Leninism – The Substance of Communist Totalitarianism

Abstract

The author of the article analyzed totalitarianism in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. There is an extensive scientific literature on the research of totalitarianism. Outstanding works on this matter include, in particular: Hannah Arendt’s Korzenie totalitaryzmu [The Roots of Totalitarianism] which had several revised editions, Carl Friedrich and Zbigniew Brzeziński’s Dyktatura totalitarna i autokracja [Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy] also in two editions, Leszek Kołakowski’s Główne nurty marksizmu. Powstanie, rozwój, rozkład [The Main Currents of Marxism. Rise, Development, and Decay], Franciszek Ryszka’s Państwo stanu wyjątkowego. Rzecz o systemie państwa i prawa III Rzeszy [Emergency State. On the System of State and Law of the Third Reich], as well as works by other scholars from many countries.Totalitarianism in the 21st century continues to be a subject of scientific research conducted by historians, political scientists, sociologists, and philosophers. This topic continues to be of interest to the public opinion. The author expresses his belief that Poles are most interested in the features of the Soviet version of totalitarian communism. This is due to the history of Russian-Polish relations:the partitions of Poland, the 1920 Bolshevik-Polish war, the 45 years of Soviet control of the Polish People’s Republic (1944/1945–1989), and today’s threat from Putin’s Russia. With all the wealth of scientific literature by prominent researchers around the world, the author would like to add his comments on the findings on totalitarianism in the Soviet version. These comments come from a person who has already written many scholarly works on the history of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in particular. These are comments from a man who lived for 5 years under Nazis occupation and 45 years under the rule of communists in the Polish People’s Republic.