World History - Kelemen – 2016
Unit 7: The Rise of Totalitarianism
How did Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler gain and maintain totalitarian power in Russia, Italy and Germany?
The terrible impacts of World War I caused anxiety and chaos across Europe during the 1920s.
Germany, punished and shamed by the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles, was in financial turmoil, made
worse by a global economic depression. Italy, angered that it had not gained territory at the end of WWI, also
experienced political instability and economic troubles. WWI had been the final spark for a long brewing
revolution and violent civil war in Russia, which was transforming into the communist USSR. The people in
these three countries, tired of social chaos and economic hardship, turned to dictators who eventually came to
control all aspects of society and exerted “totalitarian” power. Why democracy failed, how these dictators
(Stalin in the USSR, Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in Germany) acquired power and how they maintained their
near total rule will be the focus of this unit.
Homework #4: Read Pages 433-439 – Reading Quiz on Friday 2/5
Answer questions below in an original paragraph each. OR Take about one page of “Cornell Style” notes.
1. Describe a few factors that led to a revolution in Russia in 1917?
2. What factors allowed the Bolsheviks to seize power in the Russian Civil War?
3. How does Stalin become dictator of the Soviet Union?
Czarist Autocratic Rule, Siberia, Pogroms, Bolsheviks, Lenin, Russo-Japanese War, Bloody
Sunday, Duma, Rasputin, Provisional Government, Soviets, Russian Civil War, NEP, USSR
Homework #5: Read Pages 440-447 – Reading Quiz on Friday 2/12
Answer questions below in an original paragraph each. OR Take about one page of “Cornell Style” notes.
1. Explain how Stalin used the secret police and indoctrination to implement totalitarianism.
2. Explain how Stalin used propaganda and religious/ethnic persecution to implement totalitarianism.
3. What main economic changes did Stalin bring to the USSR and how did he force these changes?
Joseph Stalin, Leon Trotsky, Totalitarianism, Five Year Plans, Collective Farms, Secret Police,
Great Purge, Indoctrination, Socialist Realism, Censorship, Women & Education Under Stalin
Homework #6: Read Pages 476-480 – Reading Quiz on Friday 2/26
Answer questions below in an original paragraph each. OR Take about one page of “Cornell Style” notes.
1. How did the rule of Benito Mussolini in Italy demonstrate the ideology of fascism?
2. How did the rise of the Nazi party incorporate some ideas of fascism?
3. After Adolph Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, what fascist policies did he adopt?
Fascism, Benito Mussolini, Brown Shirts, Adolf Hitler, Nazi Party, Mein Kampf, Lebensraum,
Gestapo, Hitler Youth, burning of Reichstag, Kristallnacht
Assessments
Notebook Packet: Includes Homework & In Class Assignments -- Due Tuesday 3/1
Project: Totalitarianism Socratic Seminar – Monday 2/29
Reading Quizzes: 3 Multiple Choice Quizzes on Days Homework is due
In Class Writes (No Notes): THREE Short Answer Written Responses – Tuesday 3/1