Equating Soviet Union to Hitler’s Nazi Germany could land Russians in jail under new plans...

[ixulescu]

I wouldn’t say the Soviet Union as a whole but definitely the Stalinist regime was just as bad as Nazi Germany. It really came down to the men at the top. Stalin was a brutish, ignorant thug while Hitler was a raving nutcase. Both men were totally sociopathic and woefully incompetent(except when it came to the mass murder of innocents). It’s a shame that either achieved power let alone at the same time as each other.

Stalin was not an ignorant, nor was Hitler just a nutcase.
They were intelligent evil men who set up murderous regimes. But they would have never been able to do it all by themselves - in the end, both were reflections of the world they lived in. We put too much emphasis on a few individuals instead of the realities that led to conflict.

[Borealis]

Stalin was not an ignorant, nor was Hitler just a nutcase.
They were intelligent evil men who set up murderous regimes. But they would have never been able to do it all by themselves - in the end, both were reflections of the world they lived in. We put too much emphasis on a few individuals instead of the realities that led to conflict.

Yes Stalin was ignorant. He had no understanding of world politics and he thought people were plotting against him at every turn. Paranoia typically accompanies ignorance, not wisdom.

Hitler was a good orator and could manipulate crowds and people. But that alone does not preclude him from being insane. Just as whatever few good things Stalin accomplished didn’t make him a bright fellow.

Society at the time was far more violent and authoritarian in nature. But in totalitarian dictatorships it really does come down to the man in charge as they set the tone for the entire country.