In Hitler and Stalin Today, Professor Timothy Snyder examines the Nazi and Soviet responses to the new globalized world they shared. The course begins with the colonial background that made totalitarianism possible, and which remains an essential element of our politics now. Their ideologies are described as worldviews and as practical politics, with an emphasis on the reasons for their appeal. Attention to their policies of mass killing, essential events of twentieth-century history, instruct us about how “it” can happen here. The study of dissident thought helps us to see connections between historical predicaments and our own, and instructs us about possible reactions as individuals and as citizens. The course asks what we have learned from the twentieth century, and what we should.

Offered at the University of Toronto, this ten-lecture series is now available as a public resource for students, researchers and anyone interested in understanding the relationship between history and contemporary democracy.

Timothy Snyder is the Chair in Modern European History, supported by the Temerty Endowment for Ukrainian Studies; Director, Public History Lab; and Professor, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto.

Register today to view lectures on YouTube!