The party which Lenin forged and led was really not a party, in the customary sense of the word. It was more of an ‘order,' in the sense in which Hitler called his National-Socialist Party ‘ein Orden,' bound by the members' unshakable loyalty to their leader and one another, but subject to no other principle and responsible to no other constituency. Genuine political parties strive to enlarge their membership, whereas these pseudo-parties-the Bolshevik one first, and the Fascist and the Nazi ones later-were exclusive in that they treated membership as a privilege, restricting it to persons who met certain ideological as well as class or racial criteria. Elements regarded as unworthy were purged. (Richard Pipes)

The party which Lenin forged and led was really not a party, in the customary sense of the word. It was more of an ‘order,' in the sense in which Hitler called his National-Socialist Party ‘ein Orden,' bound by the members' unshakable loyalty to their leader and one another, but subject to no other principle and responsible to no other constituency. Genuine political parties strive to enlarge their membership, whereas these pseudo-parties-the Bolshevik one first, and the Fascist and the Nazi ones later-were exclusive in that they treated membership as a privilege, restricting it to persons who met certain ideological as well as class or racial criteria. Elements regarded as unworthy were purged.

Richard Pipes

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bound certain class constituency criterion customary exclusive led leader loyalty met membership ones order party political principle privilege racial responsible sense strive subject unworthy well whereas word hitler fascist elements lenin bolshevik nazi ein

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