Key Figures and Economic Shifts of the Interwar Period

Key Political Figures of the Interwar Era

Franklin D. Roosevelt: A U.S. president who introduced the New Deal. He led the country's recovery after the Great Depression, oversaw North American participation in World War II, and supported the creation of the United Nations.

Adolf Hitler: A German politician and leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. He came to power in 1933, leading a totalitarian regime known as the Third Reich.

Benito Mussolini: An Italian politician and founder of Fascism. He came to power in 1922 after the March on Rome, establishing a regime characterized by nationalism, militarism, and the rejection of liberalism and communism.

Joseph Stalin: A Soviet politician who came to power in the USSR after Lenin's death in 1924. He transformed the dictatorship of the proletariat advocated by the Bolshevik Revolution into a totalitarian system ruled by himself.

Characteristics of Fascism

• An extreme right-wing political system favoring a strong central government with no opposition.
• Exaltation of the state over the individual.
• Aggressive nationalism aspiring to territorial expansion.
• Racism and persecution.
• Rejection of liberalism and democracy.
• Cult of the charismatic leader and blind obedience.
• Legitimation of violence and the cult of militarism.

The Wall Street Crash

The breakdown of the financial system led to:

• Decrease in appropriations and production.
• Collapse of industry, trade, and agriculture.

Historical Terminology

• Antisemitism: Hatred and unfair treatment of Jews.
• Gulag: A system of prison camps in the USSR.
• Kolkhoz: A type of collective farm in the USSR.
• New Deal: A series of political programs to revive the US economy, based on state intervention and control, introduced by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932.
• Nuremberg Laws: Antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany.
• Sovkhoz: A state-owned farm in the USSR.
• Nazism: The policies and beliefs of the Nazi Party that controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945.

The Roaring Twenties

This was a decade of prosperity following the end of the First World War. Economic growth was based on a comprehensive transformation of manufacturing processes, dominated by technical innovation. Improvements in tailoring and forging helped to increase productivity and reduce costs.