Reflection Essay on Totalitarian Essay

Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union. The totalitarian regimes of the 1920’s-1930’s. These regimes, although in different areas, shared a common goal; total control. In order to achieve this these regimes would need to gain the support of the people. Adolf Hitler was said, “Burn into the little man’s soul the proud conviction that though a little worm, he is nonetheless part of a great dragon. ” I believe these regimes accomplished Hitler’s goal in this quote by using techniques; some different and some similar. Adolf Hitler of Germany was the leader of the Anti-Semitic Nazi regime.
Hitler realized he needed real followers, people who fully believed in his practice. In order to achieve this he used propaganda, rewards, and feelings of national pride. The Nazi regime used posters, movies, books, and other devices to manipulate mold the people’s image to what the regime wanted them to see instead of the cruel reality that was really taking place. When people saw these glorified images, it put a good connotation on everything that the Nazi regime was doing and trying to accomplish. The people truly believed the Nazi regime was good because of what was being portrayed.
Another way the Nazi regime accomplished their goal was by providing the people with the national pride that had been lost after the First World War. The Nazi’s brought Germany back on top. The Nazi’s liked to make everyone feel accepted and needed. They wanted everyone to feel like they were part of a big family. They even made low class workers with small jobs feel like they were such a big part of society and their job was an honor. The last main way the Nazi’s accomplished their goal was through rewards. The Nazi regime would reward their followers for being loyal and obeying commands.

They would find your weaknesses and use them to lure you in. Everyone is naturally going to love someone who rewards them and makes them feel proud. People back then, were almost like dogs. When dogs do something good and you give it a treat, they know they did a good thing and will keep doing it. That’s how people’s minds were programmed into thinking they were doing the right thing. The Nazi regime abused and manipulated people’s emotions in order to achieve their goal. Benito Mussolini, the fascist leader of Italy, organized the Brown Shirts. Mussolini chose to use national pride and force to achieve his goal for total control.
Mussolini realized the Italian people needed a country they could believe and take pride in. These people needed a government to make them proud again. So Mussolini portrayed his regime in a way that made the people proud. Mussolini wanted the loyalty to the country to come before anything else in every citizen’s life. Even family was expected to come after loyalty to Italy. For the people that did not see Italy as something to be proud in, Mussolini used force. The Brown Shirts would make sure you obeyed orders and remained loyal to your government. They would physically beat you into following the rules of the government.
Mussolini and his regime focused on using physical techniques to achieve the goal. Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union created an empire where he was always on top. He let no one even get close enough to take away his power. Stalin’s favorite ways of winning the people’s acceptance was through his use of propaganda, national pride, and force. Stalin wanted to be portrayed to his people as a hero. He demanded and censored all propaganda so that he was constantly shown in a good, heroic light. Stalin even used children in some propaganda to paint a good image for him. Another way Stalin achieved the goal was through force.
If you were against the government in any way, you were immediately gone. He would eliminate you. Stalin also was so power hungry, even if you weren’t against the government, he’d pick random people, say they were traitors, and kill them. Which led to the deaths of many people in the Soviet Union. The last way Stalin got support from his people was through his use of national pride. Stalin industrialized the Soviet Union. He created a country that it’s citizens could be proud of. He made sure his people only saw the benefits of industrializing instead of the horrible things he was really doing.
Stalin made his country proud, which led his people to support him. Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin all had one big trait in common. They were all manipulators. They were so good at manipulation that people didn’t even know they were being manipulated. Each regime used it’s own techniques and tactics to gain total control. These all worked for a decent amount of time. But all wound up failing in the end, leading to the downfall of the regimes. Each regime accomplished the goal in the quote by using multiple types of manipulation. Unfortunately, by the tim many citizen’s realized this… It was already too late.