied the technique of taking over billets or trenches to a review of my present situation. Food, water supply, possible dangers, communication, sanitation, protection against the weather, fuel and lighting—each item was ticked off as satisfactory. And other loose habits of war-time survived, such as stopping passing motors for a lift, talking without embarrassment to my fellow-travelers in railway carriages, and unbuttoning by the road-side without shame, whoever was about. And I retained the technique of endurance, a brutal persistence in seeing things through, somehow, anyhow, without finesse, satisfied with the main points of any situation. [...] I was very thin, very nervous and with about four years' loss of sleep to make up. I found that I was suffering from a large sort of intestinal worm which came from drinking bad water in France. I was now waiting until I should be well enough to go to Oxford with the Government educational grant; it seemed the easiest thing to do. I knew that it would be years before I was fit for anything besides a quiet country life. There was no profession that I wished to take up, though for awhile I considered school-mastering. My disabilities were many: I could not use a telephone, I felt sick every time I traveled in a train, and if I saw more than two new people in a single day prevented me from sleeping. I was ashamed of myself as a drag on Nancy. [...] Siegfried [Sassoon] had gone to live at Oxford as soon as he was demobilized, expecting me to join him. But after being there for a term or so he became literary editor of the newly-published Daily Herald. He gave me books to review for it. In these days, The Daily Herald was not respectable. It was violent. It was anti-militarist. It was and the only daily newspaper that protested against the Versailles Treaty and the blockade of Russia by the British Fleet. The Treaty of Versailles shocked me; it seemed to lead certainly to another war and yet nobody cared. When the most critical decisions were being taken in Paris, public interest concentrated entirely on three home-news items: Hawker's Atlantic flight and rescue,[1] the marriage of Lady Diana Manners [a notable English beauty], and a marvelous horse called The Panther, which was the Derby favourite and came in nowhere. The Herald spoilt our breakfast for us every morning. We read in it of unemployment all over the country due to the closing of munition factories, of ex-service men refused re-instatement in the jobs they had left in the early stages of the war, of market-rigging, lock-outs, and abortive strikes. I began to hear news, too, of my mother's relatives in Germany and the penury to which they had been reduced, particularly those who were retired officials and whose pension, by the collapse of the mark, was reduced to a few shillings a week. Nancy and I took all this to heart; we now called ourselves socialists. The attitude of my family was doubtful. I had fought gallantly for my country—indeed I was the only one of my father's five sons of military age who had seen active service—and was entitled to every consideration because of my shell-shocked condition; but my socialism and sympathy for the Bolsheviks outraged them. I once more forfeited the good will of my Uncle Charles. My father tried to talk me over, reminding me that my brother Philip had once been a pro-Boer and a Fenian[2], but had recovered from his youthful revolutionary idealism and come out all right in the end. Most of the elder members of my family were in the Near East, either married to British officials or British officials themselves. My father hoped that when I was recovered I would go to Egypt, perhaps in the consular service, where the family influence would be of great service to me, and there get over my 'revolutionary enthusiasm.' Socialism with Nancy was rather a means to a single end. The most important thing to her was judicial equality of the sexes; she held that all the wrong in the world was caused by male domination and narrowness. She refused to see my experiences in the war as in any way comparable with the sufferings that millions of married women of the working class went through. This at least had the effect of putting the war into the background for me; I was devoted to Nancy and respected her views in so far as they were impersonal. Male stupidity and callousness became an obsession with her and she found it difficult not to include me in her universal condemnation of men. It came to the point later when she could not bear a newspaper in the house. She was afraid of coming across something that would horrify her, some paragraph about the necessity of keeping up the population, or about the modern girl, or anything at all about women written by clergymen. We became members of the newly formed Constructive Birth Control Society, and distributed its literature among the village women, to the scandal of my family. It was a great grief to my parents that Jenny was not baptized. My father wrote to Nancy's godfather, who also happened to be my publisher, asking him to use his influence with Nancy, for whose religion he had promised at the font to be responsible, to make her give the child Christian baptism. They were scandalized too that Nancy, finding that it was legal to keep her own name for all purposes, refused to allow herself to be called 'Mrs Graves' in any circumstances. At first I had been doubtful about this, thinking that perhaps it was not worth the trouble and suspicion that it caused; but when I saw that Nancy was now [after her marriage] treated as being without personal validity I was converted.

