Totalitarianism

By 1939 only two European states stayed democratic were France and Great Britain. Many of the other states became dictatorial regimes, like The Soviet Union, Italy, and Germany. Fascism was one of the new types of totalitarian state. ( this is a type of government that aims to control the political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural lives of their citizens.

Benito Mussolini established the first European fascist movement. This happened when he went on his political reign in Italy. Fascism is a system where the state should be considered above the individual citizen by emphasizing the need for a strong central government led by a dictator.

Inflation grew in Italy, and the strikes began. Musslini forms the black shirts, they revolted against socialist, but they also used violence to break up the strikes. More and more began to join Mussolini's fascist movement. People's fear of a communist up rise helped gain popularity, but after he demanded for more land for Italians he gained almost full support. On 1922 Mussolini and his supporters threatened the king to step down or they seize power. So Victor Emmanual the thrid stepped down.

The methods Mussolini used to establish his totalitarian state were: Secret police, mass media, and organizations.

Lenin creates the NEP. It was a modified version of the old capitalist system. Everything but the heavy industry, banking, and mines was not handled by the government. He soon created the USSR. The famine ended due to good marketing and harvest. The NEP saved the USSR from a disastrous economy.

Lenin died in 1924. After this, the Politburo began to struggle. So it was split into two parties that follow a socialist system. One group was led by Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin opposed Trotsky's ideas. These two competed for the power that Lenin left behind as he passed. Finally Stalin won and used his position to create a communist system. He exiled Trotsky and then later had him assassinated.

Five year plans set economic goals for five year periods. The first step was to emphasize industrialization. Everyone had a job. collectivization was a system in which private farms were eliminated. The government owned all what used to be private land. The resistance against this was to get rid of crops and livestock.

The resistance to collectivization soon brought a famine, ten million peasants died due to the famine. Anyone who resisted Stalin was forced to labor camps in Siberia. The great purge also brought many costs during Stalin's reign.