The Origins of Totalitarianism

The Origins of Totalitarianism (German Elemente und Ursprünge totaler Herrschaft, i.e. Elements and origins of totalitarian rule) is a book byHannah 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.^[1] 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 Blücher.

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(1853–1855) 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 anationalist authoritarian movement, Nazism and Stalinism were totalitarian movements that sought to eliminate all restraints upon the power of the State.

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 ofclasses 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 1958 suggests that individual isolation and loneliness are preconditions for totalitariandomination.