The Origins of Totalitarianism

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1951

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-4

Part 2, Chapters 5-7

Part 2, Chapters 8-9

Part 3, Chapters 10-13

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

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Themes

Antisemitism, Racism, and Totalitarianism

According to Arendt, racism and antisemitism are ideologies i.e., ideas that provide the foundation for political and economic systems. Racism differs from what she calls “race-thinking” in that race-thinking is a set of opinions. Racism is more dangerous because it has an infectious quality and can be weaponized by totalitarian movements. In a similar way, antisemitism differs from social discrimination or the hatred of Jews; rather, antisemitism seeks to eradicate the Jewish people from the world for political ends. She states that antisemitism is a pre-cursor to totalitarianism, and its connection to totalitarianism has to do with its effectiveness in mobilizing sympathizers. Political antisemitism and social discrimination create a foundation upon which imperialists and totalitarian movements can build.

Racism is first seen as a weapon during the rise of the imperialist age. It became a handy way for white imperialists to justify their actions in the countries they colonized. Imperialists viewed themselves as superior and their colonized subjects as inferior. For example, the Boers perceived themselves to be a chosen people and used their supposed inferiority of African tribes to justify their brutal actions. Arendt suggests that this idea of power and weakness is at the heart of many ideologies, including Darwinism. She suggests that racism and antisemitism create a justifiable basis for violence and terror. She cites Lord Cromer’s means of violent ruling via bureaucracy as an example. By believing that one race is divine or superior to another, imperialists establish a system of stronger vs. weaker on which totalitarianism can be built.

Ultimately, the racism of imperialism paved the way for totalitarian movements. Pan-movements which emphasized racial ideologies became massively popular, and imperialist agendas aimed for total world domination. These elements comprised the perfect recipe for totalitarianism in the first half of the 20th century. Both Hitler and Stalin found racism and antisemitism to be highly effective in recruiting and motivating the mob and the masses. From the beginning, Hitler made it clear that his aim was to eradicate Jews from the world. Antisemitic and racist propaganda, along with a steady stream of manipulative lies, kept the masses engaged. Racist pseudo-science and eugenics were utilized to support ideological claims. In all cases, racism was the perfect excuse to reign with terror and violence because only certain people were deemed as fully human and worthy of moral consideration. This created a space in which continual movement and expansion could take place. Arendt points to concentration camps at the point at which all these ideologies converge, the ultimate expression of terror, racism, and antisemitism.

The Mob and the Bourgeoisie

Both the mob and the bourgeoisie play important roles in the creation of totalitarianism. Arendt describes the mob as being from all classes. Rather than associating with any one party, the mob fights for the “strong man” or “the great leader” (107). She defines the mob as having an aversion for morality and a desire for creating its own morality through power. Imperialistic agendas which perpetuated the racist ideas of superiority and inferiority were inspirational to the mob. Racism allowed a group which always seemed to be on the fringes of society to view itself as better than entire classes of people.

According to Arendt, the mob needs the bourgeoisie to thrive, and the bourgeoisie needs the mob to enact its goals. The capital class, the bourgeoisie has a singular aim of growing wealth. When the bourgeoisie found that the nationalistic laws and political structure of the nation-state limited their ability to grow their wealth, they began to look outside their country’s borders. Conquering groups of people allowed them to operate outside the confines of law and to apply whatever means necessary to improve their profit margin. The bourgeoisie found imperialism to be an effective means of accomplishing this goal. The only way to guarantee the continued growth of capital was through power, and that power had to be exerted and maintained through violence. The mob proved useful in enacting this power. Arendt suggests that many of the Nazi elite came up through the imperialist world in which they saw, firsthand, how operating outside the lines of law and morality could advance an agenda.

Both the mob and the bourgeoisie create the foundation of totalitarianism. The mob is necessary for enforcing and enacting the agenda of the totalitarian movement, and the bourgeoisie pave the way for justifying violence and domination for capital gains. Where there is wealth, there is power, and power is at the heart of the totalitarian movement. Arendt argues that “power left to itself can achieve nothing but more power, and violence administered for power’s (and not for law’s) sake turns into a destructive principle that will not stop until there is nothing left to violate” (137). The only conclusion to the cycle of power and wealth is totalitarianism, a culmination of an unchecked desire for power.

How Loneliness Leads to Totalitarianism

In Chapter 13, Arendt seeks to answer the question as to what would cause a group of people to succumb to the influence of a totalitarian movement. Everything in Arendt’s book provides a map toward answering this question. She explores the roots of racism and antisemitism, the rise of imperialism, and the ways in which totalitarian movements control and dominate people. All these ideas, however, are dependent upon the willingness of the masses to consume and concede to totalitarian agendas. Arendt argues that isolation serves as a means by which terror can be utilized effectively for totalitarian movements. Isolating people precludes the formation and engagement of community. Arendt declares that the importance of the right to act and the right to community are often overlooked. Ultimately, it is a byproduct of isolation—loneliness—that causes people to succumb to the influence of a totalitarian movement.

In Chapter 10, Arendt writes: “The chief characteristic of the mass man is not brutality and backwardness, but his isolation and lack of normal social relationships” (317). Totalitarian movements create a cycle of loneliness. It is because of loneliness that people are attracted to the movement, but the byproduct of the unified aim of totalitarianism through terror leaves the individual further isolated and, therefore, lonely.

Totalitarian governments attack public life via politics, but they exert control over the private life as well. By isolating people to exert control and establish a sense of terror, totalitarian governments destroy the sense of self, especially the sense of self through community. By absorbing into the collective whole, people lose history, recognition, and place, which then causes “uprootedness” (475). Arendt argues that human existence is based upon the need to be with other humans, a project undermined by totalitarianism.

This speaks to the heart of what Arendt suggests is the right to community. Arendt asserts that the right to community creates a space in which individuals may act, think, and hold opinions. She explains that action is only powerful if it is visible, and action is only visible in an organized community. Totalitarian movements seek to remove the right to community and impose isolation and loneliness upon the masses. Loneliness becomes an epidemic that renders people weak, and that makes them ripe for dangerous ideologies which create a false sense of belonging.