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Unit 2: Between the wars

Part 1: Russian Revolution

Vocabulary and Important People:

1. Czar Nicholas II: last monarch of Russia, executed with his family in

1917. He was the reluctant leader of the country who was

eventually forced out of power for multiple reasons:

o Autocratic government: the Czar was all ruling, and not

considerate of his people. In 1905, he set up a temporary

parliament called a Duma to make decision. When the

Duma would come to a decision, however, he would have

the final word and he never did follow up on any of it.

o Plight of peasants and factory workers: there was no work

for the peasants and factory conditions were horrible.

o Political reform demand from the Liberals and Marxists: he was facing political criticism

by large groups within his own country.

o Impact of Russo-Japanese war: it was the first war that any European country had ever

lost to a non-European country – a HUGE embarrassment.

o Influence of Grigori Rasputin: Rasputin was an advisor to the royal family that had a

great deal of influence over the royal family. It was almost as if he was running the

country behind the face of the Czar. He even predicted the execution of the family.

2. Marxism: The political and economic theories of Karl Marx, later

developed by their followers to form the basis for the theory and

practice of communism (all equal).

o Relations between social classes: society is divided into

social classes based on their wants, needs, interested and

wages. For example, he references:

The Bourgeoisie: the wealthy people (minority)

The Proletariat: the working class people

(majority)

o Work and economic value: Karl Marx believed that

people were being treated unfairly in terms of wages;

companies would pay the absolute minimum wages so

that they could have the greatest profits (capitalist). He believed that the workers

should be treated as equals with higher wages

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3. Marxists: one of two political parties in Russia throughout the Revolutions. They were

considered the radicals. Firm believers in Marxism. Majority (AKA: Bolsheviks; Reds;

Soviets/Communists) Their slogan was, “peace, bread, land.” When Lenin returned post exile

the party grew huge power, going from 2000 to 30,000 members

4. Liberals: one of two political parties in Russia throughout the Revolutions. They were considered

realists. Minority (AKA: Mensheviks; Whites)

5. February/March Revolution: in March of 1917 (February in the old calendar that was being

used in Russia at the time), on International Women’s Day there was a mass riot of workers

(started by a bread strike of women) that drove the Czar to abdicate (quit). This led to the

formation of the provisional government.

o Provisional Government: the short lived attempt by the Russian Mensheviks to govern

the country after the abdication of the Czar. During the less-than-a-year period that this

took place, poverty worsened, and land reform never came and the military fell apart.

Once the Petrograd Soviet (a union of unhappy workers) and the Bolsheviks started to

speak out with new hopes, the people decided to turn their faiths to them, leading to

the second revolution.

Alexander Kerensky: leader of the provisional government. He became very

unpopular when he kept Russia in the war (costing millions of lives), and when

he postponed land reform. With him fell the provisional government, which is

when the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks started to fight again over who should

lead (lead to the second revolution).

6. October/November Revolution: in November of 1917 (October in the old calendar that was

being used in Russia at the time) the Bolsheviks seized power of the government in a

dictatorship, led by Vladimir Lenin.

o Vladimir Lenin: inspired by Karl Marx, he formed a Marxist party, known as the Russian

Social Democratic Labour Party, which later split into the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks

(Lenin led this group). Lenin had been exiled in 1903 by the Czar, but was now

welcomed back to lead the new government in 1917. He was popular after the creating

of the Treat of Brest-Litovsk (peace agreement with Germany). He is also guilty of “War

Communism,” meaning that the economy’s only purpose at the time was to win the war

and feed the soldiers.

o Stalin: took over Lenin’s position after he died, instead of who Lenin wanted (Trotsky).

Stalin was of the belief that Russia must become industrialized and self sufficient or else

the west would crush them. This must be done at no matter the cost. Trotsky was in the

approach of a more revolutionized world, which the people didn’t necessarily

understand, so they went with Stalin. In 1928, he shot or imprisoned all possible

political opponents and exiled Trotsky. Today, he is considered one of most brutal men

in history. As he gained power he controlled everything about how people perceived

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him – news, school, etc., to make him look better. Even when millions of people in

Russia starved to death under his reign, he was still obsessed with industrialization and

complete power.

o Leon Trotsky: leader of Bolshevik army (Reds). After Lenin’s death in 1924, he fought

with Stalin for leadership as dictator. After Stalin seized power, nearly all of Trotsky’s

family were killed.

7. Russian Civil War: a war fought between the Reds (Bolshevik) and the Whites (Menshevik) who

had the support of other Western countries who were trying to stop communism. The Reds

defeated the Whites/Westerners under the power of Trotsky. This lead to a legacy of mistrust

towards the West since the West supported the Whites in the war.

