What is totalitarianism and states with a totalitarian regime. Totalitarian regime: concept, main varieties What is a total regime

Totalitarianism(from lat. totalitas- integrity, completeness) is characterized by the state’s desire for absolute control over all areas of public life, the complete subordination of a person to political power and the dominant ideology. The concept of “totalitarianism” was introduced into circulation by the ideologist of Italian fascism G. Gentile at the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1925, this word was first heard in the Italian parliament in a speech by the leader of Italian fascism B. Mussolini. From this time on, the formation of a totalitarian regime began in Italy, then in the USSR (during the years of Stalinism) and in Nazi Germany (from 1933).

In each of the countries where a totalitarian regime arose and developed, it had its own characteristics. At the same time, there are common features that are characteristic of all forms of totalitarianism and reflect its essence. These include the following:

one-party system- a mass party with a rigid paramilitary structure, claiming the complete subordination of its members to the symbols of faith and their exponents - leaders, leadership as a whole, merges with the state and concentrates real power in society;

undemocratic way of organizing a party– it is built around the leader. Power comes down - from the leader, not up -
from the masses;

ideologization the entire life of society. A totalitarian regime is an ideological regime that always has its own “Bible”. The ideology that a political leader defines includes a series of myths (about the leadership of the working class, the superiority of the Aryan race, etc.). A totalitarian society carries out the broadest ideological indoctrination of the population;

monopoly control production and economy, as well as all other spheres of life, including education, media, etc.;

terrorist police control. In this regard, concentration camps and ghettos are created, where hard labor, torture are used, and massacres of innocent people occur. (So, in the USSR, a whole network of camps was created - the Gulag. Until 1941, it included 53 camps, 425 forced labor colonies and 50 camps for minors). With the help of law enforcement and punitive agencies, the state controls the life and behavior of the population.

In all the diversity of causes and conditions for the emergence of totalitarian political regimes, the main role is played by a deep crisis situation. Among the main conditions for the emergence of totalitarianism, many researchers name the entry of society into the industrial stage of development, when the capabilities of the media sharply increase, contributing to the general ideologization of society and the establishment of control over the individual. The industrial stage of development contributed to the emergence of the ideological preconditions of totalitarianism, for example, the formation of collectivist consciousness based on the superiority of the collective over the individual. Political conditions also played an important role, which included: the emergence of a new mass party, a sharp strengthening of the role of the state, and the development of various kinds of totalitarian movements. Totalitarian regimes are capable of changing and evolving. For example, after the death of Stalin, the USSR changed. Board of N.S. Khrushcheva, L.I. Brezhnev is the so-called post-totalitarianism - a system in which totalitarianism loses some of its elements and seems to be eroded and weakened. So, the totalitarian regime should be divided into purely totalitarian and post-totalitarian.

Depending on the dominant ideology, totalitarianism is usually divided into communism, fascism and national socialism.

Communism (socialism) to a greater extent than other varieties of totalitarianism, it expresses the main features of this system, since it presupposes the absolute power of the state, the complete elimination of private property and, consequently, all personal autonomy. Despite the predominantly totalitarian forms of political organization, the socialist system also has humane political goals. For example, in the USSR the level of education of the people sharply increased, achievements of science and culture became available to them, social security of the population was ensured, the economy, space and military industries, etc. developed, and the crime rate sharply decreased. In addition, for decades the system almost did not resort to mass repression.

Fascism- a right-wing extremist political movement that arose in the context of the revolutionary processes that engulfed the countries of Western Europe after the First World War and the victory of the revolution in Russia. It was first established in Italy in 1922. Italian fascism sought to revive the greatness of the Roman Empire, to establish order and solid state power. Fascism claims to restore or purify the “soul of the people”, ensuring a collective identity on cultural or ethnic grounds. By the end of the 1930s, fascist regimes had established themselves in Italy, Germany, Portugal, Spain and several countries in Eastern and Central Europe. With all its national characteristics, fascism was the same everywhere: it expressed the interests of the most reactionary circles of capitalist society, who provided financial and political support to fascist movements, seeking to use them to suppress the revolutionary uprisings of the working masses, preserve the existing system and realize their imperial ambitions in the international arena.

The third type of totalitarianism is National Socialism. As a real political and social system, it arose in Germany in 1933. Its goal is the world domination of the Aryan race, and social preference- German nation. If in communist systems aggressiveness is directed primarily against one’s own citizens (the class enemy), then in National Socialism it is directed against other peoples.

And yet totalitarianism is a historically doomed system. This is a Samoyed society, incapable of effective creation, prudent, proactive management and existing mainly due to rich natural resources, exploitation, limiting consumption for majority population. Totalitarianism is a closed society, not adapted to qualitative renewal, taking into account the new requirements of a continuously changing world.

Which reflects the relationship between government and society, the level of political freedom and the nature of political life in the country.

In many ways, these characteristics are determined by specific traditions, culture, and historical conditions for the development of the state, so we can say that each country has its own unique political regime. However, similar features can be found among many regimes in different countries.

