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79 Cards in this Set

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Anti-Semitism



Hatred of the Jews.

Article 48
Part of the Weimar Constitution, giving the President special powers to rule in a crisis. Used by Chancellors to rule when they had no majority in the Reichstag - and therefore an undemocratic precedent for Hitler.
Aryan
Someone who belongs to the European type race. To the Nazis this meant especially non-Jewish and they looked for the ideal characteristics of fair hair, blue eyes...
Autobahn
Motorway - showpieces of the Nazi job creation schemes
Bartering
Buying goods with other goods rather than money. (As happened in the inflation crisis of 1923)
Bavaria
Large state in the South of Germany. Hitler & Nazis’ original base. Capital - Munich
Beerhall Putsch
Failed attempt to seize power by Hitler in November 1923. Hitler jailed for five years - in fact released Dec 1924
Brown Shirts
The name given to the S.A.
Centre Party
Party representing Roman Catholics - one of the Weimar coalition parties. Dissolves itself July 1933.
Chancellor
Like the Prime Minister - the man who is the chief figure in the government,
Coalition
A government made up of a number of parties working together, Because of the election system under Weimar, all its governments were coalitions. They are widely seen as weak governments.
Conscription
Compulsory military service - introduced by Hitler April1935 in his drive to build up Germany’s military strength (against the terms of the Versailles Treaty)
Conservatives
In those who want to ‘conserve’ or resist change. In Weimar Germany it means those whose support for the Republic was either weak or non-existent as they wanted a return to Germany’s more ordered past.
DAF
“Deutsche Arbeitsfront’. See German labour Front.
Dawes Plan
1924. Named after Charles Dawes, an American, who organised loans to help Weimar Germany deal with its reparations crisis.
Demilitarised
No troops allowed to be stationed. Applied to the Rhineland for German troops under the Versailles Treaty - overthrown by Hitler in March 1936 when he ordered his troops in.
Enabling Law
March 1933. Gives Hitler power to rule without the Reichstag for four years.
Freikorps
Organisation of ex-soldiers. Helped to brutally crush Spartacist uprising in Jan 1919. Exerted extreme right-wing pressure - involved in failed Kapp putsch, March 1920
Führer
‘Leader’. Title taken by Hitler
German Labour Front
Organisation set up by Nazis in May 1933 to replace Trade Unions - to ensure control of workers. Run by Robert Ley.
Gestapo
‘Geheime Staatspolizei’ = secret police. Came under the control of Himmler. An important part of maintaining absolute obedience to Nazi rule.
Gleichschaltung
= ‘Coordination’. The process of bringing all aspects of life and organisations in Germany under Nazi control (from 1933).
Hitler Youth
Hitler Jugend (HJ). Organisation under Baldur von Schirach. A very important part of Nazi control: by indoctrinating the country’s youth they could ensure that Nazi ideas would come to be held by all.
Infallibility
Someone or something that cannot fail, always right. In this case Hitler. Also claimed by Popes and History teachers.
Kapp Putsch
March 1920. Failed attempt by Freikorps and other extreme right-wingers to seize power from Weimar government. Led by Dr Kapp. Defeated by a general strike.
KDF
“Kraft Durch Freude’ (= ‘Strength through Joy’). Part of the German Labour Front. Organised cheap recreation & holidays.
Kristallnacht
9-10 November 1933. In revenge for the shooting of a German diplomat in Paris Jewish shops were looted and synagogues burnt. So-called after all the broken glass.
Lebensraum
‘Living Space’. Land to the East which Hitler in Mein Kampf declared the German population needed
Left-wing
Those who believe in radical change in society, usually to improve the lot of the working classes. e.g. Socialists
Marxist
Supporter of Karl Marx and his theory of Communism.
Master Race
Hitler promoted the idea that there was competition between different races and that the ‘fittest would survive’. The master race was to be the Aryans - Slavs would become their slaves, and Jews must be eliminated.
Mein Kampf
Part autobiography, part ideas: written by Hitler when in jail following the Munich putsch of 1923. Became the (unread) bible of Nazi Germany
Middle Class
Those who saw themselves as being above the working class - often professional people, small businessmen, small farmers. Many of these who suffered in the crises of the ‘20s & 30s turned to the Nazis.
Nationalist Party
Party which opposed the Weimar Constitution for much of its existence. Believed in a strong Germany - as before defeat in 1918. Formed alliances with Nazis after 1929 - shared in Jan 1933 government.
Night of the Long Knives
30 June 1934: Hitler’s destruction of rivals, esp S.A. under Röhm.
November Criminals
Those who signed the armistice by which Germany gave up fighting the First World War and who were thus accused of ’stabbing the German army in the back’. Used to attack Weimar & esp Socialist politicians.
NSDAP
“Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Abeiterpartei’ (National Socialist German Workers’ Party), founded by Hitler from the German Workers’ Party in 1920.
Nuremberg Laws
1935: laws depriving Jews of many rights.
Propaganda
Spreading ideas or telling news in a way that is designed to gain support for one’s own ideas. The Nazis were expert at using propaganda.
Prussia
The largest state in Germany - covering about 2/3 of the country. Capital - Berlin.
Putsch
An attempt to seize power - usually by force (same as a ‘coup’). Kapp (1920) and Hitler (1923) attempted putsches.
Reichstag
The German Parliament.
Reichstag Fire
27 February 1933. Used by the Nazis to crush the Communists and force through the ‘Enabling Law’.
Reparations
Amount Germany was made to pay to repair the damage caused during the First World War. Fixed at $6 600 000. Worsened the economic crisis Germany faced in the 1920s and a source of great ill-feeling.
Rhineland
The part of Germany to the west of the River Rhine and 50 km to the East. ‘De-militarised’ under the Versailles Treaty to protect France but remilitarised by Hitler in March 1936.
Right-wing
Those who stand for order and authority and who are usually resisting change. e.g. Nationalists & Conservatives.
S.A.
‘Sturmabteilung’ (= Storm troops). The Nazis’ army of thugs used to intimidate rivals. Merged into the police in 1933. Called ‘Brownshirts’. Leaders purged in ‘Night of the Long Knives’.
S.S.
‘Schutzstaffel’ (= protection squad). Began as Hitler’s bodyguard. Developed into one of the main Nazi weapons of control. Led by Heinrich Himmler. Wore black.
Slavs
The people of Eastern Europe - seen as inferior by the Nazis.
Spartacists
Communist organisation. Attempted revolution in Jan-Feb 1919 crushed.
SPD
Socialist Party - formed part of most Weimar coalitions, being the largest party until 1932.
Stab in the Back
Nationalists who could not accept Germany’s sudden collapse in late 1918 accused the politicians who signed the armistice as betraying the German soldiers.
Third Reich
Reich means Empire. “Third” was intended to point out continuity with previous ‘glorious periods of German History’: First created by Frederick the Great in the 18thC, 2nd by Bismarck in the 19thC.
Totalitatarian
A system in which every aspect of life is controlled by the government, as under Fascism and Communism.
Trade Union
Organisation which campaigns for the rights of workers - for pay and working conditions.
Versailles Treaty
Signed 28 June 1919. Hated by most Germans, for the ‘War Guilt Clause’, for being one-sided, for taking land from Germany, for destroying its military power, for the crushing reparations...
Volk
Means ‘people’ or ‘race’. An important idea to the Nazis who emphasised this aspect of the whole country pulling together.
Wall Street Crash
Oct 1929. When the Stock Market in the USA collapsed many Americans needed the money they had invested abroad. This helped spread Depression round the world.
War Guilt
One of the clauses of the Versailles Treaty - which Germany was forced to sign - declared that Germany was responsible for the First World War (and therefore had to pay reparations).
Weimar
Where the new constitution for Germany after World War I was decided (Berlin being too dangerous). Gave its name to the Republican system of government from 1919 until the Nazi take-over in 1933.
Young Plan
1929. Named after an American, Owen Young. Plan to help Germany with its continuing problems in paying reparations. Nazis and Nationalists joined in a campaign against it.

