Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin

Collectivization was a policy pursued by Stalin in the Soviet Union, aimed at consolidating individual landholdings and labor into collective farms. Snyder describes it as a cause of widespread famine, particularly in Ukraine, resulting in millions of deaths. The term functions in the book as an example of how ideological policies can lead to mass human suffering and as a critical component of Stalin’s broader strategy of control and transformation of the Soviet countryside.

Einsatzgruppen were mobile killing units of the Nazi security apparatus that played a central role in the mass murder of Jews, Roma, and political commissars in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Snyder discusses their deployment following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, highlighting their responsibility for mass shootings, particularly in the Bloodlands. These units exemplify the mechanization and bureaucratization of killing, showing how the Nazi regime operationalized genocide outside the concentration camp system.

The Final Solution refers to the Nazi policy of exterminating the Jewish people of Europe, culminating in the Holocaust. Snyder examines how the implementation of the Final Solution in the Bloodlands resulted in the systematic murder of millions of Jews through shootings, gas vans, and extermination camps. This term is central to understanding the genocidal aspect of Nazi ideology and its lethal execution within the territories occupied by Germany.

The Great Terror, also known as the Purges, was a campaign of political repression in the Soviet Union during the late 1930s, marked by widespread arrests, executions, and labor camp sentences. Snyder highlights the arbitrary nature of the terror, its impact on the Soviet population, and its role in consolidating Stalin’s power. The term underlines the climate of fear and suspicion that pervaded Soviet society and contributed to the regime’s capacity for violence.

The Gulag was the Soviet government agency that administered labor camps across the Soviet Union, where millions of people were interned under harsh conditions. Snyder explores the role of the Gulag in the Soviet system of repression, noting its expansion during the Great Terror and its contribution to the death toll through forced labor, starvation, and neglect. The term is pivotal for understanding the Soviet approach to punishment and political control, illustrating how labor camps were used not only as a means of economic exploitation but also as instruments of political terror.

Holodomor refers to the human-caused famine in Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933, which resulted from Stalin’s policies of forced collectivization. Snyder presents it as an act of mass murder, with millions of Ukrainians dying from starvation. The term serves to underscore the deliberate nature of the famine as a tool of political and ethnic repression by the Soviet regime against the Ukrainian peasantry.

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression treaty signed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, leading to the partition of Poland and the Baltic States between the two powers. Snyder uses this term to discuss the geopolitical maneuvering that preceded the outbreak of World War II and the subsequent occupation and terror in the divided territories. The pact symbolizes the pragmatic collaboration between the Nazi and Soviet regimes, despite their ideological differences.

Partisan Warfare refers to the irregular military fighting by resistance groups against occupying powers in the Bloodlands. Snyder examines both Nazi and Soviet responses to partisan activities, including brutal reprisals against civilians. This term highlights the complexity of resistance against totalitarian control and the tragic consequences of guerrilla warfare for the civilian population.