Age of Dictators Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany

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People all over the world have always struggled for freedom and democracy. But this struggle is not always a success. In human history, there are periods when countries become authoritarian. Dictatorship in Europe at the beginning of the past century cannot be considered something new, but still, this was a modern form of dictatorship. Only one party existed, and the leader of it was the head of the state. The citizens were committed to regime goals. In these totalitarian countries, mass propaganda spread ideas. These totalitarian governments tried to control all the spheres of life of their citizens, including political, intellectual, social, and cultural. The purpose of this total control was to unite the people for a common goal. The individuals didn’t have practically any freedoms. The best examples of these totalitarian governments are Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany (Gleason, 117).

Propaganda was spread to inspire the people to work hard for the prosperity of the new state. People were made to believe pseudoscientific theories which lead to unpredictable consequences.

In her work Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) Hannah Arendt, a major political thinker, treats the problems of anti-Semitism, racism, and imperialism. In this book, the author comes to the conclusion that the main feature of these regimes is that they strived to dominate every aspect of an individual’s life. And it is considered to be a kind of prelude to the world domination of these regimes. She focuses mainly on Germany because she was more familiar with the subject. In her book, she stresses the wide use of science. What was special about it is that it served mainly as a tool of imposing dictatorship ideas on people (Arendt, 46).

The Nazi race policy was based on the scientific grounds of Darwin’s theory. Hitler was sure that the human gene pool had to be improved by means of selective breeding. So the whole Nazi policy relied upon Darwinism. The main aim was to protect the German ‘superior race’. That meant that any mixing with ‘inferior’ races had to be avoided. The final solution of the problem was the extermination of about six million Jews and approximately four million other representatives of ‘inferior races.

According to Darwin’s theory of evolution superior individuals are more likely to survive, and the ‘weaker ones will gradually die off. The superior individuals will produce new groups which in their turn will become more evolved races (Pauley, 87).

The Nazi party wanted to accept ‘science’ in society. Arians believed that being a ‘superior’ race they could subjugate all the other races.

The “sterilization Law” was invented to explain the importance of getting rid of so-called “genetic defects” from the German gene pool:

Since the National Revolution, public opinion has become increasingly preoccupied with questions of demographic policy and the continuing decline in the birthrate. However, it is not only the decline in population that is a cause for serious concern but equally the increasingly evident genetic composition of our people. Whereas the hereditarily healthy families have for the most part adopted a policy of having only one or two children, countless numbers of inferiors and those suffering from hereditary conditions are reproducing unrestrainedly while their sick and asocial offspring burden the community (Nazi Persecution).

The desire to eliminate mental illnesses from the nation reflected the scientific thinking of the period in Germany. Many people were sterilized against their will or unknowingly. Many Gypsies and some homosexuals were sterilized; they were treated as deviant “social”.

In the other totalitarian country, Soviet Russia, the Stalinist era marked the beginning of a political and social revolution the country had never seen before. Russia followed Marxian socialism. Marxism as a theory was also based on scientific grounds. Marx was convinced that capitalism had replaced feudalism because it was more effective in the sphere of production. Then in its turn, it had to be substituted by communism.

In the nineteenth century in Russia, there were classes of nobles and other classes, which included clergy, peasants, merchants, and Jews. So again we see that some people were treated as superior to others on historical grounds.

In 1920 Russian government had to revive the economy of the country from the devastation. The food production was boosted then, but this lead to the appearance of a new class of kulaks, rich farmers. This was treated as a threat to the regime because it was considered that this new power can transform the country from an agricultural to an industrial one. So a five-year plan was created in order to build up heavy industry. The kulaks were to be liquidated as a class (Westwood, 89).

As for Jews and mentally ill people they were considered to be inferior to the others. It was thought that they didn’t make any worthwhile contribution to the development of the country.

It is interesting how science can serve the purposes of a totalitarian government. This tool can work for good of the people, but in hands of ambitious politicians, it can become an instrument ruining millions of lives.

Works Cited

Arendt, Hannah. The Origin of Totalitarianism. Harvest Books; New edition, 1973.

Gleason, Abbott. Totalitarianism: The Inner History of the Cold War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Nazi Persecution of the Mentally and Physically disabled. U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. 2008. Web.

Pauley, Bruce F. Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini: Totalitarianism in the Twentieth Century. 2nd ed. Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, 2003.

J. N. Endurance and Endeavour: Russian History, 1812-1992. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.

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Age of Dictators Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany

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