Una reflexión sobre el concepto de totalitarismo

Abstract

This paper aims to justify the concept of “Totalitarianism” to designate the most violent and criminal regimes of the Twentieth Century: Stalinism and Nazism. Its critics have denied that this concept can be applied to the period of government of Stalin in Soviet Union, with the justification that violence was necessary for the industrialization and progress of that country. We consider that the identities between National Socialism and Bolshevik Communism are much greater than their differences and therefore justify the use of the term “Totalitarianism” to allude to both regimes. In the end, the version discussed I the exposed by the Italian historian Enzo Traverso in his book “Totalitarianism”.