Totalitarianism in Pre-War Europe
Totalitarianism refers to a system of government and parliamentary
ideology that was in many of the countries of Europe between the years
1918-1939. This period saw many ideologies being developed and put
into practice, and many even blame the rise of totalitarian states and
aggressive, autocratic leaders for the Second World War.
Totalitarianism is often associated with regimes in which there is one
leader and party unquestionably in power with no significant rivals.
In a totalitarian state, the ideology of the party is often firmly
indoctrinated. The term was first used in 1925 to describe a
socio-political system that was comprehensive and all embracing. It
applies to both extremes of political systems, Communism and Fascism.
Historians Carl Friedrich and Zbigniew Brzezinski, in 1956, tried to
identify certain features of totalitarianism. It has an official
ideology that is generally adhered to, the state has control over the
military, economy and mass communication, particularly in the field of
administering propaganda and censoring the press, and has a terror
inspiring police force for controlling the population. As described by
the historian Robert Pearce, "…a fully totalitarian government
controls the whole life of its citizens. This, 'everything should be
rendered unto Caesar.'"
In Europe of the pre-war period, the rise of totalitarian primarily
refers to the three states of Germany, Russia and Italy, with their
three charismatic, almost deistic figures, Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin
and Benito Mussolini although General Franco's Spain may be considered
a totalitarian, Fascist regime as...
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The Great Depression caused by the Wall Street Crash of 1929 affected
the whole globe, particularly Germany ass it could no longer depend on
the loans from the United States to rebuild itself. This led to the
abandonment of international co-operation and the focusing on national
interests. Many countries went into a policy of isolation and were
unable to keep dictators from coming into power, and were not actively
interested in the affairs of other countries.
Collective security, International co-operation and democracy had
largely failed in Europe, which turned and gave rise to totalitarian
governments and aggressive dictators to solve their problems and
reinstate their national identity, and go back to the "glory days".
The dictators used the above failures to their advantage to appeal to
a wider audience.
These were pivotal times in the annals of world history in the 20th century. Mussolini and Hitler’s rise to power was clearly a threat to the freedoms of the United States and its Allies. Through God’s grace and omnipotence, the US alliance, industrialization and intellectual might, we have the resources required to overcome the fierce and mighty threat of Fascism in the Free World. In the 1930s, European governments found it necessary to appease Hitler and Mussolini. Appeasement is the word that clearly sums up the policies and actions that were taken by the European governments.
Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany as Totalitarian Atates A totalitarian state refers to a country in which the central government exercises total control over all aspects of people's life. Main features include an infallible leader, one-party rule, strict party discipline, elitism, planned economy, an official doctrine, absolute obedience of individuals to the State, nationalism and usually an expansionist foreign policy. Up to these criteria, both Fascist Italy (1922-43) and Nazi Germany (1933-45) could be deemed totalitarian states to a large extent.
Inverted totalitarianism is a termed made by political philosopher Sheldon Wolin to describe the emerging form of government of the United States. Wolin believed that the United States is increasingly turning into a partial democracy. He used the term “inverted totalitarianism” to illustrate the similarities and differences between the United States governmental system and totalitarian regimes such as Nazi Germany with Hitler and Stalinist Soviet Union. Wolin central points are how are government is highly managed, money-saturated elections, the lobby-infested Congress, the imperial presidency, the class-biased judicial, the penal system, and the media. Inverted totalitarianism is different from traditional forms of totalitarianism. It doesn't
Totalitarianism can be defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as the centralized control by an autocratic authority. The leaders of these societies are obsessed with complete control and will take whatever steps are necessary to reach such a goal. In many totalitarian societies, children are separated from their families. This is enforced on the citizens because rulers want them to be loyal to the government. Such living arrangements can be portrayed in Ayn Rand’s novel, Anthem.
Out of the ashes of economic depression in post World War I Germany, Adolf Hitler, an outsider, rose to become the leader of the Third Reich. Hitler’s rise to power roots in the aftermath of the Great War, where Germany faced international blame and paid for the majority of war reparations. Pulling the Germans into serious debt, the Great Depression of 1929 and the stock market crash in the United States totaled the German economy. The Jews, who seemingly flourished in the midst of economic chaos, were accused of the downfall of Germany in the Great War and for the economic depression. Hitler fueled the German people’s anger towards the Jews with his charismatic and eloquent speeches.
There leaders and governments were dictators and only cared about maintaining their
The Meaning of the Term Totalitarianism Totalitarianism was a one-party political system that was based on dictatorship. It first started in Europe in the 1920s and 30s. It was an absolutism that emphasized the importance of the state at the expense of individual liberties. It displays the following features: One-party dictatorship and one-man rule were emphasized in a totalitarian state. Only one party ruled in a totalitarian state, for example, the Fascist Part in Italy, the Nazi Party in Germany and the Communist Party in the Soviet Union.
George Orwell favors the idea totalitarianism and implements it in almost all this books. Totalitarianism is defined as “absolute control by the state or a governing branch of a highly-centralized institution.” according to Dictionary.com. In 1984, totalitarianism occurs when the Party controls the thoughts of the citizen and how it portrays its dominance through the poster of Big Brother to remind the people that they are being watched. In Animal Farm, totalitarianism is portrayed by a pig called Napoleon in which it dictates all the other animals and creates a fear among the animals.
In a totalitarian state, the party leadership maintains monopoly control over the governmental system, which includes the police, military, communications, and economic and education systems. It was not secret and was much feared. Terror atomised the nation, people thought the Gestapo was everywhere but in fact there were a very small number. The Gestapo controlled concentration camps. The Nazi government achieved their power through fear from the terror of the SS and Gestapo, and the feared Police State is a characteristic of totalitarian States.
A fascist government is no necessarily totalitarian where Totalitarianism is “A political system in which a single political party seeks, on the basis of a comprehensive legitimating
Italy, Germany, and Russia are the results of the development of these thought processes that they have all shared, and as a result of each case totalitarianism came
When looking at negative governments, totalitarianism is commonly thought of. Totalitarianism is the concept where the state has total authority over a society and holds control of all aspects of life. This type of governments is introduced to us through Hannah Arendt’s work. Arendt was born and educated in Germany.
The Origins of Totalitarianism is broken down in to three sections; anti-Semitism, imperialism, and totalitarianism. The first part of The Origins of Totalitarianism is about the historical origin of anti-Semitism. Hannah Arendt explores the rise of anti-Semitism in the birth of the nation-state, the emancipation of the Jews, the rise of the Jewish bankers, the roles of Jews within society, and the Dreyfus Affair. It happened in France at the end of the year 1894.
Totalitarianism is a political system in which the state centralises and dictates over the society and seeks to control all aspects of the public. Totalitarianism in Germany officially begun after Adolf Hitler, was elected as Chancellor of Germany on 30th January, 1933. During the 1930s, Germany suffered economic depression, widespread unemployment and political strife verged to civil war which lead to the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazi Party. After 1933, Hitler introduced four major methods that would transform Germany into a totalitarian state. The four major methods are Police terror, Indoctrination, Propaganda/Censorship and Religious ethnic persecution.
'It is evident that all areas of life within totalitarian society are immediately and directly affected, indeed controlled, by government and the particular political ideology' (J. Ben Stalvey, 1955). Totalitarians rulers have an ideology, vision on the basis of which they argue all their actions and the direction in which their policy aims. Extra, violent measures are justified because the party strives to change the entire world order, create an ideal society. This utopian vision is in totalitarian regimes officially proclaimed ideology and it can only be achieved when it starts with a revolution. Matching example is the Marxist ideology, which was used by leaders of totalitarian country-