Overview
A comparative exploration of attempts to create totalitarian regimes between 1922 and 1945 in Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and elsewhere.
Between World War I and World War II, several major European nations, under the leadership of men such as Mussolini, Stalin and Hitler, shunned democracy to open new historic paths towards "totalitarianism" - the ideal of state control over all aspects of citizens' lives. This paper examines the pre-history and history of the principal regimes that aspired to totalitarian rule, as well as historical interpretations of their emergence and demise.
About this paper
| Paper title | Totalitarian Regimes: Europe 1922-1945 |
|---|---|
| Subject | History |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Semester 2 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) | $981.75 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- One 100-level HIST paper or 54 points
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Notes
- May not be credited together with HIST231 passed in 2004.
- Contact
Professor Mark Seymour - mark.seymour@otago.ac.nz
- More information link
- Teaching staff
Coordinator and Lecturer: Professor Mark Seymour
- Textbooks
- Course materials will be made available electronically.
- Course outline
Available via Blackboard.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global perspective, Scholarship, Communication, Critical thinking, Information literacy.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this paper will gain
- Appreciation of the intellectual currents and historical circumstances favouring totalitarian styles of rule
- Understanding of the similarities and differences among historical attempts to create totalitarian regimes
- An understanding of totalitarian regimes as political experiments
- An appreciation of historical responses to systematic human atrocities
- An understanding of the historical fragility of democracy
Timetable
Overview
A comparative exploration of attempts to create totalitarian regimes between 1922 and 1945 in Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and elsewhere.
Between World War I and World War II, several major European nations, under the leadership of men such as Mussolini, Stalin and Hitler, shunned democracy to open new historic paths towards "totalitarianism" - the ideal of state control over all aspects of citizens' lives. This paper examines the pre-history and history of the principal regimes that aspired to totalitarian rule, as well as historical interpretations of their emergence and demise.
About this paper
| Paper title | Totalitarian Regimes: Europe 1922-1945 |
|---|---|
| Subject | History |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Not offered in 2025, expected to be offered in 2026 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for 2025 have not yet been set |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- One 100-level HIST paper or 54 points
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Notes
- May not be credited together with HIST231 passed in 2004.
- Contact
Professor Mark Seymour - mark.seymour@otago.ac.nz
- More information link
- Teaching staff
Coordinator and Lecturer: Professor Mark Seymour
- Textbooks
- Course materials will be made available electronically.
- Course outline
Available via Blackboard.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global perspective, Scholarship, Communication, Critical thinking, Information literacy.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this paper will gain
- Appreciation of the intellectual currents and historical circumstances favouring totalitarian styles of rule
- Understanding of the similarities and differences among historical attempts to create totalitarian regimes
- An understanding of totalitarian regimes as political experiments
- An appreciation of historical responses to systematic human atrocities
- An understanding of the historical fragility of democracy