Propaganda-Comparison of Hitler, Stalin and Mao - Research Paper Example

Title: Comparison of Hitler, Stalin and Mao Name: Code and No: University name: Professor’s name: Date of Submission: Propaganda-comparison of Hitler, Stalin and Mao Introduction Propaganda refers to the process of coming up with policies that manipulates public relations. It is a form of information that results into misinforming the public. This is because the information that the public receives is false and presented in a provoking manner that elicits emotion. There has been an association between propaganda and public diplomacy in modern times. Diplomacy refers to the process of building relationship with the public and ensuring a connection with non-governmental organizations within and away from a country1. The use of propaganda posters was observed during the World War I when various authorities applied their use during the efforts to defend their rule as well as methods of including men and the sales of bonds for attracting additional funds to facilitate military activities. This involved attracting a number of people who could volunteer in the campaigns. It is generally agreed that Hitler and Stalin contributed to an increase in atheism by increasingly committing human atrocities that resulted into deaths of hundreds of people2. Despite the fact that Hitler remained atheist throughout his life, Stalin and Mao Zedong were influenced into atheism but their ideas were Marxist and their actions cannot be taken to be atheism in a similar manner to Hitler’s case. This paper focuses on the manner in which Hitler used propaganda during his rule and a comparison with Stalin’s rule as well as Mao’s rule. The main areas of focus include social engineering, propaganda and terror. Discussion a. Marginalization of people When Hitler took over power, his Nazi party adopted the strategy of marginalization of people who could come up with ideas that could save the society. For instance, it was illegal to participate in strikes and no union was allowed to be formed. Furthermore, people who belonged to professional organizations such as doctors, lawyers, professors and engineers were put into organizations under the control of Nazi regime3. This ensured they were totally under the state control. In order to get control over the intellectuals completely, books were burnt and people were prohibited from taking part in modern art. A similar situation was observed during the rule of Stalin. He simplified problems under his Marxist approach towards leadership. He believed that collectivization is the main contributing factor to human happiness7. This is opposed to the fact that every human being has his own dreams, goals and needs. He also applied a principle of collectivization of labor problems to be solved by nationalizing industries and ensuring there was no private ownership of a business. Consequently, the human spirit of the need to excel was sapped5. As a result of these communist principles, there was high level of opposition which resulted into detention of a number of people who opposed the ruling style used by Stalin. The number of people killed as a result of Stalin’s nature of rule is estimated to be between fifteen to fifty million people. It is also estimated that deaths amounting to fifteen million resulted from the opposition of the policy of firm collectivization. This policy was formulated in 1929 and involved application of Marxist principles to solve problems related to Agriculture in the Soviet3. With the aim of improving output, Stalin ensured all firms were merged and ensured they were controlled by the state. Farmers who opposed the idea of giving up their lands were arrested and taken to concentration camps. A number of farmers were killed in these camps. The total number of people who were killed is estimated to be between seven to ten million. Despite collectivization of farms, a large famine was experienced between 1932 and 1933 that resulted into the deaths of an estimated 5 million people. This situation was worsened by the fact that food meant for peasants was exported to be used by military industrial-complex. b. Oppression of political opponents Hitler ascended to power through dictatorship means. He terrorized his opponents while maintaining his administration to be legal and forced President Hindenburg to sign an act that ensured freedom of speech was abolished and there was no freedom of assembly as well. His party also pushed for the signing of the Enabling Act that resulted into Hitler being a dictator for a period of four years8. Those who belonged to communist parties were arrested. This resulted into dissolution of opposition of the catholic Center Party and dissolution of Social Democratic Party. This resulted into the country being a one-party state in a similar case to Russia under Stalin. In terms of the economic activities, Hitler banned all strikes and ordered for dissolution of all unions. He also ensured people in professional organizations such as doctors and engineered were absorbed in the organizations under the control of Nazi regime. There was a great purge by Stalin to get rid of any political leader who opposed hi style of rule or anyone he suspected to be against his rule of policies. The result is that about a million people were executed because of this purge. Others were taken to labor camps in other parts of the world. There were poor living conditions in the labor camps that resulted into deaths because of suicide, execution, poor living condition, malnutrition and it is estimated that fifteen million people died because of these conditions10. The atrocities resulting from actions of Stalin involved the use of dogmas and the paranoia with the aim of ensuring his rule was preserved against opposition. Mao Zedong also contributed significantly