8. Petrograd Soviet: union of workers in the capital of Russia.

9. Stalin Purges: the word purge means to get rid of something. Stalin tried to get rid of anything

or anybody that might threaten him or his power. Considering the fact that he was paranoid,

there was a large list of things to purge. This all led to him eventually wiping out much of the

middle class, as well as the upper class who were potentials to overtake him.

o Created Fear/Intimidation: used his secret police, public executions, fake/show trials,

and gulags as threats.

o Completely wiped out his threats: rid of the opposition (Mensheviks), and killed the

highest ranking communist members and virtually the entire officer class of the military.

o Collectivisation: when multiple small privately owned farms were constructed into huge

industrialized farm with greater produce and multiple employed farmers working for the

government.

Kulak: millions of peasant farmers who burned crops rather than give in to

collectivisation; they were executed or starved. Lack of food lead to famine, and

lack of good farmers also contributed.

New Economic Policy: policy formed by Lenin to get the Kulaks back on his side.

He agreed that the farms could keep the majority of their crops to sell for a

profit, as long as they all give a small portion of it to the government. This

L-R: Lenin,

Trotsky, Stalin

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created a mixed economy of capitalism and communism that allowed the

peasants to make a profit, making it better for Russia socially.

Five Year Plans: completely contradicting the New Economic Policy, Stalin

created two plans to catch up with the rest of the world by industrialization of

collectivisation. First was to rapidly build mass farms called the “Kolkhozy.”

Second was to build huge factories in the cities. The people were now becoming

unemployed in rural areas as their small farms were shut down, so 17 million

people came to the cities to work. This made the cities over-populated with few

supplies and food, although everybody did have a job. Famine soon spread, and

millions of people were dying. Socially, the five year plans were horrible for the

middle class, as they literally killed them off.

10. Gulag: political prison, where you would be sent if you suspected of being against Stalin.

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Part 2: Hitler’s Rise to Power

Vocabulary and Important People

1. Fascism: a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing

opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an

aggressive nationalism and often racism.

o Extreme Nationalism: glorification of the state.

o Dictatorship/Glorification of leader: assumes total leadership, control of the press, no

political opposition

o Military Strength and War: considering war as a good and natural thing, and being

prepared for it.

o Economic Self Sufficiency: “autarky;” does not need to import goods in order to sustain

the country.

2. Anti-semitism: Hostility to or prejudice against Jews.

3. Great Depression: in 1929, the economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929

and continuing through the 1930s. What caused the crash of the stock market?

o Over-production and over-expansion by businesses

Businesses followed supply and demand, creating as many products as they

could. Now that Credit had been introduced, they knew that they could sell.

However, once people started to started to realize that they couldn’t pay back

their credit, companies went out of business because their production rates

were too high to sustain with reduced sales.

o Consumer overspending with credit during the Roaring Twenties

With the introduction of Credit in the 20’s, consumers got very excited – they

could finally purchase these new items being produced by factories that they

otherwise couldn’t afford. However, it didn’t take long for their credit to pile up

and they couldn’t pay it back.

o Impact of high tariffs on international trade

A tariff is when a country places a tax on goods that come in from another

country. These tariffs started to appear when the States wasn’t getting paid

back what European countries owed them in the war. This lowered international

trading.

o Too many purchases of stocks on credit

There was the option of a “margin,” similar to credit except that it can only be

used to buy stocks. A lot of middle class people who could not otherwise afford

stocks used margins to try and make it big. They would have to make the worth

of the margin as well as a surplus to make any money. Because so many people

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were waiting to see if the stock market would continue to go up along with their

money, they left it in too long. As people started to get scared, they sold their

stocks, lowering the value of the stock market.

4. Hitler: the fascist anti-Semite leader and creator of the

Nazis who gained control of Germany as a dictator.

o Employed small businessmen (in more financial

crisis than big businessmen so more likely to

just go along with it) and the unemployed

(street army, SA, Stormtroopers, Brownshirts,

attacked strikers during depression), which

gained him popularity.

o Arrested and sent to jail for 9 months after

Munich Beer Hall Putsch.

o He signed out of League of Nations in order to

build an army (which was against the original

agreement of the Treaty of Versailles.

o Given power by President Hindenburg in 1933.

o Got support of big businessmen by arresting

unions and communists

o Decided to try and use democracy to his

favour.

o His idea of a perfect race was called the Aryans.

o Why did Hitler rise to power?

Hitler was a great speaker, with the power to make people support him.

The moderate political parties would not work together, although together

they had more support than the Nazis.

The depression of 1929 created poverty and unemployment, which made

people angry with the Weimar government. People lost confidence in the

democratic system and turned towards the extremist political parties such as

the Communists and Nazis during the depression.

The Nazi storm troopers attacked Hitler's opponents.

Goebbels' propaganda campaign was very effective and it won support for the

Nazis. The Nazis targeted specific groups of society with different slogans and

policies to win their support.

