Download The Rise of the Modern Totalitarian State

The Rise of the Modern
Totalitarian State
• Totalitarianism is a political
philosophy that emerged in
the 20th century.
Totalitarianism describes
governments in which one
political party monopolizes
all power and exercises
complete authority over the
people and their activities. It
involves total control of all
aspects of an individuals life
by the government, with
both civil and political rights
being curtailed
• Although various forms of
totalitarianism exist in parts
of the world today, its
earliest examples were in
three European nations
during the 20-year period
following World War I.
These nations were the
Soviet Union (under
communism) Italy (under
fascism) and Germany
(under Nazism). Totalitarian
societies look down on
individual human rights and
civil liberties.
“All within the state,
nothing outside the
state, nothing against
the state.”
Benito Mussolini
• The values of democracy are
not found in such societies.
Totalitarian states emphasize:
(1) glorification of the whole
community (that is the state);
(2) authoritarian rule by a
dictator or by selected
members of the one political
party allowed to exist; (3)
control of the individual
citizen’s life; (4) belief in the
idea that the individual
should benefit the state and
exists solely to serve the
state’s interests.
• In Western Europe,
these features of
totalitarianism were
most characteristic of
Germany under the
control of Adolf Hitler
known as the Third
Reich, arose after the
period of the Weimar
Republic.
Germany Under the Weimar Republic
1919-1933
• The Weimar Republic was the
name of the German
government that came to
power after WW1. It was
drawn up in the city of
Weimar. However, this
experiment with democracy in
Germany faced many
problems, including economic
chaos and street violence. It
was not successful for a
number of reasons.
1. In the early 1920s the
Weimar government
printed paper money
with little to back it,
resulting in severe
inflation. This
devastated the
Germany economy
and resulted in severe
unemployment and
street violence
2. When Germany was
unable to meet its
reparation payments in
1923, France sent
troops to occupy the
Ruhr Valley. Germany’s
chief industrial area.
3. There was terrible
unemployment in
Germany in the early
1920s and again in the
1930s.
4. The economy was
restored after 1923 and
conditions improved. In
1924, the United States
gained British and French
approval for a plan to
reduce German
reparation payments.
Under the Dawes Plan,
France withdrew its
forces from the Ruhr, and
American loans helped
Germany recover.
• German politicians like Adolf Hitler and
Alfred Hugenberg attacked the Dawes
Plan because it did not reduce the
reparations total. They also disliked the
idea that foreigners would have control
over the German economy.
• Nevertheless, Germany began to recover.
However, in 1929 a worldwide depression
that threatened the stability of democratic
governments everywhere brought much
suffering to Germany. Unemployment
rose to 6 million in 1932, and Germans
lost faith in their political leaders. This
further fueled the bad feelings that had
been caused by the Versailles Treaty. The
Germans began to turn to energetic
leaders, like Adolf Hitler, who promised to
solve the economic crisis and restore
Germany’s former glory
5. The government was
unstable because no
single party was able to
achieve a majority in the
Reichstag, the more
powerful of the two
legislative houses created
by the Weimar
constitution. As a result,
German political leaders
seemed helpless to deal
with the severe economic
problems.
• These problems led many
Germans to conclude that
democracy was ill suited
to their nation and that
autocracy was preferable,
especially since it had
brought Germany political
unification, economic
growth, and respect as an
international power. A
strong democratic
tradition did not exist in
German history.
The Role of Adolf Hitler
• Hitler was born in Austria
and served in the German
army during World War 1.
He joined the Nazi party
(National Socialist
Germany Workers Party).
He spoke out against the
Weimar government and
was arrested for his role
in the Munich Putsch of
1923, an unsuccessful
attempt to overthrow the
government.
• While in prison, he wrote the
book Mein Kampf (My Struggle)
that contained his ideas for a
stronger and more powerful
German nation. It also revealed
his racist beliefs concerning the
alleged superiority of Aryans as
a “master race” and the need to
eliminate all groups be
considered inferior, such as Jews,
Slavs, Gypsies, and blacks. Hitler
was a stirring and charismatic
speaker when addressing large
crowds, thereby attracting many
people to the Nazi party
Rise of the Nazis to Power
In addition to the problem of
the Weimar government and the
powerful role played by Hitler, a
number of other factors led to the
rise of the Nazis in Germany:
1. The Nazis offered simple
explanations for both the causes
of Germany’s economic
problems and its cures. These
problems, as described above,
affected millions of Germans.
The reparations demanded by
the Versailles Treaty were
condemned as unjust and
blamed for causing the economic
crisis.
2.
The Nazi’s appealed to peoples feeling
of patriotism. This in turn sparked
German nationalism.
The Nazi’s called for:
• A large increase in the armed forces.
This had been limited by the Treaty of
Versailles.
