Regime In Richard Overy's The Dictators

Richard Overy writes about two of the most influential world leaders in the 20th century in The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia. Although seemingly contrasting regimes, Overy gives a detailed look into the characteristics of both Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia, suggesting the two were seemingly similar in their styles. This paper will look at these distinct ideologies held by the two regimes, the similarities between the two regimes, how Overy accounts for these similarities, and the importance of studying these similarities and differences. Ideologically, Hitler’s Germany was Fascist, while Stalin’s was Communist. Although completely ideologically different from each other, Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union …show more content…
In studying the two dictators, one could argue that they were quite different. They had opposing ideologies in theory and even fought on opposite sides in World War II. However, Overy is able to draw the many similarities between the two by breaking down the regimes to smaller components, so that he can then compare the actions each dictator took. Once he looks at a specific aspect, Overy can draw similarities based on the dictator’s approach, even if the end goal is different. This can be seen with his comment on the utopian aspects of each regime, in which he suggests “Nowhere was the social idealism of the two dictatorships more distinct than with the idea of the 'New Man' who would build the new society and stride through its new cities. Each social vision, communist and National Socialist, presupposed that the citizens of utopia would be different from the people of the present” (242). Despite the difference between Germany’s and Russia’s utopia, he argues that these dictators both attempted to call for a new society without a certain group that they blamed for the current problems. By breaking down each dictatorship by their strategies, not their end goal, Overy can draw many similarities between Hitler and