Rise Of The Dictators 7th Period
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Russian Revolution and Rise of the Dictatorships

Comintern The Comintern was a communist organization headed by Zenoviev whose goal was to spread Communism internationally (hence the name) and to start a world-wide revolution. After the death of Lenin, Zenoviev allied with Trotsky instead of Stalin, and eventually after Stalin rose to power, he dissolved the Comintern. —Connie

Dada art movement (1916-1924) Is the anti-art movement which evolved following WWI. Pieces from the movement involve chaos and randomness, such as Hannah Hoch’s collage of magazine clippings. Others, like Duschamp’s “LHOOQ,” mock the masters of the past, because traditions were what led to war in the first place, thus we should no longer look on those artists with reverence. Both these artists and others destroyed the traditional rules of art and created pieces with the emotions caused by the war. -Alexis

Dawes Plan - The Dawes Plan was a plan by which US banks loaned money to Germany to pay back reparations and the US also forgave the debts of France and Great Britain from the war. Americans recognized that getting Germany up and running and healthy again would benefit the economies of all European countries. Thus they loaned money to them, and by forgiving British and French debts, the British and French people were not as harsh on Germany afterwards. ~Ashley

Dictatorship of the Proletariat - Although never outlined by Marx, Lenin believed that there would be an awkward, violent transition period between the switch from capitalism to communism. During that time, he believed it necessary for a dictatorship of the proletariat to oversee and expedite the process. However, in Russia, there really was no proletariat, so Lenin was the sole dictator. - Erin

Five Year Plan The Five Year Plans were Stalin's plan to improve the USSR. They had two parts, industrialization and the collectivization of agriculture. The industrialization part was largely a success, but was built on the back of the flawed collectivization plan. The industrialization was not consumer oriented, instead it was focused on items like steel, iron, oil, electricity, chemicals, and tractors. -Sam

Goebbles, Josef Joesf Goebbles was the Reichminister of Propaganda who famously said, “a lie told over and over again becomes a truth.” He organized huge rallies and synchronized marches, in which thousands of people participated, often chanting the phrase, “Ein volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer” (one people, one empire, one leader). His methods were extremely effective and helped turn Hitler into a national hero for many Germans. -Grace

Göring, Hermann- Goring was Hitler’s right hand man, named Reischsmarschall and successor to Hitler. Goring founded the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police, in 1933 which was run by Himmler and the SS. Perhaps Goring’s’ most influential contributions to the Nazi party and WWII were his position as commander in chief of the Luftwaffe and his leadership with the economic reforms of the Four Year Plan. By 1942, Goring’s power began to wane as the Luftwaffe was struggling to fulfill Hitler’s demands completely. Upon hearing of Hitler’s plan to commit suicide, Goring telegrammed Hitler inquiring if he would be assuming position as Fuher. Hitler promptly fired him and ordered his arrest. -Becca

Griffith, Arthur- Arthur Griffith was an Irish politician who became the President of the Dail Eireann or the Irish Republic from January to August 1922. Griffith was at the forefront of the Irish War of Independence. The war followed the refusal of Irishmen to take their seat in the British House of Commons. Griffith is also known for his anti-Semitic views as seen in response to the Dreyfus affair. -Becca

Gulags The gulags were essentially forced labor camps to which Stalin banished all of his political enemies and anyone he perceived to be a threat to his Communist totalitarian state or didn't seem enthusiastic enough about Stalin's government (basically anyone he didn't like). The gulags helped establish a culture of fear in the Soviet Union that strongly discouraged people from speaking out against Stalin. Which, of course, was quite excellent for Stalin. —Connie

Himmler, Heinrich - Himmler was the head of Nazi Germany’s SS, the secret police that Hitler used as concentration camp guards and as enforcers of the Nazi party. As leader of this large group, he was often called the second most powerful man in Germany. The holocaust was largely influenced by Himmler’s ideas, and his strong belief in Aryan supremacy. He killed himself in 1945 shortly after being captured by the Soviets. - Hayes

