History and its woes: How Stalin and Hitler enabled each other’s crimes (Review of "Bloodlands")

The Economist ^ | 10/14/2010 | Unattributed

[mojito]

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. By Timothy Snyder. Basic Books; 524 pages.

IN THE middle of the 20th century Europe’s two totalitarian empires, Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union, killed 14m non-combatants, in peacetime and in war. The who, why, when, where and how of these mass murders is the subject of a gripping and comprehensive new book by Timothy Snyder of Yale University.

The term coined in the book’s title encapsulates the thesis. The “bloodlands” are the stretch of territory from the Baltic to the Black Sea where Europe’s most murderous regimes did their most murderous work. The bloodlands were caught between two fiendish projects: Adolf Hitler’s ideas of racial supremacy and eastern expansion, and the Soviet Union’s desire to remake society according to the communist template. That meant shooting, starving and gassing those who didn’t fit in. Just as Stalin blamed the peasants for the failure of collectivisation, Hitler blamed the Jews for his military failures in the east. As Mr Snyder argues, “Hitler and Stalin thus shared a certain politics of tyranny: they brought about catastrophes, blamed the enemy of their choice, and then used the death of millions to make the case that their policies were necessary or desirable. Each of them had a transformative Utopia, a group to be blamed when its realisation proved impossible, and then a policy of mass murder that could be proclaimed as a kind of ersatz victory.”

[mojito]

I've read an excerpt of this book, and it was excellent.

I'm looking forward to reading the entire thing, if one can look forward to a reading up on such a grim subject.

[swarthyguy]

If you wish to read a gripping historical thriller on this theme, try Dark Star by Alan Furst.

On my list after I read this review.

[mojito]

Thanks for the recommendation!

[Gen. Burkhalter]

Hitler and Stalin had much in common. Both had alcholic fathers who beat them senseless. Both had religious mothers who tried to protect them. Both encouraged their sons to enter the priesthood. Too bad neither one followed their mother’s advice. Millions of lives would have been spared.

[sauropod]

bflr

[mojito]

From the book:

“As Stalin interpreted the disaster of collectivization in the last weeks of 1932, he achieved a new height of ideological daring. The famine in Ukraine, whose existence he had admitted earlier, when it was far less severe, was now a “fairy tale,” a slanderous rumor spread by enemies. Stalin had developed an interesting new theory: that resistance to socialism increases as its successes mount, because its foes resist with greater desperation as they contemplate their final defeat...”

My my. These rationals sound shockingly familiar.

[tired1]

One question is: who financed them?

[preacher]

“One question is: who financed them?”

Some of the same ones as:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/26vm56d

[STD]

One Guess

[BruceDeitrickPrice]

Don’t forget Treaty of Rapallo. Hitler’s gold propped up Russia’s stupid economy. Stalin’s raw materials made Hitler’s war machine possible. Which worked quite well until June 22, 1941.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Rapallo,_1922

[spankalib]

“transformative Utopia” sounds familiar too, doesn’t it?
Has a ring to it.

I’m shocked, nay! I’m stuned!

[SunkenCiv]

· GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach · · join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
	Antiquity Journal  & archive  Archaeologica  Archaeology  Archaeology Channel  BAR  Bronze Age Forum  Discover  Dogpile  Eurekalert  Google  LiveScience  Mirabilis.ca  Nat Geographic  PhysOrg  Science Daily  Science News  Texas AM  Yahoo  Excerpt, or Link only?	Thanks mojito. Just as Stalin blamed the peasants for the failure of collectivisation, Hitler blamed the Jews for his military failures in the east. As Mr Snyder argues, "Hitler and Stalin thus shared a certain politics of tyranny: they brought about catastrophes, blamed the enemy of their choice, and then used the death of millions to make the case that their policies were necessary or desirable. Each of them had a transformative Utopia, a group to be blamed when its realisation proved impossible, and then a policy of mass murder that could be proclaimed as a kind of ersatz victory." Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
· History topic · history keyword · archaeology keyword · paleontology keyword · · Science topic · science keyword · Books/Literature topic · pages keyword ·