Life under a Totalitarian State

Two days before the simulation

Step One: The teacher will select three students to play the role of Stalin, Mussolini
and Hitler. The teacher will keep the three students after class to inform them of
their new roles and to instruct them of their responsibilities for the day of the
simulation. Their responsibility is to sit down on their three separate couches and
eat snacks.
Step Two: The teacher gives Hitler a swastika badge he is to wear on the day of
the simulation. The teacher gives Mussolini a fasces badge he is to wear on the
day of the simulation. The teacher gives Stalin a hammer and hoe badge he is to
wear on the day of the simulation.
Step Three: The teacher explains to the three students who the secret police and
the minister of propaganda were and their jobs in a totalitarian state. The teacher
then instructs the three dictators to choose the students from the class who they
want to play the role of secret police and the minister of propaganda. Each
dictator can choose only one secret police officer and one minister of propaganda.
So there will be a total of three dictators, three secret police officers and three
ministers of propaganda.

The day before the simulation

Step One: The teacher will keep the three dictators and the chosen secret police
officers and ministers of propaganda after class.
Step Two: The teacher quickly reminds the three dictators that they are to sit
down and eat snacks during the simulation.
Step Three: The teacher explains the roles of the secret police and minister of
propaganda to the chosen students.
The responsibility of the minister of propaganda is to judge the peoples (which is
the rest of the class) propaganda and to keep them on task. The people are going to
be making posters of their leader, singing songs about their leader, and writing
newspaper articles and books about the leader. The minister of propaganda should
make sure that the tasks reflect the dictator in a positive way. The minister of
propaganda for Mussolini is to wear a plain black shirt on the day of the simulation.
The minister of propaganda for Hitler is to wear a plain brown shirt on the day of the
simulation. The minister of propaganda for Stalin is to wear a plain red shirt on the
day of the simulation. If the students dont have the necessary shirts then the
teacher will provide it for them.

The responsibility of the secret police is to look out for disloyal citizens (the other
people in the class) who are not doing their assigned tasks. If they are disobeying
orders from the minister of propaganda or not doing the assigned task at all then
they are to shoot water at them with a water gun and require them to spend the
rest of the day writing a two page paper on the dictator that they were disloyal to.
The teacher will give the secret police officers plastic police badges that they are to
wear on the day of the simulation.

The Tasks
Mussolini, Stalin and Hitler: NOTHING!!! Sit down on the sofa and do nothing or
eat snacks!
Secret Police: Look out for disloyal citizens. Shoot citizens (with a water gun) who
are not completing their tasks, or shoot citizens ordered by the minister of
propaganda.
Minister of propaganda: Keep the people on task and make sure they are
producing positive propaganda about the dictator.
The people: Do the assigned tasks to the liking of the minister of propaganda or
DIE! (Dying means writing an essay)

Directions
When the class starts the teacher will inform the students that they will be doing a
simulation on the life under a totalitarian state. After the warm-up, the teacher will
separate the class into three groups of eight students. Each group is now under the
rule of a totalitarian dictator. The teacher will have three strips of paper in a hat.
Each strip of paper has the form of propaganda that the groups of students have to
perform.
The three forms of propaganda are:
Singing: The students have to sing their assigned dictators song, and they have to
sing it in unison. The minister of propaganda will be judging their singing according
to his liking. If they catch somebody not singing or not singing in tune with the rest
of the people then they call a secret police officer to shoot the disloyal citizen (with
a water gun) and make them write a two page essay on the assigned dictator.
Posters: The students have to make posters about their assigned dictator. The
teacher will have several copies of all three dictators faces. The students are to

make posters portraying their assigned leader in a positive light. The students can
draw on the poster or use construction paper and scissors to creatively make
satisfactory poster. If the minister of propaganda does not like the poster or catches
someone not doing the poster he will call the secret police to shoot the disloyal
citizen (with a water gun) and make them write a two page essay on the assigned
dictator.
Writing: The students are to write a newspaper article or a book about their
assigned dictator. The writing should portray the dictator in a positive way. The
minister of propaganda will read these as they write along. If the minister of
propaganda does not like the writing or catches someone not doing the poster he
will call the secret police to shoot the disloyal citizen (with a water gun) and make
them write a two page essay on the assigned dictator.
The students are to perform these tasks for ten minutes each and then switch tasks
counter clockwise with another group. The students who have survived the task
after ten minutes will first give their snacks that they were supposed to bring to
their assigned dictator, before they move on to the next task.
After the students performed the three tasks in thirty minutes, then the remaining
students will have an election to try to remove Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini from
power. They will cast their vote for the next leader on a piece of paper and throw it
into a box. The teacher will draw three names from the box to be the three next
leaders. However, the box will have a secret compartment and the next three
leaders will be the same three leaders.

Questions
After the simulation the students will answer the following questions on a separate
sheet of paper:
1. How did it feel living in a totalitarian state?
2. What were the results or consequences of your actions?
3. Why did you make the decision to obey or to disobey the minister of
propaganda?
4. How did it feel to be forced to sing, write, and make what the dictator said?
5. How did it feel knowing that you couldnt disobey orders or else you would be
punished?
6. How did it feel to say, write and create positive things about a guy who was
sitting down eating snacks?
7. How did it feel after knowing that the election to get these dictators out was
rigged?
8. Apply your knowledge of these totalitarian practices by explaining what role
you wouldve preferred to play in the game.
9. Analyze how you think that these dictators managed to get so much support
in their respective countries.

10.Synthesize how all these different productions: music, art and literature
contributed to state propaganda?
11.Evaluate how peoples freedom under totalitarianism was different than the
freedoms you enjoy now in the U.S.