The Interwar Period & World War 2 Overview and Study Guide

Chamberlain, Neville

(1869-1940) Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1937 to 1940. He is responsible for the policy of appeasement with Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.

Stalin, Joseph

(1878 -1953), seized power after Lenin's death and built a system of total control.

Einstein, Albert

(1879-1955) American scientist best known for his theory of relativity.

Mussolini, Benito

(1883-1945) Italian leader. He founded the Italian Fascist Party, and sided with Hitler and Germany in World War II. In 1945 he was overthrown and assassinated by the Italian Resistance.

Kristallnacht

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

Nazism

German brand of fascism

Nietzsche, Friedrich

German philosopher known for the idea of the death of God; wrote Beyond Good and Evil

Friedrich Nietzsche

German philosopher who said ideas such as reason, democracy, and progress had made actions difficult

Weimar Republic

German republic founded after the WWI and the downfall of the German Empire's monarchy.

Allied Powers

Great Britain, France, Italy, Russia, and later the US

Anti- Semitism

Hatred of Jews

Appeasement

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

Franco, Francisco

Spanish military officer (1892-1975); led antisocialist forces during the Spanish Civil War; dictator of Spain from the mid-1930s until his death.

Guernica

a Spanish town that was brutally bombed and was full of innocent civilians it was supposed to encourage fear, Picasso painted a famous painting capturing Guernica

Existentialism

a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.

Marshall Plan

a plan for aiding the European nations in economic recovery after World War II in order to stabilize and rebuild their countries and prevent the spread of communism.

Secret police

a police force that operates in secrecy (usually against persons suspected of treason or sedition)

Collectivization

a system in which private farms are eliminated and peasants work land owned by the government

War Crime Trials

allied leaders wanted to punish those responsible for "crimes against humanity"

Lend-Lease

allows America to sell, lend, or lease arms or other war supplies to any nation considered "vital to the defense of the U.S."

Spanish Civil War

civil war in Spain in which General Franco succeeded in overthrowing the republican government( 1936-1939)

Mass Culture

common culture experienced by a large number of people

Emperor Hirohito

emperor of Japan during WWII. his people viewed him as a god

Totalitarianism

government control over every aspect of public and private life

Socialist Realism

realistic style of art and literature that glorified Soviet ideals and goals

Genocide

systematic killing of a racial or cultural group

Great Depression

the economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s

Yalta Conference

1945 strategy meeting between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin to plan for post-war

Truman, Harry S.

33rd President of the U.S. 1945-1953 authorized use of the atomic bomb; signed the Marshall plan to rebuild Europe

Authoritarian

A government in which one leader or group of people holds absolute power.( like a dictator)

Nationalists

A person who advocates political independence for a country

Fascism

A political system headed by a dictator that calls for extreme nationalism and racism and no tolerance of opposition

Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

A secret agreement between the Germans and the Russians that said that they would not attack each other

Cubism

A style of art in which the subject matter is portrayed by geometric forms, especially cubes

Munich Agreement

Agreement between Chamberlain and Hitler that Germany would not conquer any more land, and if did, would declare war

Marshall, George

Former WWII general who became secretary of state under President Truman. He was the originator of the concept of the Marshall Plan to provide aid to reconstruct Western Europe in 1947.

Containment

American policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world

Surrealism

An artistic movement that displayed vivid dream worlds and fantastic unreal images

Stock Market Crash

Another leading component to the start of the Great Depression. The stock became very popular in the 1920's, then in 1929 in took a steep downturn and many lost their money and hope they had put in to the stock.( October 29, 1929)

Freud, Sigmund

Austrian psychiatrist whose theory states that a person's early emotional experiences affect adult life profoundly

Collapse of credit

Banks would close. Demand would outstrip supply of food, gas, and other necessities.

Haile Selassie

Emperor of Ethiopia (r. 1930-1974).He fought the Italian invasion of his country in 1935 and regained his throne during World War II, when British forces expelled the Italians. He ruled Ethiopia as an autocrat. (809)

Serbians

Ethnic group of individuals who are from Serbia, including Serb, Bosniak, Hungarian, or Albanian.

Tehran Conference

First major meeting between the Big Three (United States, Britain, Russia) at which they planned the 1944 assault on France and agreed to divide Germany into zones of occupation after the war

Tojo, Hideki

Japanese army officer who initiated the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and who assumed dictatorial control of Japan during World War II

Potsdam Conference

July 26, 1945 - Allied leaders Truman, Stalin and Churchill met in Germany to set up zones of control and to inform the Japanese that if they refused to surrender at once, they would face total destruction.

Hitler, Adolf

Leader of the German Nazi Party (1889-1945) and Germany's head of state from 1933 until his death. Hitler started World War II with the invasion of Poland

Pol Pot

Leader of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, who terrorized the people of Cambodia throughout the 1970's

Bank Failures

One of the factors that led to the Great Depression; when a bank ran out of reserves to pay customers who wanted to withdraw their deposits

Economic depression

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

Roosevelt, Franklin D.

President of the united Sates during the Depression and WWII.

Churchill, Winston

Prime Minister of Britain during World War II; rallied the British people to resist Hitler and the Nazis

MacArthur, Douglas

The U.S. general who presided over the seven-year occupation of Japan (1945-52). Leader of the US Army in the Pacific in WWII; military governor of Japan after WWII; commander of UN forces in Korean War.

Tutsi

The minority ethnic tribe in Rwanda who were victims of the 1994 genocide

Anschluss

The union of Austria with Germany, resulting from the occupation of Austria by the German army in 1938.

Eisenhower, Dwight

United States general who supervised the invasion of Normandy and the defeat of Nazi Germany