The triumph of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War was the first great crack in the system of international relations established by the victorious Allies. The presence of a powerful anti-Western Soviet regime not only undermined the liberal values binding the signatories and member states of the Versailles Treaty and the League of Nations, but also helped to stimulate the rise of aggressive fascist dictatorships in Germany and Italy. Consequently, the failure of the Allies to intervene effectively against the Bolsheviks helped pave the way for both World War II and the human catastrophe of Soviet totalitarianism. Stillborn Crusade is a reinterpretation of the causes and consequences of that failure. In sharp contrast with previous researchers, Ilya Somin argues that the West's failure resulted not from constraints limiting the options of policymakers, but from ideological misconceptions, particularly those flowing from the "liberal" and "realist" theories of international politics. The liberal view, based on the right of national self-determination, was espoused by Woodrow Wilson, and David Lloyd George. While unsympathetic to Bolshevism, they remained wedded to preconceived ideas on revolution, intervention, and the efficacy of force. The realists thought that the opposing Whites might constitute a greater threat to Western interests; they discounted the role of ideology in Soviet foreign policy. Against these views, Somin sets the position of Winston Churchill, who repeatedly and unsuccessfully urged decisive action when the Soviet regime was militarily vulnerable. As a consequence of British and American policy failures, the entire course of European and world history was radically altered for the worse. Stillborn Crusade also considers why earlier scholars, most notably George F. Kennan and William Appleman Williams, have ignored the issues raised here, even though they and others have not hesitated to criticize Western leaders for similar errors in other instances, especially in the case of Nazi Germany. Somin links the errors of 1918-20 to broader issues relating to the morality, feasibility, and desirability of Western, especially American, intervention in foreign civil conflicts. As a volume with important lessons for our own time, Stillborn Crusade will be of interest to historians, political scientists, and foreign policy analysts.

The twentieth century has been labelled the 'century of genocide', and according to estimates, more than 250 million civilians were victims of genocide and mass atrocities during this period. This book provides one of the first regional perspectives on mass atrocities in Asia, by exploring the issue through two central themes. Bringing together experts in genocide studies and area specialists, the book looks at the legacy of past genocides and mass atrocities, with case studies on East Timor, Cambodia and Indonesia. It explores the enduring legacies of trauma and societal divisions, the complex and continuing impacts of past mass violence, and the role of transitional justice in the aftermath of mass atrocities in Asia. Understanding these complex legacies is crucial for the region to build a future that acknowledges the past. The book goes on to consider the prospects and challenges for preventing future mass atrocities in Asia, and globally. It discusses both regional and global factors that may impact on preventing future mass atrocities in Asia, and highlights the value of a regional perspective in mass atrocity prevention. Providing a detailed examination of genocide and mass atrocities through the themes of legacies and prevention, the book is an important contribution to Asian Studies and Security Studies.

Both Russia and Turkey were pioneering examples of feminism in the early 20th Century, when the Bolshevik and Republican states embraced an ideology of women's equality. Yet now these countries have drifted towards authoritarianism and the concept of gender is being invoked to reinforce tradition, nationalism and to oppose Western culture. Goekten Dogangun's book explores the relationship between the state and gender equality in Russia and Turkey, covering the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and the Republican Revolution of 1923 and highlighting the very different gender climates that have emerged under the leaderships of Putin and Erdogan. The research is based on analysis of legal documents, statistical data and reports, as well as in-depth interviews with experts, activists and public officials. Dogangun identifies a climate of 'neo-traditionalism' in contemporary Russia and 'neo-conservatism' in contemporary Turkey and examines how Putin and Erdogan's ambitions to ensure political stability, security and legitimacy are achieved by promoting commonly held 'family values', grounded in religion and tradition. The book reveals what it means to be a woman in Turkey and Russia today and covers key topics such as hostility towards feminism, women's employment, domestic violence, motherhood and abortion. Dogangun provides the first comparative study that seeks to understand the escalation of patriarchy and the decline of democracy which is being witnessed across the world.

