History GCSE
The police state
What The police state means in History GCSE, as defined for Pearson Edexcel.
Definition of The police state
Check what you remember
Read the wording for your board, then hide it and explain The police state in your own words. Rough notes are fine. This is a self-check, with no mark or grade.
Reference: Pearson Edexcel
A system relying on terror to eliminate opposition, in which the SS oversaw all police forces and the Gestapo arrested political opponents without judicial oversight.
Topics that use The police state
- Option 31: Key topic 3: Nazi control and dictatorship, 1933–39 - 2 The police state (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
Related terms
- Concentration camps
- Dictatorship and authoritarianism
- Institutional control
- Political repression
- The Gestapo
- The SS
- Subversion of justice
Using The police state in the exam
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