Atlas / Comparisons / National Socialism vs Stalinism
National Socialism and Stalinism
Measured distance across six axes
Different families with real common ground. They agree within three points on AU, SC, CH. They diverge by eight points or more on EC.
Axis by axis
| Axis | NSDAP | Socialism in one country | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | +02 | −10 | 12 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | +09 | +03 | 6 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| AU · Organisation of power | +10 | +10 | 0 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +09 | +10 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| ID · Rule of membership | +10 | +03 | 7 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CH · Method and tempo | +09 | +08 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
Each axis runs from −10 to +10; the distance is the straight-line separation across all six at once, out of a maximum of 49.0. How the scoring works →
The evidence behind the widest gaps
A distance figure is worth nothing unless the scores behind it can be checked. These are the artefacts supporting the axes that separate these two most.
NSDAP · EC +02
Ownership stayed private and was pushed further private, while allocation was directed by the state for rearmament. That combination sits just right of the midpoint, not at either pole.
- Programme textThe 1920 twenty-five point programme demanded nationalisation of trusts, profit-sharing and land expropriation without compensation.
- Documented act or statuteHitler declared the programme unalterable in 1926 and none of its collectivist points were enacted.
Socialism in one country · EC −10
Private ownership of productive assets was eliminated outright and allocation was set by physical plan targets rather than prices.
- Documented act or statuteThe first Five-Year Plan from 1928 placed all industry under state ownership and central targets.
- Documented act or statuteCollectivisation from 1929 abolished private farming; roughly a quarter of a million households were deported as kulaks.
What this comparison does not establish
Proximity means similarity of stated position. It carries no claim about competence, circumstance, scale of operation, or what either organisation actually did to the people under it. Two organisations can sit close together and produce entirely different histories, because those things are not on any axis and could not be.
National Socialism
1920–1945 · Germany
A racially defined national community, hierarchy by blood, conquest of living space, extermination of designated enemies.
Stalinism
1928–1953 · USSR
Forced industrialisation and collectivisation under a single leader identified with the party, the state and history itself.
Distance is not the whole answer. Two organisations can sit the same distance apart for entirely different reasons, and the reason is the content of any claim about them. Open the comparison in the atlas to weight the axes yourself.
Open in the atlas