Deck 6: The Totalitarian Model: A False Utopia

Question 1

Terror and propaganda in a totalitarian society have no relation to each other.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Totalitarian regimes present a strong harmony of ends and means.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Why do we need to study totalitarianism since the Soviet Union is gone?

A)It can be any nation's next government, if there is great poverty, injustice, turmoil, or violence.
B)It can evolve any nation into an ideal society in our world.
C)We can learn from its failures to make the next regime better.
D)It is the most popular ideology in the world, currently.
E)None of the above is correct.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Hitler argued that propaganda should address the masses and be understandable by even the least intelligent.

Question 5

The most effective forces in bringing people together are hate and prejudice.

Question 6

During the consolidation stage of totalitarian development, what do revolutionary leaders attempt to do?

A)Reach a consensus with rival factions and form a broad-based coalition.
B)Begin the immediate transformation of society.
C)Eliminate real or imagined rivals for power and place loyal associates in key posts.
D)Calm the public by ending the violence that marked the revolutionary stage.
E)Reinterpret the past and attribute any failures to a clearly identifiable enemy.

Question 7

Which of the following was (were) used to ensure secrecy within the Bolshevik Party during the revolutionary stage?

A)Propaganda
B)Salami tactics
C)Cells
D)Scapegoats
E)All of the above

Question 8

In a totalitarian society, some facets of society are controlled by the poor and middle classes.

Question 9

Salami tactics were used by Stalin to destroy the original leadership of the Bolshevik Party and consolidate his control.

Question 10

Ideology tends to paint a picture of the world as it is and offers an explanation.

Question 11

Which of the following is the most crucial to the success of a totalitarian revolution?

A)Organization
B)Ideology
C)Leadership
D)Violence
E)Propaganda

Question 12

A key reason why pre-twentieth century rebellions did not produce total revolutions was that they lacked cohesive structure.

Question 13

Mao's Great Leap Forward involved a significant reduction in social control and media censorship.

Question 14

Whatever the quality of leadership, total revolutions depend in the final analysis on the willingness of converts to engage in extraordinary acts of self-sacrifice in the name of the cause.

Question 15

Totalitarian ideologies generally focus on some form of absolute evil to which they can attribute all national or worldwide wrongs and social injustices.

Question 16

Between 1934 and 1938, Hitler's Great Purge led many members of the German political and military elite to be executed as enemies of the state.

Question 17

The transformation stage of society generally coincides with the regime's assumption of control over the armed forces.

Question 18

Russia actually had two revolutions in 1917, not just one.

Question 19

Totalitarianism is the product of just one form of ideology.

Question 20

Which totalitarian leader's peasant-based revolution do many radicals (especially in developing countries) regard as the guiding example of revolutionary organization in a rural society?

A)Stalin's
B)Lenin's
C)Mao's
D)Castro's
E)Hitler's

Question 21

The fall of the Soviet Union is generally attributed to a protracted conflict with which state?

A)Cambodia
B)Ethiopia
C)Afghanistan
D)North Korea
E)None of the above

Question 22

Mao's "Great Leap Forward" of the late 1950s was preceded by what episode?

A)Hundred Flowers Campaign
B)Venetian Poll
C)Green Earth Movement
D)Chinese Celebration
E)Communist Commitment

Question 23

What is the basis for moral judgment in a totalitarian system? How are political actions determined to be good or bad? Contrast the totalitarian moral framework with that of an authoritarian or democratic regime.

Question 24

What is the final step to a consolidation of power?

A)Takeover of national media
B)Overthrow of old order
C)Creation of a new constitution
D)Elimination of those in the party who pose a threat to you
E)Control of the military

Question 25

Who did Stalin's show trials target?

A)Kulaks
B)Old Bolsheviks
C)Top-ranking party leaders
D)Both A and C
E)Both B and C

Question 26

What was Stalin's gulag archipelago used for?

A)Doubled the country's industrial output during the period of the first Five-Year Plan
B)Involved the annihilation of the kulaks
C)Created a new industrial utopia for Russia
D)Served as a dumping ground for the secret police's social and political undesirables
E)None of the above

Question 27

Many have argued that violence and propaganda are contradictory, but what did Eugene Hadamovsky say about them?

A)"Violence and propaganda are two parts of the same shoe."
B)"Violence can be a force for good propaganda."
C)"Violence is an arm of propaganda, or leg, as the case may be."
D)"Violence can be part of propaganda."
E)"Violence and propaganda never mix well."

Question 28

What is the first step in consolidating power after an overthrow of the government?

A)Eliminating any competition from other political parties or factions
B)Takeover of the country's transportation and education systems
C)Control of the country's mass media
D)Control of the military complex
E)Creation of special schools to train party elites

Question 29

The text refers to totalitarian regimes as presenting a contrast between ends and means; describe the ends sought by leaders of totalitarian societies, and compare this to the ways they attempt to bring about these ends. Is it possible for a totalitarian leader to not bring about such a contradiction?

Question 30

The text indicates that Afghanistan under the Taliban is a recent example of a totalitarian regime. In what ways did that regime reflect the characteristics of totalitarianism? What does this tell us about the regime's supporters? Does this bring any insight to the question of why terrorists based in Afghanistan consider the United States an enemy?

Question 31

During the transformation stage of totalitarian development, who is to blame for all the country's problems?

A)Counterrevolutionaries
B)Spies
C)Saboteurs
D)All of the above
E)None of the above

Question 32

Which of the following would NOT be found in the "totalitarian tool box"?

A)Assassination
B)Consolidation of property
C)Sabotage
D)Kidnappings
E)Indiscriminate bombings

Question 33

Why does the text refer to totalitarian regimes as false utopias?

Question 34

What sort of project was Mao's Great Leap Forward? What was it meant to accomplish, and how was it implemented? How does this vision fit into Mao's overall views and goals for society? What do these sorts of projects say about the leaders who undertake them?

Question 35

Under Hitler, Germany established new government positions to control _____ .

A)music
B)broadcasting
C)press
D)all of the above
E)none of the above

Question 36

The Great Leap Forward was

A)an attempt by Mao to encourage education and literacy among the Chinese peasants as a prelude to economic development.
B)the final battle of the Chinese civil war.
C)the communist program of land reform initiated following the revolution.
D)a mass campaign to collectivize China's surplus labor force and produce spectacular economic growth.
E)characterized by show trials in which party leaders were publicly tried.

Question 37

Which "totalitarian imitator" was the most radical in his treatment of his own people?

A)Colonel Mengistu
B)Pol Pot
C)Kim Jong Il
D)Ayatollah Khomeini
E)None of the above

Question 38

Which is NOT a characteristic of totalitarianism in the transformation stage?

A)Secret police
B)Military control of the party
C)Central control over the economy
D)A monopoly over all media
E)None of the above

Question 39

What nation is widely known as the "Hermit Kingdom"?

A)China
B)North Korea
C)Somalia
D)Iran
E)Ethiopia

Question 40

Who were the people eliminated by Stalin because they resisted his drive to establish collective farms under state control?

A)Kulaks
B)Bolsheviks
C)Mensheviks
D)Collectivists
E)Both A and C

Question 41

What did Hitler, Mao, and Stalin believe about human nature? When we look at the methods, results, and levels of societal cooperation involved in the attempts undertaken to re-invent human nature in Nazi Germany, Communist China, and the Soviet Union, what do we learn about human nature?