Authoritarian States and Causes and effects of 20th Century Wars

Question 1

What was the Treaty of Versailles and its impact on Germany?

Answer 1

The Treaty of Versailles humiliated Germany and led to resentment.

Question 2

What economic crisis contributed to Hitler’s rise to power?

Answer 2

The Great Depression caused mass unemployment (over 6 million) and instability.

Question 3

What weaknesses existed in the Weimar Republic?

Answer 3

Coalition politics and Article 48 made dictatorship easier.

Question 4

What ideologies were central to Hitler’s regime?

Answer 4

Nazism, anti-Semitism, ultra-nationalism, anti-communism, and the desire for ‘Volksgemeinschaft.’

Question 5

How did Hitler use violence to maintain power?

Answer 5

The SA (Brownshirts) attacked communists and opponents.

Question 6

What was Hitler’s legal path to power?

Answer 6

He was appointed Chancellor in 1933, used the Reichstag Fire to crush communists, and passed the Enabling Act.

Question 7

What chaos existed in China after the fall of the Qing Dynasty?

Answer 7

Warlordism weakened central power.

Question 8

How was the GMD viewed under Chiang Kai-shek?

Answer 8

It was seen as corrupt and ineffective.

Question 9

What impact did the Japanese invasion have on the CCP?

Answer 9

It boosted CCP legitimacy as defenders of China.

Question 10

What ideology did Mao adapt for the CCP?

Answer 10

Marxism adapted to the peasant base, promising land reform and anti-foreign nationalism.

Question 11

What was the significance of the Long March for Mao?

Answer 11

It strengthened Mao’s leadership and symbolism.

Question 12

What was the outcome of the Chinese Civil War?

Answer 12

The PLA (Communists) defeated the GMD, and Mao declared the PRC in 1949.

Question 13

How did Hitler use propaganda?

Answer 13

Goebbels controlled radio, press, cinema, and organized massive rallies promoting the cult of Führer.

Question 14

What censorship measures did Hitler implement?

Answer 14

He banned non-Nazi publications and controlled education and culture.

Question 15

What terror tactics did Hitler employ?

Answer 15

The SS and Gestapo suppressed dissent, and the Night of the Long Knives eliminated rivals.

Question 16

What legal authority did Hitler establish?

Answer 16

The Enabling Act created a one-party state.

Question 17

How did Mao use propaganda?

Answer 17

He utilized the ‘Little Red Book,’ songs, and posters to create a cult of personality.

Question 18

What mass mobilization efforts did Mao initiate?

Answer 18

Campaigns like the Four Olds during the Cultural Revolution.

Question 19

What was the purpose of thought reform and Laogai under Mao?

Answer 19

To eliminate ‘rightist’ elements.

Question 20

What political purges did Mao conduct?

Answer 20

The Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957) and the Cultural Revolution (1966–76).

Question 21

How did Mao maintain power through military and fear?

Answer 21

He used the PLA and Red Guards to silence opposition.

Question 22

What domestic policy did Hitler implement regarding women?

Answer 22

He encouraged motherhood, banned abortion and contraception, and gave medals for large families.

Question 23

What was Mao’s approach to women’s rights?

Answer 23

The 1950 Marriage Law outlawed arranged marriage and promised equality, but patriarchal attitudes persisted.

Question 24

What youth policies did Hitler enforce?

Answer 24

Hitler Youth was made compulsory, and the school curriculum was rewritten with Nazi ideology.

Question 25

How did Mao mobilize youth?

Answer 25

Red Guards were mobilized to attack teachers and destroy 'Old Culture.'

Question 26

What economic policies did Hitler implement?

Answer 26

Public works (like the Autobahns) and rearmament reduced unemployment and geared the economy for war.

Question 27

What were Mao's economic policies?

Answer 27

The First Five-Year Plan (1953–57) copied the USSR model, and the Great Leap Forward (1958–61) caused famine (30M+ deaths).

Question 28

How did Hitler control religion and culture?

Answer 28

He controlled churches, burned books, and promoted Nazi-approved art.

Question 29

What was Mao's approach to religion and culture?

Answer 29

He suppressed religion, attacked traditions, and destroyed historical artifacts during the Cultural Revolution.

