Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler : the age of social catastrophe / Robert Gellately.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gellately, Robert, 1943-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dictatorship--History--21st century.

Dictatorship.

Dictatorship--Case studies.

Lenin, Vladimir Ilʹich, 1870-1924.

Lenin, Vladimir Ilʹich.

Stalin, Joseph, 1878-1953.

Stalin, Joseph.

Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945.

Hitler, Adolf.

History.

Soviet Union--Politics and government--1917-1936.

Soviet Union.

Politics and government.

Soviet Union--Politics and government--1936-1953.

Germany--Politics and government--1933-1945.

Germany.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

xv, 696 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2007.

Summary:

This ambitious book tells the story of the great social and political catastrophe that enveloped Europe between 1914 and 1945--a period of almost continuous upheaval, with two world wars, the Russian Revolution, the Holocaust, and the Third Reich. Historian Gellately argues that these tragedies are inextricably linked and that to consider them as discrete events is to misunderstand their genesis and character. Central to the catastrophe, of course, were Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler, and this book makes use of recently opened sources to explain how these dictators' pursuit of utopian--and dreadfully flawed--ideals led only to dystopian nightmare. Gellately argues that most comparative studies of the Soviet and Nazi dictatorships are undermined by neglecting the key importance of Lenin. Rejecting the myth of the "good" Lenin, the book provides a convincing social-historical account of all three dictatorships.--From publisher description.

Contents:

Note on Russian Spelling and Dates xv

Part 1 Lenin's Communist Dictatorship

1 The First World War and the Russian Revolution 21

2 On the Way to Communist Dictatorship 41

3 Civil Wars in the Soviet Union 62

Part 2 The Rise of German National Socialism

4 Nazism and the Threat of Bolshevism 81

5 First Nazi Attempt to Seize Power 102

6 Hitler Starts Over 117

Part 3 Stalin Triumphs Over Political Rivals

7 Battle for Communist Utopia 131

8 Lenin's Passing, Stalin's Victory 141

9 Stalin's New Initiatives 160

10 Stalin Solidifies His Grip 173

Part 4 Germans Make a Pact with Hitler

11 Nazi Party as Social Movement 185

12 Nazism Exploits Economic Distress 198

13 "All Power" for Hitler 211

Part 5 Stalin's Reign of Terror

14 Fight Against the Countryside 227

15 Terror as Political Practice 240

16 "Mass Operations" 253

17 "Cleansing" the Soviet Elite 267

Part 6 Hitler's War Against Democracy

18 Winning Over the Nation 285

19 Dictatorship by Consent 298

20 Persecution of the Jews in the Prewar Years 315

21 "Cleansing" the German Body Politic 331

Part 7 Stalin and Hitler: Into the Social Catastrophe

22 Rival Visions of World Conquest 345

23 German Racial Persecution Begins in Poland 360

24 Hitler and Western Europe 375

25 The Soviet Response 384

26 The War Spreads 397

Part 8 Hitler's War on "Jewish Bolshevism"

27 War of Extermination as Nazi Crusade 413

28 War Against the Communists: Operation Barbarossa 429

29 War Against the Jews: Death Squads in the East 441

30 The "Final Solution" and Death Camps 452

Part 9 Hitler's Defeat and Stalin's Agenda

31 Greatest Crisis in Stalin's Career 471

32 Between Surrender and Defiance 482

33 Soviets Hold On, Hitler Grows Vicious 498

34 Ethnic Cleansing in Wartime Soviet Union 511

Part 10 Final Struggle

35 From Stalingrad to Berlin 525

36 Stalin Takes the Upper Hand 543

37 End of the Third Reich 560.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 595-670) and index.

ISBN:

9781400040056

1400040051

OCLC:

82287392