j accuse the text

Will you all me, out of my gratitude for the gracious manner in which you once granted me an audience, to express my concern for your well-deserved glory? Will you allow me to tell you that although your star has been in the ascendant hitherto, it is now in danger of being dimmed by the most shameful and indelible of stains? [...] What a blot on your name (I was about to say, on your reign) this abominable Dreyfus Affair is! A court martial, acting on your orders, has just dared to acquit such a man as Esterhazy. Truth itself and justice itself have been slapped in the face. And now it is too late, France's cheek has been sullied by that supreme insult, and History will record that it was during your presidency that such a crime against society was committed? [...] First of all, the truth about the trial and the verdict against Dreyfus. One wicked man had led it all, done it all: Lt-Col [Armand-Mercier] du Paty de Clam.[1] At the time he was only a Major. He is the entire Dreyfus Affair....It was his idea to dictate the bordereau[2] to Dreyfus; it was his idea to examine it in a room entirely lined with mirrors; it was du Paty de Clam, Major Forzinetti tells us, who went out with a dark lantern intending to slip into the cell where the accused man was sleeping and flash the light on his face all of a sudden so that he would be taken by surprise and blurt out a confession!... For some time already, the bordereau had been in the possession of Colonel Sandherr, head of the Intelligence Bureau, who has since died of total paralysis. There were 'leaks', papers disappeared, just as papers continue to disappear today; and efforts were being made to find out who had written the bordereau when a conviction slowly grew up that that person could only be an officer from the General Staff, and an artillery officer at that. This was a glaring double error, which shows how superficially the bordereau had been examined, since a close and rational scrutiny of it proves that it could only have been written by an infantry officer.... It was du Paty de Clam who invented Dreyfus. The Affair became his affair. He was sure that he could confound the traitor and wring a complete confession from him. Of course, there is the War Minister, General Mercier, whose intelligence seems to be on a mediocre level; and of course there is the Chief of the General Staff, General de Boisdeffre, who appears to have been swayed by his intense clericalism.... 2 Ah, for anyone who knows the true details of the first affair, what a nightmare it is! Major du Paty de Clam arrests Dreyfus and has him placed in solitary confinement. He rushes to the home of Madame Dreyfus and terrifies her, saying that if she speaks up, her husband is lost... But now, here is Dreyfus summoned before the court martial. The most utter secrecy is demanded. They could not have imposed stricter silence and been more rigorous and mysterious if a traitor had actually opened our borders to the enemy and led the German Emperor straight to Notre Dame. ... No punishment can be too severe; the nation will applaud the traitor's public humiliation; the nation is adamant: the guilty man shall remain on the remote rock where infamy has placed him and he shall be devoured by remorse. But then, those unspeakable accusations, those dangerous accusations that might inflame all of Europe and had to be so carefully concealed behind the closed doors of secret session—are they true? No, they are not! ...One need only examine the formal indictment that was read before the court martial. How hollow that indictment is! Is it possible a man has been found guilty on the strength of it? Such iniquity is staggering. I challenge decent people to read it: their hearts will leap with indignation and rebellion when they think of the disproportionate price Dreyfus is paying so far away on Devil's Island. So Dreyfus speaks several languages, does he? This is a crime. Not one compromising paper was found in his home? A crime. He occasionally pays a visit to the region he fails from? A crime. . . So all that was left was the bordereau, on which the experts had not agreed. They say that in the council chambers, the judges were naturally leaning towards acquittal. And if that is the case then you can understand why, on the General Staff, they are so desperately