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Stalin’s Totalitarian Regime

Guided Notes
Ms. Verdin’s World History Class

Who will succeed Vladimir Lenin?

Stalin Trotsky
• •

• •

Who wins? ______________

Totalitarianism is when the government ___________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

By 1928, dictator Stalin wielded absolute power over ____________________

____________________

____________________

A _________________ _______________can build support for his policies and can justify his actions
through his words.
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Police Terror Indoctrination Propaganda & Religious or Ethnic

Censorship
• • • •

• • •
•

• • • •

•
• •

Draw a symbol for each of these “weapons”

ck
C he n t
Jot down your ideas here
poi Wha
t
and then discuss with a partner
ou
do y ?
in k
th
.

Of the weapons of totalitarianism,

which allows the most
long-term control?
Discuss with your neighbor

2 reasons anyone might tolerate totalitarianism:

Totalitarian leaders appear to ________________________________________

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and ____________________________________________________________

What was Stalin’s vision?

Outline : How Stalin Did It

Methods of control used in USSR: Come back later and fill this column with
examples:
1.

2.

3.

4.

1. Economic Control
Define command economy _____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Why did Stalin want to implement this? _________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Stalin’s command economy included:

• Setting ______ for rapid ________ growth
• Choosing _______ and setting their _________
• Telling workers where they could __________
• Agricultural revolution: collective farms
(to produce _______ for the ________)
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_________ Years Plan set impossibly high quotas to increase the output of:

1.______________ 2. __________________ 3. _________________ 4. _________________

Consequences / Results:
• Government limited production of _____________________ _____________
= shortages of food, housing, and clothing for many years
• No improvements in standard of living
• __________________ economic results! Substantial gains
(even though most Five-Year Plans’ targets fell short)

___________ output __________ production

increased by 250% increased by 150%

2. Cultural Control

Stalin’s government used means of __________ ___________________ to shape people’s thinking toward
absolute faith in the Communist Party:

• Control all newspapers, radio stations, and movie studios

=glorified Stalin and his Communism

• Censor many writers, painters, and composers,

• forced some to create propaganda: _____________________________

__________________________________________________________

Education
• Controlled all ____________, ____________, and ____________
• From nursery school to university!
• Indoctrination about: the ____________ of the Communist Party
• Citizens could NOT question it OR ELSE…

Religion
• Aim: to replace religion with the ideals of communism
• ____________ groups spread propaganda attacking religion
• Destroyed churches and synagogues; ____________ or ____________ religious leaders
• Still, many people in the Soviet Union still ____________ to their faiths.
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3. Political Control
• Stalin outlawed all other political parties
• Demanded obedience, which was enforced by the ___________ ______________
• Police terror: system to treat ordinary citizens like criminals
• Used _______________ and _______________ to stop protests / riots
• Tapped in telephone lines, read mail, & planted informers (tattle tellers) everywhere
• Jailing and _______________ political opponents
• The Great Purge (1937)
• Asserting the right to punish any person for “disobedience” =almost any act

4. Reign of Terror
• Under Stalin, Russians lost most ___________ ____________
• Millions died (estimated 8-13 million)
• The Terror Famine: Ukraine resisted rule by Stalin = the government confiscated __________
= 5 million people starved

Key Traits of Totalitarianism

Ideology State Control of Individuals Methods of Enforcement

Modern Technology State Control of Society Dictatorship & 1-Party Rule
Dynamic Leader