How far does the concept of totalitarianism provide an adequate description of regimes such as Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia and Fascist Italy?

How far does the concept of totalitarianism provide an adequate descripton of
regimes such as Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia and Fascist Italy?

This essay will cover the concept of totalitarianism and whether this will ft the
ideologies and regimes of dictatorships such as Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia and
Fascist Italy. This will present what their regimes consisted of for them to be
considered as totalitarian as well as how each of them can be compared. It will also
show the development of totalitarianism and how it changed potentally to focus on
the dictatorships of Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia and Fascist Italy. The sources that
are used within this essay will give further evidence of the concept of totalitarianism
as well as give historians views on whether they believe the dictatorships ft the
descripton of totalitarian societes.
The concept of totalitarianism is can ofen be used to describe the regimes and
ideologies of Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia and Fascist Italy as all three dictatorships
used similar ideals of complete control within their states. However, ‘its precise
meaning was ofen far from clear(1 as there were many factors that were included in
totalitarianism, such as control, religion, and complete power through dictatorships.
As a result, ‘instances of totalitarianism […] are more difcult to identfy with much
convicton(2 which means that it can be challenged as to whether the three main
dictatorships can be considered truly totalitarian. The overall idea of totalitarianism
is that, as stated by Anthony Gregor, ‘totalitarians tend to seek total control of all
aspects of life lived and business conducted( 3 and therefore the regimes of Nazi
Germany, Soviet Russia and Fascist Italy generally ft the concept of totalitarianism as
the tried for total control within their states using similar rulings and regimes –
mostly violence and fear. This is a large reason for growing concern within each state
as ‘totalitarianism is far too important a subject to neglect – if for no other reason
than the fact that it has exacted incalculable human costs( 4 due to the increasing use
of violence to create a sense of fear throughout each state in an atempt to gain
complete control. In many cases, ‘the leaders of such systems are spoken of as
“charismatcs” – and generally assume leadership responsibilites for life( 5 mostly due
to a signifcant event or problem within the country which has led to destructon or
an increase in poverty and therefore many people are looking towards the more
extreme optons in an atempt to fx their country. This was shown in Nazi Germany,
Soviet Russia and Fascist Italy as ‘the most common denominator for the rise of

1
Benjamin L. Alpers, Dictators, Democracy, and American Public Culture: Envisioning the Totalitarian Enemy,
1920s-1950s (North Carolina, 2003), p.63.
2
Anthony Gregor, Totalitarianism and Politcal eligion: An Intellectual History (Stanford, 2012), p.275.
3
Anthony Gregor, Totalitarianism and Politcal eligion: An Intellectual History (Stanford, 2012), p.5.
4
Anthony Gregor, Totalitarianism and Politcal eligion: An Intellectual History (Stanford, 2012), p.283.
5
Charles Smith, Charisma (Cambridge, 1990), cited in Anthony Gregor, Totalitarianism and Politcal eligion:
An Intellectual History (Stanford, 2012), p.4.