TOTALITARIANISM

Totalitarianism Defined
Government

controls every aspect of life

No privacy or independent organizations

Political

system dominates:

Religion
Family life
Economy
Education

All

powerful leader

Totalitarian Leaders

Mussolini

Stalin

Hitler

Logic of Totalitarianism
In order to create a perfect society
out of imperfect human beings,
the political system requires a
high level of coercive control
over every facet of life.

Totalitarianisms Features
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=Xu-g1Oe26Sw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu-g1Oe26Sw&feature=related

There are seven (7):

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Cult of the leader

Radical ideology
Organization
Mass mobilization and indoctrination
Use of secret police
Central control
Use of terror and violence

Cult of the Leader

Supreme,

autonomous
Hero worship
Wise
Paternalistic
Charismatic

Radical Ideology
Control

is official, total,
comprehensive
Exploits popular fears and prejudices
Legitimates a revolutionary break
from the past

Provides scapegoat for past wrongs

Explains present sacrifices
Promises a future of peace and plenty

Organization

Single, political
party serves
leader in
promoting
ideology
Party is
subservient to
leader
No dissent
permitted!

Mass mobilization and

indoctrination
Fanatic

followers make any sacrifice

Regime mobilizes against any
internal or external enemy
Opponents, scapegoats, counterrevolutionaries
Use

aggressive warfare to keep

people mobilized

Secret Police
Secret

police and informers are used

to monitor and control citizenry

Central Control

Control all
organizations

Schools
the Arts
Clubs
News media
Labor unions
Churches
Universities
Economy

Terror and Violence

To

smooth the way to a take-over

Creates atmosphere of crisis and
instability
Dramatizes inability of old
government to provide security
To maintain control afterward
Keeps population too terrorized to
dissent

Benito Mussolini Italy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=hIxAsangFZc&feature=
PL&index=16
=16
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
hIxAsangFZc&feature=PlayList&p=5D4F6CCBE0FA804A&playnext=1&playnext_from=
PlayList&p=5D4F6CCBE0FA804A&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index

Benito Mussolini convinced war

veterans that they needed to fight
the politicians who were destroying
Italy
Fascism strong, centralized
government headed by a powerful
dictator; rooted in nationalism
Did not attempt to control farms &
factories like Communism; many
Italians feared Communism
March on Rome (1922) Italian king
allowed him to form new government
Il duce (the chief) crushed all
opposition and controlled every
aspect of life

Josef Stalin Soviet Union

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=IkCXtMHCUTc&feature=
PL&index=12
=12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
IkCXtMHCUTc&feature=PlayList&p=3C8D236CF8BFAC04&playnext=1&playnext_from=
PlayList&p=3C8D236CF8BFAC04&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index

Joseph Stalin stopped at nothing to create

a
model Communist state
Make it a truly socialist economy stamping
out all
private enterprise especially private farming,
ordered collectivization, and destruction of
kulaks
Five-year plans (3) transform into industrial
power, by 1939 it was third largest
Police state critics were arrested & shipped
off to
forced labor camp in Siberia
Tens of thousands public officials,
bureaucrats,
military officers were enemies of the state
and
executed
8-13 million people die; millions more from

Adolf Hitler Nazi Germany

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=80lLU5-yji8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80lLU5-yji8

Adolf Hitler appealed to jobless

soldiers who joined Nazi (Natl.
Socialist German Workers Party) who
had no ties to Communism and hated
it
Nazism based on nationalism;
goal of
uniting all German speaking people;
Aryans superior to Jews, Slavs and
non-whites; national expansion
(beliefs
laid out in Mein Kampf )
Fuhrer (the leader) desperate
people
turned to him during Great
Depression
Dismantled Weimar Republic to
establish Third Reich (1.