Wisniewski's View On Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is a system of government in which the state acts to extends its absolute authority and power into all aspects of its citizen’s lives and have that population be completely under the control of a totally pervasive ruling ideology of a single leader. The essence of totalitarianism can be found in its very name; it is a form of rule in which the government attempts to maintain 'total' control over society, and further seeks to meld that state’s beliefs within that societies core roots, an example of this occurrence can be liquidised through Stalin and his methods in Russia during the 1920’s and 30’s. Carl Friedrich’s, a late political scientist and historian of the 20th century formed the basis of a totalitarian

The chaos that followed in the wake of World War I allowed and encouraged the establishment of totalitarian regimes. Totalitarianism is a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and required complete subservience to the state. It took place in Germany, Italy,and Japan. This type of militarism went on in many different countries and for many different reasons.

The Totalitarian Aspects of Nazi Germany The government of Nazi Germany was a fascist, totalitarian state. They ruled in Germany ever since Hitler became chancellor in 1933, to 1945. Totalitarianism was a form of government in which the state involves itself in all facts of society, including the daily life of its citizens. It penetrates and controls all aspects of public and private life, through the state's use of propaganda, terror and technology.

According to Fredrich’s “six point syndrome”, a totalitarian state must consist of an official ideology, a single mass party, terroristic police control, monopoly control of the media and arms and central control of the economy. During the Nazi Reich between 1933-1939, under Hitler as Fuhrer (supreme leader), the Nazi regime was able to successfully achieve aspects of totalitarianism by exerting tight control of the media and police; leading to control of certain aspects of German social, political, legal, economical and cultural life. However, there are significant features of the Nazi regime that simply fail to fit Friedrich's six, all encompassing concepts of totalitarianism.

The Meaning of the Term Totalitarianism Totalitarianism was a one-party political system that was based on dictatorship. It first started in Europe in the 1920s and 30s. It was an absolutism that emphasized the importance of the state at the expense of individual liberties. It displays the following features: One-party dictatorship and one-man rule were emphasized in a totalitarian state. Only one party ruled in a totalitarian state, for example, the Fascist Part in Italy, the Nazi Party in Germany and the Communist Party in the Soviet Union.

Throughout history totalitarian leaders would violate people’s safety, their peace of mind and their freedom to rise to power. For example, Germany lost the war in 1919 which cause the need for reparations and a new leader, that is when Hitler became the leader of Germany and in that time Germany was going through a lot of hard times which caused the people to look forward to the future. Another example of totalitarian leaders in that time was Stalin who used people’s fear to gain trust from his people and cause paranoia in people of that time. Both of these totalitarian leaders violated democratic ideas by violating the safety and freedom of their people to manipulate them and their minds. And then they would oppress the minority group, for example, those who were Jewish were treated badly and killed.

Over seventy years after he lived and wrote, the works of English journalist and democratic socialist George Orwell, continue to fascinate, stimulate and enrage his readers concerning the structure of society and the organization of government. The controversial writer openly spoke out against the absolute power of any government, warning that a fascist government would deprive its people of their basic freedoms and liberties. Orwell’s novel, 1984, serves as a reminder of the danger of totalitarianism by depicting a future in which all citizens live under the constant surveillance of the “Big Brother.” Through the main character, Winston Smith, Orwell demonstrates the dangers of totalitarianism; writing of the consequences of absolute government in several essays and proposing socialism as an alternative. To Orwell, the role of government is to represent the common people rather than the old and the privileged.

But the state 's main weapon against individualism is the crude but effective form of thought control that it practices. The state has forbidden humans from speaking or even thinking of the word "I." Society has mandated, under punishment of death, that all first-person references are with the plural "we," even when the reference is to a single person. Over a period of centuries, the rulers have managed to extirpate all knowledge of the word "I" from the language. All that remains is a vague memory that there is such a thing as an Unspeakable Word — but no one has an inkling that it is the word "I."

This implies a relationship in which the state through its instruments dominates society. Hence in the totalitarian state all political, economic, social, cultural and intellectual activities should be directed towards fulfilling the aims of the state” (“Totalitarianism”, 1999). In a totalitarian state, individuals have no rights and they must obey the government without question. If individuals questioned or disagreed with the government, they were silenced by death or prison.

Before the concept of government existed mankind still attempted to gain dominance over one another. Once the concept was developed governments remained consistent in their attempts to gain control of their people and world domination. Adolf Hitler and other dictators were prime examples of totalitarianism “attempting to control every aspect of its subjects, viewing any sign of independence as treasonous centralized party” ( Quinn 1). Along came “historical catastrophes which would lead them to create a false utopia vision of the just society” (Quinn 2). George Orwell noticed this tug of war for control and wrote about it in his novel. The novel’s protagonist, Winston Smith, would struggle to retain his

The book begins with the author, Friedrich Hayek, talking about the state of his society. He says they are threatened by many evils that they have tried to overcome in the past but to no avail. The people have tried to blame their shortcomings on anything or anyone they can, except for themselves. And because of this, totalitarianism has found a place in his country. He says that the people may not be completely aware that this is happening either, that they still think everything is alright and they are being governed the way they want to be. But in reality, that is not the case.

Alan Moore outlines the issues that face the totalitarian government in the 1990s, and he said that “People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.” In V for Vendetta, there was a problem which was an enmity between the totalitarian government and the minority. This book showed that the minority was controlled by the government’s power to control and regulate people in the same reflection. At first, the minority accepted the rules and there weren’t any rebellions to release themselves from those rules. Then, the effort to compete against totalitarian government was shown by the character V, and he tried to show his power which also represented the minority’s power in Britain. V’s power caused pressure from the government, and the power was aimed to overthrow the government’s power which was described as rebellion and revenge. Alan Moore highlights the ills of society and insinuates how the environment of the society creates this essential need for violence. Moore employs motifs, foreshadowing, and symbolism for a societal shift on the environment’s flaws and urgency for violence.

In short, totalitarian means a political system that has complete control over all aspects of people's lives. The very same tome that I previously quoted from contains this definition of dictator: "Dictator

Two totalitarian regimes which are both political systems and influenced society significantly are Communism and Nazism. They influenced and changed people’s rights, their views on things and people in general. Communism and Nazism are the two totalitarian systems I’m going to talk about. They were spread in different areas, but both of them caused big consequences. Communism started in Russian and spread around in Eastern Europe and Nazism started in Germany and spread in that area. People have gone through many bad times when those two totalitarian systems were in power, but we can’t always say that people’s lives were better before they were in power.

In “1984,” Orwell describes a terrible society where totalitarianism reaches the top. In this circumstance, personality and freedom are strangled and thought is controlled. The most frightening aspect is that citizens have no sense right and wrong. Without a doubt, the reason why these happen is the governing of the Party, which is controlling everything in the country, Oceania. Orwell uses the control of language to show the idea that the Party solidifies its dominant position.