As you have
learned under the heading "five years plans" the people of the Soviet Union
worked hard to achieve the economic goals set forth by Stalin. The
people of the Soviet Union had much skill and energy. Stalin used
these attributes to make the Soviet Union a strong communist state.
Stalin set up a totalitarian state to achieve this communistic goal. A
Totalitarian state is where the government is a single-party dictatorship
that controls every aspect of the citizens lives. Individually, the
citizens are expected to obey the government without question. Ideas
against the Totalitarian state are quickly settled to avoid a rebellion.
This is because the state supports extreme nationalism. That means
that the state thinks its citizens should have pride in one's country, and
simply follow along with the government's decisions.
However, despite
what many people think, Totalitarian states differ from absolute monarchies.
As you already know an absolute monarchy is a ruler who has complete
authority over the government and the lives of the people. A
Totalitarian state and an absolute monarchy differ in one large way.
The totalitarian state has a greater power over the lives of their citizens.
Stalin
used new technology to persuade his people to support his causes.
Also, under Stalin the media was controlled. This includes newspapers,
the radio, and other means of communication. As you can see, this is a
distinct form of propaganda. Because Stalin controlled everything, he
used the above forms of propaganda to keep spirits up.
Written by Lauren Weaver
