Read more
"Before the Uprising examines the specific social, economic, political, and intellectual characteristics of a totalitarian country. Throughout the volume, Peter Kenez questions what the necessary components of totalitarianism are: whether it is a complete state control of the economy, a personality cult of the leader, or a specific type of propaganda organization. By describing the totalitarianism of the past, this volume shows what we can learn for the present, and what to expect from the emerging autocracies of the future."--
List of contents
Introduction; 1. The political system; 2. Social and economic transformation; 3. Terror; 4. Communists killing one another; 5. Education and culture; 6. Hungary and the death of Stalin; 7. The new course; 8. Counter reforms; 9. Twentieth Party Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union; 10. The summer of 1956; 11. Revolution in the air; 12. Twelve days of freedom; Conclusion.
About the author
Peter Kenez is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He was born in Hungary and came to the United States after the revolution of 1956. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including The Coming of the Holocaust: From Antisemitism to Genocide (Cambridge, 2013) and A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to its Legacy (Cambridge, 2017), now in its third edition.
Summary
Before the Uprising examines the specific social, economic, political and intellectual characteristics of totalitarian Hungary, at the critical moment before the 1956 Revolution. Throughout the work, Peter Kenez explores what the necessary components of totalitarianism are, and shows how they were enacted in Hungary.