Dictatorship in South America explores the experiences of Brazilian, Argentine and Chilean experience under military rule. * Presents a single-volume thematic study that explores experiences with dictatorship as well as their social and historical contexts in Latin America * Examines at the ideological and economic crossroads that brought Argentina, Brazil and Chile under the thrall of military dictatorship * Draws on recent historiographical currents from Latin America to read these regimes as radically ideological and inherently unstable * Makes a close reading of the economic trajectory from dependency to development and democratization and neoliberal reform in language that is accessible to general readers * Offers a lively and readable narrative that brings popular perspectives to bear on national histories Selected as a 2014 Outstanding Academic Title by CHOICE

As a twentieth century phenomenon, mass dictatorship developed its own modern socio-political engineering system which sought to achieve the self-mobilization of the masses for radical state projects. In this sense, it shares a similar mobilization mechanism with its close cousin, mass democracy. Mass dictatorship requires the modern platform of the public sphere to spread its clarion call for the masses to realize their lofty utopian visions. Far from being a phenomenon that emerged from pre-modern despotic practices, mass dictatorship reflects the global proliferation of quintessential modernist assumptions about the transformability of the individual and society through collective effort. Mass dictatorship therefore utilizes the utmost modern practices to form totalitarian cohesion and to stage public spectacles in the search for extremist solutions to a society's problems. The contributors examine the phenomenon of mass dictatorship along many different lines of inquiry, both theoretical as well as empirical in disparate locations around the globe including Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Interwar Austria, Imperial Japan, Colonial Korea, Colonial Taiwan, Stalinist Russia, Maoist China, and North Korea.

European Dictatorships 1918-1945 surveys the extraordinary circumstances leading to, and arising from, the transformation of over half of Europe's states to dictatorships between the first and the second world wars. From the notorious dictatorships of Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin to less well-known states and leaders, Stephen J. Lee scrutinizes the experiences of Russia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Central and Eastern European states. This fourth edition has been fully revised and updated throughout. New material for this edition includes: the most recent research on individual dictatorships a new chapter on the experiences of Europe's democracies at the hands of Germany, Italy and Russia an expanded chapter on Spain a new section on dictatorships beyond Europe, exploring the European and indigenous roots of dictatorships in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Extensively illustrated with images, maps, tables and a comparative timeline, and supported by a companion website providing further resources for study (www.routledge.com/cw/lee), European Dictatorships 1918-1945 is a clear, detailed and highly accessible analysis of the tumultuous events of early twentieth-century Europe.

Under the dictatorships of the twentieth century, music never ceased to sound. Even when they did not impose aesthetic standards, these regimes tended to favour certain kinds of art music such as occasional works for commemorations or celebrations, symphonic poems, cantatas and choral settings. In the same way, composers who were more or less ideologically close to the regime wrote pieces of music on their own initiative, which amounted to a support of the political order. This book presents ten studies focusing on music inspired and promoted by regimes such as Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, France under Vichy, the USSR and its satellites, Franco's Spain, Salazar's Portugal, Maoist China, and Latin-American dictatorships. By discussing the musical works themselves, whether they were conceived as ways to provide "music for the people", to personally honour the dictator, or to participate in State commemorations of glorious historical events, the book examines the relationship between the composers and the State. This important volume, therefore, addresses theoretical issues long neglected by both musicologists and historians: What is the relationship between art music and propaganda? How did composers participate in musical life under the control of an authoritarian State? What was specifically political in the works produced in these contexts? How did audiences react to them? Can we speak confidently about "State music"? In this way, Composing for the State: Music in Twentieth Century Dictatorships is an essential contribution to our understanding of musical cultures of the twentieth century, as well as the symbolic policies of dictatorial regimes.

First published in 1986. This is a collection of editorial and articles covering military Marxist regimes in the African locations of the Horn of Africa, Benin, the People's Republic of Congo, Madagascar, and Burkina Faso.