insistent today on proclaiming, in order to justify the judgement [sic], that there was a damning but secret document; they cannot reveal it but it makes everything legitimate and we must bow before it, as before an invisible and unknowable God! I deny the existence of any such document, I deny it with all my strength! [...] ...The preconceived idea that they brought with them to the judges' bench of course as follows: 'Dreyfus was sentenced for treason by a court martial, therefore he is guilty; and we, as a court martial, cannot find him innocent'... They reached an iniquitous verdict which will forever weigh heavy on all our future courts martial and forever make their future decisions suspect...they 3 talk to us about the honour of the army; they want us to love the army, respect the army....the army that is involved here is not the dignified army that our need for justice calls out for. What we are faced with here is the sabre, the master that may be imposed on us tomorrow. Should we kiss the hilt of that sabre, that god, with pious devotion? No, we should not! [...] .The war office employed every means imaginable—campaigns in the press, statements and innuendoes, every type of influence—to cover Esterhazy, in order to convict Dreyfus a second time. The republican government should take a broom to that nest of Jesuits (General Billot calls them that himself) and make a clean sweep! [...] It is a crime to have accused individuals of rending France apart when all those individuals ask for is a generous nation at the head of the procession of free, just nations—and all the while the people who committed that crime were hatching an insolent plot to make the entire world swallow a fabrication. It is a crime to lead public opinion astray, to manipulate it for a death-dealing purpose and pervert it to the point of delirium. It is a crime to poison the minds of the humble, ordinary people, to whip reactionary and intolerant passions into a frenzy while sheltering behind the odious bastion of anti-Semitism. France, the great and liberal cradle of the rights of man, will die of anti-Semitism if it is not cured of it. It is a crime to play on patriotism to further the aims of hatred. And it is a crime to worship the sabre as a modern god when all of human science is labouring to hasten the triumph of truth and justice. [...] But this letter has been a long one, M. le President, and it is time to bring it to a close. I accuse Lt-Col du Paty de Clam of having been the diabolical agent of a miscarriage of justice (though unwittingly, I am willing to believe) and then having defended his evil deed for the past three years through the most preposterous and most blameworthy machinations. I accuse General Mercier of having been an accomplice....to one of the most iniquitous acts of this century. I accuse Generals de Boisdeffre and Gonse of having been accomplices to this same crime, one out of intense clerical conviction, no doubt, and the other perhaps because of the espirit de corps which makes the War Office the Holy of Holies and hence unattackable. [...] 4 I accuse the handwriting experts...of having submitted fraudulent and deceitful reports—unless a medical examination concludes that their eyesight and their judgement were impaired. I accuse the War Office of having conducted an abominable campaign in the press...in order to cover up its misdeeds and lead public opinion astray. Finally, I accuse the first court martial of having violated the law by sentencing a defendant on the basis of a document which remained secret, and I accuse the second court martial of having covered up that illegal actions, on orders, by having, in its own turn, committed the judicial crime of knowingly acquitting a guilty man. In making these accusations, I am fully aware that my action comes under Articles 30 and 31 of the law of 29 July 1881 on the press, which makes libel a punishable offence. I deliberately expose myself to that law. [...] I have but one goal: that light be shed, in the name of mankind which has suffered so much and has the right to happiness. My ardent protest is merely a cry from my very soul. Let them dare to summon me before a court of law! Let the inquiry be held in broad daylight! I am waiting. M. le President, I beg you to accept the assurance of my most profound respect.