Hitler Youth - This organization arose out of the new Nazi rise to power under Hitler and consisted of young boys who did Boy Scout-like activities while proclaiming their support for Hitler and the Nazis. Although participation was not required, by 1936 over 50% of German boys were members of the organization. ~Ashley

Kellogg-Briand Treaty The Kellogg-Briand Treaty of 1928 was an agreement between Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Great Britain, and the U.S. to avoid war and solve future conflicts with diplomacy. Encapsulating the spirit of the Lacarno Pact, this treaty was very similar to the Stresseman-Briand Treaty of 1926 except that in 1928, the U.S. signed and encouraged even more nations to join. -Grace

Keynes, John Maynard - Keynes was a British economist. His ideas shaped modern economics. His “Keynesian” macroeconomic approach helped end the Great Depression. Instead of relying on the free market and allowing the government to balance the budget, he advocated for more spending and borrowing by the federal government. In 2008 there were calls for returning to his methods. - Hayes
Kornilov Affair

Kristallnacht - On November 9, 1938 German Nazis coordinated attacks against Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues in what would become known as the "Night of Broken Glass" or "Kristallnacht". This was a turning point for many Jews living in such an Anti-Semitic area like early 20th century Germany. This made most Jews realize the extent to which Hitler would go to rid the country of Jews, and many of them fled for fear of what he might do next…and with good reason. ~Ashley

kulaks Kulaks were wealthier peasants who had worked hard to live above subsistence level and owned land. Lenin and Stalin’s governments both accused them of gaining wealth dishonestly. With his Hanging Order, Lenin demanded that at least 100 kulaks be hanged publically and stripped of their land and possessions. During Stalin’s regime, the kulaks resisted his Collectivization of Agriculture by destroying crops and killing animals, and in response, Stalin ordered the execution of hundreds of thousands of kulaks and sent an unknown number of them to gulags. -Grace

Lateran Accords (Lateran Agreements) The Lateran Accords were arguably Mussolini's biggest accomplishment; in the Lateran Accords, he was able to get the Pope to accept and recognize a unified Italy as a legitimate entity and gained the Papal States back in exchange for an agreement to teach Catholicism at all schools in Italy. —Connie

lebensraum In German Lebensraum means “living space,” which was one of Hitler’s goals for Germany outlined in Mein Kampf. He wanted a contiguous territory for the Aryan race to live in and planned to take over the Slavic people’s land and turn them into slaves. This idea and his hatred for Jews motivated Hitler to invade Poland in 1939. -Grace

Locarno Pact - The Locarno Pact was negotiated by Gustav Stresemann, the foreign minister of Germany, in 1924. The Locarno Pact was an agreement between Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy and Belgium to never have a war again. Stresemann received a Nobel Peace Price for this Pact, although it obviously was unsuccessful in preventing another world war. – Erin

The Locarno Pact represented the greater "Spirit of Locarno" that led nations like GB and France to cut military spending since they believed they would never need the military again. This is what set the stage for Hitler's later rise to prominence and created his advantage. -Sam

March on Rome (1922) This is how Mussolini took power in Italy. He and 300,000 of his blackshirts marched on Rome peacefully, but implying they would fight if any resistance was offered. The king at the time, King Victor Emanuel III, caved and named Mussolini Prime Minister. From that position he began to consolidate power, and in 1926 he obtained the ability to rule by decree. -Sam

New Economic Policy During the Russian Civil War, the economy of Russia was seriously struggling to stay afloat, and so Lenin, who realized that simply mandating that the government could take whatever it needed from the people was not working, imposed the New Economic Policy (NEP) which established a system of limited capitalism in which workers would benefit by a percent of their profits, allowing the economy of Russia to rebound dramatically by further motivating the workers. After taking power, Stalin will abandon the NEP in 1928 in favor of the Five Year Plans. —Connie

Night of the Long Knives (1934) As Ernst Rohm gained popularity amongst the Germans, he posed a threat to Hitler’s political power. Thus, to wipe out his competition, Hitler established a second division of secret police, the SS. On June 30, 1934, the SS murdered Rohm and 80 others in the SA. There was not a great public outcry following the massacre, which proved that Hitler’s message had gotten across to the German people: betray me and die. -Alexis

