Dictatorships - Investigate and Research

September 22, 2020

Dictatorships - Investigate and Research

The 20^th century was a time when many dictatorships emerged. Nations were struggling to rebuild after the impact of WWI, people were unemployed, citizens were dissatisfied, and economies were unstable. Out of this uncertainty, emerged several authoritarian dictatorships.

The goal of our research is to investigate what daily life was like for citizens under authoritarian rule. You are going to find through your research that people often have mixed feelings about dictators, and there are always some positives accomplished. Not everyone believes that democracy is the ‘best’ form of government. However, it is clear that human rights suffer immensely under authoritarian leaders, and this affects the quality of a citizens’ daily life.

Your job is to investigate what life was like, and to provide evidence of the tactics used by your leader to maintain power.

Dictatorships Today: Case Study - North Korea

Task 1. Watch the following video clip - "North Korea's Dangerous Border - the DMZ"

On your sheet of paper, record three interesting facts/questions from the video

Task 2. Prison Camps

One of the ways that the North Korean government is able to control citizens is through their prison camp system. In this way, they are able to create fear. The government does not admit that they exist, but we have many photographs, and also testimony of people that have escaped North Korea and talked about them.

Look at pictures of the prison camps here:

Aerial Images of North Korea's prison camps

Here is another website with pictures and details about the prison camps. Scroll through the article.

Camp 25 and 15 - North Korea

If you feel comfortable, watch this video where survivors talk about life in the camps. Warning! Very graphic and disturbing content

Life in the Camps: North Korea

Dictatorships in History - Case study - Hitler, Stalin & Mussolini

Your job is to take a look at different dictators that rose to power in the early 1920s/1930s. Let's explore them here. Take a look, and pay attention to interesting details and facts. YOU DON'T HAVE TO WATCH ALL THE VIDEOS AND READ ALL THE ARTICLES.