Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

TOTALITARIANISM - CASE
STUDY: STALINIST RUSSIA
Unit topic: Totalitarianism
10th Grade World History
By Mr. Josef Lefranc

In the 20th century, a new form of government emerged: Totalitarian systems. The two most well-known are Nazi
Germany and the Soviet Union. Today we will discuss totalitarianism in the form of Stalinist Russia.

Mr. Josef Lefranc 1

Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

California Content Standards:

10.7.3 – Analyze the rise, aggression, and human
costs of totalitarian regimes (Fascist and Communist)
in Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union, noting
especially their common and dissimilar traits.
Content objectives:
Students will be able to explain how Josef Stalin
used terror, indoctrination and propaganda, among
other means, to establish a totalitarian regime.
Literacy objectives:
Students will be able to identify text structure to
construct meaning from the text. Students will
understand how engaging with parts of the text
contributes to understanding the whole text.
Image from YouTube

This presentation conforms to California Social Science Content and Literacy Standards. We will examine the means by
which Stalin built and maintained a totalitarian regime. We will also learn to identify how parts of text structure
contribute to the bigger meaning of a text.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

EDUCATIONAL HOOK

What would you do if the government forced

you to work on a factory or a farm? What would
you do if the farm you lived on didn’t produce
crops, but the government forced you to stay
on the farm?

Use your guided notes to help you reflect on this question. Take 1 to 2 minutes to write down you answer in your guided
notes.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

A GOVERNMENT OF TOTAL
CONTROL
Totalitarianism – A system of government that
permeates every aspect of social, political, and
economic life. Usually stays in power through
intimidation and by forcing compliance from the
populace.
Police Terror
Indoctrination
Propaganda and Censorship
Image from Google Sites
Religious or Ethnic Persecution

Pay attention to the areas of society that a totalitarian government controls. Notice how it controls institutions that in
democracies are considered independent of government control. Use your guided notes to write down the names of the
institutions controlled by the state in a totalitarian government.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

Ideology

State
Dynamic
Leader
Control of
Individuals

Totalitarianism
Dictatorship
Methods of
and One- Enforcement
Party Rule

State
Modern
Control of
Technology
Society

KEY TRAITS OF TOTALITARIANISM

Pay attention to the key traits of totalitarianism. Write down these key traits in your guided notes. Use your textbook to
help you expand on each of these traits.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

REFLECT FOR A MOMENT

What are the 7 Key Traits of Totalitarianism? Hold this
thought during the lesson to uncover how these traits
come together to form a totalitarian government.

Take a moment to think about the nature of totalitarian government, it’s control over institutions, and its key traits. Use
this opportunity to process your notes (highlight, annotate, ask questions, or expand on your thinking).

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

STALIN BUILDS A TOTALITARIAN

STATE
• Police State
• Great Purge – A concerted effort to imprison or
execute anyone who threatened Stalin’s power.
Historians believe 8 to 13 million persons lost their
lives as a result
• Russian Propaganda and Censorship
• Education and Indoctrination
• Religious Persecution

Image from vakilno.com

With the basic definition of totalitarianism in the front of your mind, pay attention to specific ways in which Stalin built a
government system designed to control society and its inhabitants. Also, note the definition of Great Purge and write this
down in your notes.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

POLICE STATE

• One of the foundations of a

totalitarian government is reliance
on a police state to control the
population
• Stalin’s police state spied on
telephone lines, opened the mail,
and set up informants to spy on the
citizenry
• This form of control instilled fear in the
hearts of those who lived under
police state surveillance

Note the characteristics of the Police State and write this down in your guided notes. Pay attention to how the
government invaded the privacy of its citizens in the name of national security.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA
AND CENSORSHIP

• Stalin’s government had command over

the media. They had power over
newspapers, the movies, and radio,
among other sources of information.
• Even the arts were infiltrated and turned
in tools of propaganda by the state. The
official Communist Party newspaper,
Pravda,” once remarked that
“Literature, the cinema, the arts are
levers in the hands of the proletariat
which must be used to show the masses
positive models of initiative and heroic
labor.”

Take notes on how Russian propaganda and censorship were used to control the minds of the population and convince
them to go along with the ideology of the state. Notice the extent of the control of the Communist party, as manifested
in its manipulation of art to serve the Party.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

EDUCATION AND
INDOCTRINATION

• The state controlled the education

system, from nurseries to universities
• Children were taught about the
advantages of the Communist Party
• Professors and students who asked
questions or criticized the Party’s
historical and scientific teachings
risked getting terminated or time in
prison

Take notes on how the education system was used to indoctrinate professors and children for the benefit of the
Communist Party. Pay attention to the consequences of questioning or criticizing official Party doctrine.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

• The state intended to substitute traditional

religion with Communist ideology
• “Museums of atheism” emerged to show
exhibits that attempted to demonstrate
that religious beliefs were myths
• The Russian Orthodox Church was primarily
targeted by the Communist Party
• The state dismantled churches imprisoned
or killed religious leaders

