Examples of Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism refers to a political system in which all authority is in the hands of

the state. In a totalitarian society, all control of public and private life are
government run.
Hannah Arendt argued that Nazi and State communist regimes were new forms of
government, and not merely updated versions of the old tyrannies. According to
Arendt, the source of the mass appeal of totalitarian regimes is their ideology, which
provides a comforting, single answer to the mysteries of the past, present, and
future. For Nazism, all history is the history of race struggle; and, for Marxism, all
history is the history of class struggle. Once that premise is accepted, all actions of
the state can be justified by appeal to Nature or the Law of History, justifying their
establishment of authoritarian state apparatus.
totalitarianism seeks to mobilize entire populations in support of an official
state ideology, and is intolerant of activities which are not directed towards the
goals of the state, entailing repression or state control of business, labour
unions, churches or political parties.
Totalitarianism as a Method of Government
First conceptually developed in the 1920's by Italian fascists, primarily Giovanni
Amendola, totalitarianism has been present in a variety of movements throughout
history.
Initially, the term was spun to be positive and refer to the positive goals of states
employing totalitarianism. However, Western civilizations most often did not agree
with the concept of totalitarianism and a great deal of discourse regarding the topic
became prevalent from within governments, inside classrooms, and at the dining
room table.
Some governments and movements that Westerners have accused of being
totalitarian in nature include Nazi Germany, Soviets during communism, and the
Stalinist movement in particular.
The difference between totalitarianism and authoritarian regimes is important to
note.

While authoritarian regimes place all of the power into a single dictator or
group, that power is only political.

Within totalitarian regimes, the leadership controls nearly all aspects of the
state from economical to political to social and cultural. Totalitarian regimes
control science, education, art and private lives of residents to the degree of
dictation proper morality. The reach of the government is limitless.

Totalitarian Regimes, Leaders and Countries

Examples of totalitarian leaders/regimes/countries include:

Joseph Stalin In the Soviet Union, after the conclusion of Civil War, Stalin
took over the country and began executing any people who were not in
alignment with the goals of the state.

Benito Mussolini Having seized power in Italy in 1922, Mussolini become the
leader of the nation and immediately began to rule in a totalitarian manner.

Adolf Hitler Notorious for his reign in German, Hitler employed

totalitarianism as a means to attempt to achieve an obedient nation that was
his personal vision for the country.

North Korea North Korea has been ruled by the same family since 1948. The
family has been running the country based on the concept of self-reliance.
However, severe economic declines have contributed to the country's
struggle to maintain totalitarianism.

Mao Zedong From 1949, when he established the People's Republic of

China, until his death in 1976, Chairman Mao lead China in a way in line with
the concepts of totalitarianism.

Nazism refers to the totalitarian Fascist ideology and policies espoused and
practiced by Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist German Worker's Party from
1920-1945. Nazism stressed the superiority of the Aryan, its destiny as the
Master Race to rule the world over other races, and a violent hatred of
Jews, which it blamed for all of the problems of Germany. Nazism also
provided for extreme nationalism which called for the unification of all Germanspeaking peoples into a single empire. The economy envisioned for the state was a
form of corporative state socialism, although members of the party who were
leftists (and would generally support such an economic system over private
enterprise) were purged from the party in 1934.
Paramilitary Organizations
Nazism made use of paramilitary organizations to maintain control within the party,
and to squelch opposition to the party. Violence and terror fostered compliance.
Among these organizations were the:

S.A. known as "brown-shirts" were the Nazi paramilitary arm. It was active in
the battle for the streets against other German political parties.

S.D. - the Security Service.

S.S. - Defense Corps, was an elite guard unit formed out of the S.A.

Gestapo (Geheime Staatpolizeil) - the Secret State Police, which was formed
in 1933.

Nazism also placed an emphasis on sports and paramilitary activities for youth, the
massive use of propaganda (controlled by Joseph Goebbels) to glorify the state, and
the submission of all decisions to the supreme leader (Fuhrer) Adolf Hitler.
Strategies to Implement Totalitarianism
Examples of totalitarian regime strategies to gain control of the nation include:

Having a dictatorship

Employing only one ruling party

Rule through fear

Censorship of media

Propaganda in media, government speeches and through education

Criticism of the state is prohibited

Mandatory military sign up

Secret police forces

Controlling reproduction of the population (either in hopes to increase or to

decrease)

Targeting of specific religious or political populations

Development of a nationalist party

Friedrich and Brzezinski argue that a totalitarian system has the following six,
mutually supportive, defining characteristics:
1. Elaborate guiding ideology.
2. Single mass party, typically led by a dictator.
3. System of terror, using such instruments as violence and secret police.
4. Monopoly on weapons.
5. Monopoly on the means of communication.
6. Central direction and control of the economy through state planning.
Totalitarian regimes in Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union had initial origins in the
chaos that followed in the wake of World War I and allowed totalitarian movements
to seize control of the government, while the sophistication of modern weapons and
communications enabled them to effectively establish what Friedrich and Brzezinski
called a totalitarian dictatorship.

Differences between authoritarian and totalitarian regimes[edit]

The term "authoritarian regime" denotes a state in which the single power holder an individual
"dictator", a committee or a junta or an otherwise small group of political elite monopolizes political
power. However, a totalitarian regime attempts to control virtually all aspects of the social life
including economy, education, art, science, private life and morals of citizens. "The officially
proclaimed ideology penetrates into the deepest reaches of societal structure and the totalitarian
government seeks to completely control the thoughts and actions of its citizens." [9]

Totalitarianism is an extreme version of authoritarianism. Authoritarianism primarily differs from

totalitarianism in that social and economic institutions exist that are not under governmental control.

Thus, compared to totalitarian systems, authoritarian systems may also leave a

larger sphere for private life, lack a guiding ideology, tolerate some pluralism in
social organization, lack the power to mobilize the whole population in pursuit of
national goals, and exercise their power within relatively predictable limits.