1. How did the Soviet leaders view the position of Russia in the world? What were their aims and ambitions? How did their goals compare with those of other states?
2. How do you explain the fact that the Communist regime was far more ruthless in its methods of governments than the tsarist regime? Which regime made Russian more powerful? Why?
3. What do you think of the Leninist view that what was accomplished by voluntary cooperation in the West had t be achieved by compulsion in Russia? How do you account for the high degree of voluntary cooperation in American society? Why was it lacking in Russia?
4. What motivated Stalin to make terror a government policy? What motivated Communist bureaucrats to participate in Stalin's inhumanities?
5. How did fascist principles "stand for the sheer, categorical, definitive antithesis to the world of democracy . . . to the world which still abides by the fundamental principles laid down in 1789"?
6. Why did some Italians support Mussolini? In what ways was Mussolini less effective than Hitler in establishing a totalitarian state?
7. How was Hitler's outlook shaped by his experiences in Vienna?
8. What was the significance of the Munich putsch of 1923?
9. What were Hitler's attitudes toward democracy, the masses, war, the Jews, and propaganda?
10. What made Hitler's views attractive to Germans?
11. How was Hitler able to gain power? How did the Nazis extend their control over Germany?
12. In what ways did Nazism conflict with the core values of Christianity? What was the general policy of the Nazis toward the churches? Why did the German churches generally fail to take a stand against the Nazi regime?
13. What was the purpose of the giant rallies?
14. By 1939, most Germans were enthusiastic about the Nazi regime. Explain this statement.
15. What lessons might democratic societies draw from the experience of fascist totalitarianism?
16. After World War I, in country after country, parliamentary democracy collapsed and authoritarian leaders came to power. Explain.
17. How did the United States, Britain, and France try to cope with the Great Depression?