World War II and the “Isms”
Use your power point notes and a dictionary to answer the following questions on “isms.”
Nationalism
Collectivism
Militarism
Isolationism
Anti-Semitism
Colonialism
Fascism
Communism
Ethnocentrism
Nazism
Capitalism
Socialism
Totalitarianism
1. Hitler empowered the German people by instilling great pride in their country and ethnic
background. While this quality is not usually a bad thing, this extreme form of
________________ led to a feeling of superiority among the German people, and the eventual
genocide of Jews and others the Germans felt were inferior.
2. This economic system, used in the United States and in other countries around the world,
emphasizes the individual ownership of private property and a free market. Competition
determines the price of goods. ________________________
3. This broad theory advocates equality and redistribution of wealth by the government. While
the idea of everyone having an equal share sounds good, the implementation of the extreme
form of this theory can cause the quality of life and economic condition of the entire society to
be brought down. Some countries have found some success in a partial use of this idea in
larger institutions, such as health care and some of the larger industries in their countries.
_________________________
4. This extreme form of socialism is both an economic and political system. The ideal of this
form of government is to give more power to the working class. However, in practice, the
factories and farms are taken over by the government and the people really have no individual
rights or freedoms. In addition, this type of government is often led by a totalitarian dictator
who has absolute power over the people and the country’s military. ____________________
5. While this form of government is often led by a dictator, it differs from communism in that the
government does not own the factories and farms. However, it does have control over what,
when and how goods are produced. This people under this type of government are often
motivated by extreme nationalism and the leaders govern through the use of terror.
_____________________________
6. In a society that advocates ______________________, the military is given a very high profile
and is often used to intimidate and control citizens. Both fascist and communist governments
employ this idea.
7. An attempt to keep peace by avoiding alliances and foreign entanglements (staying out of other
countries’ business) is known as __________________________. This policy was
implemented in the United States before the beginning of World War II but was impossible to
maintain after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
8. This type of political movement that took place in Germany in the 1930’s and 1940’s involves
extreme nationalism, rascism, and the eventual genocide of non-Aryans.
___________________________
9. ________________________is the political principal of government control over all means of
production within a country. The individual is not important – the needs of the country and the
common good prevail. It is the opposite of individualism.
10. _________________________ is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of
colonies by a larger, more powerful nation. These societies are often interested in empirebuilding in order to gain the resources of the less powerful society.
11. A principle in which a government has total control over people’s lives is called
_____________________________. Both communist and fascist governments employ this
idea.
12. Extreme prejudice against the Jewish race is called _____________________________.
13. __________________________ is characterized by the idea that one’s own ethnic group is
superior.