Totalitarianism Flashcards
What is Totalitarianism?
A system of government where the state holds total authority over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life wherever possible.
Who was Joseph Stalin?
The leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953, known for his totalitarian regime, the Great Purge, and significant economic and military developments.
Who was Adolf Hitler?
The leader of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, known for establishing a totalitarian regime, initiating World War II, and perpetrating the Holocaust.
What was the Great Purge?
A campaign of political repression in the Soviet Union from 1936 to 1938, where Stalin ordered the execution or detention of many “enemies of the working class.”
What were the Nuremberg Laws?
Racial laws implemented in Nazi Germany in 1935 that discriminated against Jews, including depriving them of German citizenship and prohibiting marriage between Jews and non-Jewish Germans.
What role did propaganda play in Totalitarian regimes?
Propaganda was used extensively to control public opinion, promote the leader’s image, and suppress opposition, being a key tool in maintaining power in both Stalin’s USSR and Hitler’s Germany.
What was the Five-Year Plan in the Soviet Union?
A series of nationwide centralized economic plans in the Soviet Union, the first of which was introduced in 1928 by Stalin to industrialize the Soviet economy and reduce dependence on agriculture.
What was the Hitler Youth?
A youth organization in Nazi Germany for boys aged 14 to 18, designed to indoctrinate young Germans with Nazi ideology, including militarism, nationalism, and loyalty to Hitler.
How did Stalin and Hitler maintain their power?
Through the use of terror, secret police, propaganda, and the suppression of opposition, Stalin and Hitler eliminated threats to their rule and controlled society.
What was the impact of Totalitarian regimes on the arts and culture?
Totalitarian regimes controlled the arts and culture to promote their ideology. In Nazi Germany and Stalin’s USSR, art was used for propaganda, and any form of artistic expression that opposed the regime was suppressed.
Describe the economic policies of Nazi Germany.
Nazi Germany’s economic policies focused on autarky (self-sufficiency), rearmament, and using state control to facilitate economic growth and reduce unemployment, but also included extensive plunder during WWII.
What was collectivization in the Soviet Union?
The forced consolidation of individual peasant households into collective farms (kolkhozes) and state farms (sovkhozes) as part of the Soviet policy to improve agricultural productivity and implement communist ideology.
How did the educational systems promote Totalitarian ideologies?
In both regimes, the education system was tightly controlled to indoctrinate youth with totalitarian ideologies, emphasizing loyalty to the leader, militarism, and nationalistic or socialist principles.
What was Lebensraum?
The Nazi policy aimed at expanding German territories to provide “living space” for the German people, used to justify the conquest of Eastern Europe and the extermination of its inhabitants.
Describe the role of the secret police in maintaining Totalitarian control.
The secret police (NKVD in the Soviet Union, Gestapo in Nazi Germany) played a crucial role in enforcing loyalty to the regime, conducting surveillance, and eliminating political opposition through fear and repression.
What were the consequences of Stalin’s agricultural policies?
Stalin’s policies, including collectivization and the Great Famine (Holodomor), led to widespread disruption of agriculture, massive food shortages, and millions of deaths from starvation.
What was the Reichstag Fire and its significance?
The burning of the German parliament building in 1933, which Hitler used as a pretext to arrest political opponents and pass the Reichstag Fire Decree, suspending civil liberties and consolidating power.
How did both regimes use technology and modern methods for surveillance and propaganda?
Stalin’s USSR and Nazi Germany utilized emerging technologies like radio and film, along with traditional media, to spread their propaganda and monitor citizens through surveillance and censorship.
What was the role of women in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia under these Totalitarian leaders?
In Nazi Germany, women were encouraged to focus on family and motherhood, while in Soviet Russia, women were mobilized into the workforce and military, reflecting the regimes’ differing ideological views on gender roles.
How did Totalitarian regimes impact religion?
Both regimes sought to control or suppress religious institutions and practices, viewing them as potential threats to state authority. In the USSR, atheism was promoted, while in Nazi Germany, the state sought to control churches.
What was the Holodomor?
A man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933, caused by Stalin’s policies of forced collectivization, resulting in millions of deaths.
Describe the significance of the Munich Agreement.
An agreement in 1938 between Germany, the UK, France, and Italy, allowing Hitler to annex the Sudetenland in hopes of preventing further expansion and war, a policy of appeasement that failed.
How did Stalin’s and Hitler’s regimes impact international relations in the 20th century?
Their aggressive expansionism and ideologies led to heightened tensions, contributing to the outbreak of World War II and shaping the geopolitical landscape of the 20th century.
What was the Night of the Long Knives?
A purge in 1934 where Hitler ordered the execution of political rivals within the Nazi Party, consolidating his power and eliminating threats to his leadership.
