to push back the frontiers of Germany – the demilitarisation of
the Rhineland in 1936, the annexation of Austria in 1938, the
Sudetenland in 1938, the rest of Czechoslovakia (Bohemia and
Moravia) in 1939, and finally Poland in 1939.
Like that of the external aggressor, the pretext of the internal
aggressor could be equally fictitious. People were constantly
reminded that the nation was under continual threat from the ruth-
less activities of counter-revolutionaries within the state, who were
dedicated to forcing them into slavery, into the servitude of other
nations. Their agents were supposed to be everywhere – working on
the next bench in the factory, sitting next to you in the works’
canteen, or living in the apartment opposite.
With these three contours the totalitarian leader could keep every-
thing around him moving, in a state of constant uncertainty, leaving
people more willing to depend blindly on the leader ’s supposed
infallibility. In this way he could avoid being trapped within the fixed
rules and systems of accountability of institutional government
which would have ensured the regular use of power and authority.
Consequently, under these conditions, to talk about the state is fun-
damentally misleading: there wasno state. As Schapiro says about
the term ‘totalitarian state’, this is a contradiction in terms. Indeed,
given these three contours it’s doubtful whether we are justified in
describing this as a ‘system’ of government at all.AnswerUnderstanding Totalitarianism3 contours – everything in fluxA The Leader- Leader & the state
Leader subjugates the state(a) posed a real threat to his authority
(b) alternative structure – his own supporters90 ResearchHTW12 7/26/01 9:04 PM Page 90