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GerhardBesier
Howtoexplainwhydictatorshipsaresofascinating?
Revisiting20thcentury’sparadigms
Introduction
Inthemid-1930sthelawyerandpoliticalscientistKarlLoewensteinmadetheargu-
mentthatthedictatorshipsofEuropewereonlytemporaryphenomena,becausethe
processofmodernizationleadingfromautocracytodemocracywasirreversible1.In
contrast,DianaSpearmanperplexedlyassessedin1939thatauthoritarianformsof
ruleevenpossessedahigherfascinationundermodernconditionsthanfreedomdid.
Tisexperienceofthe1920sand1930swasrepeatedattheendofthe1940sandat
thebeginningofthe1950s.Namely,theU.S.A.hadtorecognizethattheirconceptof
freedomwasbeingsetunderpressureintherealmofforeignpoliticsbythegrowing
attractivenessofthecommunistgospel.Finally,aferthebreakdownoftheEastern
bloc,theWesternWorldonlyexperiencedaveryshorttriumph.Howthetheoreti-
calconceptsof“PoliticalReligion”
,“PermanentRevolution”and“Totalitarianism”did
explainthesephenomenainthe20thcentury,anddowehaveadeeperinsighttoday?
"PoliticalReligions”
Teenthusiasmthatwasshownbylargeportionsofthepopulationintheefected
countriesfordictatorialsystemsandtheirideologiesledpeopleinthe1920sand
1930stodrawanalogiesbetweenideologiesandclassicalreligions.JustasBertrand
Russellalreadyin1920consideredbolshevismtobeanewreligion2,JohnMaynard
Keynessaidin1925that,likeotherreligions,Leninismalsohadnoscruples3;others
labelledcommunisma“religionindisguise”4,spokeofNationalSocialismintermsof
“politicalmessianism”5,orof“replacementreligion”6.TeMethodistBishop,JohnL.
NuelsenfromtheU.S.A.,wrotein1938:“Hitlerismcannotbeunderstoodwhenone
1SeealsoG.Besier,PoliticalReligion,TotalitarianismandModernDictatorships,„Politeja”2(8),2007,
pp.21–48.
2B.Russell,TePracticeandTeoryofBolshevism,London1920.
3J.MaynardKeynes,EssaysinPersuasion,NewYork1965,p.4.
4C.ChristianBry,VerkappteReligionen,Lochham31964,p.167.
5D.Glufe,R.Karwehl,«PolitischesMessiastum».ZurAuseinandersetzungzwischenKircheund
Nationalsozialismus,JahrbuchderGesellschaffürniedersächsischeKirchengeschichte,Vol.90,1992,pp.207–217.
6H.Maier,„PolitischeReligionen”–MöglichkeitenundGrenzeneinesBegrifs,in:„Totalitarismus”und„poli-
tischeReligionen”.KonzeptedesDiktaturvergleichs,idem,M.Schäfer(eds.),Paderborn1997,p.304.
