The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in the 1930s as Totalitarian States
A totalitarian state usually refers to a country in which the central government has total control over almost all aspects of people's life. Main features include an infallible leader, one-party rule, elitism, strict party discipline, purges against enemies and political dissidents, planned economy, strong armaments, indoctrination, encouragement of nationalism, an official doctrine that everybody has to believe, and absolute obedience of individuals to the State, etc. In the 1930s, to a large extent, the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin and Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler could be deemed totalitarian states.
The rise of
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However, Hitler came to power constitutionally; his Nazis Party had got almost 50% of the Reichstag seats, and he was appointed Chancellor by President Hindenburg. Unlike Hitler, Stalin did not create his own regime. He became Lenin's successor in 1927 after the three-year power struggle with Trotsky.
Both Hitler and Stalin were dictators and infallible leaders of their countries. As for Hitler, absolute power was achieved by merging Presidency and Chancellorship and inheriting the position of Commander-in-Chief after Hindenburg's death in 1934. Hitler became the Führer and Reichskazler. The abolition of all other parties, the Reichstag and state parliaments, and finally the suspension of the Weimar Constitution helped vest all power in Hitler. Totalitarianism contains purges and reign of terror. On June 30, 1934, he launched the "Night of the Long Knives" to eliminate the populist wing of the SA whom the German army disgusted. At least 100 SA men like Rohm and leading Catholics were slaughtered. He then promised conscription and full-scale rearmament. The Reichswehr vowed him absolute obedience. Like Hitler, the first threat to Stalin came from within the party itself. Stalin consolidated his own dictatorial power by removing old Bolsheviks. About 8 million people were arrested, tried and sentenced to concentration camps or
In January 1933, Adolf Hitler capitalized on his appointment to Chancellor as a new government began forming around him. Conservative politicians responsible for placing him in power had envisioned a way to harness Hitler and the Nazi party (also known as the National Socialist German Workers’ Party) to establish an authoritarian government by replacing the republic. Hitler, recognizing the circumstances, masterfully established his own totalitarian regime and maintained complete control. In 1945, a dozen nations had worked together through more than a half decade of warring finally succeeded in removing Hitler from power only after they had committed heinous war crimes known as the Holocaust.
According to Fredrich’s “six point syndrome”, a totalitarian state must consist of an official ideology, a single mass party, terroristic police control, monopoly control of the media and arms and central control of the economy. During the Nazi Reich between 1933-1939, under Hitler as Fuhrer (supreme leader), the Nazi regime was able to successfully achieve aspects of totalitarianism by exerting tight control of the media and police; leading to control of certain aspects of German social, political, legal, economical and cultural life. However, there are significant features of the Nazi regime that simply fail to fit Friedrich's six, all encompassing concepts of totalitarianism.
It is to an certain extent that Nazi consolidation of power in 1933 was due to the use of terror and violence. However the terror and violence was very limited because the Nazi's weren’t in a strong enough position to exert terror and violence alone. Nazi propaganda against the communists made most Germans fearful of Communism therefore allowing Nazis to consolidate a bit more power through means of terror. On the other hand the Nazi party’s policy of legality and the threat of communism are to a large extent the underlining most important factor in explaining how the Nazis were able to destroy political opposition and become dominant and consolidate power in 1933. Legality was a policy where Hitler’s objective was to legally consolidate
It is to a certain extent that Nazi consolidation of power in 1933 was due to the use of terror and violence. However the terror and violence was very limited because the Nazi's weren’t in a strong enough position to exert terror and violence alone. Nazi propaganda against the communists made most Germans fearful of Communism therefore allowing Nazis to consolidate a bit more power through means of terror. On the other hand the Nazi party’s policy of legality and the threat of communism are to a large extent the underlining most important factor in explaining how the Nazis were able to destroy political
By analyzing the Third Reich, Soviet Union, and the United States from a Totalitarianism perspective, it becomes apparent that these three entities are more alike than they are different. Their similarity lies in the fact that each superpower established unity by tailoring an ethos, whether being of ideological or ethnic nature, that highlighted the superiority of one community over another. Through this, the Third Reich, Soviet Union, and United States were able to establish a legitimacy that allowed them to purse both national and imperial agendas on the world stage, whilst wiping out those who stood in their way. The difference, however, is the methods in which each superpower acted in order to pursue these goals. In sum, the Third