In the scientific literature there are two types of political regime:

democratic;
antidemocratic.

Signs of a democratic regime:

rule of law;
separation of powers;
the presence of real political and social rights and freedoms of citizens;
election of government bodies;
existence of opposition and pluralism.

Signs of an anti-democratic regime:

reign of lawlessness and terror;
lack of political pluralism;
absence of opposition parties;

An anti-democratic regime is divided into totalitarian and authoritarian. Therefore, we will consider the characteristics of three political regimes: totalitarian, authoritarian and democratic.

Democratic regime based on the principles of equality and freedom; The main source of power here is considered to be the people. At authoritarian regime political power is concentrated in the hands of an individual or group of people, but relative freedom is maintained outside the sphere of politics. At totalitarian regime The authorities tightly control all spheres of society.

Typology of political regimes:

Characteristics of political regimes

Democratic regime(from the Greek demokratia - democracy) is based on the recognition of the people as the main source of power, on the principles of equality and freedom. The signs of democracy are as follows:

electivity— citizens are elected to government bodies through universal, equal and direct elections;
separation of powers— power is divided into legislative, executive and judicial branches, independent of each other;
civil society— citizens can influence the authorities with the help of a developed network of voluntary public organizations;
equality- everyone has equal civil and political rights
rights and freedoms, as well as guarantees for their protection;
pluralism— respect for other people’s opinions and ideologies, including opposition ones, prevails, complete openness and freedom of the press from censorship are ensured;
agreement- political and other social relations are aimed at finding a compromise, and not at a violent solution to the problem; all conflicts are resolved legally.

Democracy is direct and representative. At direct democracy decisions are made directly by all citizens who have the right to vote. There was direct democracy, for example, in Athens, in the Novgorod Republic, where people, gathering in the square, made a common decision on every problem. Now direct democracy is implemented, as a rule, in the form of a referendum - a popular vote on draft laws and important issues of national importance. For example, the current Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted in a referendum on December 12, 1993.

In large areas, direct democracy is too difficult to implement. Therefore, government decisions are made by special elected institutions. This kind of democracy is called representative, since the elected body (for example, the State Duma) represents the people who elected it.

Authoritarian regime(from the Greek autocritas - power) arises when power is concentrated in the hands of an individual or group of people. Authoritarianism is usually combined with dictatorship. Political opposition is impossible under authoritarianism, but in non-political spheres, such as economics, culture or private life, individual autonomy and relative freedom are preserved.

Totalitarian regime(from Latin totalis - whole, whole) arises when all spheres of society are controlled by the authorities. Power under a totalitarian regime is monopolized (by the party, the leader, the dictator), a single ideology is obligatory for all citizens. The absence of any dissent is ensured by a powerful apparatus of supervision and control, police repression, and acts of intimidation. A totalitarian regime creates a lack of initiative personality, prone to submission.

Totalitarian political regime

Totalitarian political regime- this is a regime of “all-consuming power” that endlessly interferes in the lives of citizens, including all their activities within the scope of its management and compulsory regulation.

Signs of a totalitarian political regime:

1. Availability the only mass party led by a charismatic leader, as well as a virtual merger of party and government structures. This is a kind of “-”, where the central party apparatus is in first place in the power hierarchy, and the state acts as a means of implementing the party program;

2. Monopolization and centralization of power, when such political values as submission and loyalty to the “party-state” are primary in comparison with material, religious, aesthetic values in the motivation and assessment of human actions. Within the framework of this regime, the line between political and non-political spheres of life disappears (“the country as a single camp”). All life activities, including the level of private and personal life, are strictly regulated. The formation of government bodies at all levels is carried out through closed channels, bureaucratic means;

3. "Unity" official ideology, which through massive and targeted indoctrination (media, training, propaganda) is imposed on society as the only correct, true way of thinking. At the same time, the emphasis is not on individual, but on “cathedral” values (state, race, nation, class, clan). The spiritual atmosphere of society is distinguished by fanatical intolerance of dissent and “dissent” according to the principle “those who are not with us are against us”;

4. System physical and psychological terror, a police state regime, where the basic “legal” principle is dominated by the principle: “Only what is ordered by the authorities is allowed, everything else is prohibited.”

Totalitarian regimes traditionally include communist and fascist regimes.

Authoritarian political regime

The main features of an authoritarian regime:

1 . INpower is unlimited, uncontrollable by citizens character and is concentrated in the hands of one person or group of persons. This could be a tyrant, a military junta, a monarch, etc.;

2 . Support (potential or real) on strength. An authoritarian regime may not resort to mass repression and may even be popular among the general population. However, in principle, he can allow himself any actions towards citizens in order to force them to obey;

3 . Mmonopolization of power and politics, preventing political opposition and independent legal political activity. This circumstance does not exclude the existence of a limited number of parties, trade unions and some other organizations, but their activities are strictly regulated and controlled by the authorities;

4 . PRecruitment of leading cadres is carried out through co-optation rather than pre-election competitive struggle; There are no constitutional mechanisms for succession and transfer of power. Changes in power often occur through coups using armed forces and violence;

5 . ABOUTrefusal of total control over society, non-interference or limited intervention in non-political spheres, and, above all, in the economy. The government is primarily concerned with issues of ensuring its own security, public order, defense and foreign policy, although it can also influence the strategy of economic development and pursue an active social policy without destroying the mechanisms of market self-regulation.

