Knowra Nazism Nazism Nazism was the far-right ideology of Germany’s Nazi movement, combining ultranationalism, racial hierarchy, antisemitism, authoritarian rule, and territorial expansion. It became the state ideology of Germany under Adolf Hitler from 1933 to 1945.
Völkisch movement : A German nationalist current that idealized ethnic community, cultural unity, and ancestral roots. It supplied a popular language of ethnic belonging that Nazism reshaped into racial politics.
Gleichschaltung : The Nazi process of bringing German institutions, organizations, and public life under party control. It dismantled independent sources of authority and aligned society with the dictatorship.
Treaty of Versailles : The 1919 peace treaty that imposed territorial, military, and financial terms on Germany after World War I. Nazi leaders exploited resentment of the treaty to build nationalist support.
Italian Fascism : The authoritarian nationalist ideology that ruled Italy under Benito Mussolini from 1922 to 1943. It shared dictatorship and ultranationalism with Nazism but initially placed less emphasis on biological racism.
World War II : A global war fought from 1939 to 1945, involving the Axis and Allied powers. Nazi territorial expansion and Germany’s invasion of Poland began the European war in 1939.
Racial antisemitism : Antisemitism that treats Jews as a biologically defined race rather than a religious community. Nazi ideology cast Jews as a hereditary racial enemy, making persecution independent of belief or conversion.
Nazi propaganda : The organized use of media, culture, and public spectacle to promote Nazi beliefs and political goals. It disseminated racial myths, glorified Hitler, and prepared support for persecution and war.
Weimar Republic : Germany’s democratic state from 1919 to 1933, established after the fall of the monarchy. Nazism rose within its political crises and ultimately destroyed its democratic institutions.
Communism : A political and economic tradition seeking a classless society based on common ownership of productive resources. Nazism defined communism as an existential enemy and rejected its internationalist, class-based politics.
Generalplan Ost : A Nazi plan for German colonization and racial reordering of occupied eastern Europe. It projected the violent demographic transformation envisioned by Lebensraum.
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