Hannah Arendt - The Orgins of Totalitarianism

Below are the key points or themes I thought were most important in “The Origins of Totalitarianism”:

Hannah Arendt has a clear concept of totalitarianism – a regime in which there is no form of plurality and is strongly teleological. The fickle nature of the masses means that a totalitarian government can so easily be forgotten, but its use of terror to control the masses means it is unlikely to be over-turned.

Hannah Arendt:
- Born in 1906 into a German-Jewish family
- Forced to leave Germany in 1933
- The Origins of Totalitarianism, published in 1951, is a study of fascist regimes
- The Human Condition, published in 1958, studied the vita active (labour, work, action)

The Origins of Totalitarianism
- Nazism and Stalinism
- Covers the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe
- Colonist Imperialism led to racism
- Nation state
- The transformation of classes into masses in a political manner
- The roots of modern imperialism can be traced to colonisation
- Propaganda
- The role of terror

Part One: Anti-Semitism
- An outrage to common sense
- Anti-Semitism does not derive simply from Nationalism and Nazism is an example of this
- “neither oppression or exploitation as such is ever the main cause for resentment, wealth without visible function is much more intolerable because nobody can understand why it should be tolerated”
- Jews are always the scapegoat – gives them perfect innocence as the victim
- Modern terror – used to control the masses
- Scapegoat theory – the victim has done nothing to deserve persecution but can’t change their fate
- Anti-Semitism is an eternal problem i.e. a natural hatred that has outbursts and lulls

The Dreyfus Affair:
- 1894 Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of espionage for Germany
- Bernanos: “The Dreyfus Affair already belongs to that tragic era which certainly was not ended by the last war. The affair reveals the same inhuman character, preserving amid the welter of unbridled passions and the flames of hate an inconceivably cold and callous heart.”
- Branding a Jew as a traitor… was it planted or simply a judicial mistake?
- “The mod is primarily a group in which the residue of all classes are represented”
- Clemenceau was convinced that the infringement of the rights of one man was the infringement of the rights of all

Totalitarianism
- the nation-state (as defined by google definitions) is self-identified as deriving its political legitimacy as serving as a sovereign entity.
- Arendt asserts that the nation state is contaminated by imperialism – which is the first stage in the political rule of the bourgeoisie
- “Any Nazi or Bolshevik will do anything to remain a member of the group”… the metaphor of a soldier helping at his own trial and ultimately signing his own death sentence = the power of totalitarianism
- Its aim was to succeed in organising the masses