Life in a Totalitarian State Stalin Totalitarian State

Life in a Totalitarian State Stalin • Totalitarian State a one party dictatorship that regulated every aspect of the lives of the people. • To ensure obedience, Stalin used secret police, censorship, and terror • Critics were sent to brutal labor camps (many died)

• Propaganda bombarded the public with propaganda that praised the successes of communism and told of evils of capitalism Stalin in the Kremlin cares about each one of us Take a look: the entire Soviet nation is singing and dancing Comrade Lenin cleanses the earth of scum

Under the leadership of the great Stalin --forward to communism! Study the great path of the party of Lenin-Stalin

An Equal Society? ? ? • Communists promised equality but instead created a society where a few elite groups became the new ruling class • The New Elite the head of society were the members of the Communist Party (only a small amount of Soviet citizens could join), industrial managers, military leaders, scientists they got the best of everything

Social Benefits *Free medical care *Day care for children *Inexpensive housing *Women became equal under the law and were allowed into many jobs *Public transportation and recreation *Free Education for all (men and women) – Schools served an important goal educated workers were needed to build a modern industrial state. They also taught Communist values (atheism, collective farming, and love of Stalin)

Drawbacks • Standard of living remained low • Housing was scarce so people crowded into small apartments in cities • Bread was plentiful, but meat, fish, fruit, etc. were scarce VERY LITTLE OF: LOTS OF:

Censorship • Gov’t controlled what books were published, what music was played, and which works of art were displayed • Writers, artists, and composers faced persecution some were exiled or tortured

The Great Purge • Stalin was an insecure obsessive man who worried constantly that others would try to steal his power. • Stalin used his secret police to arrest thousands for plotting against him. • “Show trials” – people were forced to confess to all kinds of crimes • 4 million people were “purged”, of those at least 800, 000 were executed.

• Features of a Totalitarian State: – Single party dictatorship – State control of economy – Police spies and state terrorism – Strict censorship and gov’t control of media – Use of schools and media to indoctrinate and mobilize citizens – Unquestioning obedience to single ruler

Summary • Strict censorship, massive propaganda, and terror were used by Stalin to ensure personal power and to push the Soviet Union toward modernization. • By Stalin’s death in 1953, the Soviet Union was a world leader in heavy industry, steel, and oil production • Along with the U. S. it was one of the world’s two military superpowers

Totalitarianism in Our World North Korea

Choose 1 of the following • Make a propaganda poster for this time period or our time period. You should have a visual and brief description of your goals of the propaganda (p. 880 -881) – What are you trying to accomplish? What in your picture promotes that goal(s)? • Write a 5 -7 sentence letter to Stalin telling him how you like or dislike the new totalitarian way of life. (p. 874 -879) – What is your job? Is life easy for you? How is your life different now?