Totalitarianism

League of the Militant Goddess

officially sponsered group of atheists

religious or ethnic persecution

scapegoat to blame for things that go wrong are often religious or ethnic groups, groups are easily identified and are subjects of terror and violence

police state

secret police of Stalin that used tanks/armored cars to stop riots, monitored telephone lines, read mail, planted informers everywhere, arrested/executed millions of "traitors"

command economy

system in which the gov makes all economic decision, Stalin set this up for Russia in 1928

Stalin's plan

wanted to transform the Soviet union into a totalitarian state, wanted to create the perfect Communist state in Russia

collective farms

when gov seized over 25 million privately owned farms in USSR and combined them into large, gov owned farms where hundreds of families worked, lots of resistance and fighting

state farms

where farming was most difficult, operated like factories, workers recieved wages instead of crops, much larger than collective farms

benefits of Stalin's rule

women's roles greatly expanded, people got better education and mastered new technical skills

Russian propaganda and censorship

Stalin's gov controlled all newspapers, motion pictures, radio, and other sources of info, everything was used to glorify Stalin,

totalitarianism leaders

appear to provide sense of security/direction for the future, often utilizes secret police to crush opposition/create fear, must be able to justify actions/build support for policies

propaganda and censorship

biased or incomplete info used to sway people to accept certain beliefs or actions, must include control of all mass media, going against info means treason and punishment

kulaks

class of wealthy peasents who strongly opposed the collective farms

religious persecution

communists wanted to replace religion with communism, Stalin, gov, and League of the Militant Goddess spread propaganda for atheism, Russian Orthodox Church was main target

Five-Year Plans

for dev of Soviet Union's economy, set impossibly high goals to increase output of steel, coal, oil, and electricity, caused limited production of consumer goods and shortages

education and indoctrination

gov controlled schools, children learned virtues of Communist Party, anyone who taught against Communist ideas was fired or arrested

totalitarianism

government that takes control, centralized, state control over every aspect of public and private life

indoctrination

instruction in the gov's beliefs, used to mold people's minds, control of education to glorify leader

costs of Stalin's rule

personal freedoms were limited, consumer goods were in short supply,

police terror

police serve to enforce gov policies, not protect the people, spy on citizens or intimidating them, use brutal force or murder

women's roles

rising status in society, helped economy prosper, joined labor force, many had same jobs as men, some had jobs in engineering and science

Great Purge

1937, campaign of terror against anyone who threatened Stalin's power including old Bolsheviks, people were killed or sent to labor camps, 8 million to 13 million deaths

Bolshevik Revolution of 1917

declared men and women equal

methods of totalitarianism leaders

terror, indoctrination, propaganda, censorship, religious or ethnic persecution