Yalta Conference: who

Winston Churchill (British prime minster), Joseph Stalin (soviet union premier), and Franklin Roosevelt (USA President)

Vichy France: what

a French state

Lebensraum ("living space"): what

a German word meaning living space; was a racist ideology stating Germans needed to expand east; Hitler justified this idea by claiming that the German superior race had the right to displace those of inferior races, especially since Germans faced overpopulation.

berlin wall: what

a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) that divided the east and west sides of Berlin

'The New Woman' : what

a feminist ideal

warsaw pact: what

a military alliance of eastern Europe communist regimes led by Soviet Union and fell after the demise of communism in eastern Europe; The Warsaw Pact was created in reaction to the integration of West Germany into NATO; established a balance of power or counterweight to NATO; Both NATO and the Warsaw Pact led to the expansion of military forces and their integration into the respective blocs

1989 revolution: when

the late 1980s and early 1990s

prague spring: what

a time of democratic debate determining what their political system should look like, included reforms; only political party was communist; socialism with a human face; ends badly-state looks for more reforms and Moscow is nervous it will back out of warsaw pact; prague gets invaded by warsaw pact; leader forced to resign; showed the soviet union was paranoid of states breaking away from the warsaw pact--suppose to be a defensive group, but ends up being a gang

Hitler's Comments at a Dinner with the Chiefs of the Army and the Navy: author

adolf hitler

'Stab in the back' myth: when

after 1918

Vichy France: when

after France was defeated by Germany in 1940 and sokit ibto 2 regions (in 1942, German troops occupy Vichy France, which had previously been free of an Axis military presence)

Lateran Accords: what

agreements made settling the "Roman Question"

Nazism: what

aka national socialism; becomes popular because of the great depression; anti-sematic; is a set of political beliefs associated with the Nazi Party of Germany; characterized as a form of fascism that incorporates scientific racism and anti-Semitism; subscribed to theories of racial hierarchy and Social Darwinism

Fascism: what

an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization; becomes popular because it paramilitary forces defeat of socialism

New Economic Policy (NEP): what

an economic policy; Stepping back from Communist economy ideas; small and medium size farmers can hang on to property and can sell goods in a market (large farm lands broken up); private production continues

Comintern: what

an international communist organization commited to spreading communism; planned to fight by all available means, including armed force for the overthrow of the bourgeoisie and for the creation of the International Soviet republic and abolition of the state.

Anschluss of Austria: what

announced an "Anschluss" (union) between Germany and Austria, in fact annexing the smaller nation into a greater Germany.

Nuremberg Laws: what

anti-Semitic laws; At the annual party rally, the Nazis announced new laws which institutionalized many of the racial theories prevalent in Nazi ideology. The laws excluded German Jews from Reich citizenship and prohibited them from marrying or having sexual relations with persons of "German or related blood."

The 'Final Solution' (aka the Holocaust): where

at the Wannsee Conference near Berlin

cold war: who

basically united states and soviet union (western bloc vs eastern bloc)

berlin wall: where

berlin, Germany

show trails: when

between 1936 and 1938

decolonzation: overview:

came rapidly in the 1950s and 60s. Transition was bloody where European settlers lived, but peaceful where Europe just gave them up. Africa did very poorly after decolonization because of an increase in poverty, a population explosion, spread of AIDS, neo-colonialism, illogical borders, and corrupt leaders. This is important because it is the main reason that African remains the poorest region in the world and continues to have civil wars.

Fascism: when

came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe

Stalinist Great Terror: what

campaign of political repression in the Soviet Union; executed a great deal of people suspected of being enemies of the state or sent them to gulogs

'Stab in the back' myth: why is it important

caused anger that led to a great deal of crisis

1989 revolution: where

central and eastern Europe and beyond

charter 77 manifesto: author

charter 77

Comintern: who

communists

glasnost & perestroika: who

created by Gorbachev

Collectivization: what

part of 5 year plan; the peasantry were forced to give up their individual farms and join large collective farms; process was set in place to help industrialize the soviet union rapidly

The great depression: why is it important

deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world; sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors

New Economic Policy (NEP): why is important

designed to bring capital into the state, which it did, and to help it prosper economically. However, some socialists believe it may have gone too far with its free-market economic style and possibly could have lead the Soviet Union into permanently possessing a capitalist economy, which would have destroyed the socialist priority. The original plan, however, was to have capitalism in place until the economy was strong enough to achieve socialism

Joseph Stalin: who

dictator of the Soviet Union after Lenin

'The New Woman' : why is it important

dissatisfied with domesticity and began to celebrate female virtue and support social clubs and there became more political responsibility for women. They gained the confidence to break ideals and compete with men for clubs, and colleges; gained the right to vote in 1920; idea of separate spheres slowly diminishing

German Rearmament: when

during the interwar period (1918-1939)

Yalta Conference: when

early in February 1945

berlin wall: who

east berlin/west berlin

glasnost & perestroika: where

eastern Europe, soviet union

'The New Woman' : when

emerged in the late 19th century

Hitler's Comments at a Dinner with the Chiefs of the Army and the Navy: when

feb 3 , 1933

Comintern: when

founded in 1919

Comintern: where

founded in Moscow, Russia

European economic community (eec): who

founding countries were Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Italy, Netherlands, and West Germany

Vichy France: where

france

the wretched of the earth: author

frantz fanton

Night of the Long Knives: when

from June 30 to July 2, 1934,

solidarity: why

gave rise to a broad, non-violent, anti-communist social movement that, at its height, claimed some 9.4 million members. It is considered to have contributed greatly to the fall of communism.