Ideocracies, or ideological dictatorships, such as the "Third Reich", the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China have, much more than any other kinds of autocracy, characterized the history of the 20th century. Despite their undeniable loss of significance, ideocracies have not disappeared from the world in the 21st century. This book explores the functioning of ideocracies and analyses the typical interplay of legitimation, co-optation and repression which autocratic elites use in an attempt to stabilize their rule. In the first part of the book, the contributors discuss the conceptual history of the ideocracy notion. The second part offers case studies pertaining to the Soviet State, Italy, the National Socialist Regime, the German Democratic Republic, the People's Republic of China, North Korea and Cuba. Finally, the third part compares various ideocracies and draws together key themes. Uniting the perspectives of history, philosophy and political science through the use of case studies and systematic comparisons, this book offers a unique examination of ideocracies both past and present which will be of interest to students and scholars researching political regimes, political history and comparative politics, as well as other disciplines.

This book locates totalitarianism in the vastly complex web of fragmented pasts, diverse presents, and differently envisaged futures to enhance understanding of the fraught era in European history. It explores empirical ways to the resurgence of the concept of totalitarian dictatorship.

"[An] incredibly moving collection of oral histories . . . important enough to be added to the history curriculum" Telegraph "Essential reading" History Today "A moving evocation . . . An illuminating if harrowing insight into life in a totalitarian state." Clarissa de Waal, author of ALBANIA: PORTRAIT OF A COUNTRY IN TRANSITION "Albania, enigmatic, mysterious Albania, was always the untold story of the Cold War, the 1989 revolutions and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Mud Sweeter Than Honey goes a very long way indeed towards putting that right" New European After breaking ties with Yugoslavia, the USSR and then China, Enver Hoxha believed that Albania could become a self-sufficient bastion of communism. Every day, many of its citizens were thrown into prisons and forced labour camps for daring to think independently, for rebelling against the regime or trying to escape - the consequences of their actions were often tragic and irreversible. Mud Sweeter than Honey gives voice to those who lived in Albania at that time - from poets and teachers to shoe-makers and peasant farmers, and many others whose aspirations were brutally crushed in acts of unimaginable repression - creating a vivid, dynamic and often painful picture of this totalitarian state during the forty years of Hoxha's ruthless dictatorship. Very little emerged from Albania during communist times. With these personal accounts, Rejmer opens a window onto a terrifying period in the country's history. Mud Sweeter than Honey is not only a gripping work of reportage, but also a necessary and unique portrait of a nation. With an Introduction by Tony Barber *Winner of the Polityka Passport Prize**Winner of the Koscielski Award* Translated from the Polish by Zosia Krasodomska-Jones and Antonia Lloyd-Jones

As a child growing up in Cambodia, Ronnie Yimsut played among the ruins of the Angkor Wat temples, surrounded by a close-knit community. As the Khmer Rouge gained power and began its genocidal reign of terror, his life became a nightmare. Teenaged Ronnie was left orphaned, literally buried under the bodies of his family and friends. In this stunning memoir, Yimsut describes how, in the wake of death and destruction, he decides to live. Escaping the turmoil of Cambodia, he makes a perilous journey through the jungle into Thailand, only to be sent to a notorious Thai prison. Fortunately, he is able to reach a refugee camp and ultimately migrate to the United States, another frightening journey to the unknown. Yet he prevailed, attending the University of Oregon and becoming an influential leader in the community of Cambodian immigrants. Facing the Khmer Rouge shows Ronnie Yimsut's personal quest to rehabilitate himself, make a new life in America, and then return to Cambodia to help rebuild the land of his birth.

This volume takes a comparative approach, locating totalitarianism in the vastly complex web of fragmented pasts, diverse presents and differently envisaged futures to enhance our understanding of this fraught era in European history. It shows that no matter how often totalitarian societies spoke of and imagined their subjects as so many slates to be wiped clean and re-written on, older identities, familial loyalties and the enormous resilience of the individual (or groups of individuals) meant that the almost impossible demands of their regimes needed to be constantly transformed, limited and recast.

