Political+platform+and+policies+Mao+and+Hitler

A. Political Platform and Policies a. A political platform refers to the actual policies and programs enacted by a leader. This is different from the leader’s ideology, which consists of broad principles in that the political platform is the actual actions and issues the leader is focused on. b. Converting ideology to a political platform is often considered the most important thing for a leader to be successful c. Political Platform > Ideology – If ideology gets in the way of power, a leader who wants to be successful will change his platform to retain power, regardless of ideology. d. The platform consists of concrete statements that deal with the country’s immediate problems and promise some form of relief. e. The policies often consist of short and catchy phrases. f. The platform attracts support and creates a sense of momentum sweeping towards victory. B. Hitler and Mao’s political platform and policies a. Hitler i. First priority was job creation, not expanding borders. ii. People who followed him saw him as more of a people’s man, rather then following him based on his beliefs. iii. 25-point Program (Once Nazi’s took power they disregarded most of it, but kept it as official policy). Called for Right to employment, profit sharing, no child labor ect. iv. Rode the bad economy as a way to gain power. Once economy started to pick up he took credit. v. Followers mainly supported Nazis because they feared the depression would lower their standard of living. vi. Nuremburg Laws – deprived Jews of their rights. Gained support for the Nazis due to rampant anti-Semitism. vii. Created large public works projects, including superhighways (autobahns) as well the Labor Service to help fight unemployment. b. Mao i. First priority was land reform to help the millions of landless peasants, despite communist ideology saying otherwise. ii. First Five-Year Plan – Industrialize China so as to become a world power. Very successful iii. The Hundred Flowers Campaign – Mao encouraged people to speak their true beliefs about how China could be governed. After a few months Mao realized all the criticism was focused at him and had all of these people executed as part of the “Anti-Rightist” movement. iv. Great Leap Forward – New economic policy based on collectivizing the small agricultural communities into “people’s communes.” Many peasants were forced to work on large infrastructure projects. This failed entirely. Food production dropped, but party officials, afraid of being blamed, lied and claimed there was an over production. This resulted in the largest famine in human history. v. Cultural Revolution – Mao felt that greatest threat to China wasn’t from the outside, but from a new elite that had formed in the aftermath of revolution. He felt that these people would control the people and not serve them (capitalism from within). This resulted in chaos across the country and the deaths of millions. C. Comparison and Contrasts a. Comparisons i. Both gave up ideologically initially to gain power. Mao created initiated land reforms that gave land to peasants despite his communist beliefs. Hitler put aside his expansionist goals in order to create jobs. ii. Both created large public works programs focused on infrastructure. iii. Both successful in achieving their goals of making their respective countries world powers. iv. Both leader’s policies resulted in millions of their own citizens being killed. b. Contrasts i. Mao was more focused on solidifying communism in China rather then expanding. Hitler was very focused on expanding Germany’s borders, everything else was just a way to gain him power so he could expand. ii. Hitler improved economy and created jobs. If you weren’t in one of the many persecuted groups your standard of living improved under Hitler. Under Mao China went through the greatest famine in human history due to his policies. iii. Mao did not enact any racial laws, Hitler clearly did. iv. Mao’s policies consisted of five-year plans, modeled after the soviets. Hitler had nothing like this.

Thesis: Since ideologically Hitler and Mao are opposites, their actual party platforms were surprisingly similar, they both promised to address economic issues important to their population, promote economic and structural growth within their nation, and bring power back to their respective nations.