Establishing+and+maintaining+power+Mao+and+Nasser

** Comparative Analysis: Mao vs. Nasser ** // Establishing and Maintaining Power //
 * Katie Gordon (P. 7) **

=Main idea from this section:= “The consolidation and establishment of power in any state is achieved by a blend of repression and attraction.” (342)

- **__Attraction__:** form loyal base + propose and enact policies that appeal to population at large (not only supporters)


- **__R__****__epression__:** eliminate/control opposition groups that may pose a threat to power
=Attracting support:= 1. Carrying out promises 2. Instituting policies that will be attractive to key sectors of the population 3. Propaganda/educational policies 4. Cult of Personality

How did Mao do it?

 * Mao and the communist party provided a constitution and structure of government that gave greater unity to China and spread a sense of nationalism
 * Mao worked to increase the standard of living of the popular peasant class and promoted policies that directly benefitted them (as they represented a large, important sector of the population)
 * As promised, Mao attempted through policy to ameliorate the situation left behind by the KMT: ending the famine that ravaged the country, improving the dilapidated infrastructure, building up industry to compete with more modernized nations, improving agricultural techniques and output, and putting an end to the inflation that plagued the ailing economy of the KMT era.
 * Agricultural reforms – 1950-56, Mao moved China from the private farm system to a co-operative farming system (led to greater efficiency and thus greater output); 1958-60, Great Leap Forward instituted a collectivist agriculture that in the long run aided the Chinese and helped them keep up with the growing demands for wheat.
 * Industrial reforms –1953, nationalization of major industries and most businesses as well as a Five Year Plan focused on expanding heavy industry improved the economic situation immensely; 1958-60, The Great Leap Forward minimized the role of industry in China and instead transformed its focus on heavy industry to small, countryside factories à helped guard China from the growing unemployment that many Westernized nations faced due to increased mechanization.
 * Other improvements resulting from policy change – greater welfare services provided, greater education of populace, and improved position of women in society.
 * Propaganda/development of cult of personality – can largely be seen in the Cultural Revolution (the fanaticism of students and the Red Guard, the proliferation of the “little red books” of Maoist mantras during the Great Cultural Revolution, etc.); Mao was truly made out to be “superhuman” as the reading at one point suggests

How did Nasser do it?

 * Nasser instituted a government that appealed widely to the public (as they had lived under a corrupt monarch) and allowed for the voice of the “common man” to be heard over the rich elite class that has benefitted under the King
 * His policies were largely reactionary towards the rule of King Farouk
 * Nationalization of industry
 * Land redistribution
 * Farming reform
 * Social welfare
 * Job creation (e.g. building Aswan Dam)
 * Propaganda—anti-western and Pan-Arab propaganda was used to unify the population under Nasser’s regime
 * Cult of Personality—Nasser is often portrayed as a “common man,” a family man who lived simply (to starkly contrast Farouk)

What are the similarities between the two leaders in this respect?

 * Both men carried out policies that appealed to the masses and followed through with past promises of reform (e.g. nationalization of industry, land redistribution)
 * Both men had highly nationalistic policies for the purpose of unifying the population
 * Both men developed cults of personality that further solidified support for their regimes
 * Both men used propaganda targeted at discrediting the West and bolstering their own regimes and nationalistic policies – where Mao used propaganda to promote the communist ideology, Nasser used it to spread “Nasserism”/Pan-Arabism

=Repressing Opponents:= 1. Identify opposition groups (both inside and outside the party) 2. Eliminate/control them

How did Mao do it?

 * Opposition outside of the party
 * The system of government was completely controlled by the CCP – therefore in this sense all oppositional parties were nonexistent in the political realm.
 * After the bombardment of criticism resulting from The Hundred Flowers Campaign (1957), Mao clamped down on his opponents (specifically opponents to communism) and launched The Great Leap Forward.
 * Westernized, capitalist nations were demonized by the Mao government, helping to suppress any capitalist sentiment among the populace
 * Opposition within the party
 * More right-wing members within the communist party believed that the citizens working collectivist farms needed greater incentive after the initial failure of the Great Leap Forward. Mao dismissed them as “‘revisionists’ taking the capitalist road” who strayed from pure socialism.
 * The “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution” was Mao’s attempt to eliminate the power of these “rightists” presenting opposition from within his own party.
 * In order to maintain his own power and image after the disaster of The Great Cultural Revolution, Mao used scapegoats from within his own party (specifically those that were in direct line for future control of the CCP) to shed himself of blame.

How did Nasser do it?

 * Opposition outside the party
 * Nasser relied to a great extent on anti-Western propaganda and rhetoric to discredit the West that posed a primary oppositional force, as many Western nations felt that their economic interests in the Area were threatened by the Nasser administration
 * Nasser limited the government to a single party rule, thereby eradicating the presence of other oppositional parties via suppression
 * Religious extremists were controlled to a large extent by the government
 * Opposition within the party
 * Nasser kept a tight hold on his party and ensured that his policies would be carried out despite opposition
 * Example: When PM Naguib began to criticize the actions of Nasser’s Revolutionary Command Council, Nasser used him as a scapegoat for an assassination attempt and removed him from power

What are the similarities between the two leaders in this respect?

 * Outside: both use anti-Western propaganda to discredit Western opposition; both strictly limit their government to just their own party-control; both tightly control oppositional voices in their countries
 * Inside: ready to dispose of any other politicians who oppose their policies (e.g. via scapegoating)