(i) The Acerbo Law was passed in the Italian Parliament and it allowed the party that received the largest percentage of votes in an election to get two-thirds of the seats in Parliament.

The Blackshirts were the private army of Mussolini.

The Lateran Treaty was signed in 1929 between Mussolini and the Pope.

The Rome-Berlin Axis was an agreement signed by Mussolini and Hitler after he had taken over Abyssinia.

(ii)

(a) Nazi propaganda

Propaganda was used by the Nazi Party both before and after they came to power and the man in charge of it was Dr. Josef Goebbels. In the years before they gained power Goebbels used propaganda in election posters by blaming Jewish people for all the problems of Germany and urging people to vote for the Nazis. After they got into power Goebbels used propaganda to ensure that the Nazi Party and Hitler controlled and manipulated public opinion. All newspapers were under the control of the Nazi Party and they could only print stories that were approved by it. Goebbels also saw the power of cinema and a large number of pro-Nazi propaganda films were made. Radio also became an important propaganda weapon and cheap radios were manufactured so that all ordinary Germans could afford one. Radio stations broadcast a large amount of Nazi propaganda and the speeches of senior Nazi members. One of the biggest propaganda events took place every year in the city of Nuremberg when a massive rally took place to celebrate Nazi achievements.

(b) Nazi economy

During his election campaign before he came to power one of the promises made by Hitler was that he would solve the economic crisis in Germany. Millions of people were unemployed as a result of the Wall Street Crash. When he gained power he immediately created a huge public works scheme that provided work for large numbers of the unemployed. A new motorway system called the autobahn was built all over Germany as a result of this scheme. A large number of jobs were created when Hitler increased the size of the army and when all the new factories producing guns, planes and tanks were created. Hitler also encouraged the creation of a car for ordinary Germans and the Volkswagen Beetle car was mass produced and this also created a huge number of jobs. It is also a fact that a large number of jobs were created in Nazi Germany by sacking Jewish people from their jobs and also by making it a rule that the role of women was in the home and not out working. It was claimed by Hitler that unemployment in Germany was eliminated by 1939.

(c) The Nazis and the Jews

When Hitler first came to power in Germany in 1933, everyone knew he was anti-Semitic. This was evident in the book he wrote while in prison in 1924 called “Mein Kampf” in which he blamed Jewish people for all of Germany’s problems. When he came into power he got the SA to organise a nationwide boycott of Jewish businesses. All Jewish people were sacked from certain jobs such as journalism and lecturing in colleges. The Nuremberg Laws were passed, which said that Jews were no longer citizens of Germany. The worst event was “Kristallnacht”, the night of broken glass in 1938 during which hundreds of Jewish people died all over Germany and their businesses and places of worship were destroyed. When WWII began Jewish people were forced to live in special ghettos all over Nazi-occupied territories. Later, a special conference took place in Wannsee and it was decided to build death camps in Poland to kill all European Jews. By 1945 over 6 million Jews had died in the Holocaust.

(iii)

Topic 1: The Rise of the Superpowers

(a) Containment was the policy adopted by the USA, which meant they did not want to see Communism spread any further.

The Marshall Plan was the decision by the USA to send huge amounts of economic aid to European countries after WWII to help them to rebuild.

Satellite States were the countries in Eastern Europe that became Communist after WWII and were under the control of the USSR.

The Iron Curtain was the term used first by Churchill to describe the dividing line between the Communist countries of eastern Europe and the western European countries.

(b) Berlin Blockade

A good example of a major Cold War crisis is the Berlin Blockade.  After World War 2, Germany was divided into two parts. East Germany came under the control of the USSR. Britain, France and the USA controlled West Germany. The city of Berlin was in the USSR zone but it was also divided into East and West. The western part of Berlin began to benefit from the effects of the Marshall Plan and a new stronger currency was also introduced in that part of the city. Stalin and the Communists were not happy about this and in 1948 Stalin set up a blockade of all the roads and railways leading into West Berlin. His goal was to have all of the city of Berlin under USSR control and to drive the Allies out of the West Berlin. The USA and the other allies decided that this should not be allowed. For a period of nearly 11 months, all the supplies needed by the people in West Berlin were airlifted into the area by the USA. Huge transport planes were used and everything from medicine to fuel was flown into West Berlin. A very tense situation developed between the USA and the USSR. Eventually Stalin was forced to call off the blockade and the city of Berlin remained a divided city up until the late 1980s. As a result of the Blockade, a special military alliance called NATO was created by the USA and their allies. The USSR also set up a military alliance of countries from Eastern Europe called the Warsaw Pact.


Topic 2: Moves towards European Unity

(a) Benelux Union was an economic union of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg set up after WWII.

ECSC was the European Coal and Steel Community, which allowed the free movement of coal and steel.

CAP was the Common Agricultural Policy, which wanted a fair standard of living for farmers.

The Treaty of Rome, 1957 was signed by six European countries and created a common market between them.

(b) After World War II ended in 1945 politicians in Europe realised the need for close co-operation between the different European nations and as a result of this the European Economic Community (EEC) was formed by the Treaty of Rome, which was signed in 1957. It was signed by the six member states of Italy, France, West Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg. The city of Brussels became the HQ and they created the EEC Commission as well as a Council of Ministers. Britain, Ireland and Denmark joined the European Community in 1973. The next development was the creation of a European Parliament where representatives of the member countries would attend. A Court of Justice was also created and became very important. The EEC proved to be a great economic success. In the 1980s, Greece, Spain and Portugal joined. A very important Treaty was signed at Maastricht in 1991 where it was decided to adopt a common currency called the Euro and the official name of the European Union was also adopted. The Treaty also made it possible for all the citizens of EU countries to travel freely as they were all given common citizenship.


Topic 3: African and Asian Nationalism

(a) Empire is the term used to describe the land owned by one European country in different parts of the world. An example is India, which was once part of the British Empire.

Imperialism means a policy of extending your rule over foreign countries.

Nationalism is the desire of people to have their own independent nation state.

Decolonisation is the process whereby countries such as France and Britain gave up their overseas colonies in places such as Africa.

(b) Movement for Indian Independence

A good example of an Asian country that gained independence since 1945 is India. In the period up to the end of WWII India was a large country in Asia ruled by Britain for a period of two hundred years. Many British politicians referred to India as “the jewel in the crown”. However, from the 1920s more and more people in India began to demand independence and a man called Gandhi led them. In the 1930s the British government was forced to give India a form of Home Rule but Gandhi and many others called for full independence. After WWII the new British Labour government wanted to give India “dominion status”. The new Viceroy Lord Mountbatten realised that there were major religious divisions in the country and that an independent partitioned India was the only solution. Muslim leaders had been demanding a separate state called Pakistan. Lord Mountbatten was responsible for the transfer of power to an Indian government. India was also divided into two parts and the Muslim part became independent Pakistan. India and Pakistan became independent in August 1947. However, there was a lot of bloodshed and violence as a result of this, which lasted for many years and millions of people died or became refugees.