Joseph Stalin and Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is state regulation of nearly every aspect of public and private behavior. Totalitarian regimes or movements maintain themselves in political power by means of secret police, propaganda disseminated through the state-controlled mass media, personality cults, regulation and restriction of free discussion and criticism, single-party states, the use of mass surveillance, and widespread use of terror tactics.propaganda disseminated through the state-controlled mass media, personality cults, regulation and restriction of free discussion and criticism, single-party states, the use of mass surveillance, and widespread use of terror tactics.

Stalin rid himself of all potential rivals in the party, by having many of them executed. To ensure his position and to push forward "socialism in one country," he put the Soviet Union on a course of crash collectivization and industrialization. An estimated 25 million farmers were forced onto state farms. Collectivization alone killed as many as 14.5 million people, and Soviet agricultural output was reduced by 25 percent, according to some estimates.

The "Five Year Plans" were a series of nation-wide centralized exercises in rapid economic development in the Soviet Union. The "Great Purge" campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin during the 1930s, which removed all of his remaining opposition from power.

Film Lesson: Doctor Zhivago

The film Dr. Zhivago depicted the Russian revolution as a horrible time to live in Russia. Some of the reasons that Russia wanted the independence were first because they wanted to get rid of Czar Nicholas II of Russia. The reason they wanted to get rid of him was because by the spring of 1917, Russia was on the verge of total collapse. The army had taken 15 million men from the farms, so food prices had soared. The severe winter dealt with railways, overburdened by emergency shipments of coal and supplies, which would be the final blow.

Causes of WWI

World War 1 had three different causes, Nationalism, Militarism, and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. Nationalism is an extreme loyalty to one`s nation and concern for it`s welfare. It was one of the causes of WWI because European nations were looking to regain their lost territories. Militarism is a nation`s policy to maintain strong army forces. This was also another cause to WWI because France, Russia, and Germany were competed to build powerful armies. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand was probably the first cause of WWI. Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the throne of archduke of Austria. He was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist. This led to the Austrian-Hungarian empire to declare war on Serbia. After that Serbia had it`s friends to help them out, but so did Austria-Hungary.