Totalitarianism

=__**Totalitarianism**__ =

__**What is Totalitarianism?**__

Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a politicol system where, a state is under the power of a single political person, who recognizes no limits to its authority and regulates every aspect of public and private life. A main characteristic is authoritarianism (citizens have less significant share in state decision-making) and ideology ( to direct most if not all aspects of public and private life). There are many characteristics, which create a totalitarian government. There must be one leader only who has absolute power over his population. the dictator uses one ideology and secret police to ensure control. the use of terror to control a population is common and the respect for human rights is minimal. propoganda is cesored and education is alteredn tol fit the leaders needs. what gives a dictator, his totalitarian control is his ability to manage the modern life of his people. Many european countries have endured a totalitarian leader. Germany was under the rule of Hitler for many years and Mussolini controlled Italy. Lenin and Stalin ruled the Soviet Union until their death.

__**Examples of Totalitarian Leaders:**__


 * Fidel Castro (1926 - 1981) was a Cuban politician, socialist revolutionary, and former political leader.
 * Adolf Hitler(1933-45) was the Nazi dictator of Germany
 * Benito Mussolini(1922-1943) was the prime minister of Italy
 * Joseph Stalin (1878 – 1953) was the Premier of the Soviet Union
 * Vladimir Lenin (1870 – 1924), was a soviet revolutionary
 * Hideki Tōjō (1884 – 1948) was general of the Imperial Japanese Army and the Prime Minister of Japan

__**A totalitarian government will normaly have the following characteristics:**__

1. One leader, with absolute power - a dictator 2. Only one ideology 3. Extreme use of the secret police 4. Use of terror to control the population 5. No respect for human rights 6. No dissent was allowed 7. Use of censorship 8. The perversion of education 9. The use of the purge to "cleanse" the party and population

Totalitarianism is not an ideology but is a method of political practice and the execution of power. It represents the techniques used by the ruling powers to enforce their ideology or beliefs. In this case, fascism and communism, while opposites as ideologies, can look very similar because they both practice totalitarian methods. Dictatorships were not created in the 20th century. What made 20th century dictatorships "totalitarian" was their ability to ultimately control all aspects of modern life.

__**The history behind totalitarianism:**__

The notion of "totalitarianism"; a "total" political power by state was formulated in 1923 by Giovanni Amendola who described Italian Fascism as a system fundamentally different from conventional dictatorships. The term was later assigned a positive meaning in the writings of Giovanni Gentile, Italy’s most prominent philosopher and leading theorist of fascism. He used the term “totalitario” to refer to the structure and goals of the new state. The new state was to provide the “total representation of the nation and total guidance of national goals.” He described totalitarianism as a society in which the ideology of the state had influence, if not power, over most of its citizens. According to Benito Mussolini, this system politicizes everything spiritual and human:

Everything within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.

As an example, he stated that "We must finish once and for all with the neutrality of chess. We must condemn once and for all the formula 'chess for the sake of chess', like the formula 'art for art's sake'. We must organize shockbrigades of chess-players, and begin immediate realization of a Five-Year Plan for chess." This quote is more often attributed to Nikolai Krylenkofrom Soviet Union. media type="youtube" key="ezao4SaB_94" height="349" width="425" emma whiten Ashley SImpson