TOTALITARIANISM & STALIN

TOTALITARIANISM&

STALIN

*What is it?- A type of government where the

gov’t takes control of all aspects of public and private life*Key Traits of Totalitarianism

1.Dynamic leader-Unites people-Can convince people to support

him or uses force to achieve it

2. Dictatorship/One Party-Dominates gov’t completely and

has full control

Totalitarianism

3. State Controls all parts of society-Business, labor, housing, education,

religion, the arts…4. Modern Technology

-Gov’t controls mass communication-Uses it to spread propaganda

(biased/incomplete information to sway how people believe and act)

-Advanced military weapons5. State Control of Individuals

-Demands loyalty-No basic freedoms-Expect personal sacrifice for the good of the country

Key Traits Continued…

6. Methods of Enforcement (how do they force?)

*Police Terror-Force obedience and crush all opposition-Spying, violence, murder

*Indoctrination-Instruction in “gov’t beliefs,” used

to mold minds-Control of education to glorify the

leader

How do they enforce things?

*Propaganda & Censorship-Gov’t must approve everything published

(news, art, music…)-People constantly surrounded by false

info that seems true-Anyone who rebels is imprisoned or killed

* Religious/Ethnic Persecution-Blame “enemies of the state” for

anything that goes wrong-Groups are targeted for blame and are

attacked/terrorized-Members of these groups are often forced

to live in restricted areas where they have different rules that apply only to them

How do they enforce things?

HOW DID STALIN DO IT?

-Secret police & tanks to stop riots-Monitored telephones, mail, planted spies-Arrested and executed millions of “traitors”

Stalin’s Police State

*A campaign of terror to eliminate everyone to threatened his power

*Tried thousands of Bolsheviks who helped with the revolution

-Executed or send to labor camps

*Stalin is now in total control of Soviet Union and Communist Party

-8-13 million murdered

THE GREAT PURGE1937-1938

*Education & Indoctrination-Gov’t controlled all schools & ed.-Kids in school learned about the

virtues of the Communist Party*Russian Propaganda & Censorship

-Controlled all newspapers, movies, radio, & all other sources of info-Writers, artists, composers all

censored-All media & art to glorify

communism, Stalin, and his programs-No creativity, threat to obedience-Used as means for

propaganda

INDOCRINATION & PROPAGANDA

*Churches and synagogues destroyed

*Religious leaders killed or sent to labor camps

*Less freedoms for people, more power for state

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

* Command Economy: economic system where the gov’t makes all economic decisions*Five-Year Plans

-Goals and impossible quotas for production (steel, oil, coal…)

-Never met but huge gains made

-Consumer goods limited leaving shortages of housing, food,

clothing, other necessities

STALIN CONTROLS ECONOMY

* Gov’t seized 25 million privately owned farms*Collective farms

-Hundreds of families work on these large now gov’t owned farms to produced food for the

state-Kulaks (wealthy peasants) resisted, gov’t

took food & eliminated them-Ukraine=5-6 million dead

-Anyone who resisted was forced or killed-90% of peasants lived on collectives

by 1938-5-10 million Russians die as a result of

Stalin’s Agricultural Revolution

AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION