Unit 1: Totalitarianism

Question 1

Characteristics of Totalitarianism (1)

Answer 1

• A form of government in which the state controls all of people’s lives
• One political party led by an absolute ruler
• Power is maintained by force and violence including terrorism, censorship and propaganda
• No freedom of speech, press, religion, petition or assembly
• Allows dictator to control the population and keep order; no dissent

Question 2

Characteristics of Totalitarianism (2)

Answer 2

• Economy controlled by dictator (command economy)
• Dictator will determine what will be produced, who will produce it and who it will be sold to
• Schools teach kids to worship the dictator and the government
• Military police patrol cities, towns and villages and enlist informants to divulge dissidents (“Big brother is watching” -George Orwell’s 1984)

Question 3

Characteristics of Totalitarianism (3)

Answer 3

• Individual serves the state
• Stress of intense nationalism
• Dictators are often imperialistic
• Domination of weaker states
• Is not popular among countries with a large middle class
• Exist mostly in countries that have a frustrated, insecure and unstable population

Question 4

Examples of Dictators

Answer 4

• Adolf Hitler (Germany)
• Hideki Tojo (Japan)
• Benito Mussolini (Italy)
• Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)
• Kim Jong Il (North Korea)
• Raul Castro (Cuba)
• Ayatollah Kahmenei (Iran)
• Hugo Chavez (Venezuela)
• Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
• Pol Pot (Cambodia)
• Idi Amin (Uganda)
• Shah of Iran (Iran)
• Augosto Pinochet (Chile)
• King Abdullah (Saudi Arabia)