History 1404E Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Ultimate Power, Okhrana, Church Army
Document Summary
Totalitarianism is not only hell, but also the dream of paradise . Milan kundera, the book of laughter and forgetting. Classical totalitarianism theory says that fascism and communism are the same, there is no difference. Two sides of the same coin, different versions. But we have somehow declared one better or worse than the other. Meant to say they are different and dangerous. Hard to come up with a de nition of totalitarianism, because certain characteristics such as elections shared with democratic systems. Often go by we"ll know it, when we see it . In ancient rome, dictators would be put into power when there was a national emergency and when emergency was over, the power would go back to normal. De nition: a political regime in which democracy, liberal individual rights and genuine parliamentary rule are absent . Is further divided into totalitarianism and authoritarian. Secret police and the use of terror.
