Ernesto Aguirre

Bradley christison

Modern world history

04 February, 2022

Dictatorships Essay

During the first part of the 20th century, a new system of government, the

totalitarian dictators, came into being. The men who governed these governments were

called dictators. These countries shared basic Political, Social, and Economic

characteristics but each ruled in their own specific way. One man was Stalin's who was

the leader of Russia and had a left-wing style totalitarian government. Another man was

Hitler who was the leader of Germany. A third man was Mussolini who was the leader of

Italy. Both of these leaders had a right-wing style of totalitarian government. These

things occurred in World War One and there were roles that took place like the Cheka,

they were the secret police and would arrest citizens that would be against the

government. In this essay I will introduce the different types of totalitarian states and the

three leaders. The three leaders I will be explaining are Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini. The

two different types of totalitarian states are left wing and right wing styles. I will also be

explaining the characteristics Political, Social, and Economical.

First of all, these dictatorships shared some general political characteristics. All

three believed that there would be international change, the government was politically

corrupt, and the dictator both wanted power and land from others. “Rejecting the
democratic process in favor of violent action, “Black shirts” broke up socialist rallies,

smashed leftist presses, and attacked farmers’ cooperatives,” (Chapter 17, pg. 455)

Mussolini was basically putting himself in a situation where he was mainly caring about

the people that wanted him but anyone else that was against was basically in a mini

war. “Through intimidation and terror, Facist gangs ousted elected officials in northern

Italy,” (Chapter 17, pg. 455) Therefore facist gangs were running the show in Italy

because the people unfortunately lost hope. “Finally, Mussolini projected a sense of

power and confidence at a time of disorder and despair,” (Chapter 17, pg. 458) This

showed all the citizens that he was actually trying to help them in a good way and they

trusted Mussolini. “The government, split into feuding factions, seemed powerless to

end the crisis,” (Chapter 17, pg. 455) The italian legal system losse impartiality

throughout its own government. “As World War 1 drew to a close, Germany tottered on

the brink of chaos,” (Chapter 17, pg. 459) This was a political event that happened with

Germany, yet they still went into lots of chaos. “ To achieve his goals, Hitler organized

an efficient but brutal system of terror, repression, and a tolalitarian rule,” (Chapter 17,

pg. 461) Hitler basically made a rule where all of germany woud be surveillance in all

areas of life by the Nazi. “ His secret police, gestapo, rooted out opposition,” (Chapter

17, pg. 461) The gestapo was Hitler’s secret police and they would see what they would

say out in the city to get a good reference of what's really going on. “Germans of all

classes responded to hitlers hypnotic speeches and programs, which restore their

national pride,” (Chapter 17, pg. 463) Germans out of everybody liked how Hitler

thought and reacted to things so they offered national pride to Hitler to show that they

love him as a government. “Through this elite revolutionary party represented a small
percentage of socialists, lenin gave them the name Bolsheviks, meaning majority,”

(Chapter 15, pg. 402) Lenin called an elite group the Bolsheviks which were basically a

group of elite soldiers that helped build a revolutionary event. “They organized the

Cheka , a secret police force,” (Chapter 15, pg. 404) They were Lenin's secret police

which patrolled the city to know the city’s perspective in situations. “ They executed

ordinary citizens, even if they were only if they were only suspected of taking action

against the revolution,” (Chapter 15, pg. 404) Lenin brought to conclusion that if anyone

was against what he stood for than they would be killed to be left out of the way, less of

a problem to worry about. “To the hungry, war-weary Russian people, Lenin and the

Bolsheviks promised peace, love, and bread,” (chapter 15, pg. 402) Lenin promised

everybody “Peace, Love, and Bread” during the war and the citizens believed and

trusted them.

Next, these dictatorships shared some general social characteristics, All three

used the government to have full control over their own government, used the secret

police to find out what the citizens would really talk about and do, used education to tell

children their side of the war, and denied citizens from what's really happening,

Nonetheless, each dictatorship had their own specific methods for each of these

characteristics. “Headlines in the communist party newspaper, Pravda, or ‘Truth,’ linked

enemies at home to foreign agents seeking to restore power to the landowners and

capitalists,” (Chapter 15, pg. 411) The things russia tried to keep hidden weren’t hidden

at all because it was all explained in newspapers and newsreels. “The Comintern’s

propaganda against capitalism made western powers highly suspicious of the Soviet

Union,” (Chapter 15, pg. 410) This happened because western powers thought they
were gonna take control so they kept an eye on them. “ While these benefits were real,

the standard of living remained low,” (Chapter 15, pg.412) They had no choice but to

live in poor conditions. “ bread was plentiful, but meat, fresh fruit, and other foods were

in short supply,” ( Chapter 15, pg. 412) Russia was always short on food like fruit and

meat. “The former czar and czarina and their five children were shot to keep them from

becoming a rallying symbol for counterrevolutionary forces,” (Chapter 15, pg. 404) they

did this to keep everybody from going crazy because they were possibly a threat and

they didn't want to take chances. “ Men, women, and children were bombarded with

slogans glorifying the state and Mussolini,” (Chapter 17, pg. 456) Slogans like Obey!