towards deaths of political enemies and estimates show that between sixteen million and sixty million died as a result of his rule. The atrocities resulting from his rule were mainly as a result of blind use of Marxist doctrines as well as being intolerant to political opponents1. His main targets were people who owned any form of capital. For instance, he liquidated about a million landlords when he assumed power in 1952. This was aimed at achieving the Chinese version of collectivization or communism. Major deaths resulted from “The Great Leap Forward” of 1958. This was based on the goal of the communists of developing the economy at once. Farms were organized into communes where the most influential people in the society such as doctors, engineers and professors were absorbed as workers in these communes. This was aimed at helping them get an understanding of the nature of life of a proletariat. However, there was a total misconception and inefficiency of the whole system. There was also poor weather that resulted into about 14 million deaths because of starvation. The rest of atrocities resulted from their intolerance to the dissent. When Mao took over power, they wasted no time in ensuring anyone who seemed to threaten the communist utopia was eliminated2. For instance, a number of university students, and those opposed to communism were taken to rural areas where they were bound hand and foot and finally killed in the farming lands. They were referred to as ‘bandits’ and their killing was announced in the official radio station. From these cases, it is evident that the contributing factor to the deaths was the conception that ownership of land by an individual is evil thus; a number of landlords were murdered. This was worsened by famine that hit the country. Finally, lack of tolerance to dissent views or those who were considered to have opposing opinions resulted into the killing of a large number of intellectuals. These crimes can be explained to have resulted from the principles of communism that encouraged the administration of Mao to apply them. c. Oppression of women The propaganda used by Hitler against women is that they were expected to do domestic duties and not take up active roles in major activities. The Winter-Help-Work of the German people was formed by the Nazi party under the leadership of Hitler following his appointment as the chancellor. A fund was introduced by Hitler that was aimed at campaigning against hunger and cold under the govern ship of this principle7. He claimed that this fund was aimed at ensuring national solidarity of the German people was attained. The fund was aimed at propagating and popularizing their idea of National community. The propaganda was aimed at creating an image of the party as one that cares for the institution and the people of Germany. A forum was organized by Hitler’s administration that was aimed at addressing Mother and Child needs. It was pledged that Mother and Child form the pledge for the immortality of a country. The aim was to address the falling birth rates in the country. The aim of the organization was to ensure birth rate was increased by providing assistance to mothers. This was aimed at helping mothers at home. Artists were encouraged to come up with pictures that showed genetically healthy women as a racial nucleus of the nation5. Women were regarded as people whose role was to bring genetically healthy children into the world as much as possible so that the ‘Aryan Race’ could be expanded. Hitler aimed at ensring more children were brought up so that they could be recruited into the military. This was a sign of marginalization of women as objects of bearing children who were to be forcefully recruited into the military with little regards for their life. Another case of propaganda use by Stalin was depiction of women as less superior in comparison with men as well as allocation of menial duties to women while men get to the top managerial positions and respectful jobs. The constitution was designed so that women were enshrined in it. In order to ensure that this ideal was accomplished, a number of institutions were set up so that women would be enabled to participate in productive activities that would benefit the economy. In addition, Stalin’s government invested in child care facilities and other canteens that empowered them to participate in the workforce9. The propaganda posts depicted women in a number of productive roles, despite the reality that there was persistence of gender inequality and during Stalin’s era, no woman attained a higher position in working environments. During the Maoist rule, it was observed that women were regarded as equal to men but they did not appear in leadership roles. This is because the communist principles used by Mao Zedong prevented women from taking up these roles. There are also posters, which showed model workers in discussion with Mao. The poster showed male model workers in discussion with him but the female model standing back because she could not be allowed to participate in the discussion based on their interpretation of women as less superior compared with men5. There were also posters depicting women as less superior and those who performed menial tasks such as selling clean, dry neat selected cotton for sale to the state. On the other hand, men were depicted as those who do serious industrial jobs. During the struggle for the industrialization, it was observed that a number of men were sent from China and the Soviet to give advice on methods of improving industrial activities while no women were allowed to take part in these activities. d. The use of Propaganda The use of propaganda was common during the reigns of Hitler, Stalin and Mao Zedong in a number of ways. The use of propaganda was common during Hitler’s rule. This