ABSTRACT
Adolf Hitler blazed a trail into new territories of evil and despotism. What happened in Germany during Hitler’s rule has often been seen as a sign of traditional characteristics which Germany, alone of the countries of Western Europe, reputedly had in strong measure. The main difference between the imperialism of Communism and that of Nazism has been that Stalin succeeded in winning his Lebensraum in the West whilst Hitler failed to win his in the East. Communist Russia may be significantly dissimilar in some ways to Nazi Germany, but under Stalin it was basically similar. Stalin, like Hitler, was a pioneer on the totalitarian frontier. Mussolini exercised control of the economy only by fits and starts. That Mussolini fell short of Hitler or Stalin in totalitarianism may have been due partly to his different personality and temperament; he seems to have been much less inhumane, single-minded, intelligent, and hardworking.
