stalin and hitler's total regimes
...ieved that the unity of the German nation was threatened and that he must attempt to save Germany. Stalin was born on Dec. 21, 1879, in Gori. Stalin’s father is said to have been a drunk who was cruel to his young son. In 1888, at great sacrifice, Stalin's mother sent him to a little church school in Gori. Hitler was also considering becoming a priest. He then received a scholarship at the religious seminary in Tbilisi. Stalin entered this school in 1894 to study for the priesthood in the Georgian Orthodox Church. In 1898, Stalin joined a secret Marxist revolutionary group. In May 1899, Stalin was expelled for not appearing for an examination. His interest in Marxism probably played a part in his dismissal. Both Hitler and Stalin wrote books outlining their revolutionary beliefs. Stalin’s was called the Brdzola (The Struggle) and was a Marxist journal while Hitler wrote Mien Kampf a book detailing his beliefs. So as you can see Hitler and Stalin’s childhoods share many parallels both in mother attachments and revolutionary behavior. Totalitarian regimes -- thanks to technology and mass communications -- take over control of every facet of the individual's life. Everything is subject to control -- the economy, politics, religion, culture, philosophy, science, history and sport. The thought itself becomes both a form of social control as well as a method of social control. Both Hitler and Stalin encompassed totalitarian beliefs and took similar steps to create a completely ruled society. Joseph Stalin instituted a new revolution in 1927 and 1928. After having suppressed his enemies on the left and the right, as well as the center, Stalin issued the "general party line." Anyone who deviated from that line was condemned to either exile or execution -- in most cases, execution. Stalin's aim was to create a new kind of society and a new human personality to inhabit that society. At the same time, a strong army would have to be built as well as a powerful industrial economy. Once everything was owned by the State, Stalin believed, a new kind of human personality would emerge. New Stalin-trained officials filled all top-level posts and terror became one of the principal features of the government itself. In the end, the "purgers" were also purged. They were the scapegoats used by Stalin to carry out the Great Terror. Hitler started his own movement landing into the peoples favor during the great depression. The Nazi Party grew into a huge political organization with special divisions for children, youth, women, and professional people. In the elections of 1932, the Nazis emerged as the strongest party in Germany. On Jan. 30, 1933, Hitler became chancellor (prime minister). He quickly moved toward dictatorship, outlawing civil liberties and all political parties except the Nazi Party. The Nazis took over the press, the radio, and the school system. In time, they established a totalitarian state. Under fascism Hitler began his rule of Germany. Fascism resembles Communism, but unlike Communism, which calls for the government to own all industry, fascism allows industry to remain in private ownership, though under government control. Other important features of fascism include extreme patriotism, warlike policies, and persecution of minorities. By 1933, the Nazis were the strongest...