The Origins of Totalitarianism

1
The Origins of Totalitarianism
The Origins of Totalitarianism
The 1951 edition
Author Hannah Arendt
Language English
Subject Nazism, Communism, Totalitarianism
Genre non-fiction
Publisher Schocken Books
Mediatype Hardcover
Pages 704
ISBN ISBN 978-0-8052-4225--6
OCLC
52814049
[1]
Dewey Decimal
320.53 22
LCClass JC480 .A74 2004
The Origins of Totalitarianism (German Elemente und Ursprnge totaler Herrschaft, i.e. Elements and origins of
totalitarian rule) is a book by Hannah Arendt which describes and analyzes the two major totalitarian movements of
the 20th century, Nazism and Stalinism. Its original title was to have been 'The Burden of Our Times', and it was
published as The Burden of Our Time [sic] in Britain in 1951.
[2]
It was recognized upon its 1951 publication as the
comprehensive account of its subject and was later hailed as a classic by the Times Literary Supplement.
This book continues to be one of the definitive philosophical analyses of totalitarianism, at least in its 20th century
form. Arendt dedicated the book to her husband Heinrich Blcher.
History
The book describes the rise of antisemitism in central and western Europe in the early and middle 19th century and
continues with an examination of the New Imperialism period from 1884 to the outbreak of World War I. Although
Arthur de Gobineau's An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races (18531855) constitutes the first elaboration
of "biological racism", as opposed to Henri de Boulainvilliers' anti-patriotic and anti-nationalist racism, Hannah
Arendt traces the emergence of modern racism as an ideology to the Boers', starting in particular during the Great
Trek in the first half of the 19th century, and qualifies it as an "ideological weapon for imperialism".
Along with bureaucracy, which was experimented with in Egypt by Lord Cromer, Arendt says that racism was the
main trait of colonialist imperialism, itself characterized by its unlimited expansion (as illustrated by Cecil Rhodes).
This unlimited expansion necessarily opposed itself and was hostile to the territorially delimited nation-state. Arendt
traces the roots of modern imperialism to the accumulation of excess capital in European nation-states during the
19th century. This capital required overseas investments outside of Europe to be productive and political control had
to be expanded overseas to protect the investments. She then examines "continental imperialism" (pan-Germanism
and pan-Slavism) and the emergence of "movements" substituting themselves to the political parties. These
movements are hostile to the state and antiparliamentarist and gradually institutionalize anti-Semitism and other
kinds of racism. Arendt concludes that while Italian fascism was a nationalist authoritarian movement, Nazism and
Communism were totalitarian movements that sought to eliminate all restraints upon the power of the State.
The Origins of Totalitarianism
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Final section
The book's final section is devoted to describing the mechanics of totalitarian movements, focusing on Nazi
Germany and Communist Russia. Here, Arendt discusses the transformation of classes into masses, the role of
propaganda in dealing with the non-totalitarian world, and the use of terror, essential to this form of government.
Totalitarian movements are fundamentally different from autocratic regimes, says Arendt, insofar as autocratic
regimes seek only to gain absolute political power and to outlaw opposition, while totalitarian regimes seek to
dominate every aspect of everyone's life as a prelude to world domination. Arendt discusses the use of front
organizations, fake governmental agencies, and esoteric doctrines as a means of concealing the radical nature of
totalitarian aims from the non-totalitarian world. A final section added to the second edition of the book in 1958
suggests that individual isolation and loneliness are preconditions for totalitarian domination.
Reception
Le Monde placed the book among the 100 best books of any kind of the 20th century, while the National Review
ranked it #15 on its list of the 100 best non-fiction books of the century.
[3]
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute listed
it among the 50 best non-fiction books of the century.
[4]
The book made a major impact on Norman Podhoretz, who
compared the pleasure of reading it to that of reading a great poem or novel.
The book has also attracted criticism. The most comprehensive may have been in the Times Literary Supplement in
2009 by University of Chicago professor Bernard Wasserstein. Wasserstein cited Arendt's systematic internalization
of the various anti-Semitic and Nazi sources and books she was familiar with, which led to the use of many of these
sources as authorities in the book.
References
[1] http:/ / www. worldcat.org/ oclc/ 52814049
[2] British Library (http:/ / explore. bl.uk/ primo_library/ libweb/ action/ search. do?dscnt=0& vl(10130439UI0)=any& scp.
scps=scope:(BLCONTENT)& tab=local_tab& dstmp=1340162030391& srt=rank& mode=Advanced& vl(1UIStartWith1)=contains&
indx=1& tb=t& vl(41497491UI2)=any& vl(freeText0)=BLL01000107370& vid=BLVU1& fn=search& vl(freeText2)=& title1=1& frbg=&
vl(10130438UI1)=creator& ct=search& vl(1UIStartWith2)=contains& dum=true& vl(1UIStartWith0)=contains&
vl(46690061UI3)=all_items& Submit=Search& vl(freeText1)=) ID BLL01000107370.
[3] The 100 Best Non-fiction Books of the Century (http:/ / old. nationalreview. com/ 100best/ 100_books. html), National Review
[4] Intercollegiate Studies Institute's "50 Best Books of the 20th Century" (Non-fiction) (http:/ / www. listsofbests. com/ list/ 91/ )
External links
The Origins of Totalitarianism (https:/ / archive. org/ details/ originsoftotalit00aren)
Early typescript (http:/ / memory. loc. gov/ cgi-bin/ ampage?collId=mharendt& fileName=05/ 051930/
051930page. db& recNum=0)
Article Sources and Contributors
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Article Sources and Contributors
The Origins of Totalitarianism Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=613456733 Contributors: AaronSw, Alexliamw, Altenmann, Andreasmperu, Annexia, Bellerophon5685,
Bender235, Bobfrombrockley, ChrisG, Darrelljon, Ed Poor, Edcolins, Ewa5050, Fyrael, GabrielF, Gardar Rurak, George100, Good Olfactory, Gregbard, Hbackman, Hgilbert, Hmains,
IjonTichyIjonTichy, John, Kravietz, Lapaz, Makyen, Manteca1, Mdann52, Mikeman67, Moe Epsilon, Mschlindwein, NeoChrono Ryu, Ot, Polisher of Cobwebs, Quadell, R'n'B, Ramcy,
Returnofunclefester, Ryanjo, Sandover, SimonP, Skier Dude, Smee, Stefanomione, TexasDawg, Twerges, Varlaam, Viator slovenicus, Vision Thing, WPjcm, WhisperToMe, Xezbeth, Yann,
DA - DP, 40 anonymous edits
License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
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