Revolution from 'Above'

The name given to the new government that the Kaiser and the military high command introduced in Germany in 1917 to stop the revolution from 'Below.'

Armistice

A pause in war to give time for negotiation for peace.

Abdicate

To give up power/ responsibility (e.g. when a ruler gives up his throne).

Soviet

Russian for 'council/committee.' Russian workers' soviets become part of the revolutionary government.

Plebliscite

A vote on a single issue, by all who can vote in elections

Volksgemeinschaft

Meaning the 'people's community'- the German nation as a racially united body working for the good of the nation. Individuals were expected to obey the Nazi government and makes sacrifices for the nation.

Fuhrerprinzip

Meaning 'leadership principle'- at each level of government from Hitler down, there was one person who was clearly in charge. This person had power and responsibility for any problems at their level and reported to someone at the next level up.

Concentration camp

A prison camp outside the established judicial system, used at first to imprison opponents of the Nazis. The first three camps- Dachau, Buchenwald and Sacherhausen- were set up in 1933. These camps soon took other kinds of prisoners (e.g. 'undesirables') and many camps also had labour camps attached to them.

Volkssturm

The Nazi Home Guard, formed in October 1944 as a last ditch defence against invasion. Boys, old men, women, girls and those seen as physically unfit for the army were recruited.

Germanise

To be forced to conform to German culture. In terms of the Nazis, this meant moving non-German people out of the area and replacing them with people of 'pure' German blood.

Cold War

Two hostile sides try to defeat each other using political propaganda, economic restrictions and agreements and military interventions in other wars, but not direct conflict between the countries concerned (e.g. the USSR and USA).

Marshall Plan

The economic aid plan for European countries set up in 1947. It provides supplies (e.g. food, railway carriages) and money to help post-war recovery.

Free market economy

An economy where the government does not interfere in prices/wages to control the economy.

Ostpolitik

Establishing friendly relations with East Germany, rather than treating it as a Soviet zone.

Undesirable

A term applied by the Nazis to various races/types of people (e.g. homosexuals, the disabled) who were not 'pure' Germans and so had to be removed from the Third Reich.

Ghetto

An area of a town/city, fenced or even walled off from the rest, where all the members of a particular group live.

Holocaust

Nazis' attempt to wipe out the Jewish race. Other groups the Nazis saw as 'inferior' were also caught up in the Holocaust.

Inflation

Prices rise and so the purchasing power of money goes down. This affects savers and workers, especially as wages and interest rates fail to keep pace with inflation once it has started to spiral upwards.