Authoritarian regimes can be divided into strictly authoritarian, moderate and liberal. There are also types such as "populist authoritarianism", based on equalizingly oriented masses, as well as "national-patriotic", in which the national idea is used by the authorities to create either a totalitarian or democratic society, etc.

Authoritarian regimes include:

absolute and dualistic monarchies;
military dictatorships, or regimes with military rule;
theocracy;
personal tyrannies.

Democratic political regime

Democratic regime is a regime in which power is exercised by a freely expressing majority. Democracy translated from Greek literally means “power of the people” or “democracy”.

Basic principles of a democratic regime of government:

1. Folk sovereignty, i.e. The primary bearer of power is the people. All power is from the people and is delegated to them. This principle does not imply that political decisions are made directly by the people, as, for example, in a referendum. He only assumes that all bearers of state power received their power functions thanks to the people, i.e. directly through elections (deputies of parliament or the president) or indirectly through representatives elected by the people (a government formed and subordinate to parliament);

2 . Free elections representatives of government, which presuppose the presence of at least three conditions: freedom to nominate candidates as a consequence of freedom of education and functioning; freedom of suffrage, i.e. universal and equal suffrage on the principle of “one person, one vote”; freedom of voting, perceived as a means of secret voting and equality for all in receiving information and the opportunity to conduct propaganda during the election campaign;

3 . Subordination of the minority to the majority with strict respect for the rights of the minority. The main and natural duty of the majority in a democracy is respect for the opposition, its right to free criticism and the right to replace, based on the results of new elections, the former majority in power;

4. Implementation principle of separation of powers. The three branches of government - legislative, executive and judicial - have such powers and such practice that the two “corners” of this unique “triangle”, if necessary, can block the undemocratic actions of the third “corner” that are contrary to the interests of the nation. The absence of a monopoly on power and the pluralistic nature of all political institutions are a necessary condition for democracy;

5. Constitutionalism and the rule of law in all spheres of life. The law prevails regardless of the person; everyone is equal before the law. Hence the “frigidity”, “coldness” of democracy, i.e. she is rational. Legal principle of democracy: "Everything that is not prohibited by law, — allowed".

Democratic regimes include:

presidential republics;
parliamentary republics;
parliamentary monarchies.

In terms of the degree of undemocraticism, the totalitarian regime takes first place, having taken a very definite place in the history of human society among other forms of government. Totalitarianism as a type of political system arose in the 20th century. As for this word itself, as well as totalitarian ideas, they arose much earlier. The term “totalitarianism” comes from the Late Latin words “totalitas” (completeness, wholeness) and “totalis” (whole, complete, whole). In its etymological, non-political meaning, this term has long been used by many scientists. It was first introduced into the political lexicon to characterize the movement by Mussolini in 1925. At the end of the 20s. The English newspaper The Times wrote about totalitarianism as a negative political phenomenon that characterizes not only fascism in Italy, but also the political system in the USSR. Totalitarian regimes are those in which:

there is a mass party (with a rigid, paramilitary structure, claiming the complete subordination of its members to the symbols of faith and their exponents - the leaders, the leadership as a whole), this party merges with the state and concentrates real power in society;

The party is not organized in a democratic way - it is built around a leader. Power comes down - from the leader, and not up - from the masses.

the role of ideology dominates. A totalitarian regime is an ideological regime that always has its own “Bible”. The ideology of the regime is also reflected in the fact that the political leader defines the ideology. He can change his mind within 24 hours, as happened in the summer of 1939, when the Soviet people unexpectedly learned that Nazi Germany was no longer the enemy of socialism. On the contrary, its system was declared better than the false democracies of the bourgeois West. This unexpected interpretation was maintained for two years before the treacherous attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR.

totalitarianism is built on monopoly control of production and the economy, as well as similar control of all other spheres of life, including education, the media, etc.

Under totalitarianism there is terrorist police control. The police exist under different regimes, however, under totalitarianism, police control is terrorist in the sense that no one will prove guilt in order to kill a person.

Unlike despotism, tyranny, and absolutism, totalitarianism also has a special social basis. The former were characterized by the dominance of tradition and custom; power was based on them and was in a subordinate position in relation to them. Each individual was closed to traditional social structures (community, family, church) and found support, support, and protection in them. Totalitarianism destroys traditions, tears the traditional social fabric of society, knocking the individual out of the traditional social environment, depriving him of his usual social connections and replacing social structures and connections with new ones.

Totalitarianism is a terrorist political structure, characterized by an essential anti-capitalist orientation, formed on the basis of a one-party system, based on a socio-political movement with the absolute concentration of power in the hands of its leader.

