key concepts ww2 Flashcards
National Socialism
The ideas and politics of Hitler and his party.
Racism
Treating people unequally because of their background and race.
Discrimination
Treating someone unequally.
Führer
Adolf Hitler’s official title.
Treaty of Versailles
The peace treaty signed after WWI (June 1919) by the alliance and Germany.
Genocide
An intentional action to destroy a certain group of people.
Occupation
The time that the Netherlands was occupied by Germany (between 1940 and 1945).
Totalitarianism
Everything the people of a country think and do is controlled by the state.
Indoctrination
Influencing people to take on certain strong ideals.
Spartacists
The German communists that tried to seize power during a revolution (1918-1919).
Stab in the back myth
A (fake) myth that Germany lost WWI because of the new government and the left winged uprisings.
Weimar Republic
What Germany was called between 1919 and 1933. During this time Germany was a republic with a democratic constitution.
Reparation payments
The money that the Treaty of Versailles ordered Germany to pay to the allied forces.
Inflation
When money loses its worth.
Dawesplan
The United States’ plan to support the German economy by lending them money (1924.)
Treaty of Locarno
A treaty from 1925 between Germany, France and Belgium. In it Germany recognized the boundaries set in the Treaty of Versailles.
Wall street crash 1929
The collapse of the stock exchange market on Wall Street, New York in 1929.
NSDAP
Abbreviation of Hitler’s political party.
Nationalistic
Being fond of your own country.
Authoritarian
A powerful authority.
No democracy.
National-Socialists, Nazi’s
A name given to supporters of the NSDAP and Hitler.
Propaganda
Everything you do to try and gain followers.
Chancellor of Germany
Leader of the German government.
Reichstag fire
A fire in the Reichstag building in February of 1933.
Enabling act
A law made by the German government in 1933 that stated that the government could create laws without the parliament’s approval.
Totalitarianism
Everything the people of a country think and do is controlled by the state.
Gleichschaltung
The laws on how Germans had to live made by the Nazis.
Nazification
Adopting the ideas the Nazis spread.
Concentration camp
Camp that imprisoned those that opposed the Nazi’s.
Reich chamber of culture
An organisation that artists had to be a part of if they wanted to be able to work during WWII.
Aryan race
A white, specifically Germanic, race.
Antisemitism
Hating Jewish people.
Nuremberg laws
Anti-Jewish laws from 1935.
Night of Broken Glass
A night in which Jewish possessions were destroyed (1938).
Conscription
The compulsory enlistment of people in a military service.
Heim ins Reich
Wanting all Germans to belong to one big Germany.
Lebensraum
The Nazi’s idea that they were allowed to conquer Eastern Europe countries to make Germany stronger.
Anschluss
When Austria was added to Germany in March of 1938.
Munich agreement
A meeting between Britain and Germany that. During the meeting Britain decided that Germany would be given the Sudetenland so that war could be prevented. September 1938.
Appeasement politics
Britain’s policy to give in to Hitler’s demands so that they could prevent war.
Neutral
Being impartial, not picking one side or another.
Accommodation
To adjust. A big part of the people of the Netherlands tried to adjust to the situation they found themselves in during the occupation.
Black market
The illegal selling of products.
NSB
The Dutch National Socialist Movement.
Collaboration
Working together with the German occupiers.
Resistance
Not cooperating with the German occupiers.
February strike
A strike in February of 1941 in Amsterdam, against the anti-Jew actions the Germans were taking.
‘Radio Oranje’
Radio broadcasts from London. These broadcasts were used to give the people of the Netherlands courage.
Deportation
When someone is removed from his or her country.
Razzia
A massive, well organized, initiative to pick up as many people as possible.
Done by the Nazi’s
Camp Westerbork
Transit camp for Jews in Drenthe.
Holocaust
The murder of six million Jews during WWII.
Attack on Pearl Harbour
Japanese attack on the US naval base. After this attack, the US declared war on Japan and joined WWII.
D-day
The liberation of Western Europe started on D-day. Special ships were used to bring the allied forces to the beaches of Normandy in France.
Mad Tuesday
The people believed that they could be liberated any moment now.
Dutch.
Battle of Arnhem
A failed attempt by the allies to secure bridges over the Rhine in Arnhem in September of 1944.
Liberation
The end of the German occupation and the end of the Second World War in May of 1945.
Molotov-Von Ribbentroppact
A non-aggression pact signed by Germany and the Soviet Union in August of 1939.
Ideology
A system of related ideas.
Blitzkrieg
A tactic used during WWII in which land forces were able to advance quickly thanks to airplanes and tanks.
Operation Barbarossa
The invasion of the German army in Russia in June 1941.
Battle of Stalingrad
A battle between the German army and the Soviet army that lasted for months. The Germans were defeated in January of 1943.
Colony
An area that has been taken over by another country.
Axis powers
An alliance between the three fascist countries, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Dutch East Indies
The name given to Indonesia when it became a Dutch colony.
Internment camps
Dutch People were not allowed to leave these camps.
Jappenkampen
The name Dutch people gave to the Japanese camps during WWII.
Market Garden
A failed operation. The Allies were supposed to conquer all of the Dutch rivers. But in September of 1944, the bridge over the Rhine was still under enemy command.
Battle of the Bulge
A failed German counter-attack. They tried to push the Allies back after D-day. December 1944 - January 1945.
Battle of Midway
A battle on the Pacific Ocean close to the island of Midway. The US defeated the Japanese in June of 1942.
Atomic bomb
A destructive bomb that was used in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945 to end WWII.
