Germany 1918 - 1945 Key Terms

Question 1

Abdicate

Answer 1

Give up the throne of the country

Question 2

Anti-semitism

Answer 2

Hatred of the Jews

Question 3

Armistice

Answer 3

Agreement, or truce, to stop fighting

Question 4

Article 48

Answer 4

Part of the Weimar Constitution that gave the president the right to rule in a time of crisis without requiring the support of the Reichstag

Question 5

Aryan

Answer 5

Nazi term for a non-Jewish German, for someone of supposedly ‘pure’ Germanic stock. Correctly used, the term Aryan means a member of the peoples who speak an indo-european language

Question 6

Assassinate

Answer 6

Murder an important person for political or religious reasons

Question 7

Avant-garde

Answer 7

New and experimental ideas and methods in art, music or literature

Question 8

Bauhaus

Answer 8

School of design orienting in Weimar Germany, which focused on modern, simple and practical designs, rather than more elaborate, ‘fancy’ designs of long ago

Question 9

Bundesrat

Answer 9

Group made up of German state representatives who supported the Kaiser (Unlike the Reichstag, who were elected politicians who challenged the Kaiser)

Question 10

Cabinet

Answer 10

The group or committee of senior politicians responsible for controlling government policy

Question 11

Censorship

Answer 11

When the state controls the media, ie books, newspapers, plays, broadcasts, films etc. Under the Kaiser, censorship had been strict; the Weimar government was liberal, allowing artists free expression; the Nazi’s censored every aspect of German life on a scale never known before

Question 12

Chancellor

Answer 12

In Germany, the chief minister in the government

Question 13

Coalition

Answer 13

Government where two or more political parties combine to rule

Question 14

Communism

Answer 14

Political system where all property is owned by the government; people are equal and they are paid by the government according to their needs

Question 15

Concentration Camp

Answer 15

Camp in which people are held under harsh conditions and without the freedoms of the rest of society

Question 16

Confessional Church

Answer 16

German Protestant group determined to have nothing to do with the Nazi’s or the German Christians

Question 17

Conscription

Answer 17

Law making all men of a certain age join the armed forces and be available to fight at any time

Question 18

Constitution

Answer 18

The rules by which a state is governed

Question 19

Culture

Answer 19

The values, morals traditions and attitudes of a group of society; it relates to the music and films people listen to and watch, the art they create, the buildings they design and the behaviours they display

Question 20

DAF (Deutsche Arbeitsfront)

Answer 20

German Labor Front, a Nazi organization that workers had belonged to

Question 21

Dawes Plan

Answer 21

Agreement between the USA and European countries, allowing for US loans to be given to European countries (especially Germany) in order for them to build factories and roads, and stimulate the economy

Question 22

Death Camp

Answer 22

Extermination camp where prisoners, mainly Jews, were put to death

Question 23

Demobilise

Answer 23

To disband troops, particularly after a war

Question 24

Democratic Republic

Answer 24

System of running a country in which all adults have the right to vote for the government they want

Question 25

Depression

Answer 25

Time during the 1930’s when many banks and businesses failed and millions lost their jobs

Question 26

Deh Fuhrer

Answer 26

Supreme leader, the title adopted by Adolf Hitler

Question 27

Dictator

Answer 27

Ruler with total control over who a country is governed

Question 28

Dictatorship

Answer 28

One-party state, governed by an absolute ruler; the opposite of a democracy, where the people choose the government, and opposing views are tolerated

Question 29

Diktat

Answer 29

Nickname given by many Germans to the hated Treaty of Versailles; translated as ‘dictated peace’

Question 30

Edelweiss Pirates

Answer 30

Rebel youth gang which went camping and song songs making fun of Hitler; they even physically attacked Hitler Youth Groups. The gang included boys and girls, including Jews.