Notice how the state sought to supplant traditional religion with Communist beliefs. The Communist Party sought to
discredit religious beliefs as mere myths. Also note that the persecution of religious authorities was especially harsh.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

STALIN SEIZES CONTROL OF THE

ECONOMY
• Command economy – An economic system in
which the central government runs the economy
• An Industrial Revolution
• Five-Year Plans – Set of Stalin’s economic plans to
industrialize the Soviet economic system
• An Agricultural Revolution

Image from Wikimedia Commons

In your guided notes, write down the definition of Command Economy, and Five-Year Plans. Next, pay attention to the
significance of Stalin’s control of the economy in terms of industry and agriculture.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

AN INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

• The Soviet Union was behind the industrial

development of the United States and Europe,
therefore, Stalin launched the Five-Year plans
to try to catch up with the others
• Part of the plans was to increase the output of
steel, coal, and electricity at rates impossible
to achieve
• To try to achieve these targets, the
government siphoned resources for consumer
goods towards industrial production
• This resulted in shortages of shelter, things to
eat, and clothing, among other necessities

Note the rationale and impact of Stalin’s industrial revolution on the economy. What were Stalin’s goals? Where these
goals reasonable? What were the results in terms of consumer outcomes?

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

AN AGRICULTURAL
REVOLUTION

• In 1928, the state started taking over

more than 25 million private farms in the
USSR
• These farms were merged to create
collective farms that would produce
food for the state
• Peasants did give up their farms easily,
and they protested by eliminating their
crops and livestock
• Eventually, the Soviet government
placed these peasants in collective
farms by armed force

Note the rationale and impact of Stalin’s agricultural revolution on the economy. What were Stalin’s goals? Where these
goals reasonable? What were the results in terms of farmers’ reactions? Why did the farmers react this way? Make sure
you keep track of this in your guided notes.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

DAILY LIFE UNDER STALIN

• Stalin’s rule radically transformed the lives of the
Soviets. While Soviet citizens receive more
education and access to technical skills, the
Soviets’ personal freedom deteriorated, they
faced shortages of goods, and criticism of the
government was forbidden.
• Women Gain Rights – Under the Five-Year Plans,
the economy grew so much that women had to
participate in the work force.

Image from Pinterest

Proponents of Stalin’s plans point out that the Soviet citizens gained access to education and technical skills.
Furthermore, they also point that women gained rights and that they became a part of the work force. However, given
the extent with which the state controlled social institutions and the harshness with which it punished dissenters, was
access to education and technical skills for workers in general, and access to jobs for women in particular, worth living in
a totalitarian state? Write your answers in your guided notes.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

TOTAL CONTROL ACHIEVED

• By the middle of the 1930s, the Soviet Union was
turned into a totalitarian state, with expansion of
its industrial and political power
• However, the Soviets paid a high price for this
transformation, because they had to go along
with Stalin’s social control, or be punished with
imprisonment or death.

Image from History.com

Stalin succeeded in becoming the supreme leader of the Soviet Union and in transforming his country to increase its
industrial and political power. However, this transformation came at great cost to the Soviet people. Use your guided
notes to help you think about the ways in which the Stalin suppressed his citizens.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

HISTORY THROUGH ART -

PROPAGANDA
• Recall that totalitarian rulers depend on different
methods to control the population. One of those
methods includes widespread use of
propaganda
• During Stalin’s rule, the state depended on three
types of propaganda to distribute beliefs about
correct conduct and party ideology
• These included: Posters, paintings, and altered
photographs

Image from redbubble.com

Take a look at pages 446 and 447 and pay attention the poster, painting, and altered photographs that formed part of the
propaganda system of the Communist Party. How do posters and paintings portray Stalin and the workers. What is the
significance of the altered photographs on page 447? Write down your thoughts in your guided notes.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

REFLECT FOR A MOMENT

• How did the Communist Party under Stalin use
propaganda to shape person’s beliefs about
political ideology? How did propaganda bolster
support for the Party?
• Pay attention to the posters and painting on
page 446. How do the posters attempt to
convince the public of the legitimacy of the
State?
• How does the painting shown on page 446
portray Stalin?
• What is the motivation for Stalin’s altered
photographs on page 447?

Image from allexpress.com

This is a continuation of slide 17, in which we ponder the significance of propaganda in Stalin’s government.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER –

ESSENTIAL QUESTION 1
What are some ways totalitarian
rulers keep their power?

Consider the essential question in this slide as you prepare for the activity at the end of this lesson.

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Totalitarianism - Case Study: Stalinist Rusia

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER -

ACTIVITY

Think about the essential question:

“What are some ways totalitarian rulers
keep their power?”
Now take 5 minutes to process your
notes and do a quick-write to answer
this question with 2 to 3 examples of
how Stalin exerted control over the
Soviets

Not that you’ve thought about the essential question, take 5 minutes to look over your notes and complete a quick-write
to answer the essential question, and think of 2 to 3 ways in which Stalin, through the state and the ideology of the
Communist Party, controlled society. Also think of the response to his methods of control. Did the Soviets go along with
it? Did they resist? How did they acquiesce or resist?

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