Nuremburg Laws (1935) were an integral part of the creation of Hitler’s ideal state, as outlined in his book, Mein Kampf. These laws severely restricted the lives of the German Jews, outlawing interracial marriage between Jews and Aryans, ordering Jews to wear the Star of David, banning Jews from certain professions, and revoking their citizenship. This resulted in a mass Jewish emigration from Germany, which was so large that many countries set up quotas for the number of Jewish immigrants arriving from Germany. -Alexis

Politburo- The politburo is essentially the leaders of a Marxist-Leninist state aka the Soviet Union. This group was selected from the Central Committee and dealt with daily political issues. The politburo was the executive committee of the communist party and informally controlled the nation. The politburo ended up making the General Secretary irrelevant since they could not alone appoint the members of the politburo. -Becca

Rohm, Ernst- Was the leader of the SA, Hitler's first group of paramilitary thugs, who was later killed in the Night of the Long Knives after he began to gain popularity in Germany. He was also quite attractive, sporting a middle part and porcine facial features. -Alexis

S.A. - The SA was a paramilitary Nazi group dedicated to the disruption of opposing parties and German dissenters. They were called brown shirts, similar to Mussolini’s black shirts. The SA proved to work well for Hitler’s rise to power. In 1934, the night of the long knives, Hitler’s purge of possible opposition in the SA, dissolved the group. Rohm, the leader of the SA, was murdered in the event. The SS effectively took the place of the SA.

Show Trials (USSR) - These took place in 1938 after Stalin began purging his military of officials whom he claimed challenged his authority. The trials were to pretend like he had legitimate reason for condemning these people to death. He would have the defendants beaten, threatened, and brainwashed into thinking that they had done something wrong, and in return thy admitted to betrayal of the USSR. He invited western journalists to these proceedings to try and give a feeling of legitimacy to the executions. ~Ashley

“Socialism in one country” This was Stalin's belief that Russia needed to be improved before looking internationally. The period of transition to socialism was to be violent and rough, and Stalin wanted to focus on his country until it was strong and stable enough to look elsewhere. -Sam

soviet - A soviet was a workers council, similar to a union, which became popular in Russia around the turn of the century. With soviets, workers united and spread revolutionary ideas. Trotsky was the head of the largest soviet group in Russia before he was Lenin’s assistant. In 1905 they were banned after a rebellion, but the 1917 revolution brought them back, and later the Soviet Union was formed. - Hayes

Stresemann, Gustav - Gustav Stresemann, German Chancellor in 1923 and Foreign Minister from 1924 to 1929, successfully improved Germany’s failing econonmy by negotiating the Dawes Plan in 1924. The Dawes Plan stated that US Banks would loan money to Germany to help pay reparatations from the Treaty of Versailles. Also, the US forgave most of the debt from Great Britain and France so that some pressure was relieved from Germany. Stresemann also negotiated the Locarno Pact. During Stresemann’s “rule,” the Nazi party fell in popularity due to his financial successes. However, because of the Great Depression, and Stresemann’s death in 1939, the Nazis once again regained their popularity. – Erin

Trotsky, Leon

Ulysses, by James Joyce (1922)- Considered one of the most important works of the Modernist literary period. Ulysses explores the process of thinking, a common theme of modern literature. Ulysses is the Latinized version of Odysseus and the characters of Ulysses including the main character, Leopold Bloom, mirror those of the epic poem. Ulysses is written in a stream of consciousness technique also containing many allusions, puns, etc… over all complex and long and hard to read. Yet still a classic apparently. -Becca

War Communism - During the Civil War, Lenin set up a wartime economy called War Communism in which everything belonged to the government. This system failed dramatically as it inspired many peasant rebellions, the creation of a black market, a famine, and multiple other economic problems. Lenin replaced War Communism with the NEP, which allowed some capitalist practices. – Erin