Totalitarianism

Totalitarian political system

• Controls every aspect of life, so that there is no private sphere or independent organizations.  The political system penetrates the whole society - dominating religion, family life, economy, education, everything. At the very top is the all-powerful leader.

Examples

No pure types but these regimes had totalitarian elements:

• Nazi Germany, 1933-1945

• Stalinist Soviet Union, 1925 to 1953

• China under Mao Zedong, 1949 to 1970

• Cambodia (Kampuchea) under Khmer Rouge, early 1970s

Logic of totalitarianism

• Creating a perfect society out of imperfect human beings requires a high level of coercive control of every facet of life.

• In contrast, authoritarian governments are

not interested in creating a utopia but maintaining control over existing society. Coercion only used against perceived enemies of the state.

Features of totalitarianism

1. the cult of the leader. Leader must be supreme and autonomous - Hero worship. The Leader is perceived as wise, paternal, charismatic. 

Features of totalitarianism

2. radical ideology: official, total, comprehensive. It exploits popular fears and prejudices. The ideology inspires and legitimates a revolutionary break from the past:– a.) provides a scapegoat for past wrongs– b). explains present sacrifices – c.) promises a future of peace & plenty

Features of totalitarianism

3. organization. A single political party serves the leader in promoting the ideology. The party initially might be powerful, but it becomes subservient to the leader. In time, no dissent permitted even among party elites.

Features of totalitarianism

4.  mass mobilization & indoctrination. Fanatic followers make any sacrifice. Regime mobilizes against internal enemies (opponents, scapegoats, counterrevolutionaries) and external enemies. Use aggressive warfare (that is, wars without justification, not in self-defense) to keep the people mobilized.

Features of totalitarianism

5.  use of secret police. All sovereign states monopolize armed services and police, but totalitarian states also use secret police and informers to monitor and control the citizenry.

Features of totalitarianism

6.  central control of all organizations, including schools, the arts, clubs, news media, labor unions, universities, churches, the economy. No separate organizations; no civil society.

Features of totalitarianism

7.  use of terror and violence: 

• To smooth the way to a takeover.  Creates an atmosphere of crisis and political instability. Dramatizes inability of old government to provide security.

• To maintain control afterward. Keeps the population too terrorized to dissent.

Terror & violence

• Totalitarian leaders may become so obsessed with total control that they eliminate not just enemies but loyal deputies who could become rivals. Some even imagine enemies where none exists & conduct bloody purges.

• Examples from Hitler, Lenin, Stalin and Mao Zedong.

Difference between violence & terror

Violence can be useful to dictators.

• 1. enhances leader’s status.

• 2. brings economic gain (confiscating property of victims).

• 3. punishes political opponents and thereby discourages future dissent.

• 4. destroys a group completely. May help solidify support among the other groups.

Difference between violence & terror

Terror useful in the short term. It is arbitrary and unpredictable.

Goal: to produce an extreme fear in populace to paralyze them into an utter lack of resistance.  Terror creates an emotional and psychological state. Where violence is a reaction to resistance, terror seeks to prevent resistance from ever forming. 

Difference between violence & terror

Terror serves two objectives: 

• 1. to maintain control over society (by eliminating any possible opposition before the fact), and

• 2. to transform the society to a new and radical goal (which people ordinarily would strongly resist).  Called state terror.

Example of state terror

• The Khmer Rouge, a radical Maoist group, sought to create a socialist utopia in Cambodia (Kampuchea) from 1975 to 1978. Policies left between 1 to 3 million dead, directly or indirectly.

• Regime relied on terror to remake society, including to eliminate family & clan loyalties. Even children used as spies – and sometimes killers - of their parents.

• See, for example, the film The Killing Fields

State terror over time

Once a reputation for terror is established, a regime does not need to continue the high level of actual terror. It can use rumors and lies to convince people that the government is both invincible and omniscient (all-knowing). The people will believe that resistance is futile. 

State terror over time

In addition, terror becomes less necessary as a revolutionary government becomes more legitimate. Regime then has other means of ensuring obedience, such as material incentives.

State terror over time

However, in the long term, terror is highly dysfunctional. 1. Harms productivity and creativity, damaging economy & technological innovation. 2. Destroys an individual's trust in government & other people, leading to break‑down of community and even family ties. 

Lenin Restores Order New Economic Policy• In March 1921, Lenin launches

New Economic Policy; has some capitalism

• NEP and peace restore economy shattered by war, revolution

• By 1928, Russia’s farms, factories are productive again

Political Reforms• Lenin creates self-governing

republics under national government

• In 1922, country renamed Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.)

Communist Party—new name taken by Bolsheviks from writings of Marx

Stalin Becomes Dictator

A New Leader• Trotsky and Stalin

compete to replace Lenin when he dies

Joseph Stalin—cold, hard Communist Party general secretary in 1922

- Stalin gains power from 1922 to 1927

• Lenin dies in 1924• Stalin gains complete

control in 1928; Trotsky forced into exile

Stalin was a TotalitarianList examples of each

Ideology

Dynamic Leader

Dictatorship of One-Party Rule

State Control of Society

Modern Technology

Methods of Enforcement

State controlof individuals

Totalitarianism

A Government of Total Control Totalitarianism, Centralized State Control• Totalitarianism—government that dominates

every aspect of life• Totalitarian leader often dynamic, persuasivePolice Terror• Government uses police to spy on, intimidate

people, use brutal force or even murder peopleIndoctrination• Government shapes people’s minds through

slanted education (use schools)Propaganda and Censorship• Government controls all mass media

(newspapers, radio)• crushes opposing views; censor info. from

becoming public; used arts to promote viewsReligious or Ethnic Persecution• Leaders of various religious, ethnic minorities

“enemies of the state” (Communists = atheists)• Churches were destroyed; church leaders were

sent into exile or killed

Stalin Builds a Totalitarian State Police State• Stalin’s kept tight control on the country• Created a secret police• police attack opponents with public force, secret actionsGreat Purge—terror campaign against Stalin’s perceived

enemies (real and imaginary)• Many were sent into exile or killed• By the end of 1938, Stalin in complete control; 8–13

million deadStalin Seizes Control of the Economy New Economic System• Command economy—government officials makes all

economic decisionsAn Industrial Revolution• Five-Year Plans—Stalin’s plans for modernizing the

economy (bottom right)• Result: large growth in industrial power; shortage of

consumer goods (clothing, housing, food)• This will secure a stronger national defense & opposition

to Stalin’s powerAn Agricultural Revolution• In 1928, government creates collective farms—large,

owned by state• Peasants (kulaks) resist this change; 5–10 million die in

crackdown• By 1938, agricultural production rising

Daily Life Under Stalin Positive Effects

Gains at Great Cost• People better educated, gain new

skills• Limited personal freedoms; few

consumer goods

Women Gain Rights• Communists say women are equal

to men• Women forced to join labor force;

state provides child care• Many women receive advanced

educations, become professionals• Women suffer from demands of

work, family

Total Control Achieved

Powerful Ruler• By mid-1930s, Stalin has transformed Soviet

Union- totalitarian regime; industrial, political power*Stalin controls all aspects of Soviet life:1) unopposed as dictator, Communist Party

leader2) rules by terror instead of constitutional

government3) demands conformity, obedience