IB History Hitler: How Was Authoritarian Rule Challenged? Key Definitions

The 1940 air campaign in which the Royal Air Force successfully defended Britain against the German Luftwaffe, preventing a planned German invasion and marking Hitler's first major military setback.

A prolonged and catastrophic battle on the Eastern Front, ending in the destruction of the German Sixth Army in early 1943, marking the definitive turning point of the war against Germany.

The Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, opening a major Western Front against Germany and beginning the liberation of occupied Western Europe.

Loosely organised groups of German working-class youth who rejected Hitler Youth conformity, adopting informal styles and engaging in minor acts of defiance during the Nazi period.

The Nazi secret police (Geheime Staatspolizei), responsible for investigating and suppressing political opposition. It operated outside the legal system and used surveillance, informants, torture, and arbitrary detention.

The German invasion of the Soviet Union launched in June 1941, opening a second major front and widely regarded as Hitler's most consequential strategic error.

The failed conspiracy to assassinate Hitler and seize control of the German government on 20 July 1944, led by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and a network of military and civilian conspirators.

A non-violent student resistance group based in Munich that distributed anti-Nazi leaflets calling for passive resistance between 1942 and early 1943, before its members were arrested and executed.