Joseph Stalin and Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is when the government controls almost every aspect of public and private behavior. Stalin used Totalitarianism to rule the Soviet Union by killing anyone who were a enemy of the party. Stalin executed nearly half of the entire communist party including the very people who got him into power. Stalin had a "Five Year Plan" for the purpose of making the Soviet Union a major industrial power in five years time. This came at a huge price, workers were forced to work 16-18 hours a day and working conditions were not safe. Stalin became very paranoid during the "Five Year Plan". He killed anyone who rivaled him in political power and it became clear that Stalin was not killing enemies of the party but the party itself. Stalin made atheism the official policy and executed all priests or forced them to work. There was no freedom at all and not even any religion. Living conditions were better and unemployment was down but this did not make up for the 40,000 plus deaths and forcing religion away from the people.

Film Lesson: Doctor Zhivago

Dr. Zhivago did not like the way the Czar was treating the people. The Czar was killing all who opposed him and many were starving. Many people were dieing in war. Dr. Zhivago wanted a change in the government which is why he supported the revolution. At first, Zhivago thought that the revolution was a great idea for a new form of government. Russian people wanted a change because they were sick of the way the Czar unfairly treated people and sick of all the people dieing in war. Soldiers started to ignore their generals in the battlefields and just walked home, this was the start of the revolution. A civil war among the communist and non-communist was created. The communist won the war and soon took over the government. Dr. Zhivago now knows the full extent of the communist government when he came home and saw that his house and all his property was being shared among strangers. He did not like what was going on and thats when he realized that communism was not going to work.

The Russian Revolution

The Czar was not treating everyone fairly and many were starving. When Russia went into WWI, it showed how weak the Czar's military was. Soldiers were dieing by mass numbers each day and they soon they started to just ignore their generals and walk home. This was the start of the Revolution. More and more people started abandoning the battlefields and joined the fight for Communism. Communism appealed to many people because there would no longer be a ruler such as the Czar again, instead the workers would control the government and everything would be shared among everyone equally no matter what your job is. This means that there will be no middle class or upper class, there will just be one class where everyone gets the same money and property. A civil war between communist and non-communist was formed. The communist won the war and took over the Russian government. The communist succeeded in creating a communist country.

Causes of WWI

WWI had many different causes. Nationalism was the cause of the rivalry between the countries. Countries competed with each other in making weapons for war because they didn't want other countries getting too far ahead of them. Each country wanted to expand their land and with Germany having the most power, many countries felt threaten by Germany's goals of taking over countries from all around the world. A German chancellor named Bismarck made the alliance system which included The amount of weapons in the military each country had increased each year. With so many new weapons being made and strong nationalism between countries caused many countries to feel that they must be ready for war at any moment. Years went by and countries were just waiting for a reason to strike. The assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand and his wife gave reason for Austria-Hungary to give an ultimatum to Serbia. Serbia refused the ultimatum and soon Austria-Hungary waged war against Serbia. Allies of both Serbia and Austria-Hungary joined in the war ans soon became a four vs. four country war. The assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand is known as the trigger for WWI.