UN declaration of human rights: author

general assembly of the united nations

Totalitarianism: where

governments like present day north korea

Benito Mussolini: why is he important

he invented fascism; in his role as an early proponent of fascism, whose visions for Italy and the world helped to bring about the most devastating conflict in world history.

NATO: where

headquarters in brussels, Belgium

Beer Hall Putsch: who

hitler

Hitler-Stalin Pact (aka Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact): who

hitler and stalin

Beer Hall Putsch: why is it important

hitler failed to take control his first go around; he was sentenced to prison for committing treason; this was the chance to crush the rise of hitler 5 years only served 8 months; instead of oppressing his movement, it fueled it. this brought more attention to hitler than ever, he also had ideas for his book here, and it gave him insight that the path to power was through legitimate means rather than revolution

sudt

hitler gets this land, does it with the approaval of major euopean powes appeasement at munic conf; hitle promised it would be the last piece he would annex, would bring peace, complete the uniting of Germany; would not seek further. chamberlin agreed; popular at the time

Ukrainian Famine: what

holodomor--to kill by starvation; man-made famine; they were main produces or wheat in the region resisted collectization more heavily than anyone else; stalin demands they produce more grain then take it as punishment; practically no food left and nothing for people till eat

Lenin, 'What Is To Be Done?' the text

https://moodle3.lsu.edu/pluginfile.php/213370/mod_resource/content/1/Lenin%20What%20is%20to%20be%20done.pdf

The Wannsee Protocol: the text

https://moodle3.lsu.edu/pluginfile.php/213391/mod_resource/content/1/The%20Wannsee%20Protocol.pdf

un declaration of human rights: the link

https://moodle3.lsu.edu/pluginfile.php/213397/mod_resource/content/1/Univ%20Decl%20HR.pdf

the wretched of the earth: the link

https://moodle3.lsu.edu/pluginfile.php/213398/mod_resource/content/1/Fanon%20-%20Wretched%20of%20Earth.pdf

charter 77 manifesto: the link

https://moodle3.lsu.edu/pluginfile.php/213399/mod_resource/content/1/Charter%2077%20Manifesto.pdf

j accuse the link

https://moodle3.lsu.edu/pluginfile.php/550968/mod_resource/content/0/Zola%20Jaccuse.pdf

Russian Civil Wars: when

immediately after the Russian Revolutions of 1917

Nuremberg Laws: why is it important

importance was that it set the stage for the deportations, it did not create anti-antisemitism, it merely made it law. This is where many people say the holocaust took its first steps

Totalitarianism: why is it important

important in some settings because it gives the power to the government, the military and the political parties. It does not allow one single person or single unit complete control over all of the governmental issues.

The 'Final Solution' (aka the Holocaust): when

in January 1942; ww2

prague spring: where

in capitol of Czechoslovakia

glasnost & perestroika: when

in late 1980s

German Rearmament: why is it important

in violation of the Treaty of Versailles

Sudetenland: who

inhabited primarily by ethnic German speakers

Ghettos: when

interwar period, holocaust, ww2 1940s (early)

Sudetenland: what

is the German name to refer to those northern, southwest, and western areas of Czechoslovakia

Anschluss of Austria: why is it important

it marks the first real attempt by Nazi Germany to expand its borders; The German expansion into Austria helps to set the stage for future designs of Hitler and the Nazi party. The pattern that would be visited repeatedly was first established in the overtaking of Austria. On one hand, Hitler laid out a type of "historical" case as to why expansion was warranted. This perception of history was distorted, but since no other versions were being offered (or those who were offering it were being silenced by Hitler), there became a historical basis for the land acquisition. Some slight attempts at diplomacy was pursued, consisting of Hitler meeting with representatives and essentially bullying his way to his own ends, and then a military movement complete with social modes of control that emphasize the Nazi notion of the good being absolute. All of these were on display with the acquisition of Austria.

