Define Totalitarianism in the USSR under Premier Stalin in the 1920s-1950s. What economic, social, and cultural factors led to a totalitarian experiment, and with what positive and negative results?. World History
Totalitarianism is total, the centralized control of the government. USSR is under Stalin's control, which has its own police force and government system - everything is state controlled. The NKVD secret police seek out counter-revolutionaries, imprison them and put them in labour camps (gulags). People are “liquidated”: not only murdered but wiped from historical records. The Great Purges are the liquidation of government and military officials who contradict Stalin's totalitarian state. The economy is state-controlled as a command economy. Stalin establishes 5year plans with production targets. During and after WWI there were perfect conditions that lead up to totalitarianism, Russia was suffering financially having bit off more than they could chew fighting the germany army on many fronts. society was not happy at the loss of life the population was facing and those at home were left staraving. Revolts started in 1916 and this conflict lead to the Tsar resigning. The government was left needing a leader and made way for revolutionaries to take control.