At the same time, the presence of socialist theory strengthened the conviction in the minds of the masses that it was possible to achieve a social utopia of justice, solidarity, brotherhood, and social security. Let us note that both Hitler's and Stalin's totalitarianism actively used the ideas of socialism as a doctrine of a future society of social harmony.

Here the emphasis is on the objective side of social progress. Others pay attention to the subjective aspect, considering the emergence of totalitarianism as a reaction to the high rates of development of capitalism, from which the development of social consciousness lags behind. Normal social consciousness is characterized by a certain balance of conservative and radical elements. In a totalitarian society, this balance is shifted towards the latter.

The development of human society is uneven. More developed regions ensured the development of less developed ones mainly through force. However, the development of capitalism also required new forms of relationships - economic, for which the lagging regions were not ready. The level of social consciousness of developing societies prevented the awareness of new realities, which led to an orientation only towards forceful methods. Hence the desire to establish a system of government that would make it possible to achieve significant success in a short time.

To this should be added the difficult economic and socio-political situation that developed in some countries after the First World War in the 20s. They found themselves in an extreme situation from which they had to escape by mobilizing the entire population, regardless of losses. A leader appears, a messiah who knows what needs to be done, puts forward ideas that are understandable to the masses, who are ready to blindly follow him for their speedy implementation.

Thus, as a result of the deployment of objective processes in combination with certain subjective factors, the formation of totalitarian regimes took place in the world. At the same time, any power is based on a certain social base, relies on certain social forces. And for a totalitarian regime, the main social force on which it relies is the lumpen proletariat, the lumpen intelligentsia of the city and the lumpen layer of the peasantry. These marginal groups are characterized by social amorphousness, disorientation, intolerance, and hatred of stable social strata of society that have achieved success in life.

It should be noted that currently there are three types of totalitarian regimes, which are classified depending on the main value criterion.

1. Right-wing totalitarian regime, which is based on the national (racial) criterion - the fascist regimes of Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy.

2. Left totalitarian regime, which is based on class (social) criterion - Stalinism in the USSR, China under Mao Zedong, North Korea, Cuba, etc.

3. A religious totalitarian regime, which is based on religious criteria for the organization of society - Islamic fundamentalism in Iran during the Khomeini period.

One of the characteristic features of a totalitarian regime is the maximum concentration of power in one hand, autocracy, in which legislative and executive powers are exercised by one person in the virtual absence of an independent judiciary.

At the head of society is a leader of a charismatic type, who, with his exceptional qualities, views, and actions, demonstrates the correctness of the chosen goal and methods of achieving it. The connection between him and the masses is emotional, mystical in nature. The masses are characterized by blind faith in the leader and the ideas he puts forward. The leader is deified; he is seen as a symbol of the unity of the nation, a messiah who will unite the people and lead them to the right path.

A totalitarian regime does not formally prevent citizens from participating in political life. However, their participation in the political process is directed towards the active manifestation of devotion to their leader and party (mass manifestations, demonstrations, parades, etc.). This was typical for Germany, the USSR and other countries.

At the same time, political power at all levels (macro-power, meso-power and micro-power) was formed through closed channels, and party bosses and nomenklatura came to power at different levels of the hierarchy.

An essential feature of a totalitarian regime is also the monopoly of one mass political party. A totalitarian regime does not allow the existence of not only other political parties, but also various democratic political organizations through which the masses would be involved in the exercise of power. This does not exclude, however, the functioning of some public organizations (trade unions, public associations), which are under full control of the ruling party, and their activities are regulated by the state.

The prevention of democratic political institutions by a totalitarian regime pursues a very specific goal - to eliminate those structures of civil society that express and protect the interests of citizens and stand between the state and the individual. Totalitarianism undermines and destroys civil society, the functioning of which is opposed to the omnipotence of the leader, the monopoly of the party and the dominance of the state.

It should also be said about the place of the church in a totalitarian society. As one of the elements of civil society, the church connects people with God, is called upon to express the interests of believers, and stands between the state and the individual. This, naturally, undermines the monopoly of the party, the power of the deified leader, and the totalitarian regime seeks to suppress the church and isolate it from the masses. But since the church has always had high prestige in society and centuries-old traditions, the totalitarian regime did not achieve this goal everywhere, as, for example, in Italy.

The situation is different under a religious totalitarian regime. Since the charismatic leader here is a cleric (Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran), the church and religion occupy a dominant position in the power structures. Islamic fundamentalism and its structures determine and regulate the socio-economic, political and spiritual life of society in everything.

Another extremely important feature is the dominance in society of one all-powerful state ideology, which maintains among the masses the conviction of the justice of this system of power and the correctness of the chosen path. The monopoly of one party leads, as a rule, to the existence of a monoideology in society, which does not allow the cultivation of other ideas, doctrines, views and criticism of oneself. Moreover, the monistic ideology here acquires a pronounced messianic character.

Under a right-wing totalitarian regime, messianic ideology is implicated in racism and nationalism, which proclaim the chosenness of one’s own nation. The basis of the left totalitarian regime is messianic Marxism, Bolshevism, which proclaims the first country of socialism as the messiah, bringing liberation and freedom to all peoples.

