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GCSE History · key term
The use of fear, violence and threats of punishment to intimidate people and discourage opposition.
Used by AQA, Edexcel and OCR
Paper 1
The use of fear, violence, arrest and imprisonment to discourage opposition and enforce obedience to a regime.
Revise: Stalin the DictatorDefeating these rivals politically was not yet the same as eliminating every possible challenge; the terror of the 1930s would consolidate his personal dictatorship further.
Paper 3
Revise: Consolidating PowerIn 1951–52, the CCP combined terror with mass movements. Terror used arrests, violence and threats to frighten people into submission. Mass movements involved ordinary people in campaigns against alleged enemies.
Paper 3
The use of intimidation, violence and arbitrary punishment to frighten people into obedience and suppress opposition.
Revise: Machinery of terrorBetween 1933 and 1939, the Nazi dictatorship used terror to remove opponents and discourage others from challenging it. Terror meant more than physical violence: it also meant the possibility of arrest, interrogation or imprisonment without effective legal protection. People could become cautious about what they said, whom they trusted and whether they joined opposition activities.
Keep chronology clear: Kirov’s murder was in 1934; the Great Terror and major show trials followed in 1936–1938.
Use specific campaign targets and punishments rather than simply saying that Mao used terror.
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