Totalitarianism: A Challenge to Your Understanding of Political Extremism

Totalitarian governments seek to maintain complete control over all aspects of society, including politics, economics, culture, and the media.

Totalitarian governments typically suppress free market economies in favor of a centrally planned economy.

Leonid Brezhnev was the leader of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982.

Benito Mussolini was the founder of fascism, a political ideology that emphasizes nationalism, militarism, and a strong leader.

Italy was the first country to adopt a totalitarian government under Benito Mussolini in the 1920s.

Genocide is the intentional killing of a large group of people, typically based on their ethnicity, religion, or political beliefs.

Joseph Stalin was responsible for the Great Purge, a campaign of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union from 1936 to 1938.

The Cultural Revolution was a sociopolitical movement in China from 1966 to 1976, initiated by Mao Zedong.

The Khmer Rouge was a Cambodian communist party responsible for the Cambodian genocide from 1975 to 1979.

Internment is the process of forcibly relocating people from their homes, typically to camps or prisons.

The Holodomor was a man-made famine in Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 caused by the policies of the Soviet government.

Thought control is the systematic suppression of dissent and opposition, typically through propaganda and surveillance.

The Great Leap Forward was a disastrous economic campaign in China from 1958 to 1962, initiated by Mao Zedong.

Terror is the use of fear and intimidation to maintain control, typically through violence or the threat of violence.

Hutu Power was a political ideology in Rwanda that led to the Rwandan genocide in 1994.