The main goal of messianic ideology is to inspire the masses to accomplish great things, to inflame their fanaticism, to achieve complete devotion to the leader, party, power, and willingness to accept certain restrictions, deprivations and sacrifices in the name of some ideals. For this purpose, an extensive ideological apparatus is widely used, which, through the media and other channels, forms a variety of political and social myths that are introduced into the mass consciousness.

The totalitarian regime, through the full power of the state mechanism, seeks to establish in the country one - the only mythologized ideology, which is considered as the only possible worldview for all members of society. In fact, it turns into a special kind of state religion, thereby replacing the church with its religious doctrine.

Here they introduce their own dogmas, solemn rituals and ceremonies, use sacred books and cultivate their own saints, their own deified persons (leader, Fuhrer, etc.). Therefore, it is no coincidence that many emphasize that a totalitarian state can be considered as a unique form of theocratic government.

Connected with this is the exercise under a totalitarian regime of total political control over the minds of people, which does not allow any dissent or dissent on their part. The tentacles of the ideological, repressive apparatus penetrate into all pores of society, and strict control is established over the consciousness of the individual, her thoughts, and inner world. The task is to completely subordinate a person to the party-state machine.

A characteristic feature of a totalitarian regime is also strict regulation of all aspects of social life, its desire to nationalize all spheres of social life, monopoly control over production, the economy, education, and the media. All sorts of countless instructions and regulations are introduced, enmeshing the entire society, which discuss in detail what can and cannot be done, how to behave and what to think about. And this affects not only the activities of work collectives and public associations, but also the church and every family.

An important feature of a totalitarian regime is the suppression of personality, depersonalization of a person, turning him into a uniform cog in a cumbersome state machine. One of the German political scientists wrote that a person in a totalitarian state appears to be “an animal version of man.” A totalitarian state is an organization of depersonalized, selfless managers and millions of dehumanized, dehumanized slaves.

A totalitarian regime strives for the complete transformation of a person in accordance with the ideology rooted in society (fascism, Marxism). The task is to form a certain type of personality with a special mental make-up, mentality, and behavior. And this is achieved through the widely carried out standardization and unification of individuality, its dissolution in the mass, the collective, the suppression of the individual, personal principle in a person. Instead of one type of personality, which is characterized by individuality, originality, originality, another type of person is formed in accordance with ideological canons in a totalitarian society, in which individual characteristics are eliminated and which is characterized by monotony, one-dimensionality, unanimity, like-mindedness.

A number of researchers consider one of the significant signs of a totalitarian regime to be the presence of a public political movement (Nazi, Falangist, etc.), which constitutes the mass social base of this government. Moreover, the formation of such movements originates, as a rule, in a democratic political system. And this is due to the fact that an undemocratic system will not allow the existence of such an opposition mass movement. Its defining role in a totalitarian regime is associated with a number of points.

Firstly, through the public political movement, which is the social base of the regime, a messianic, totalitarian idea is formed in the public consciousness of broad sections of the population.

Secondly, through such a mass movement, the state’s pervasive control over all spheres of social life is ensured, thanks to which total political domination is achieved.

And thirdly, such a movement makes it possible to form a positive attitude of the masses towards the totalitarian regime, despite comprehensive political control.

Since the movement arises even under the conditions of a democratic system, the scope of its functioning, as a rule, is wider than the period of existence of the regime itself. Thus, the totalitarian regime in Germany lasted from 1933 to 1945, and the Nazi movement developed from 1919 to 1945. In Spain, the fascist regime operated from 1937 until the early 50s, and the Falangist totalitarian movement developed from 1933 to 1958.

In Russia and China, the communist movement also arose earlier than the emergence of a totalitarian regime. Regarding our country, there are different opinions about the timing of its approval. Some attribute this to 1937-1938, to the period of mass terror against party and government functionaries. Others shift the time frame to the late 20s - early 30s, linking the establishment of totalitarianism with mass terror during the period of forced collectivization. Stalin becomes the central figure in the power hierarchy. Still others believe that communist rule was finally established as a totalitarian state during the Civil War and War Communism.

The following stages in the development of totalitarianism in the USSR are highlighted. The first stage (from 1917 to the mid-20s) is characterized by the radicalism of the Bolsheviks, underestimation of the importance of the individual, widespread terror, mass repressions - decossackization, which claimed millions, executions of workers, etc. The second stage (from the mid-20s to the mid-50s years) is associated with the establishment of the regime of Stalin’s personal power and the ensuing consequences. And the third stage (from the mid-50s to the mid-80s) is characterized by the absence of mass repressions, but the persecution of dissidents - trials of them, deportation abroad, imprisonment in psychiatric hospitals, shooting of a workers' demonstration in Novocherkassk in 1962, etc. Then the totalitarian regime collapsed.

