Nazi Germany

The German state ruled by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party from 1933 to 1945. It dismantled democracy, pursued racial dictatorship and territorial conquest, and carried out the Holocaust.

Enabling Act of 1933: A law that let Hitler’s cabinet enact legislation without the Reichstag, enabling rule by decree. It gave the regime a legal instrument to dismantle parliamentary government.
German Revolution of 1918–1919: The upheaval that ended the German Empire and established a republic after World War I. The republic born from this revolution became the system Hitler sought to overthrow.
Heinrich Himmler: The head of the SS and a central organizer of Nazi Germany’s police system and genocide. He directed institutions central to racial persecution and mass murder.
Anschluss: Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria in March 1938. It shows how the regime expanded German territory before the European war.
German Resistance: The varied efforts by individuals and groups in Germany to oppose the Nazi regime. It contrasts with the regime’s claim to national unity and shows the limits of its control.
Gleichschaltung: The Nazi process of bringing German institutions, organizations, and public life under centralized party control. It describes how independent institutions were absorbed or suppressed after 1933.
Treaty of Versailles: The 1919 peace treaty that imposed territorial, military, and financial terms on Germany after World War I. Nazi propaganda exploited resentment over the treaty to attract support.
Joseph Goebbels: Nazi Germany’s propaganda minister, responsible for directing state media and public messaging. His ministry shaped propaganda that promoted the regime and persecuted its enemies.
Munich Agreement: The 1938 agreement allowing Germany to annex the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia. It marked a major concession to Hitler’s territorial demands before war began.
White Rose: A student-led German resistance group that distributed anti-Nazi leaflets from 1942 to 1943. Its nonviolent dissent offers a specific contrast to state propaganda and repression.

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