Thursday 24 November 2011

Year 2 Semester 1 Lecture 5 - Totalitarianism






“Everything we know of totalitarianism demonstrates a horrible originality”




Totalitarianism is an imposing form of political oppression, however it is different to Dictatorship and communism as totalitarianism destroys all legal and political structures and in effect destroys society. Totalitarianism replaces these with new sets of values and beliefs which abolish any personal thought and replace it with one main ideology. Those who live in a totalitarian state do not think for themselves but are told what they should believe in and think. 


One of the best examples of totalitarianism if Hitler's Nazi Germany. Hitler's original ideology was similar to that of Nietzsche; in that society was weak because we were keeping the weak alive it was no longer survival of the fittest. Hitler claimed if the state says some citizens are enemies then it is the responsibility of the other citizens to irradiate them. The Nazi party relied heavily on this brainwashing technique; when they were first capturing the Jewish people in Germany it was mainly the local citizens that were fishing them out not the Nazi's themselves. The citizens  were being told what to believe and think; Hitler was determined to create the perfect race the 'Aryan Ideal'...he believed this would make Germany stronger. During the rise of Hitler Germany was in a terrible state after WWI and the citizens of Germany were desperate for answers and help. Hitler preyed on Germany's weaknesses and executed anyone who stood up against him. 

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