1929
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The start of the Great Depression
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The start of collectivization in the USSR
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In both cases: heavy statist response to the failures of the market economy
The rise of Stalin : General Secretary since 1922, concentration of power in the 1920s, the growth of personality cult in the 1930s
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The rise of Hitler : leadership of the Nazis since
1923, increasing political influence in the 1920s, appointment as Reichskanzler in 1933

2 forms of totalitarianism: communist and fascist
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Expansion of state power over society and economy
Abolition of political pluralism; suppression of civil society
A oneparty system, with “The Party” functioning as the core institution of the state
Concentration of power in the hands of “The Leader”; cult of his personality
A massive secret police apparatus
Tight control of information; intensive use of mass media and culture for political indoctrination
Militarization of economy and society
A mobilized society

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Germany:
 to prevent a revolution , save capitalism
 to overcome the Depression
 to reverse the results of WWI
 private property, market institutions remain
 civil society is not completely suppressed
USSR:
 to preserve Communist Party rule
 to defend the country from hostile environment
 to achieve rapid modernization
 to foster world revolution
 private property banned, the market is replaced by the administrative command system
 civil society is fully suppressed

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State-society relations in flux; a stable model not yet found
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Society developing rapidly, the state needs to evolve accordingly
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The ruling party feeling societal pressures
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Ideological and power struggles in the Party: the issue of restoration of capitalism
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Conflicts between the market economy and the state
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Divisions in society: the city vs. the country, rich vs. poor, ethnopolitics

2 basic options facing the leadership in the late
1920s:
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EVOLUTIONARY: To continue NEP and learn to govern in a framework of civil peace and mixed economy
OR:
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REVOLUTIONARY: To resolve the existing contradictions by force: foster a new civil war in the name of rapid development

Why the revolutionary option was chosen
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A technical issue: how much force is needed to manage the mixed economy
Most Communists saw NEP as a return to capitalism; the impact of the Great Depression
Legacy of the Civil War and War Communism
Fear of war – real and imagined
Fear of losing power in a peasant-dominated country
Stalin’s own political interests: defeat potential rivals

The Logic of Stalinism
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1928: the grain procurement crisis: decision to squeeze the peasantry
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1929: the maximalist version of the First Five-Year Plan adopted; forced collectivization starts; Bukharin and his supporters (“The Right Deviationists”) lose power
Disorganization of the economy; peasant unrest and resistance
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Escalation of repressions
“Successes of socialism stimulate the class struggle”
The Party is purged again and again to make it Stalin’s obedient machine
The growing role of secret police (including economic)
Creation of a system of mind control
Full-scale totalitarianism: the omnipotent state