Believe! Fight! Bombarded the city/ citizen. “Facist youth groups toughened children and

taught them to obey strict military discipline,” (Chapter 15, pg. 456) they did this to get

kids ready for the future early so if the war had an outbreak than some kids can get into

battle. “ Men were urged to be ruthless, selfless warriors for the glory of italy,” (Chapter

15, pg. 456) they did this to show that they really followed the leader and showed that

they’ll do it the right way. “Facist were the sworn enemies of socialists and communists,”

(Chapter 15, pg. 456) This is said that the government controlled every part of their own

revolutionary change but communists and socialists didn’t want to be part of his start of

a new chapter and decided to complain. One of the social characteristics were, “He

urged young Germans to destroy their so-called enemies without mercy.” (Chapter 17,

pg 462) Hitler made an army from children and urged young germans to destroy their

enemies with no-mercy. “The constitution set up a parliamentary system led by

chancellor, or prime minister,” (Chapter 15, pg. 459) this was to put citizens in their

place and keep them there to not disturb the governments plans on a bigger future so
that’s the main reason he made steady rules. “Nazis used education as a propaganda

tool,” (Chapter 17, pg. 462) The Nazis thought that history was showing a bad side of

their perspective so they decided to teach and learn their own side of history. “Like the

Facists in Italy and the communists in the Solviet Union, the Nazis indotrinated young

people with their ideology,” (Chapter 17, pg. 462) this basically means that it isn’t just

nazis supposedly changing history but teaching children ideology that shouldn’t be

taught this way as they say.

Finally, these dictatorships shared some general economic characteristics. In all

three, the government controlled the economy, directed the citizens to follow their

leaders' decision whether they should do what and what not, used democratic and

economical systems to fulfill economic change throughout the three nations.

Nevertheless, each dictatorship had their own ways of carrying out their economies. “To

encourage economic growth and end conflicts between owners and workers, Mussolini

brought the economy under state control,” (Chapter 17, pg. 456) This meant that there

was economic experience between the two jobs and workers but overall mussolini had it

under control. “Although production increased, this success came at the expense of

workers,” (Chapter 17, pg. 456) production increased in products in factories which

meant they needed more workers but it was mainly women that worked in factories.

“Facists found allies among business leaders, wealthy landowners, and the lower

middle class,” (Chapter 17, pg. 456-457) fascists really found allies with anyone that

had a bit of power or a word with the congress. “The transportation system broke down,

delivering only a trickle of needed materials to the front,” (Chapter 15, pg. 401)

Therefore Lenin needed to figure out a way to get all needed materials to the front.
“Outside the provisional government, revolutionary socialists plotted their own course,”

(Chapter 15, pg. 401) the socialists were plotting their own course from the

government's course of plans through a revolutionary contribution. “Duma politicians

then set up a provisional, or temporary, government,” (Chapter 15, pg. 401) this shows

that the government can't control with power it had before the Duma made another

temporary government. “Hitler also began a crash program to rearm Germany, in

violation of versailles treaty,” (Chapter 17, pg. 461) This was happening because hitler

was on demand for military supplements. “In 1923, When Germany fell behind in

reparations payments, France occupied the coal-rich Ruhr valley,” (Chapter 17, pg. 459)

this was an Economic event because war payments were behind and France was

occupied. “He suspended civil rights, destroyed the socialists and communists, and

disbanded other political parties,” (Chapter 17, pg. 461) This occurred while he was

becoming master within a year and for the wrong reason he killed lots of jews. On the

right-wing style governments of Mussolini and Hitler, however, the right wing was more

in the communists side and was into international changes and goals.

As this shows, there are many similarities and many differences between

totalitarian dictatorships. All three characteristics Political, Social, and Economical

changes have been explained in the essay. Some similarities are that they all want the

same thing which is power and control. One difference is that their constitutional states

work differently from each other. The right-wing has a different perspective than the

left-wing because the way they plan out an idea is completely different. Although there

are two within the right-wing style and one within the left-wing style. A couple casualties

that happened during the war was overproduction in some areas. A couple groups
during the war were the Facist party which was in Italy, The Black Shirts which were a

private army in Mussolini , and Gestapo which were Hitlers secret police. These groups

helped the government understand what's really happening in their city/ village that

they’re ruling. All these dictatorships and characteristics took place in World War One.

Over all those were reasons to explain the characteristics and what was really

happening.