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Explore the rise of totalitarian states and authoritarian regimes in the early 20th century, including the Fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin, and the authoritarian regimes in Eastern Europe. Understand the characteristics and impact of these governments on political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of society.
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The totalitarian states were led by a single leader and a single party. They rejected the ideal of limited government power and the guarantee of individual freedoms. In a totalitarian state, the government aims to control the political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural lives of its citizens.
Benito Mussolini used his position as prime minister of Italy to create a Fascist dictatorship.
Simple slogans like "Mussolini Is Always Right" were used to mold Italians into a single-minded Fascist community. Fascism: a political philosophy that glorifies the state above the individual by emphasizing the need for a strong central government led by a dictatorial ruler.
When Lenin died, a power struggle ensued. Leon Trotsky wanted to launch Russia on a path of rapid industrialization and wanted to spread communism abroad. In 1922, Vladmir Lenin and the Communists formally created a new state called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Real worker wages decreased and people lived in miserable conditions, as investments in housing declined. Stalin instituted the collectivization of agriculture. Josef Stalin set up Five-Year-Plans to transform Russia virtually overnight from an agricultural into an industrial country.
Collectivization: a system in which private farms are eliminated and peasants work land owned by the government.
During the time known as the Great Purge, Stalin arrested and sent 8 million people to labor camps; they never returned. To achieve his goals, Stalin strengthened his control over the party. Those who resisted were sent into forced labor camps in Siberia.
Authoritarian regimes soon replaced parliamentary systems in Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. These states were mostly rural and agrarian. Large landowners still dominated most of the land, and they (and the churches) opposed reform.
Franco’s forces won, and he ruled until his death in 1975. In Spain, General Francisco Franco and his military forces revolted against the democratic government in 1936. A brutal and bloody civil war began.
