Weimar & Nazi Germany Glossary
Constitution: the way a government is set up
Democracy: where the government is elected.
Depression This is a time when a country’s economy is in decline and is usually accompanied by a fall in prices, unemployment and less business being carried out.
Export To send goods abroad for trade and sale. Industrialist A person who owns or runs a large industrial enterprise.
League of Nations An international organisation set up after the First World War. It was created in the hope that future wars could be avoided.
Loan A sum of money that is lent to someone. Interest on the loan is usually charged.
Passive Resistance Protesting by refusing to cooperate. Protesting in a peaceful way.
Proportional voting: parties got Reichstag seats, not by winning constituencies, but in proportional to the number of votes they got nation-wide.
Prosperity Being wealthy or “well off”.
Putsch An armed uprising. This is when an attempt is made to seize power using violent methods.
Reichstag: the German parliament.
Republic: a country without a king or queen.
Republic A country which does not have a monarchy (a royal family). The country is ruled by a president.
Reparations Compensation. The Allies demanded that Germany pay for war damage caused during the First World War.
Ruhr An industrial area within Germany. This was occupied by France and Belgium in 1923 when Germany failed to keep up with reparations payments.
Rural The countryside – often agricultural and farming areas.
Stock Exchange A place where stocks and shares are bought and sold.
Urban Built up area, like a large town or city.
Wall Street Crash When the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street collapsed (1929) and share prices fell sharply as a result. This caused widespread depression throughout the world from late 1929 onwards. America recalled short term loans that it had arranged with Germany.