TOTALITARIANISM

Totalitarianism DefinedGovernment controls every aspect of lifeNo privacy or independent organizationsPolitical system dominates:ReligionFamily lifeEconomy EducationAll powerful leader

Totalitarian LeadersMussoliniStalinHitler

Logic of TotalitarianismIn 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 Featureshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu-g1Oe26Sw&feature=relatedThere are seven (7):Cult of the leaderRadical ideologyOrganizationMass mobilization and indoctrinationUse of secret policeCentral controlUse of terror and violence

Cult of the LeaderSupreme, autonomousHero worshipWisePaternalisticCharismatic

Radical IdeologyControl is official, total, comprehensiveExploits popular fears and prejudicesLegitimates a revolutionary break from the pastProvides scapegoat for past wrongsExplains present sacrificesPromises a future of peace and plenty

OrganizationSingle, political party serves leader in promoting ideologyParty is subservient to leaderNo dissent permitted!

Mass mobilization and indoctrinationFanatic followers make any sacrificeRegime mobilizes against any internal or external enemyOpponents, scapegoats, counter-revolutionariesUse aggressive warfare to keep people mobilized

Secret PoliceSecret police and informers are used to monitor and control citizenry

Central ControlControl all organizationsSchoolsthe ArtsClubsNews mediaLabor unionsChurchesUniversitiesEconomy

Terror and ViolenceTo smooth the way to a take-overCreates atmosphere of crisis and instabilityDramatizes inability of old government to provide securityTo maintain control afterwardKeeps population too terrorized to dissent

Benito Mussolini Italyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIxAsangFZc&feature=PlayList&p=5D4F6CCBE0FA804A&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=16Benito 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 kingallowed him to form new government Il duce (the chief) crushed all opposition and controlled every aspect of life

Josef Stalin Soviet Unionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkCXtMHCUTc&feature=PlayList&p=3C8D236CF8BFAC04&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=12 Joseph Stalin stopped at nothing to create amodel Communist state Make it a truly socialist economy stamping out allprivate enterprise especially private farming,ordered collectivization, and destruction of kulaks Five-year plans (3) transform into industrialpower, by 1939 it was third largest Police state critics were arrested & shipped off toforced labor camp in Siberia Tens of thousands public officials, bureaucrats,military officers were enemies of the state andexecuted 8-13 million people die; millions more from faminecaused by restructuring of Soviet society Maintain complete control over citizens; no rights

Adolf Hitler Nazi Germanyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80lLU5-yji8Adolf 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 ofuniting all German speaking people;Aryans superior to Jews, Slavs andnon-whites; national expansion (beliefslaid out in Mein Kampf ) Fuhrer (the leader) desperate peopleturned to him during Great Depression Dismantled Weimar Republic toestablish Third Reich (1. Charlemagne; 2. Bismarck) which would be thethousand-year Reich

V for Vendetta (Part 10 at 3:20 into Part 11)Leaders not only eliminate opponents, but also loyal deputies who could become rivalsBloody purges happen even when no danger is emanateFear of communism, fear of capitalismOnce 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-knowningDid in 12 years what the rest of the world did in 150 years.