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IB History: Thematic study: Authoritarian rule (from 1750 CE)

Emergence, consolidation, maintenance, aims and results. 3 subtopics, 13 key terms.

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In this topic: 5.1 · 5.2 · 5.3

5.1Emergence of authoritarian states

Key terms

Authoritarian state: A state where power is concentrated and political freedoms are restricted.
Totalitarian: Seeking total control over public and private life.
Single-party state: Only one party is allowed to rule.
Conditions for emergence: Crisis, weak democracy, war, economic collapse, social division.

The thematic study Authoritarian rule runs from 1750 CE.

The full notes, worked example, interactive diagram and check questions for this subtopic are in the app.

Exam tip: Distinguish conditions (why possible) from methods (how achieved): it structures emergence essays.

5.2Consolidation and maintenance of power

Key terms

Propaganda: Information used to promote a political cause.
Terror: Using fear and violence to control the population.
Cult of personality: Glorification of the leader.
Purge: Removal of opponents, often violently.
Enabling Act: 1933 law allowing Hitler to pass laws without the Reichstag.

Legal methods: Enabling Act (March 1933), constitutions, emergency decrees.

The full notes, worked example and check questions for this subtopic are in the app.

Exam tip: Comparison essays: write point by point (both leaders in each paragraph), never one leader then the other.

5.3Aims and results of policies

Key terms

Five-Year Plan: Soviet central plans for industry, first launched in 1928.
Collectivisation: Merging private farms into state-controlled collectives.
Great Leap Forward: Mao's 1958–62 campaign for rapid industrialisation, causing a catastrophic famine.
Autarky: Economic self-sufficiency.

Economic: Soviet Five-Year Plans (rapid heavy industry, huge human cost); collectivisation and the 1932–33 famine; the Great Leap Forward (famine with tens of millions of deaths); Nazi rearmament and autarky.

The full notes, worked example and check questions for this subtopic are in the app.

Exam tip: “Success” depends on whose aims and whose perspective: say so explicitly.

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