Hitler was given power in a seedy political deal by Hindenburg and Papen who

foolishly thought they could control him.

German people were still angry about the Treaty of Versailles and supported

Hitler because he promised to overturn it.

Industrialists gave Hitler money and support.

o Why was Hitler considered a fascist?

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Hitler was one of the first National leaders to emphasize branding and cult of

personality. He had his own photography, impeccable uniforms, pride in

industry and culture, and the Swastika was everywhere – he had the best of

everything.

Hitler dreamed of an event like Mussolini’s March on Rome. However, even

though it didn’t work out, he still became a dictator with control of the press

and no political opposition. It was easy to make himself look good.

He was ready to prepare an army to take action when

needed, which the people liked because he got things

done.

He was lucky in the Germany was self sufficient at the

time. He did not believe in importing, and he sustained

the economy in autarky.

5. Nazi’s: blamed unions, communists and Jews for all Germanys problems.

6. November Criminals: the politicians who signed the Treaty of Versailles and began the Weimar

Republic. They were disliked in Germany, and Hitler used that as propaganda to gain support for

Nazism.

7. Weimar Republic: an elected government created after World War I (started in 1919). This

government caused three big changes in Germany:

o Huge supply shortage in just about everything, because they owed so much in the

Treaty of Versailles. They tried printing more money to counteract this, but that inflated

all prices meaning nothing was affordable anymore.

o Reichstag: elected parliament located in Berlin

o Bill of Rights: a list of rights for all Germans.

8. Mussolini: Italian fascist dictator who took over Italy with the March on Rome. Due to the

instability of the economy in Italy at the time, as well as the poor coalition government who

could never get anything done proved the democracy wasn’t working in Italy. People were

scared of socialism/capitalism and communism, so they welcomed dictatorship. He retained

power by abolishing his opposition and by controlling the press.

o March on Rome: in 1922, Italian dictator Mussolini organized short of 30,000 men to

march on the city of Rome, forcing the King to hand over full power to Mussolini. This

act inspired Hitler to attempt the same in Munich.

9. Munich Beer Hall Putsch: used SA to try and take over Munich as inspired by March on Rome,

but other politicians backed out. He demanded their support at a beer hall at gunpoint, and the

next day the Nazis tried a triumph march on the city where they were shot by police who

regained control. Hitler was sentenced to 9 years in prison.

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10. Mein Kampf: book Hitler wrote while in jail, the title in English meaning “My Struggle”.

11. Enabling Act: when the Reichstag voted to give Hitler the power to make his own laws in 1933.

With this power he did the following within that year were:

o Leaders of trade unions and communist organizations were arrested in 1933

o All political parties besides the Nazis were banned

o Judges had to swear oath to Nazis

o When President Hindenburg died Hitler declared himself a Fuhrer (all powerful leader;

dictator) in 1933

o Created new jobs by preparing for war

o Killed, exiled, and sent all those opposed to him to concentration camps

o Burned books that questioned Nazism

o Women could no longer work

o Press was censored to only praise Nazism

o Allowed him to pass The Nuremburg Laws [Vocab #14]

12. Gestapo: The German internal security police as organized under the Nazi regime, known for its

terrorist methods directed against those suspected of treason or questionable loyalty (meant to

scare off opponents). Hitler’s Secret Police (S.S.), led by Himmler. (AKA. Blackshirts).

13. Night of the Long Knives: In June 1934, Hitler had 400 of his own supporters, most of which

from the S.A. murdered by the Gestapo for insisting the Nazis should introduce policies that

would distribute wealth from the rich to the poor.

14. Nuremburg Laws: a series of new laws created by Hitler under the Enabling Act that de-

humanized the Jewish People.

o Jews could not marry non-Jews (destroyed the connection between the Jews and the

rest of the people by alienating them)

o Jews were not allowed to employ female citizens under the age of 45 (made them seem

like untrustworthy people)

o Jews were not allowed to have any form of display of the national flag or colors

(alienated them)

o Jews must wear a yellow Star of David on their clothes at all times (alienated them).

***All of this eventually allowed Hitler to send the Jews away to ghettos and then

later to concentration camps without the rest of the citizens paying too much

attention.

15. Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass): In November of 1938, a series of attacks was set

against the Jews by Nazi Germany, raiding towns and homes, and smashing out the windows of

Jewish businesses.

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16. Reichstag Fire: in 1933, the Reichstag government building was set on fire by arson. It was

widely believed that the communists had done this, so Hitler’s political power grew as his

opponents’ popularity fell.

17. Hitler Youth: multiple you groups were referred to as the Hitler Youth. These groups were made

of up children, teenagers and young adults, and there they learned all about the positives of

Nazism, therefore creating future Hitler supporters.