Midterm Essay
History
Since the 1700’s political, economic and intellectual changes have radically altered the history of the world. They have had a major impact on the production and distribution of goods, the scale of warfare, and the rise and fall of the totalitarian dictators. The production and distribution of goods affected people’s lives completely. New innovations and new inventions spurred the industrial growth. The scale of warfare was resulted from Militarism, the Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism; also from the new technology and weapons. The rise of totalitarian dictators was one of the major changes that altered the history of the world. Each of the impacts has affected the history of the world significantly. …show more content…
Benito Mussolini was given power to take charge of the government because he was the best hope for the dynasty at the time for Italy. As soon as he was the leader, he abolished democracy and outlawed all political parties except the Fascists. He maintained power by creating the secret police, imposed censorship and travel restrictions, and kept close control of the economy. Joseph Stalin became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1929 because they were experiencing multiple revolutions and a civil war. He became a communist dictator; private farms were eliminated in favor of collective farms, millions of peasants were killed on his order, and he secured the Soviet control of the countryside. He maintained power by using interrogation and murder to intimidate his enemies and the general public. Adolf Hitler was a politician who volunteered for the German Army in World War I and was twice awarded the Iron Cross, a medal for bravery. The German brand of fascism was known as Nazism, it was supported by people in the middle and lower classes. Soon Hitler’s success as an organizer and speaker led him to be the leader of the Nazi party. Very quickly the Nazi’s became the largest political party. Hitler acted quickly to strengthen his position; his methods of control were fear and intimidation. He banned unions and other political parties, conducted secret trials, and persecuted enemies. He made anti-Semitism an official policy (blamed Jews for all of Germany’s problems) and made clear the Germans were the master race, “Aryans”. The rise of totalitarian dictators was one of the supreme changes in the history of the world since the