By 1939, only two major states (France and Great Britain) and a number of minor ones remained Democratic. Dictatorship was not new in any way, but the modern totalitarian state was. The totalitarian regimes pushed the power of the central state far beyond what it had been in the past. A totalitarian state was a government that had a goal of controlling not only the political side of life but the economic, social, intellectual, and cultural lives of its citizens as well. Two prominent totalitarian regimes were Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. These regimes were alike politically because of their dictatorships and the goal of controlling all aspects of their citizen’s lives. They were different militarily because police activities in Italy were never as repressive, efficient, or savage as those in Nazi Germany. They were also different socially because Italy was ethnically united, while Nazi Germany was Anti-semitic and focused on Aryanism. Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy were politically similar because both countries experienced the collapse of parliamentary democracy and its replacement by largely personal dictatorships. In Italy, The new parliament elected November 1919 was unable to govern Italy. The three major parties couldn’t form an effective government coalition and socialists spoke in theory of the need for a revolution. Benito Mussolini …show more content…
Under Mussolini’s control, Italy was ethnically united and had no major preference of race or religion. Mussolini and Fascists tried to mold Italians into a single-minded community. On the other hand, in Germany at the core of Hitler’s ideas was racism, especially his anti-Semitism (hostility towards Jews). His hatred of the Jews lasted to the end of his life. He banned Jews from all public buildings and prohibited them from owning, managing, or working in any retail