Totalitarianism:

Wri.ng Prac.ce

Food for Thought

What is the dierence between explana.on
and analysis?

Prompt #1
In a well-constructed paragraph, compare and
contrast methods of control used by two of
the totalitarian dictators that we discussed in
class (Mussolini, Stalin, Franco, or Hitler).
Discuss three similari.es and one dierence
between the methods that they used to
control their na.ons popula.ons and
maintain their personal power. Be specic.

 Mussolini and Stalin are two totalitarian

dictators but have dierent views. Mussolini was
fascist, and Stalin was communist. Mussolini
used soccer to control his people, and Stalin used
collec.ves. However, they have similari.es as
well. Both of them were charisma.c leaders,
used propaganda, and wanted their country to
be the best. They also both used police terror
and censorship to keep their power.

 Both Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin quickly gained

control over their country in the 1900s. These
leaders rose to power through the use of terror.
They used secret police to maintain their posi.on as
ruler and killed o any threats that they saw in
purges. They also were able to gain support by
rallying people together through na.onalism. Many
people disliked the Treaty of Versailles, so Hitler
and Stalin used that to their advantage. Both of
these leaders promised to improve society and
make what they thought would be las.ng changes.
They also did some thing dierently. Hitler used
an.-Semi.sm to rise to power while Stalin
organized collec.ves.

 They both used propaganda to have people

follow them. The propaganda posters helped
them to gain power, because it captured
peoples aYen.on and told them what each of
them promised the people. The purpose of the
propaganda posters is to tell people what they
would improve to make the people follow.

Prompt #2
In a well-constructed paragraph, discuss
Stalins legacy in the Soviet Union. In your
response, describe one of his achievement
and two of his failures.

 Joseph Stalin was a leader who brought dras.c

change to to the Soviet Union, for good and bad. One
thing he did well was increase industrial produc.on. In
his Five Year Plan, he set quotas for produc.on in
factories, which made factories become more
ecient. He did bad things more than he did good,
and one of this failures was the Great Purge, in which
he killed millions of people who opposed him by
sending them to labor camps. He sent poli.cal
opposi.on to these labor camps, as well as priests.
Another failure of his was the famine they had. By
taking away food from the peasants on the collec.ves,
Stalin caused a shortage in food. This along with bad
weather condi.ons caused millions of people to die in
the famine.

Prompt #3
In a well-constructed paragraph, describe
three reasons why German ci.zens were
aYracted to Hitler and his message in the
early 1930s.

 German ci.zens legally chose Hitler to lead

them and there were mul.ple reasons why. One
being because he promised to give them a
stronger and beYer military. He also said he
would help them with their ina.on problem.
And, lastly, he promised to give them their land
back. But there were a lot of people who just
wanted a strong leader like Hitler.

 German ci.zens were aYracted to Hitler, because he

promised to get rid of the repara.ons, strengthen the
military, and he was an.-communist. Acer WWII, Germany
was blamed for star.ng it, and the Treaty of Versailles forced
Germany to pay for the whole cost of the war. This angered
ci.zens, because it caused severe ina.on. These repara.ons
allowed Hitlers promise to x the economy seem like he was
the only one who could. The Treaty of Versailles also required
Germany to weaken its military. Germany was famous for its
amazing military strength and losing the war and having to
give up military power angered people. Hitler claimed he
could make the military strong again and the people loved his
ideas for making Germany great again. Hitler was also an.-
communist. Acer having their military taken away and their
economy ruined, the last thing people wanted was for their
land and money to be taken away by the government. Hitler
allowed people to keep the class-based society, making the
vast majority of people vote for him.