 The first issue was the question of the nature of Stalin’s rule in the Soviet Union, which was highlighted by the trials of leading figures of the Russian Revolution, including, most prominently, Leon Trotsky. A second major issue was the interpretation of the character of the Nazi regime which was given primary significance by the question of American support for Britain at the risk of war with Nazi Germany. The policy options raised by the discussion of these two practical issues brought to the fore, for Hook, the more general issue of the relative weight to be ascribed to political factors as opposed to economic factors, that is, the value of the existence of institutions of democracy or dictatorship compared with the value of the institutions of capitalism or socialism.