Question 30

What legal discrimination did Jews face under Hitler?

Answer 30

Nuremberg Laws, Kristallnacht (1938), and the Holocaust (6M killed).

Question 31

How were minorities repressed under Mao?

Answer 31

Ethnic minorities and intellectuals were repressed, with Tibetans and Muslims persecuted.

Question 32

What were Hitler's successes?

Answer 32

He revived the economy, reduced unemployment, and united Germans behind nationalism.

Question 33

What were Hitler's failures?

Answer 33

WWII devastation, the Holocaust, and totalitarian repression.

Question 34

What were Mao's successes?

Answer 34

He united China under communism, achieved industrial growth, and improved literacy.

Question 35

What were Mao's failures?

Answer 35

The Great Leap Forward famine, Cultural Revolution chaos, and intellectual decline.

Question 36

What did Ian Kershaw argue about Hitler?

Answer 36

He believed charismatic authority and social consent allowed for dictatorship.

Question 37

What did Jung Chang argue about Mao?

Answer 37

She viewed him as a dictator responsible for mass suffering.

Question 38

What comparison did Michael Lynch make between Hitler and Mao?

Answer 38

Both used ideology and terror to control the masses.

Question 39

What were the long-term causes of WWII?

Answer 39

The Treaty of Versailles, economic instability, rise of fascism, and failure of the League of Nations.

Question 40

What were the short-term causes of WWII?

Answer 40

Hitler's foreign policy actions, appeasement, and the Nazi-Soviet Pact.

Question 41

What was the immediate cause of WWII?

Answer 41

Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, leading Britain and France to declare war.

Question 42

What were the long-term causes of the Chinese Civil War?

Answer 42

The fall of the Qing Dynasty, Warlord Era, May Fourth Movement, GMD-CCP split, and social inequality.

Question 43

What were the short-term causes of the Chinese Civil War?

Answer 43

The Japanese invasion, power vacuum after WWII, failed U.S. mediation, and weaknesses of the GMD.

Question 44

What was the nature of WWII?

Answer 44

Total war, blitzkrieg tactics, air warfare, technological advancements, and multi-front fighting.

Question 45

What was the nature of the Chinese Civil War?

Answer 45

Ideological war, civil war with foreign involvement, guerrilla warfare, rural-based fighting, and psychological warfare.

Question 46

What were the political effects of WWII?

Answer 46

Collapse of Nazi Germany, division of Germany, rise of superpowers, creation of the UN, and accelerated decolonization.

Question 47

What were the economic effects of WWII?

Answer 47

Europe was devastated, the U.S. launched the Marshall Plan, and Germany's economy collapsed.

Question 48

What were the social effects of WWII?

Answer 48

Over 60 million deaths, a refugee crisis, and changes in women's roles.

Question 49

What were the political effects of the Chinese Civil War?

Answer 49

CCP declared the People's Republic of China, GMD retreated to Taiwan, and a one-party dictatorship was established.

Question 50

What were the economic effects of the Chinese Civil War?

Answer 50

Immediate postwar instability, land reform, and eventual collectivization under Mao.

Question 51

What were the social effects of the Chinese Civil War?

Answer 51

Around 2 million killed, social upheaval, and persecution of intellectuals.

Question 52

What did A.J.P. Taylor argue about WWII?

Answer 52

He believed Hitler was opportunistic and not working from a long-term plan.

Question 53

What did Richard Overy argue about WWII?

Answer 53

He stated that WWII was a result of fascist expansion and failure of collective security.

Question 54

What did Niall Ferguson argue about the causes of WWII?

Answer 54

He emphasized that economic factors, especially the Depression, made Hitler's rise and war inevitable.

Question 55

What did Jung Chang argue about the Chinese Civil War?

Answer 55

She believed the CCP's success was due to propaganda and ruthless control.

Question 56

What did Edgar Snow argue about the CCP?

Answer 56

He painted the CCP positively, being sympathetic to Mao's leadership and peasant support.

Question 57

What did Jonathan Spence argue about Mao's strategy?

Answer 57

He claimed that Mao's peasant-based strategy was key to victory over the urban-focused GMD.