EssayClub.com - Free College Essays and Term Papers

Totalitarianism

Explain how Hitler’s Germany was typical of a twentieth century totalitarian state.

Hitler’s Germany was typical of a twentieth century totalitarian state for several reasons. A Totalitarian state is one in which the leader, in this case Adolph Hitler, has total control of the Government and the people. Also Germany then was a situation where one organisation had total control over a nation. Some characteristics that proved Hitler’s Germany was a totalitarian state were that the Government ran and censored the media. Which meant that, all forms of communication were liable to intervention from the government, and were, heavily censored. So there was no freedom of speech, which allowed the government to influence popular opinion by propaganda and false news messages. Propaganda with Nazi Party in Germany was very effective. They realized the importance of the Radio and newspapers as a way to communicate to the people and they knew that this would be very influential. Carefully planned radio broadcasts, rallies and films were used to convince the public that Hitler and the party had a lot of support from the masses. The news was made to show the success of Hitler and the Nazi Party through subliminal messaging (brainwashing). Therefore, everything was produced or influenced through the government, a typical sign of a totalitarian leader using his control. Also since you could not force everybody to listen to the radio, read newspapers, or watch films. Hitler had an alternative method to ensure control when necessary. There was a secret police, it's role was to find enemies of the state. These people would often be publicly humiliated or even tortured. These actions would make people think twice before questioning the state. Furthermore, Hitler’s Germany was a clear example of what a totalitarian state is. People did not question decisions, no matter how ridiculous they appeared to be. It was clear that going against the party, or even being thought as a potential...