Inter-war domestic developments in European states (1918–1939)

A clause allowing the President to rule by emergency decree, bypassing the Reichstag (parliament). Used 136 times between 1930 and 1932, it effectively allowed presidential rule to replace democracy during the crisis years.

The false claim that Germany's undefeated army was 'stabbed in the back' by civilian traitors in 1918. Used by right-wing nationalists to delegitimise the Weimar Republic and the politicians who signed the armistice.

Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht led a communist attempt to seize power in Berlin. The government used the Freikorps (violent right-wing ex-soldiers) to crush it; both leaders were murdered. It showed the republic depended on forces hostile to it.

It failed because workers launched a general strike, paralysing the country. The army refused to fire on the putschists. It revealed that the army was NOT loyal to the republic — civilian workers saved democracy, not the military.

France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr (Germany's industrial heartland) after Germany defaulted on reparations. The German government called for passive resistance and printed money to pay striking workers, destroying the currency's value.

He introduced the Rentenmark (a new currency backed by land and industrial assets), called off passive resistance in the Ruhr (ending money-printing), and stabilised public finances. Inflation stopped almost overnight.

A US-brokered agreement that restructured German reparations payments to match Germany's ability to pay and opened the door to large American loans (about 25.5 billion marks by 1929). It funded Germany's economic recovery but made prosperity dependent on American capital.

Both renegotiated reparations: the Dawes Plan restructured annual payments and brought in American loans; the Young Plan reduced the total bill further and extended the payment period to 1988. Neither cancelled reparations outright.

Germany voluntarily accepted its western borders with France and Belgium. In return, France evacuated the Rhineland early and treated Germany as a diplomatic equal. Stresemann, Briand, and Chamberlain shared the Nobel Peace Prize. Eastern borders were left open.

Economic recovery rested on short-term American loans that could be recalled at any time. Coalitions were still unstable (6 governments in 5 years). Extremist parties remained active. Agricultural workers were already suffering by 1927–28. One shock — the Wall Street Crash — exposed all the hidden weaknesses.

Hitler and Ludendorff's failed attempt to seize power in Munich. Police dispersed it easily; Hitler received a lenient sentence of 5 years (served 9 months). It showed both that far-right threats existed and that the state could defeat them when it chose to act.

In May 1928 the Nazis won only 2.6% of votes. By September 1930 they won 18.3%. The Wall Street Crash (October 1929) had recalled American loans, collapsed German banks, and driven unemployment to millions — turning economic desperation into Nazi votes.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.