The distinctive properties of a totalitarian regime include state-organized mass terror, which is based on both physical and spiritual violence. Constant mass terror is used, on the one hand, as a means of destroying the enemies of the nation and intimidating potential opponents, and on the other hand, as an effective way to control the masses. The process of continuous violence terrorizes the entire society, causing fear and fear in all segments of the population. The Moloch of terror works non-stop, making countless sacrifices, crippling human destinies.

A distinctive feature of a totalitarian regime is its focus on the future, not the present, on higher goals and ideals divorced from life. This regime mobilizes all material, human and intellectual resources to achieve a comprehensive goal, in particular for Germany - the construction of a thousand-year Reich, for the USSR - a communist society.

Some foreign political scientists believed that the totalitarian regime does not change, it can only be destroyed from the outside, like Nazi Germany. However, the further development of the Soviet Union already in the post-Stalin period showed that the opinion they had previously expressed was not entirely correct. Totalitarian regimes can change as a result of gradual evolution. In particular, the totalitarian regime under Brezhnev, of course, differs from the totalitarian regime under Stalin. Brezhnev did not have such power as Stalin, was not such a dictator as Stalin. Therefore, some political scientists propose to distinguish between totalitarian and post-totalitarian regimes. A post-totalitarian regime is a system when totalitarianism loses some of its elements and is, as it were, eroded and weakened.

One cannot think that totalitarian regimes existed only in the past, primarily in the form of fascist Germany and the USSR. Similar regimes existed in the GDR, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and continue to function today in a number of countries of “barracks socialism” and in some other countries. Naturally, each country had and still has characteristics that allow us to talk about certain differences in the functioning of totalitarian regimes.

Hello, dear readers of the blog site. The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word totalitarian is Kinchev’s famous song “Totalitarian Rap,” which he recorded for the album “The Sixth Forester” in 1988. It most fully and figuratively reveals the essence of the concept.

Signs of a totalitarian regime

A totalitarian regime is characterized by the government's desire for complete control over its citizens. Category of freedom in a totalitarian state it is destroyed not only in the political sphere, but also in all others - cultural, economic, social and even in the private life of people.

Totalitarian regimes seek to destroy all democratic freedoms in society. At the same time, anything can be hypocritically proclaimed on paper: a parliamentary system, etc. In fact all power subordinated to one leader or a narrow group of people who “administer” their own justice, relying on propaganda, the dominant party and punitive authorities.

It is clear that the “cogs” in this system have a hard time, but in itself the state is becoming very, very strong(like broom twigs tied together cannot be broken). It was thanks to this that Germany, crushed after the First World War, rose from its knees in a matter of years and became stronger than all its victorious neighbors.

If the USSR had not taken the same path of total strengthening of unity of command at the same time, there would have been no chance of victory over Germany. Totalitarianism is an infringement of the freedom of people living in this era, because they lost their “I”, becoming part of the system. But you don’t choose the time when to be born.

There are several striking symptoms of a totalitarian regime, the presence of which can be used to make a diagnosis.

The presence of an official ideology, mandatory for everyone

“There are no truths in a totalitarian religion,
dogmas follow the changing whims of politics.”
George Orwell, English writer

Ideology in a totalitarian society replaces religion; it is a utopia about a new wonderful life. Ideology subjugates all spheres of people’s existence, because it is proclaimed the only true and infallible road to a bright future.

The main goal of such an ideology is to justify the complete destruction of all cultural traditions and social values of past life. Only by destroying the old world will the state build a new, fair model of society.

Propaganda also flourishes in a totalitarian state. The authorities monopolize all sources of information, completely destroying freedom of speech and the right to express other points of view that contradict the main course or call it into question. Thanks to propaganda, the majority begins to perceive the ideas of power as their own.

This can now be seen in the states., where expressing socialist or communist views is equated to a mortal sin. You can’t talk about it, you can’t even think about it. You will not find discussions on this topic in any more or less significant media. , as was the discussion of the advantages of capitalism in the USSR.

One-party system in totalitarian states

"The only thing :
you don’t have to sit at the receiver for hours to find out the election results.”
Francois Mauriac, French writer

Totalitarianism and democratic models of society. If ideology becomes religion, then the party embodies the church. All “infidels” in this context are destroyed. As a rule, the country is headed by a party leader who is perceived as the father of the people, messiah, prophet, etc.

And this is logical, because there must be unity in everything, and unity is the main advantage of a totalitarian state.

The regime's intolerance of dissent

“The biggest fear is the massive secret repression,
and they should be and are the main method of terror.”
“Children of Arbat”, Anatoly Rybakov, Soviet writer

*wall of memory of the victims in Moscow in Muzeon Park

For those who do not believe in the only correct ideology, the totalitarian regime provides a system of sophisticated punishments up to and including physical destruction. In the twentieth century, totalitarianism claimed the lives of millions of people.

In states with such a structure of power, increased attention is paid to the organization of security forces, the main function of which is to keep the population in fear. In the judicial system, the main evidence of guilt is the confession of the accused; such confessions are extracted from people through torture, threats of violence against the family, etc.