• The expansion of the German
fatherland. Once the German people
of Western Europe were under Nazi
leadership (notability a merger with
Austria which was not allowed under
the Treaty of Versailles) they then had
to gain control over all Europe, and
then acquire much-needed
lebensraum (living space) in the east.
This would include areas where
Germanic groups already lived
including territory in Czechoslovakia,
Poland, Russia, and the Ukraine. Hitler
considered this to be the German
birthright.
• The Nazi’s imposed control
over educational and cultural
institutions to teach Nazi
principles of racism, physical
fitness, and glory of the state
• They ignored the Versailles
Treaty and refusing to accept
the war-guilt clause.
Germany had been forced to
accept the entire guilt for
causing the First World War.
• Regaining land that Germany
had held in Europe and its
overseas colonies prior to
World War 1;
• The use of violence as a
legitimate means to achieve
domestic and international
goals;
• The importance of looking
back to and glorifying the
mythical German race (the
so called Volk) as the source
of all strength and power.
The Nazis also claimed
that Nordic Germans were
destine to rule the world and
to eliminate undesirable
peoples. They blamed the
Weimar government for
accepting the Treaty of
Versailles and said it had been
forced to do so by Jews,
communists, and others.
Finally, the Nazis claimed that
German forces had not been
defeated in WW1 but had
been stabbed in the back
3. Anti-Semitism. Prejudice towards
Jews had existed in Germany for
hundreds of years, resulting in
exile, loss of life and property, and
hatred. However, Hitler's
prejudice against the Jews was
fanatical; he used the Jews as
scapegoats and blamed them for
his own personal failures and also
for Germany’s problems. These
false notions became persuasive
parts of Nazi propaganda,
especially when they blended
with Hitler’s master race theories.
“If you tell a big enough lie
and tell it frequently
enough, it will be
believed.”
Adolf Hitler
Hitler claimed that
Aryans (Germans) were
the master race who
were naturally entitled
to control and rule
peoples of less “pure”
blood, such as Slavs and
Jews. (The Holocaust, in
which 6 million Jews
were systematically
murdered after Hitler
came to power, was the
tragic consequence of
these misguided
notions.)
4. Fear of communism and the
Soviet Russia. The Nazis
played upon these fears
with much success and
portrayed themselves as the
only ones capable of
protecting Germany from
foreign beliefs and potential
aggressors, like the
Communist Russians. In this
way, they were able to win
support of large segments
of the German population,
such as banker and
industrialists.
5. Use of private, illegal
armed groups. Many
of Hitler's followers
were organized into
private armies. One
such group was the
Storm Trooper (S.A.),
or Brown Shirts, who
used scare tactics and
violence to terrorize
Jews and opponents
of the Nazis.
6. Lack of meaningful
opposition. Few strong
voices inside Germany
spoke out against the
Nazis. Many Germans
came to gradually support
Hitler, while others were
apathetic. Others feared
speaking out against him,
and many who did were
intimidated.
Internationally, there was
little awareness of or
concern about the Nazi
movement.
• The formal takeover of Germany
by the Nazis took place in Jan.
1933 when the President of the
Weimar Republic, Paul Von
Hindenburg, appointed Hitler as
chancellor. By this time, the
Nazis had become the largest
political party in Germany, and
they formed the single largest
block in the Reichstag, the
German parliament. Yet they had
never won a clear majority in any
national election (in 1932 for
example, they won slightly less
than 40% of the seats in the
Reichstag).
• Within two months, Hitler
had laid the foundation for
Nazis’ complete control
over Germany. In March
23,1933 the Reichstag
passed the Enabling Act
that gave the government
the power to ignore the
constitution for four years
to deal with the country’s
problems. This gave
Hitler’s later actions a legal
basis.
• Hitler acted quickly to bring the
institutions under Nazi control.
The civil service was purged of
Jews and democratic elements.
Large prison camps or
Concentration Camps were set
up for people who opposed the
new regime. All Trade unions
and all political parties opposed
to the regime were eliminated.
• After Hindenburg's death in
1934, Hitler became the sole
ruler of Germany. That same day
Hitler had the German Army
swear allegiance to him.
• Although Hitler
promised to preserve
the Weimar
constitution, he carried
out policies that
destroyed the
democracy that existed
under the Weimar
Republic. The result was
a totalitarian
dictatorship that
eventually about World
War II and the
devastation of Germany
and most of Europe.
Italy
• Italy experience
totalitarian rule under a
fascist government
headed by Benito
Mussolini. The word
“fascist” comes from
the word “fasces,” an
axe-like weapon that
was a symbol of the
ancient Roman Empire.
• Mussolini wanted
Italians to feel a strong
sense of nationalism
and to remember the
glory of the Roman
Empire. Mussolini and
his Black Shirt followers
came to power for the
same reasons that led
to the rise of the Nazis
in Germany
1. Economic. The costs of
World War 1 Had been
staggering. After the
war, there was high
unemployment,
strikes, and severe
inflation.