Vichy France: why

it represents the southern, unoccupied "Free Zone" that governed the southern part of the countryl They were allowed to control their internal affairs but military and diplomatic affairs were controlled by Nazis. There was a calling for "National Regeneration by French government: reversal of many liberal policies.

Comintern: why is it important

its stated purpose was the promotion of world revolution, the Comintern functioned chiefly as an organ of Soviet control over the international communist movement.

Ghettos: who

jews (or other people Nazis found to be less superior; miniorites)

Night of Broken Glass: who

jews vs germans

cold war: when

late 1900s (1947-1991, when soviet union ended)

Collectivization: when

late 1920's - early 1930's

Joseph Stalin: what

led the Soviet Union with an iron fist using 5 year plans to increase industrial production and terror to crush opposition.

The 'Final Solution' (aka the Holocaust): why

led to a fck ton of deaths; one of the biggest genocides in history

Spanish Civil War: who

left vs right; popular front (all leftist parties gather together to defeat fascism; soviet union supports) and nationalist (germans support)

'The New Woman' : where

mainly in Europe and the United States

Battle of Stalingrad: what

major battle in ww2; German powers fought the Soviet Union for control of the city Stalingrad; deadly af

The great depression: what

mass unemployment, deflation;was a period of worldwide economic stagnation and depression

Stalinist Great Terror: when

mid late 1930s

Stalinist Great Terror: who

mid late 1930s

Joseph Stalin: when

mid-1920s until his death in 1953

Beer Hall Putsch: where

munich

marshall plan: who

named after Secretary of State George Marshall

Spanish Civil War: what

nationalists win

Hitler-Stalin Pact (aka Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact): what

neutrality, non aggression pact; the agreement of Hitler and Stalin to carve up Poland between them and the agreement they would help each other economically; Agreed to take no action against each other for the next 10 years

cold war: what

no large scale fighting directly between two side (It was called the Cold War because both nations were afraid to fight one another directly, so they they did it indirectly. They used words as weapons by denouncing the other and trying to make the other seem foolish. The United States and the Soviet Union were the only two superpowers after the second World War.)

Nazism: when

prominent during ww2

Benito Mussolini: when

prominent in early 1900s. (ruled 1922-1943 as prime minster)

Benito Mussolini: what

promised to fight alongside Adolf Hitler in any war against the democracies of the world;

Nazism: why is it important

propelled hitler, the Nazi party, racism, and genocide

New Economic Policy (NEP): who

proposed by Lenin

Lateran Accords: why is it important

recognized the pope as the temporal ruler of Vatican City

Russian Civil Wars: who

red army vs white army (two largest combatant groups; red army, led by lenin communist/Bolsheviks; white army opposed to communist/anti-Bolsheviks)

1989 revolution: why

resulted in the end of communist rule

Nuremberg Laws: when

sept 15, 1935

Ukrainian Famine: why is it important

showed the cruelty of stalin's rule and some of the problems collectivization lead to some consider it to be a genocide; killed around 3 million

Hitler-Stalin Pact (aka Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact): when

signed August 23, 1939 (in Moscow)

warsaw pact: where

signed in Poland

New Economic Policy (NEP): where

soviet Russia

Operation Barbarossa: where

soviet union

show trails: who

soviet union

Collectivization: where

soviet union, Russia

Stalinist Great Terror: where

soviet union, Russia

Spanish Civil War: where

spain and france

Collectivization: who

stalin set it in place

Stalinist Great Terror: why is it important

stalin was paranoid and lead to purges, once again shows how cruel he was

Totalitarianism: who

stalin, hitler, Mussolini

NATO: why

started because of the warsaw pact and to provide collective security against the Soviet Union

T-4 Program: when

started in 1939; Program was discontinued because of protest in 1941, but not officially until 1945

détente: what

the French term meaning "relaxation," referring to the period of easing tensions between western powers and the Communist bloc. .

