Trace the history of the theory of totalitarianism and discuss the degree to which it accurately describes Stalin’s Soviet Union, Mussolini’s Italy, and Hitler’s Germany. Examine whether Japan was also a totalitarian state.

Totalitarianism is a political ideology that seeks total control of all aspects of life by a powerful state.

The origins of totalitarianism can be traced back to 1920s Italy, when Benito Mussolini rose to power and adopted an ideology named "Fascism". Fascism sought total state control in order to advance a particular view for Italy.

Stalin's Soviet Union was a totalitarian communist state because he had control over every aspect of life. The economy was planned, the media was censored, and people could not criticize the state.

Hitler's Germany was a totalitarian state because nazism also sought total state control in order to further Hitler's goals for Germany: territorial expansion, and the extermination of minorities (jews, roma, slavs, homosexuals, the disabled, etc).

Japan was also a totalitarian state until its defeat in the second world war. The Emperor was all powerful, and had total control over national life, and Japan's policy during the era was to colonize most of East Asia in order to expand Japanese influence.

the first historical instance of china engaging in internationalism was during the han dynasty.[1] at the start of the han dynasty, the huns in the north were attacking the frontiers of han and trying to obtain riches. emperor wu of han wanted to gain an alliance with a country called dayuezhi so the two countries could join together and fight against the huns.[2] to obtain this alliance, emperor wu sent zhang qian to the west to establish economic and cultural connections.[2] history records that during the han dynasty there were four primary avenues of contact between china and europe. they included the northern land route, the central land route, the southern sea route, and the far southern sea route.[1] the most famous of these routes is the central land route, or the classical silk road, comprising a network of roads stretching from northwest china to the ports of syria and the black sea, which passed through the oasis of the turkestans and northern persia.[1] the silk road was significant for chinese emperors because it provided dominance over central asia by developing resources and provided new markets for the export of china's most valuable resources.[1]