1. TOTALITARIANISM

2. Totalitarianism Defined
Government controls every aspect of life
No privacy or independent organizations
Political system dominates:
Religion
Family life
Economy
Education
All powerful leader

3. Totalitarian Leaders
Hitler
Mussolini
Stalin

4. 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.

5. Totalitarianism’s Features http://www. youtube. com/watch
There are seven (7):
Cult of the leader
Radical ideology
Organization
Mass mobilization and indoctrination
Use of secret police
Central control
Use of terror and violence
V for Vendetta (Part 10 at 3:20 into Part 11)

6. Cult of the Leader Supreme, autonomous Hero worship Wise Paternalistic
Charismatic

7. 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

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

9. Mass mobilization and indoctrination
Fanatic followers make any sacrifice
Regime mobilizes against any internal or external enemy
Opponents, scapegoats, counter-revolutionaries
Use aggressive warfare to keep people mobilized

10. Secret Police
Secret police and informers are used to monitor and control citizenry

11. Central Control Control all organizations Schools the Arts Clubs
News media
Labor unions
Churches
Universities
Economy

12. 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
Leaders not only eliminate opponents, but also loyal deputies who could become rivals
Bloody purges happen even when no danger is emanate
Fear of communism, fear of capitalism
Once reputation for terror is established, a regime does not have to continue actual terror. It can use rumors and lies to convince people that government is invincible and all-knowning

13. Benito Mussolini – Italy http://www. youtube. com/watch
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

14. Josef Stalin – Soviet Union http://www. youtube. com/watch
• 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 famine
caused by restructuring of Soviet society
• Maintain complete control over citizens; no rights
Did in 12 years what the rest of the world did in 150 years.

15. Adolf Hitler – Nazi Germany 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. Charlemagne; 2. Bismarck) which would be the
“thousand-year Reich”