In the late 1930’s, totalitarian dictators in Europe and Asia were running rampant. Adolf Hitler took over Germany and proceeded to take over Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. In Italy, Benito Mussolini invaded Ethiopia. Emperor Hirohito and General Hideki Tojo of Japan invaded Korea, Manchuria, and the rest of China. In the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin used his Secret Police to kill anyone who opposed him and then helped Germany take over Poland. The League of Nations watched on, powerless to do anything as Europe began to fall. They tried to appease Germany by ignoring the capture of Austria, but Germany took advantage of it and took over other countries. The United States had not joined the League of Nations because they wanted to remain isolated. They had once again
Totalitarianism alsogrew during the 20th century. A totalitarian government is one in which a single party rules over the entire state and has complete control. The people in a totalitarian society have no say in anything. This was the type of society that Hitler controlled. Everyone under Hitler was controlled by his rules and power. When Hitler rose into power, the Germans were still recovering from the aftermath of World War 1. Hitler promised the people radical changes and an end to all their sufferings and before long they came to love him. As a cause for all their sufferings, Hitler blamed the Jews and thus the Holocaust began. Hitler made many promises and told the people whatever he knew they wanted to hear. Before long, the people were brainwashed by him and started to submit to whatever Hitler told them to do. Germany quickly became a totalitarian state. The people were made to think
Thomas Jefferson once said, “The purpose of government is to enable the people of a nation to live in safety and happiness. Government exists for the interests of the governed, not for the governors” (McAdam np). In a totalitarian system, however, this is often not the case. Because it requires complete subservience from its citizens and focus primarily on power, a totalitarian government does not, if fact, exist for the interests of the people. Mahmud II’s various policies reveal his totalitarian tendencies regarding issues both foreign and domestic.
In the 20th century, Hitler ruled over Germany with a strong, brutal fascist ideology. His manner of securing power was very much based on fear and manipulation. Compared to Stalin, who gained power through the torture of his own people for his gain, Hitler's ways were much worse, using scare tactics to make people follow him and playing mind games with other countries and their leaders. Also, what he believed about the enemies of his state was extremely based on his own feelings and ideas. In addition, the way he attempted to make his nation great and mighty was very intense and shocking to many.
The Totalitarian Aspects of Nazi Germany The government of Nazi Germany was a fascist, totalitarian state. They ruled in Germany ever since Hitler became chancellor in 1933, to 1945. Totalitarianism was a form of government in which the state involves itself in all facts of society, including the daily life of its citizens. It penetrates and controls all aspects of public and private life, through the state's use of propaganda, terror and technology.
A Totalitarian state is defined as a government that subordinates the individual to the state and strictly controls all aspects of life by coercive measures. A Totalitarian state aims to establish complete:
Nazi Genocide during World War II was the horrific and brutal crimes in European History. The use of poisonous gases, crematoriums, intense labor, and shootings was the revenge of Adolph Hitler to his political opponents that made Germany fall into the Great Depression. “Unfortunately, there is no good term to describe the creation of conditions in which the death of human beings is not just allowed but deliberately intended” (Pressler, 12). The leader of the Nazi party was an Austrian named Adolph Hitler. Hitler was like a God in the eyes of desperate German families that had endured hard times in Germany during the Great Depression. The political ideology of fascism ruled Germany with an iron fist throughout the 1930s to the mid1940s in terms
Adolf Hitler; he gained support by promoting, anti-Semitism and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and propaganda. He transformed the Weimar Republic into the Third Reich, a single-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and served as head of state as “Führer und Reichskanzler” from 1934 to 1945. Hitler promised to defy the treaty of Versailles and he also intended to rebuild the military. His intentions were to unite all Germans into a greater Germany, including the ethnic Germans who lived in Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia and
World War II, also known as: Second World War, a conflict that went on through the years 1935-1945. The Axis powers involved-Germany,Italy,and Japan. And the allies involved-France,Great Britain,United States,the Soviet Union,and China. After an uneasy 20-year hiatus, of the disputes left unsettled by World War I. The 40,000,000–50,000,000 deaths incurred in World War II make it the bloodiest conflict, as well as the largest war, in history.
Adolph Hitler became head of Germany’s National Socialists Party in July of 1921. By 1933 the once unknown Hitler was given dictatorial power. As his power grew the new dictator grew more restrictive and power hungry. Books were burned, Jewish-owned businesses were boycotted, the Nazi Party was made the only party, and concentration camps were opened, all in the first year of Hitler’s