1. Totalitarian Governments Standard 10. 7
Totalitarian Governments Standard Totalitarian Regimes in Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union
Standard Objective – Analyze the rise, aggression, and human costs of totalitarian regimes in Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union, noting their common and dissimilar traits
10.7.3

2. Vocabulary
Regime: a political or ruling system

3. Question of the Day Evaluation
If you had to live in one of the three totalitarian regimes, which one would it have been and why? Write a paragraph explaining your choice. Include a topic sentence and statements of fact and opinion that support your topic sentence.

4. Extra Credit Question Analysis
What are five differences between the totalitarian regime in the Soviet Union and the totalitarian regime in Germany?

5. Totalitarian Regimes
In the years after World War I, Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union saw the rise of totalitarian regimes – a form of government in which the state attempts to assert control over every aspect of public and private life.
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

6. Totalitarian Regimes
In all three countries, a new charismatic leader would become infamous for cruelty.
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

7. Totalitarian Regimes
Each of these leaders rose to power in the chaos that followed World War I, promising strength and stability to war-ravaged nations.
Totalitarian Regimes

8. You Must Remember This!
Question – What did WWI have to do with the rise of totalitarian governments?

9. Germany Leader/Political Title: Adolf Hitler, Chancellor
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

10. Germany Political Party/Type of Government:
National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party)/Fascist
10.7.3
Totalitarian Regimes

11. You Must Remember This!
Question – What was the name of Germany’s only political party?

12. Germany
Supporters:
middle class, business, military, bureaucracy, industrial leaders

13. Germany
Dates in Power:
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

14. Germany Unifying ideas:
Germans as a “master” race, anti-Semitism, racism, Social Darwinism, extreme nationalism, anti-communism
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

15. You Must Remember This!
Question – What were the unifying ideas of the Nazi Party?

16. Germany Economic policy:
Capitalism, Government/ business partnerships, rearmament, public projects to put people back to work
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

17. Germany Control of the media:
Total control, propaganda, state-run press
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

18. You Must Remember This!
Question - What type of control of the media did the Nazis have and how did they go about that control?

19. Germany Religious control: Some freedom, but not for the Jews
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3
Kristallnacht

20. You Must Remember This!
Question – What type of religious control did the Nazis have?

21. Germany
Secret Police:
Gestapo (Secret State Police)

22. Germany
Use of terror:
Millions killed; Jews and Romani (gypsies) particularly, and many non-Germans, and minorities were singled out for terror in concentration and death camps
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3
German secret police
Gestapo

23. Italy Leader/Political Title: Benito Mussolini, Prime Minister
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

24. Italy Political Party/Type of Government: Fascist Party/Fascist
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

25. You Must Remember This!
Question – What was the name of Italy’s only political party?

26. Italy
Supporters:
middle class, business, military, large landowners

27. Italy
Dates in Power:
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

28. Italy
Unifying ideas:
strongly nationalistic, anti-communist, anti-socialist, Italy was going to revive the glory of Ancient Rome.
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

29. Italy Economic policy: Capitalist, Government/ business partnerships
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

30. Italy Control of Media:
Propaganda, censorship of the press but less than total
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

31. Italy Religious control: Free choice,
Catholicism was the state religion
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

32. Italy
Secret police: OVRA (Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism)

33. Italy Use of terror: murder rare About 4,000 imprisoned
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

34. Soviet Union Leader/Political Title: Joseph Stalin, General Secretary
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

35. Soviet Union Political Party/Type of Government:
Communist Party/Communist
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

36. You Must Remember This!
Question – What was the name of the Soviet Union’s only political party?

37. Soviet Union
Supporters:
workers, peasants, party officials

38. Soviet Union
Dates in Power:
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

39. Soviet Union Unifying ideas: Put the ideas of Karl Marx into practice,
The desire for a classless society
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

40. You Must Remember This!
Question: What was the main unifying idea of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party?

41. Soviet Union Economic policies: Communist,
State owns everything, controls the economy, Five-Year Plans for rapid industrial growth, collectivization of farms
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

42. Soviet Union Control of the media:
Total control, propaganda, state-run press
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

43. Soviet Union Religious Control: Atheism, Religion suppressed
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

44. Soviet Union
Secret Police:
KGB (Committee for State Security)

45. Soviet Union Use of Terror:
Secret police imprisoned and killed over 20 million - anyone who was a threat to Stalin using purges, prison & labor camps, executions
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

46. Similarities of Totalitarian Regimes
Ruled by a dictator who was glorified as a hero
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

47. Similarities of Totalitarian Regimes
Allowed only one political party
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

48. You Must Remember This!
Question: How many political parties are there in a totalitarian regime?

49. Similarities of Totalitarian Regimes
Emphasized total loyalty to the government and its leader
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

50. Similarities of Totalitarian Regimes
Denied individual rights
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

51. Similarities of Totalitarian Regimes
Censored the press and other media
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

52. Similarities of Totalitarian Regimes
Used art, culture, and modern communications to spread propaganda and achieve its goals
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

53. Similarities of Totalitarian Regimes
Encouraged a high birthrate, rewarded women who had many children
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

54. Similarities of Totalitarian Regimes
Controlled people by terror, especially by means of a secret police
Youth groups used to encourage future membership in the political party
Indoctrination (brainwashing) of entire population
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

55. Similarities of Totalitarian Regimes
Secret police are used to enforce the will of the leader.
Believed European civilization was corrupt and they could fix it with their system.
Totalitarian Regimes
10.7.3

56. You Must Remember This!
Question – What was the main job of the secret police?

57. What is a Dictator-ship?
Only one political party
is allowed to exist - the
Dictator is the leader of this
party, and the party helps
him to run the country
So no elections are held
because the Dictator does
not allow people to
choose who they want to
run their country
What is a Dictator-ship?
One person - the
‘Dictator’ -
holds all of the
power in the country
Dictators rely upon a
large, strong and loyal
army to help them to
maintain their power
Education and the media
(newspapers, radio, film
etc) are strictly controlled
by the Government
Anyone who is considered to
be an enemy of the Dictator
and his political party would
be persecuted

58. Fascism in Europe Benito Mussolini Adolf Hitler Italian German
Anger over the Versailles treaty
Invaded Ethiopia in 1935.
Believed Germans were a superior “Aryan” race.
Formed a totalitarian government
Blamed the Jews for Germany’s problems.
Used economic unrest and fears of communism to gain support.
Used nationalism to gain support.

59. Extra Credit Question Analysis
What are five differences between the totalitarian regime in the Soviet Union and the totalitarian regime in Germany?

60. Standard Summary
The rise of totalitarian regimes came about in Germany, Italy & the Soviet Union because of the devastation caused by World War I.
All three regimes believed in single-party rule.
The German totalitarian regime believed Germans were part of a “master race”.
The Soviet Union totalitarian regime believed strongly in a classless society.
All the totalitarian regimes used propaganda & modern communications to conquer the minds and hearts of its subjects.
Required Readings: ,

61. Question of the Day Evaluation
If you had to live in one of the three totalitarian regimes, which one would it have been and why? Write a paragraph explaining your choice. Include a topic sentence and statements of fact and opinion that support your topic sentence.

62. Topic Sentence
I would’ve chosen to live in the __________ totalitarian regime.