Totalitarianism under Stalin

1. Define the term totalitarianism

when the government takes total control of your life, granting the people a sense of security.

2. While reading the excerpt, create a list of methods of control used by Soviet leaders and examples

Methods
Terror

Examples
The police would enforce the rule of the
government through any means.

indoctrination

The brainwashing of the people to believe that

their leader is an all powerful ruler.

propaganda and censorship

Government information that leads people to

believe that the government is perfect and that
there is no other opinions.

religious and ethnic persecution

these groups of people are blamed for problems

that happen in the nation, and are subject to
their own rules set by the government.

Of all the methods of control, which allows the MOST long-term control?

indoctrination because of the control it can cause over the people.

3. Stalins methods of control.

a. What was the Great Purge? How would Stalins use of this action increase his power?
Stalin had many of the people that opposed him killed because he feared they would overthrow
him and he use this to ensure his rule over everyone.

b. What was Pravda? How did Stalin explain the purpose of art in the USSR?
Pravda was an editorial in the communist party newspaper and Salin used it to enforce that art was to show
the great accomplishments of the heros of the land.
c. What is an atheism? How did Stalin use atheism to influence his control over his citizens?
Atheism is the belief that there is no god, and Stalin used this to spread that communism is the one true
this that is right in the world.
4. Stalins control over the economy.
a. What is a command economy? the government makes all decisions on what is done with the
economy.
b. Stalins Five Year Plans
1. Purpose To make the Soviet Union the most powerful country in the world. This was also
done to increased the production of the goods that The Soviet Union created
2. Results? The areas that were not included which were basic human needs, were left out
and shortages followed. The production of everything included did increase by quite a bit however.

c. What methods did Stalin use to bring agriculture under state control?
Stalin took all farm land from the people and forced almost everyone to tend them. He killed anyone that
did not comply.

d. Kulaks - Who were they? a group from Ukraine that strongly opposed the government
controlled farms and would do very much to stop it.

1. How did they create a problem for Stalin?

they would not comply with the farming, and would burn crops in order to protest the
government.
2. How did he solve the problem?
He seized the land and killed many of the Kulaks. Any left were killed because of a famine the
government had cause to control Kulaks.