Key Historical Terms of the Interwar Period

Economic and Political Terms of the Interwar Period

• Great Depression: A severe global economic crisis that began in the USA in 1929.
• Nazi: Refers to an extreme nationalist political party which came to power in Germany in 1933.
• Fascist: Refers to the extreme nationalist political parties which emerged in many European countries during the inter-war period.
• Spanish Civil War: A civil war fought between Nationalist and Republican forces from 1936 to 1939.
• Democracy: A form of government in which power belongs to the citizens, who vote for their political representatives in elections.
• Authoritarian: A non-democratic form of government in which there are no free and fair elections; freedoms and civil rights are limited, and political opposition is suppressed.
• Totalitarian: An extreme form of authoritarian state in which the government controls all areas of political, economic, social, and cultural life and requires complete submission to its authority.
• Regime: A system of government, usually used in the case of non-democratic systems.
• Propaganda: The spreading of ideas or information to influence people's opinions.
• Inflation: A general increase in the price of goods.
• Investment: Money put into a business or used to buy shares with the expectation of making a profit.
• Speculate: To make high-risk investments.
• Bankrupt: Without money and unable to pay debts.
• Crash: The collapse of the stock market caused by share values falling dramatically.
• Wage: Money paid to a worker for doing their job.
• Weimar Republic: The democratic German republic which lasted from 1919 to 1933.
• Left-wing: Describes ideologies and political parties which favour greater social and economic equality.
• Right-wing: Describes ideologies and political parties which are generally opposed to progressive reform.

Governmental and Social Concepts

• Isolationist: Opposed to an active foreign policy which involves intervention in the affairs of other countries.
• Public works: Building infrastructure like roads and schools paid for by the government.
• Social insurance: A state-managed system of insurance which provides workers with money if they lose their jobs or cannot work due to ill-health.
• Classless: Without any class divisions; characterised by social and economic equality.
• Expansionist: Describes a foreign policy whose objective is to increase a country's influence and expand its territory.
• Nationalise: To take a business, an industry, or other private property and make it the property of the state.
• Collectivisation: The policy of nationalising agricultural land.
• Collective farms: Large farms controlled by the state and farmed by peasant workers.
• Anti-Semitic: Describes racism and hostility towards Jewish people.
• Censorship: The suppression of freedom of the press by the government, often in times of war.
• Coalition: An alliance of countries or people.
• Expropriate: To take property from someone for public use.
• Falange: An extreme right-wing political party created by José Antonio Primo de Rivera; similar to Italian Fascism.
• Clash: A violent conflict or fighting.
• Trigger: To cause something to happen quickly.
• International Brigades: Republican military units made up of volunteers from foreign countries.