Over the past two decades, book-length analyses of politics in Southeast Asia, like those addressing other parts of the developing world, have focused closely on democratic change, election events, and institution building. But recently, democracy's fortunes have ebbed in the region. In the Philippines, the progenitor of 'people power', democracy has been diminished by electoral cheating and gross human rights violations. In Thailand, though the former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, scored successive electoral victories, he so committed executive abuses that he served up the pretext by which royalist elements in the military might mount a coup, one that even gained favour with the new middle class. And in Indonesia, lauded today as the region's only democracy still standing, the government's writ over the security forces has remained weak, with military commanders nestling in unaccountable domains, there to conduct their shadowy business dealings. Elsewhere, dominant single parties persist in Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, while a military junta perpetuates its brutal control over Burma. This volume, the first to bring together a series of country cases and comparative narratives about the recent revival of authoritarian rule in Southeast Asia, identifies the structural and voluntarist dynamics that underlie this trend and the institutional patterns that are taking shape. This book was published as a special issue of The Pacific Review.

First published in 1982, this book aims to examine the role that ruling military governments have played in African development. Dr Odetola discusses military organisational values and skills in modernisation and argues that the evocation and application of these values and skills depends on the character of the leadership of individual ruling juntas, their degree of professional training, proximity to civilian society and so on. He also investigates the relationship between the ruling military and existing social classes.

This book explores the role of religion in the transformation of Turkey under the reign of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, AKP). It attempts to come to terms with the current political crisis in Turkey and the government's move toward authoritarianism. The chapters included in this book examine various ideological, political and social factors that have driven the transformation of the AKP. The book seeks to answer questions about how and in what direction have the AKP's objectives and strategies changed in the last two decades the party has been in power, and the divergence between professed ideals and practices. The book also focuses on the major repercussions that the 15 July 2016 coup d'etat attempt has had on key Turkish state institutions and policies, and how it has also affected Turkish foreign policy toward regional and international powers. The book addresses the many gaps and omissions in earlier studies of the AKP, and posits that there have been a more complex set of circumstances impacting Turkish politics since 2002 and that it makes little sense to continue to view Turkish politics as just a clash between Islam and secularism. Erdogan's Turkey is a significant new contribution to the study of Turkish politics and politics in general, and will be a great resource for academics, researchers and advanced students of Political Science, International Relations, History, Geography and Sociology. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Middle East Critique.

Over the past two decades, book-length analyses of politics in Southeast Asia, like those addressing other parts of the developing world, have focused closely on democratic change, election events, and institution building. But recently, democracy's fortunes have ebbed in the region. In the Philippines, the progenitor of 'people power', democracy has been diminished by electoral cheating and gross human rights violations. In Thailand, though the former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, scored successive electoral victories, he so committed executive abuses that he served up the pretext by which royalist elements in the military might mount a coup, one that even gained favour with the new middle class. And in Indonesia, lauded today as the region's only democracy still standing, the government's writ over the security forces has remained weak, with military commanders nestling in unaccountable domains, there to conduct their shadowy business dealings. Elsewhere, dominant single parties persist in Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, while a military junta perpetuates its brutal control over Burma.

This volume, the first to bring together a series of country cases and comparative narratives about the recent revival of authoritarian rule in Southeast Asia, identifies the structural and voluntarist dynamics that underlie this trend and the institutional patterns that are taking shape.

This book was published as a special issue of The Pacific Review.

Joseph Stalin was one of the most ruthless and authoritarian dictators in world history, who plunged Russia into a barbarous nightmare, leaving behind a damaged nation and a legacy of grief.

This concise biography presents Lenin’s heir from his humble and troubled beginnings to the highest rank of all: General Secretary of the Communist Party. Stalin: A Pocket Biography is an accessible account of a complex tyrant, perfect for students or anyone taking a first look into modern Russian history.

Musicians have often wanted to change the world. From underground innovators to pop icons many have believed in the political power of music. Rulers recognise it too. Music has been used to challenge the political and social order - and to prop up the status quo. Sound System is the story of one musician's journey to discover what makes music so powerful. Dave Randall uses his insider's knowledge of the industry to shed light on the secrets of celebrity, commodification and culture. This is a book of raves, riots and revolution. From the Glastonbury Festival to the Arab Spring, Pop Idol to Trinidadian Carnival, Randall finds political inspiration across the musical spectrum and poses the question: how can we make music serve the interests of the many, rather than the few? Published in partnership with the Left Book Club.