Here again everything is logical. Fear is the main motivator for a person. Totalitarianism used this feeling in a crude form. Now, everything is happening much more sophisticated.

In the states, people now live in a constant state of fear of losing everything, because almost from childhood they are enmeshed in debt. In order not to lose their job, they are ready to do anything and not for the sake of money, but precisely because of the fear of losing everything.

It is not clear why one fear is better than another, and why totalitarianism is worse than the current US democratic capitalism (with an animal face). Both in a totalitarian society and in the states now, people don’t really know that they can live somehow differently.

Popular support for a totalitarian regime

“For the successful operation of a totalitarian machine, coercion alone is not enough.
It is necessary for people to accept common goals as their own.”
Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist and philosopher

The paradox of totalitarianism is that the people, with the active support of which this regime is established and consolidated, themselves ultimately become its victims.

Traditionally, people living in totalitarian states are treated with sympathy. The people are perceived as something separate from the top tyrants. But these cruel leaders are supported by the majority and come to power on a wave of popular approval. Denunciations, mutual responsibility, fanatical faith in the idea- all this is characteristic of a totalitarian society.

In the states, too, people, swallowing tons of antidepressants, do not stop loving their country, considering it the only correct one and giving people unprecedented opportunities. Everything is exactly according to the patterns of totalitarianism, although on a different turn of the spiral, where everything looks “decorous and noble.”

Infringement of workers' rights

The state completely controls the country's economy, only it dictates to citizens under what conditions they will work.

Workers actually have no choice; the institution of trade unions, designed to protect the rights of working citizens, strikes, if they occur, are brutally suppressed. Party interests are placed above economic progress and the standard of living of the population.

And again, modern states fit so well into this totalitarian template. Those who work there have no rights at all. You're fired - that's the answer. Everything else is fiction (so far, no million-dollar strikes have led to an increase in the minimum wage).

It is not for nothing that socialist movements among young people are now experiencing an unprecedented rise (as in Russia at the end of the nineteenth century). The social security of their population is at a lower level than ours during the early USSR.

Conclusion

Despite the most terrible examples of totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century, this phenomenon has not disappeared anywhere. In spite of democracy losing its strength, which has revealed a lot of global problems, the totalitarian structure of the state is seen by many as a manifestation of a “strong hand” capable of restoring order.

The time for change is coming again and all the “elites” are beginning to understand that democracy is not the best help. In Europe, democratic freedoms will be slowly squeezed, the screws will be tightened, etc. There is no other way to survive the approaching storm.

But are we ready for the price that we will inevitably have to pay for this order?

Good luck to you! See you soon on the pages of the blog site

Characteristic

Despite the fact that each ruler has the right to formulate the concept in his own way, there are a number of well-known features. After reading them, it immediately becomes clear what this mode means. It is not only opposed to democracy, but also has common trends with authoritarianism and even socialism.

Main characteristics:

The first thing that attracts attention in a totalitarian society is one single ideology. It is the foundation of the political system. Citizens do not have the right to deviate from the generally accepted, do not want or do not even consider this idea acceptable.
Everyone is ruled by one single party, which does not give the right to choose. The dictator controls absolutely all processes.
The state influences all spheres of life.
The media are completely subordinated to the state apparatus.
If “objectionable” information is disseminated in the media and education, punishment will be imposed.
Political propaganda controls and subjugates absolutely the entire population.
This is political terror and repression.
All rights and freedoms of people are destroyed.
Militarization of society.

It is wrong to say that several points already fully characterize any system as totalitarian. The fact is that some restrictions are allowed not only in socialism, but also in democracy.

Of all of the above, political scientists single out the lack of rights and freedoms and a single ideology as the basis.

Who owns the power

A totalitarian system is characterized by the fact that power in the state belongs to one person. One who rules by depriving citizens of their rights and freedoms is called a dictator. Speaking about total control of all spheres of life, Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin are not left without attention.

The three rulers left their mark and immortalized the years of their rule as times of total control, the primacy of ideology over the rights of the population and a whole system of manipulating the public masses. Moreover, if in relation to Mussolini the term was attached already in 1923 by Giovanni Amendola, then the system of government in the USSR from the end of the 1920s was actively disguised as a desire to make the country great and powerful.

Comparing Stalin and Hitler has become a whole science. Political scientists argue, find disagreements, and finally agree on one thing. The two cruelest rulers, the two bloody leaders, were so similar in their origins and reign, and ended things so differently.

The point is that there are different purposes and motives for this type of ownership. Hitler raved about the exclusivity of his ideas. Destroyed, killed, subjugated. And it ended in collapse, collapse and a black spot. Stalin used total surveillance as a tool to reach the peak of his power. As a result, he left a great state on the pages of history.

And after so many years, two people can argue: it was good or bad in the USSR. Opinions also differ on how cruel the dictators were. Hitler killed his enemies, Stalin killed his own too. But the former has more blood on his hands.

Mussolini is also a controversial character. The fact is that total surveillance is associated with it; the history of the term began with it. However, the dictator did not build that same totalitarian system in his country.

