HIST-410N Week 2 Discussion 1: The Rise of Totalitarianism

HIST-410N Week 2 Discussion 1: The Rise of Totalitarianism Compare and contrast the two types of totalitarian governments that arose after 1917, that is, communism and fascism. What were the origins of these governments, their accomplishments, and their failures? What accounts for the fact that the masses mobilized to support these movements? Elaborate. What do you think about resources like this? If you were building a site on your favorite historical topic, what would you include? Communism and fascism in the governments throughout history, it is important to understand the definition to compare and contrast. They are different in their ideology and dual aspects. Communism was first "invented" by Karl Marx in the mid-1800s with the hope of creating a utopia in which the rich did not could abuse the working class, which Marx saw happening in European and American factories. He hoped that Communism would one day supplant the Industrial West with the world that would essentially be a copy of the Ancient Greek, Athenian direct Democracy, in theory. However, the Industrial West would put forth mild reforms in the late 1800s to the first half of the twentieth century, beginning Otto von Bismarck creating a Social Security System for the German Empire. As a result of these reforms, Communism became unpopular in the West. But communism caught on in Russia first as the Tsarist monarchy refused to make the changes. That France, Germany, the UK, and the USA all put forth to try and protect the "Capitalist" system, and in 1917, Vladimir Lenin began the Russian Revolution which would bring the Communists to power in Russia. “Lenin differed from other socialists in arguing that only a party of professional revolutionaries could lead the masses to power” (Brower and Sanders, 2014, p.51). Fascism is an ideology that tries to bring together radical and authoritarian nationalism. The failure of the Western powers to stem totalitarianism is emphasized by the rise of Fascism in Italy. After World War I, Italian nationalists were outraged when Italy received just some of the land promised by the Allies. “Fascism constituted a vague political ideology for nationalist dictatorship, turning the spirit of war into a revolutionary creed” (Brower and Sanders, 2014, p.48).