Available for the first time in English language translation, this is the long-awaited second volume of the three part set on Totalitarianism and Political Religions, edited by the eminent Professor Hans Maier. This represents a major study, with contributions from leading scholars of political extremism, sociology and modern history, the book shows how new models for understanding political history arose from the experience of modern despotic regimes. We are used to distinguishing the despotic regimes of the twentieth century - Communism, Fascism, National Socialism, Maoism - very precisely according to place and time, origins and influences. But what should we call that which they have in common? On this question, there has been, and still is, a passionate debate. Indeed, the question seemed for a long time not even to be admissible. Clearly this state of affairs is unsatisfactory. The debate has been renewed in the past few years. After the collapse of the communist systems in Central, East and Southern Europe, a (scarcely surveyable) mass of archival material has become available. Following the lead of Fascism and National Socialism, communist and socialist regimes throughout the world now belong to the historical past as well. This leads to the resumption of old questions: what place do modern despotisms assume in the history of the twentieth century? What is their relation to one another? Should they be captured using traditional concepts - autocracy, tyranny, despotism, dictatorship - or are new concepts required? Here, the most important concepts - totalitarianism and political religions - are discussed and tested in terms of their usefulness. This set of volumes is as topical and relevant to current world events in the twenty first century.

By developing a long-term supranational perspective, this ambitious, multi-faceted work provides a new understanding of totalitarianism, the troubling common element linking Soviet communism, Italian fascism and German Nazism. The books original analysis of antecedent ideas on the subject sheds light on the common origins and practices of the regimes.
Through this fresh appreciation of their initial frame of mind, Roberts demonstrates how the three political experiments yielded unprecedented collective mobilization but also a characteristic combination of radicalization, myth-making, and failure.
Providing deep historical analysis, the book proves that 'totalitarianism' best characterizes the common features in the originating aspirations, the mode of action and even the outcomes of Soviet communism, Italian fascism and German Nazism.
By enhancing our knowledge of what totalitarianism was and where it came from, Roberts affords important lessons about the ongoing challenges, possibilities, and dangers of the modern political experiment.

This volume is a study of Fascism in its country of origin, Italy. It describes the impact of a new type of political movement on Italian government and society. The Fascist seizure of power did not begin or end with Mussolini's famous March on Rome in 1922; it was achieved rather by gradual subversion of the liberal order, which involved not only the destruction of all political opposition but also the creation of new institutions designed to control economic and cultural life. A classic work of wide-ranging scholarship, this book is here republished with a new preface by the author and will be essential reading for all students of Fascism and international history.

Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany provides a succinct and provocative introduction to Italian fascism and German nazism. Incorporating recent historical research together with original and challenging arguments, Alexander J. De Grand examines:
* the similarities and differences in the early development of the two regimes
* the exercise of power by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini
* the relationship between the two regimes
* policies towards women, youth and culture.
Revised throughout, the second edition of this respected book takes account of recent historical research and includes an expanded discussion of the role of the military in the two regimes.

We are used to distinguishing the despotic regimes of the twentieth century -- Communism, Fascism, Nat ional Socialism, Maoism -- very precisely according to place and time, origins and influences. But what should we call that which they have in common? On this question, there has been and remains a passionate debate. Indeed, the question seemed for a long time not even to be admissible. Clearly, this state of affairs is unsatisfactory.
The debate has been renewed in the past few years. After the collapse of the Communist systems in Central, East and Southern Europe, a -- scarcely surveyable -- mass of archival material has become available. Following the lead of Fascism and National Socialism, communist and socialist regimes throughout the world now belong to the historical past as well. This leads to the resumption of old questions: what place do the modern despotisms assume in the history of the twentieth century? What is their relation to one another? Should they be captured using traditional concepts -- autocracy, tyranny, despotism, dictatorship -- or are new concepts required?
This book documents the first international conference on this theme, a conference that took place in September of 1994 at the University of Munich. The book shows how new models by which to understand political history arose from the experience of modern despotic regimes. Here, the most important concepts -- totalitarianism and political religions -- are discussed and tested in terms of their usefulness.