There were some differences and freedoms that now make it possible to challenge the opinion of political scientists about him as a brutal dictator and about his peculiarities of rule.

In the USSR, such an anti-democratic regime flourished only under Stalin. It's stupid to say that his whole story is based on total control.

Countries with totalitarian regimes

Opinions of political scientists and other public figures about countries with totalitarian foundations differ. It all comes from the fact that it is difficult to achieve a specific government. As already mentioned, each ruler sets his own standards. Many countries have experienced totalitarianism with “notes” of other phenomena of government.

No matter what disputes there are about Mussolini or Hitler, now we can still conclude that their nature of rule is total control, restriction of rights and freedoms. The USSR (only under Stalin), Germany and Italy are the most popular and obvious examples.

If we talk about modern states, the leader in the race is the DPRK. The Republic came closest to full control and isolated itself from other countries. If we consider only relative observation, then there are slightly more contenders.

Due to the fact that there are definitely few real examples that do not raise doubts, some completely refute the correctness of such a term as “totalitarianism” and attribute it to a deviation or tightening of authoritarianism. One little-known country in East Africa is striking in its peculiarities of government.

And even surpasses modern North Korea. In Eritrea, all residents, regardless of their position in society, serve from the age of 18 to 55. Communication in one circle of 3 people is a meeting for which you need to obtain permission.

No one can compete with both poverty and frozen war. If we talk about countries of the past, then we add Portugal, Japan, China, Iran. But this opinion is relatively erroneous.

Where does the regime originate?

The term has been around since the 20th century, but that doesn't mean it came out of nowhere. Examples of ancient states with similar restrictions were described in Plato’s works “The Republic”.

The first example is the Sumerian Third Dynasty of Ur. This means that the story begins four thousand years ago in Mesopotamia. Many prohibitions were imposed on citizens.

First of all, free trade. Crafts were also controlled. Slavery flourished, which perfectly proves the assumptions about such a beginning. School education was controlled in every way and had to follow certain ideological considerations. History was falsified to please the ruler.

The second example is the Fajia philosophical school in Ancient China. The founder of the provisions developed a system based on the persecution of dissidents. Thus, residents had to be deprived of various types of entertainment, sent to study, and a system of punishments introduced. There should be 9 punishments per reward. These facts about the totalitarian regime are also covered by Wikipedia.

A more modern example is the Jesuit state in Paraguay. The beginning of the reign came from communism, but researchers claim a totalitarian system.

Criticism

There are quite a few critics of total restrictions. Who would like the restriction of any freedoms, manipulation, outright cruelty? In their works they analyzed in detail the following political direction:

Friedrich Hayek;
H. Arendt;
K. Popper.

Hayek, in his works “The Road to Slavery and the “Constitution of Liberty,” clearly and briefly explained about the totalitarian regime, the inadmissibility of such control, and encroachments on rights. The economy and the market trading system were criticized.

Unlike other critics, Popper does not analyze systems of government, but gives their main features, which allows you to independently understand how bad or good it is. An example of an “open” and a “closed” society is given.

Hannah Arendt philosophizes about the origins, what a totalitarian regime meant for them, and analyzes the common features of Nazism and Stalinism.

Totalitarianism and authoritarianism

If a person gave about a dozen examples of countries with totalitarianism, then obviously all or most of them are actually with an authoritarian regime that has undergone changes. It is worth noting that they are not equally democratic.

Their common features:

Power is in the hands of a few people.
The principle of a “closed” society, which means complete isolation.
Any resistance is impossible.
Rights and freedoms are not ensured.
The army and law enforcement agencies are under the control of the authorities.
The sampling process is simulated.

Authoritarianism is based on the personality of the ruler. But totalitarianism is a regime in which the death of the dictator does not entail the collapse of the country. Ideology in the first version does not always take place. And the effect of total control is directly related to a single ideology. Similarities and subtle differences form different opinions about which country thrives in which system.

Literature and political regime

There are many political forms of government described in the literature. Totalitarianism has been repeatedly criticized and ridiculed in literary masterpieces. Such books are not immediately perceived. Not everyone knows how to look through the prism of metaphors. But such subtext can easily open your eyes.

Important! The most famous example, which amazes with its dirty truth, open criticism and the power of comparisons, is the novel “1984” by D. Orwell.

His satire “Animal Farm” is also included there, where totalitarianism reigned and pigs were associated with people. “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, “We” by Yevgeny Zamyatin and many other works that may not openly talk about anger towards the authorities, but there is an emphasis on the fact that the totalitarian regime is the pit of the past, do not go unnoticed and the great abyss of the future.

Useful video

Let's sum it up

Totalitarianism is a regime in which the goal is to completely restrict the freedoms and rights of citizens and interfere in all spheres of life. There are three known countries in which it flourished: Italy under Mussolini, the USSR under Stalin, Germany under Hitler. There are numerous debates about the right to call the rule of these dictators totalitarianism. In the literature there are many examples of descriptions and comparisons of complete restrictions and interference in any processes of society that are criticized using literary techniques.

In contact with