Totalitarianism, in simple terms, is best described as a society in which the ruler or ruling group has total control over the governing society. The government controls all private and private aspects of citizens' lives in a totalitarian society. There have been some countries subject to this type of rules; However, the most infamous totalitarian government to date is Nazi Germany, led by German dictator Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime. Germany was controlled by the National Socialist Nazi Party from 1933 to 1945, also known as the Third Reich, meaning third empire. This party's beliefs were that society would be more optimal by eliminating Jews and other “social undesirables” with the ascendancy of the “Aryan” race (Magstadt, 2017). During Hitler's command of Germany, he and his Nazi Party were responsible for millions of deaths in what is known as one of the largest and darkest genocides in history. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Totalitarian leaders have specific strategies for maintaining control in a country that include scapegoating, propaganda, and violence. A scapegoat is someone who takes the blame for the actions or faults of another. In Hitler's case, he used communists and Jews as scapegoats. He blamed these groups of people for the economic crisis during his leadership and for Germany's loss in the First World War. By placing the blame for the nation's setbacks on these specific groups, Hitler was then able to form a very strong propaganda campaign against them. While he imposed Nazi beliefs on Germany, he also managed to persuade Germans to believe that Communists and Jews needed to be punished, which would lead to a necessary final war, and that German society needed radical transformation. Hitler's propaganda also aimed to silence protestors from the public press such as journalists and artists. His control over public protesters soon spread to school systems. Hitler created the Hitler Youth for children aged 10 to 18. This system was designed to shape and mold children to meet Nazi standards. Hitler's government dismantled the classical education system and created a system that would turn German children into compliant subjects rather than independent citizens (Behreandt, 2018). With this propaganda, Nazi Germany soon turned to violence against those who opposed or were less than ideal to their way of life. Anti-Semitism and mass indoctrination allowed Hitler to implement deadly racial policies that reached their peak during the Holocaust. Anti-Jewish policies were created and followed which allowed the Nazi Party to first identify who was Jewish, isolate them in concentration camps, which ultimately led to the largest documented genocides in history. Hitler's strong will to realize his desire to eliminate the Jewish population led to the deaths of millions of innocent people. Those deaths included approximately 7 million Soviet civilians, 6 million European Jews, 3 million Soviet prisoners of war, 1.8 million non-Jewish Polish civilians, and many others. According to Hitler, an ideal citizen of Nazi Germany would be someone of the Aryan race who respects all rules and is obedient under Nazi control. During Hitler's dictatorship, one of his main goals was to eliminate anyone who did not fit his belief of what an ideal Nazi German citizen was and/or anyone who opposed his rule.
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