2. Political. The weak and
divided government of King
Victor Emmanuel III was
unable to provide leadership
or to inspire confidence in its
ability to solve the postwar
crisis. Also, there was no
strong democratic tradition in
Italy. Moreover, the fear of
communism and a
communist-led revolution
was seized upon by
Mussolini, who promised to
defend Italy and thereby won
followers.
• Social. Italy was suffering
from low morale, and
was saddened by the
many deaths in World
War I. Mussolini
promised the Italian
people security, order,
and economic progress in
exchange for their
liberties and freedom.
Mussolini in Power
• As a result of his famous March on Rome in 1922
supposedly to save Italy from a communist
revolution, Mussolini came to power. Neither the
king nor the army opposed him. He soon
established a police state, destroying civil liberties
and demanding that people recognize him as Il
Duce, the leader. Mussolini reorganized the
economy of Italy, established fascist-controlled
associations in all industries, and Italy was run as
a corporate state.
The Rise of Stalin
• When Lenin died in 1924,
a struggle for power
developed between Leon
Trotsky, Lenin’s chosen
Successor and Joseph
Stalin, who was
Communist Party
Secretary. By 1925 Stalin
had gained control and
removed Trotsky from all
official positions.
• In 1929 Trotsky
was deported as
Stalin began to
remove all
possible
opposition and
rivals (Trotsky was
assassinated by
Stalin’s agents in
Mexico in 1940)
• Stalin’s rule proved to be
one of the most brutal
and ruthless
dictatorships in modern
history. From his
consolidation of
complete power in 1929
until his death in 1953,
he was responsible for
millions of deaths,
starting with the
elimination of all
possible rivals.
• Stalin created his own
secret police, which spied
on, arrested, tortured, and
executed party members,
government officials, artist,
writers, clergy workers, and
peasants he suspected of
not supporting his policies.
In time, his fear became
paranoia (fear and suspicion
of everyone, often without
cause), and even his close
friends and relatives were
suspected and some were
executed.
• From 1935 to 1936
Stalin conducted a
series of show trials
(hearings where the
verdicts were decided in
advance) known as
purges, in which
hundreds of leading
Communists were
arrested, forced to
confess to crimes they
had never committed,
and executed.
• A vivid example on Stalin’s show trials was his attacks
on the Red Army. In 1936, Tukhachevski, Chief of Staff
of the Russian army was executed for treason following
a trial which lasted only a single day. Six of the eight
generals forming the court-martial which condemned
him were themselves to follow suit soon after. By the
end of the purge, the Russian army had lost three of
the five remaining Marshals of the Soviet Union; all
eleven deputy Ministers of Defense; seventy five of the
eighty members of the Military Soviet; all the
commanders of the military districts; thirteen of the
fifteen army commanders; more than half the corps
commanders and approximately thirty per cent of the
officers below brigade level. These purges would really
hurt the Russian Army when the Germans invaded in
1939
• In 1929, dissatisfied with the
slow growth rate of Soviet
industry, Stalin abandoned
Lenin’s N.E.P. that had combined
features of both capitalism and
socialism in favor of centralized
economic planning. Goals for
agriculture and Industry (often
unrealistically high), as well as
the means for achieving them,
were laid out in a series of FiveYear Plans. These were designed
to make the U.S.S.R. catch up
with other industrialized nations
by emphasizing the industrial
development of Steel, iron, coal,
and oil.
• The population was
expected to sacrifice
and do without
consumer goods until
the Soviet Union could
reach the level of
industrial development
attained by capitalist
nations. Opposition to
these plans was quickly
and brutally put down.
In order to pay for the
importation of
technology needed to
institute the Five-Year
Plans, farms were
collectivized.
• To end the opposition of
peasants to collectivization,
Stalin began a series of
genocides (mass killings) from
1932 to 1937, claiming that
he was eliminating the Kulaks
(wealthy peasants who
supposedly exploited their
neighbors) In fact, few of the
14.5 million peasants who
died by execution, perished in
Siberian labor camps, or
starved in Stalin’s man-made
famine in the Ukraine (19321933) were kulaks.
• While outright opposition was
finally crushed by genocide, the
peasants did not fully cooperate
and collectivization program
failed to achieve its goal. When
World War II interrupted the
Third Five-Year Plan in 1941, only
the heavy industry had made any
progress. The loss of life and
human suffering that this modest
gain had cost was enormous. It is
no wonder that many Soviet
citizens, especially Ukrainians,
first saw he invading German
armies as liberators in 1941.
• In 1939 the Soviet Union
signed an nonaggression
pact with Nazi Germany.
Under this agreement the
Germans and soviets
would partition Poland.
Russia would take over
eastern Poland and the
Baltic states of Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania and
would not contest Hitler's
attempt to take over
western Poland. Also,
Russia and Germany
promised not to fight each
other