Global Studies II

Unit II Russia

Name ______________________________
Date ____________

Totalitarianism under Stalin

1. Define the term totalitarianism
It describes a government that takes total, centralized, state control over every aspect of public and
private life.
2. While reading the excerpt, create a list of methods of control used by Soviet leaders and examples

Methods
Police Terror

Indoctrination

Examples
Dictators of totalitarian states would use
terror and violence to force obedience. Police
are expected to serve the central governments
policies.
This is instructions in the governments beliefs
to mold peoples minds. This controls education
and to enforce the idea of the government and
nation is good.

Propaganda and Censorship

Religious or Ethnic Persecution

Would use propaganda and biased information to

sway people to believe or think certain things.
Having control on the media created huge
problems. There were no publications, films, art
or even music.
Leaders create enemies of the state to blame
things on that go wrong. Usually these enemies
are members of religious or ethnic groups.
People were forced live in certain areas
subjected by rules that only apply to them.

Of all the methods of control, which allows the MOST long-term control?
3. Stalins methods of control.
a. What was the Great Purge? How would Stalins use of this action increase his power?
The Great Purge was launched in 1937 by members of the Communist Party. This was a campaign of terror
that would eliminate anyone who threatened his power. Stalin had gained total control since there was
little to no person who could even overthrow him has dictator.
b. What was Pravda? How did Stalin explain the purpose of art in the USSR?

Pravda was an editorial in the Communist Party newspaper. It would explain the purpose of art and labor in
Russia. This use of propaganda would sway peoples thoughts on certain ongoing topics in Russia at the time.

c. What is an atheism? How did Stalin use atheism to influence his control over his citizens?
Stalin ordered a group of atheists to spread propaganda attacking religion. They would go to the Russian
Orthodox Church and destroy them along with cops by their side. Religious leaders were killed or sent to
labor camps. Doing this, Stalin made people not want to be a part of any type of religion since they didnt
want to get killed or tortured.
4. Stalins control over the economy.
a. What is a command economy? A system in which the government made all economic decisions.
b. Stalins Five Year Plans
1. Purpose
Set high quotas, or numerical goals, to increase the output of steel, coal, oil and electricity. To reach these
things the government limited production of consumer goods.
2. Results?
People faced huge shortages of housing, food, clothing and other necessary objects to live a healthy
lifestyle. This was not fair to the citizens since they could not live the way they wanted to.

c. What methods did Stalin use to bring agriculture under state control?
He seized over 25 million privately owned farms. This was called collective farms. Hundreds of families
now were out of a job and had little to no income. Now, Russia controlled all the farming and agriculture
across the nation. This had many people without food for long periods of time.

d. Kulaks - Who were they?

They were peasants in Russia who were rich enough to own a farm and hire labor. They resisted Stalins
collective farming for as long as possible. If they were caught they would be arrested, exiled, or killed.

1. How did they create a problem for Stalin?

This created a problem for Stalin because they were secretly going against what he wanted.
These people would help hire poor unemployed people and then these people would have some sort of
income now. They would have their own land and provide their own foods for people who didnt have
any which is exactly what Stalin didnt want.

2. How did he solve the problem?

He solved the problem by hiring people to find and kill them. About 5 to 10 million Kulaks died as a
result of Stalins actions.