was aimed at his desire to attain supremacy against countries following the defeat of Germans during the WWI. A number of barrages and posters were used to defame ‘Hun’ in the eyes of the world, with the portrayal of Kaiser’s military to be a group of people who are aimed at killing people without a cause1. This was followed by a counterattack from the Germans who claimed that the Germans were sent into the battle without much slogan. This resulted into commissioning of a book titled ‘Das Politische Plackat’ that provided a psychological assessment of English, Americana and German posts relating to politics. The book is described as German propagandist book. This book was issued through am office of the Nazi party and was used through members of the party. The book is described to contain pure graphics of propagandist idea that are simple and easy to remember. In addition, Hitler used propaganda against the Jews in Germany when he came to power in 1933. During the application of racial doctrines, the political and civil rights of most Jews were adversely affected. This resulted into a number of resistances to Nazi policies but the German population was passive6. Propagandists also contributed towards creation of counter-image with the aim of uniting the country against any adversary particularly the Jews. When Hitler rose to power, there was increased fostering of stereotypes and unflattering depiction of Jews and other races with the aim of promoting fear, lack of trust and increased hatred of people who were considered to be enemies of “Third Reich”. Stalin also used various forms of propaganda to perpetuate his leadership. As a result of his continued ego mania and paranoia, he contributed greatly towards destruction of Russia. He used pathological lying techniques, deception that resulted into purge trials that took place in 1930s. This resulted into destruction of Soviet Union. During the reign of Mao Zedong, he initiated the “Great Leap Forward” initiative which was aimed at modernizing China on the basis of Stalinist model of industrialization but this initiative failed. This resulted into initiation of “Red Guards” initiative that was aimed at mobilizing people in the countryside. To achieve the objective of this initiative, Mao recruited a large number of urban youths and sent them to the countryside to propagate this ideology of a new society and to ensure the old ideas; ancient culture and customs are fought9. This was achieved by use of posters that contained propaganda, since there was a high level of illiteracy in the rural areas particularly among the old people. There were also few means of communication such as the use of radio and television. It was easy to produce and use posters and it is estimated that the total output is several billions within a period of 30 years. However, Mao is considered to be a great liberator of the revolutionary people in the world. He contributed towards lodging of an official protest against apartheid in South Africa in 1950. This is because he mobilized the Chinese to differentiate themselves from the Soviets with regards to attitudes towards people who were under oppression based on their color. There propaganda claimed that they were not different from whites despite yellow color being different from black. e. Conclusion There are cases of similarities in the nature of atrocities committed by Hitler, Stalin and Mao in a number of ways. For instance, it is found that these rulers ensured any opposition to their rule was eliminated and professionals were absorbed into organizations under their control. The other similarity is that individual ownership of land was not allowed in these regimes as land was forcefully taken from owners. In addition, this paper shows that the use of propaganda was enhance so that these leaders could achieve their goals as rulers without opposition as well as ensure the public was convinced about the information they conveyed. In spite of all that has been discussed in this paper with regards to the use of propaganda, terror, social engineering and oppression of political enemies about the rules of Hitler, Stalin and Mao Zedong, it is concluded that Hitler’s totalitarian regime was the most totalitarian and contributed to immense human atrocities compared with those of Stalin and Mao Zedong. This paper shows that leadership that involves marginalization of people and social engineering is not the right one as a result of negative impacts accompanied such as deaths, starvation, uprisings and marginalization of inferior people in the society. References 1. Barmé, Geremie R. 1996. Shades of Mao: the posthumous cult of the great leader. Armonk, NY [u.a.]: Sharpe. 2. Betts, Richard K. 2012. American force: dangers, delusions, and dilemmas in national security. New York: Columbia University Press. 3. Collier, Martin, and Philip Pedley. 2005. Hitler and the Nazi state. Oxford: Heinemann. 4. Hesse, Hans. 2001. Persecution and resistance of Jehovah's witnesses during the Nazi regime: 1933 - 1945. Bremen: Ed. Temmen. 5. Medawar, J. S., and David Pyke. 2000. Hitler's gift: the true story of the scientists expelled by the Nazi regime. New York: Arcade Pub. 6. Moss, Walter. 2008. An age of progress?: clashing twentieth-century global forces. London: Anthem Press. 7. Overy, Richard James. 2005. The dictators: Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia. London: Penguin Books. 8. Reich, Simon, and Lawrence Dowler. 2001. Research findings about Ford-Werke under the Nazi regime. Dearborn, MI: Ford Motor Co. 9. Wintrop, Norman. 2000. Democratic theory as public philosophy: the alternative to ideology and utopia. Aldershot: Ashgate. 10. Yunker, James A. 2010. The grand convergence economic and political aspects of human progress. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Read More