Hitler's Germany, Fascist Italy, and the Spanish Civil War (1933–1939)

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A law passed by the Reichstag that gave Hitler the power to rule by decree for four years without parliamentary approval. It was significant because it destroyed Weimar democracy legally — Hitler used it as the constitutional basis for his dictatorship.

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Hitler ordered the murder of the SA leadership (including Ernst Röhm) and other rivals. It secured the loyalty of the regular army, eliminated a potential rival power base within Nazism, and showed Hitler would use murder to maintain power.

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The Nazi policy of 'coordination' — forcing all institutions (trade unions, political parties, youth groups, professional associations) to align with Nazi ideology and come under party control. Achieved 1933–1934.

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Nazi laws that stripped Jews of German citizenship and banned marriage between Jews and non-Jews. They were the legal foundation of racial persecution in Germany and showed that anti-Semitism was central to the Nazi state's purpose.

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Battle for Grain (1925) — increased wheat production but at cost of other crops. Battle for the Lira (1926) — revalued currency, hurt exports. Battle for Births (1927) — tried to raise population; failed, birth rate fell. All three prioritised propaganda over economic sense.

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A treaty between Mussolini and the Pope recognising Vatican City as a sovereign state and making Catholicism Italy's official religion. Mussolini's greatest domestic achievement — won Church support but also confirmed the Church's independence, limiting his totalitarian ambitions.

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Germany and Italy sent military support to Franco (Condor Legion, 70,000+ Italian troops). The USSR aided the Republic. International Brigades of volunteers joined the Republican side. Britain and France's Non-Intervention policy effectively helped Franco. Spain became a proxy ideological battleground.

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Manuel Azaña (left-Republican): pushed land reform, curtailed Church power, supported Catalan autonomy. José María Gil Robles (CEDA, conservative right): opposed these reforms, led right-wing bloc after 1933 elections. Their conflict symbolised Spain's fatal polarisation.

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Key factors: unified military command under Franco; consistent arms supply from Germany and Italy; Non-Intervention deprived the Republic of Western support; the Republic was divided between socialists, communists, and anarchists who sometimes fought each other.

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Italy: monarchy survived as a check on Mussolini; Church kept autonomous power via Lateran Accords; OVRA was smaller and less brutal than the Gestapo; no racial laws until 1938 (under German pressure); corporate state was symbolic rather than real. Germany had deeper ideological penetration of all life.

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A German air force unit sent by Hitler to support Franco. It bombed the Basque town of Guernica (April 1937), killing hundreds of civilians. It let Germany test new weapons and tactics in real combat — experience directly useful in World War Two.

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It refers to the type of political system Hitler built: a near-totalitarian state based on racial ideology (Führerprinzip), terror (Gestapo/SS), propaganda (Goebbels), and the elimination of all independent institutions. Students must explain HOW it functioned, not just describe its policies.