Lateran Accords: where

the Lateran Palace, Rome (where they were signed)

show trails: where

the Soviet Union

The great depression: who/where

the United states, Europe (for heavy borrowing from USA during WWI which contributed to Europe's unstable economy and heavy unemployment in both countries)

1989 revolution: what

the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe. Led by campaigns of civil resistance of popular opposition of continuing one-party rule. Romania was the only Eastern Bloc whose people overthrew communist regime violently. This de-legitimized the communist claim as representatives of the people's will.

nato vs warsaw pact

the prospect of further Communist expansion prompted the United States and 11 other Western nations to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Soviet Union and its affiliated Communist nations in Eastern Europe founded a rival alliance, the Warsaw Pact; This alignment provided the framework for the military standoff that continued throughout the Cold War

Joseph Stalin: where

the soviet union, Russia

Fascism: why is it important

this ideology, made it an ideal vehicle for leaders like Hitler and Mussolini to propel their own; agendas

Reparations: why is it important

this was their punishment, as then were seen as the cause for world war 1; this essentially can be argued that it led to the rise of Hitler and world war 2 because Germany was feeling attacked by the world with this "unfair" terms

decolonization: where

three dozen new states in Asia/Africa achieved autonomy or independence from European colonial rulers.; African colonies such as Algeria, South Africa, Rhodesia, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, and other areas. Most occurred with violence.

T-4 Program: who

to kill incurably ill, physically or mentally disabled, emotionally distraught, and elderly people; initiated by hitler

marshall plan: why

to rebuild Europe, establish free trade, stability, and combat the appeal of communism. The plan successfully sparked economic recovery; Led to the formation of NATO against the Soviets after they banned Eastern Europe from taking Marshall aid.

Firebombing of Dresden: when

took place during the Second World War; feb 1945

Katyn Massacre: what

was a series of mass executions; The Soviet Union intended to keep at least part of Polish territory, and the officers massacred at Katyn would have been a significant part of Polish resistance to that plan.

A form of government in which the ruler is an absolutist dictator. The ruler is not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition, etc. : what

total, political control over all aspects of life; A form of government in which the ruler is an absolutist dictator. The ruler is not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition, etc; political system in which the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible.

Vichy France: who

under Marshal Philippe Petain until the Allied liberation in WWII in 1944.

marshall plan: where

united states/Europe

UN declaration of human rights: full title

universal declaration of Human rights

détente: why

us and soviet union had arms reduction treaties (salt I and salt ii) and limits to tactical warfare; and west Germany and communist east had human right treaties

what is to be done author

valdimar lenin

cold war: why

was a state of political and military tension after World War II between powers in the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others) and powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its satellite states); The Cold War was caused by the social climate and tension in Europe at the end of World War II and by the increasing power struggles between the Soviet Union [and the United States]. Economic separation between the Soviets and the west also heightened tensions, along with the threat of nuclear war

marshal plan: what

was an American aid package comprising $13 billion offered to Europe and accepted by western Europeans

Night of Broken Glass: why

viewed by historians as part of Nazi Germany's broader racial policy, and the beginning of the Final Solution and The Holocaust; They destroyed Jewish owned businesses. German radicalism was present at home just as it was in their new territories (The name Kristallnacht comes from the shards of broken glass that littered the streets after the windows of Jewish-owned stores, buildings, and synagogues were smashed)

Ghettos: why

wanted to confine jews; would become sick from malnutrition and not being fed, and Nazis would say it was because they were contagious.

Firebombing of Dresden: what

was a British/American aerial bombing attack on the city of Dresden; allied victory

The 'Final Solution' (aka the Holocaust): what

was a Nazi plan for the extermination of the Jews that was implemented in stages; policy of deliberate and systematic genocide across German-occupied Europe

Yalta Conference: what

was a meeting as World War II was winding down.

Russian Civil Wars: what

was a multi-party war in the former Russian Empire; many factions vied to determine Russia's political future; red army won

Ghettos: what

were areas fenced off segregated by race or religion; Jewish ghettos in Europe existed because Jews were viewed as alien due to their non-Christian beliefs in a Christian environment

Reparations: what

were the payments required by the Treaty of Versailles, by which Germany had to pay to repair all the damage of the war

détente: where

western powers and the Communist bloc

'Stab in the back' myth: who

widely believed in right-wing circles; November criminals

Battle of Stalingrad: when

ww2 (1942-43)

j'accuse author

zola