The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in the 1930s as totalitarian statesA totalitarian state generally refers to a country in which the government central has total control over almost every aspect of the population's life. The main features include an infallible leader, one-party rule, elitism, strict party discipline, purges against enemies and political dissidents, a planned economy, powerful armaments, indoctrination, encouragement of nationalism, an official doctrine in which everyone must believe, and absolute obedience to In the 1930s, the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin and Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler could be considered to a large extent as states totalitarian. The rise of totalitarianism in Europe was partly due to dissatisfaction with the Paris Peace Accords. Neither Germany nor the Soviet Union were invited to the Paris Peace Conference. Having not consulted beforehand, the Soviet Union was forced to accept the independence of the three Baltic states and Poland. As the most defeated country, Germany was heavily punished by the Treaty of Versailles. She had to lose all her overseas assets, pay a huge indemnity, accept almost total disarmament and the "war guilt" clause, etc. Furthermore, both countries have had an unsuccessful experiment in parliamentary democracy. The success of the October Revolution in 1917 was largely due to the failure of the provisional government to resolve wartime difficulties. Similarly, Hitler came to power in 1933 because he took advantage of German discontent with the incompetence of the Weimar Republic to deal with postwar difficulties. Russia and Germany lacked democracy ... middle of paper ... The 1930s seemed pacifist. Before 1945, Stalin did not make any direct territorial annexations for Russia. He joined the League of Nations and dissolved the Comintern. Through his “Socialism in One Country,” he promised not to support proletarian revolutions abroad. In fact, he simply wanted to fish in troubled waters because of the hostility between Nazi Germany and Western democratic countries. In 1939, he signed the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, with the aim of recovering the three Baltic states. Moreover, faced with the imminent Nazi threat, Stalin abandoned the Marxist conception of internationalism but aroused the enthusiasm of Russian nationalism at home. Therefore, both aimed at territorial expansion. In conclusion, Stalin's Soviet Union and Hitler's Nazi Germany in the 1930s could be considered to a very large extent totalitarian states..