1. TOTALITARIAN GOVERNMENTS 4º
HISTORY
1
by Laura Thrower, UTD.
World War II was the most devastating war ever fought. It was a total war, fought in
nearly all regions of the world, with more than 60 million total military and civilian
casualties. The causes of this war had roots that began with political and economic
events that led to the rise of totalitarian governments.
INTRODUCTION
Essential Question: What is totalitarinism?
Totalitarianism is a type of political system in which the citizen is subjected to
absolute state authority in all aspects of day to day life. In this project you will be
studying three types of totalitarian regimes (a government in power) that arose as a
result of World War I, and ultimately led to the events of World War II. You will learn
about Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party in Germany, Benito Mussolini and the rise of
his Fascist party in Italy, and the Communist party in Russia as ruled by Joseph
Stalin.
You will see what political, economic, and social conditions led each of these countries
to be ruled by these dictators, and how the policies of each led to World War II.
Ultimately, you will gain and understanding of what a totalitarian government is, and the
characteristics that shaped day to day life under these rulers.
I. TASK
In this project assignment it will be your job to fully research your assigned totalitarian
governments and its characteristics, the leader of the political party, and the reason the
regime was able to rise to power following World War I. Group members will share
their information and notes with each other once they have completed their
research. As a team, you will then write a newspaper as if it was written during
the time period of 1939 and you are writing TO citizens of the country about daily
life. For example, if you are researching Stalin, your article will be written IN Russia to
the citizens living under Communism. Each team member will write ONE article for the
paper. You will need to have AT LEAST four articles related to the following topics:
Leader's political party description that is the totalitarian regime of that country
Day to day social aspects for citizens living under this government
Prior economy of the country and how this allowed the totalitarian regime to
come to power
Political environment during this time period (1939)
You will be turning in your research notes from the websites, and also a page that
will answer the Essential Question "what is totalitarianism?" using information you have
learned. Each student must turn in their own answer to the EQ.
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HISTORY
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II.PROCESS
Step 1: The teacher will assign you into groups of four team members. Each group
will be assigned a totalitarian regime to research. Each group member will become an
"expert" on one aspect of the totalitarian government. The areas of experts will be:
Leader's political party description that is the totalitarian regime of that country
Day to day social aspects for citizens living under this government
Prior economy of the country and how this allowed the totalitarian regime to
flourish
Political environment during this time period
Step 2: Your group will explore the resources provided below for your country and
take notes on all of the information that you find. As you research your totalitarian
government, make sure to take thorough notes. You will need to turn in your written
notes as part of the project. Try to use at least two sources for each section. This will
enable you to have a more complete view of your country, its leader and the day to day
life under this form of rule.
Step 3: Once everyone has had a chance to completely research their respective
political party, they will verbally share their "expertise" on their country with the other
members of the group. You will each write the answer to the EQ, "What is
totalitarianism?" as part of the notes you will turn in with this assignment.
Step 4: You will then write the newspaper articles for your totalitarian regime and
country for the area you studied as if you were writing it in the year 1939 to citizens of
the country living under this totalitarian system. Each team member will write one
article, according to the area of expertise he or she studied. You will type this article on
the computer, print it, and then arrange all your groups' articles with any corresponding
photos you would like to use on the poster board provided to you. Your newspaper
should completely tell a story of your country, its leader, and the totalitarian
government ruling it.
Step 5: The day after the newspapers are finished, your group will present to the
class. Each team member will explain what they learned about life under their
totalitarian regime in the aspect for which they researched.
III. RESOURCES
Use the websites below to research your totalitarian regime, its ruler and aspects of
day to day life. Make sure to view all parts of the website, taking good notes on what
life as a citizen would have been like during this time. Use the questions below to
guide your research. Remember, you are writing the article as if you are writing it for
citizens of the totalitarian regime you have studied and you are living in the country for
which your party's philosophy rules.
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a) Biography and Political Party: You will need to have one article telling about the
leader of the political party of the totalitarian regimes and what the ideas of his party
are all about. Some of the information you should look for includes:
What is the leader's background?
What are the stated ideals of the political party?
How did he gain support for his ideas and rise to power?
Nazism: Hitler. The-rise-of-the-nazi-party
Fascism: Benito Mussolini. , What is Fascism?
Communism: Joseph Stalin. Communism.htm
b) Social Aspects: You will learn about the culture and different ways of life under
your totalitarian regime. A totalitarian government used many tactics to control
all aspects of a citizen's life. You should research what life was like for the
average citizen and try to find answers for some of these questions:
What were some of the things this dictator's party do to control day to day life?
What was life like for women/children/minorities in the country?
What were ways the government dealt with dissent?
Germany: Life and Times Under the Nazi party :
johndclare.net/Nazi_Germany3.htm, Women and Children Under Hitler
Italy: Life and Times under Fascism, Women and Youth Under Mussolini,
Russia: Life under Communism:
johndclare.net/Russ14.;
Women's Life Under Stalin
c) Economy: You are interested in discovering how the economies of each
country were fairing before the war. The economy of each country is important
because it influences both the feelings of ordinary citizens and the actions taken
by the government. For example, during a period of economic stability or
economic growth, citizens are more likely to be content with their government
and the world. Therefore, they are not likely to agitate for or support a war.
What was the unemployment rate prior to this totalitarian government taking
power?
What promises or actions did the leader offer to the citizens to improve life for
the citizens?
How did the economy improve under this leader?
4. TOTALITARIAN GOVERNMENTS 4º
HISTORY
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Germany: German Economy(1933-39), Pre-War and Post-War Economy
Italy: Economy in Fascist Italy, Reasons for Rise in Fascism:
http://www.flowofhistory.com/units/etc/20/FC133
Russia: Stalin's Five Year Plan:
johndclare.net/Russ11.; Collectivization of Agriculture:
johndclare.net/Russ10.
d) Political Environment: Your job is to find out how this government operates.
Some of the information you should look for includes:
Who has the right to vote?
Who controls the press?
Do the citizens have a right to voice their opinion to the government?
What role does the military have in the government?
Nazism: National Socialist Party :
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/nazi-party ; Weimar Republic /
Italy and Germany
Fascism: Mussolini's Road to Dictatorship, Italy's Foreign Policy, Italy and
Germany
Communism: Stalin's Purges: spartacus-educational.com/RUSpurge.htm
Stalin's Use of Terror
CONCLUSION
You have now explored the different totalitarian governments that rose to power in the
years following World War I and led to World War II. You should also understand what
factors allow totalitarian governments to gain power and what life was like living as an
average citizen in these countries, including how all aspects of your life would have
been controlled by the ruling political system.
Totalitarianism is a system of government in which all social, political, economic,
intellectual, and cultural activities, are controlled by the rulers and ruling ideology of a
state. Several important features distinguish totalitarianism, a form of rule new to the
20th century, from such older forms of absolute governments. In modern
totalitarianism, however, people are made utterly dependent on the wishes of a political
party and its leaders. The modern totalitarian state is ruled by a political party, which
embodies ideas claiming universal authority and allowing no rival claim of loyalty.
5. TOTALITARIAN GOVERNMENTS 4º
HISTORY
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CREDITS
Most of the information in the Resource page came from the following websites. I have
found these web sites to be very valuable research sites.
http://spartacus-educational.com/
History Learning Site
History on the Net
http://www.flowofhistory.com/units/etc/
Permissions
We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is granted for others to use
and modify this project for educational, non-commercial purposes as long as the
original authorship is credited.
