Establishing+and+maintaining+power+Mao+and+Hitler

ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING POWER 1. ** What this criterion means for the single party state leader. **  - Essentially the aim of establishing power is the aim of setting up a totalistic regime. - It is about creating a society where all aspects of life – social, economic, political, are controlled by the leader and his party. - No rival ideas, values, or organizations are permitted. - The idea of establishing and maintaining power is the same as in an election. After winning the election, the candidate works for the next years to win re-election for the next term. - The same goes for totalistic regimes, to which many people will look to to succeed. - A party or group must move quickly and effectively to consolidate its power once achieved by eliminating possible challenges. - The leader builds a loyal following based on based on his policies while he identifies and eliminates any opposition. - Attracting support is an effective method of power consolidation. - Can be achieved in man different ways: i. Carrying out promises from electoral campaign ii. Instituting favorable policies to get support from key sectors. iii. Use media and the propaganda machine to emphasize the regimes progressive nature. iv. Create the mythology of the leader being a brilliant visionary. - Potential sources of opposition must be identified and eliminated by forceful threats and intimidation. - Opponents will be found both inside and outside the leader’s organization. - Regime uses all methods at its disposal to eliminate sources of opposition. - May do internal party purges to maintain authority. - Other methods include: i. Arrest and detention of rivals ii. Execution of rivals iii. Seizure of property - Used the election camping of 1933 to whip up a majority. - Senior police officers were replaced with Nazis and 50, 000 auxiliary police men (SS/SA) were called up  - The meetings of all parties other than Nazi were broken up. - The Reichstag fire, used to stir up fear of Communism and use it as a pretext for banning the party. - Failed to win overall majority. - Legal basis of Hitler’s power came from The Enabling Law, March 1933, which said essentially he could do what he wanted without the Reichstag’s approval. (Complete Dictator) - Government set out to control as many aspects of life as possible using secret police (Gleichschaltung). - One party state (Nazi) created. - “Enemies of State” removed. (Jews) - German Labour Front Created. - Educational system closely watched to build up kids as Nazis. (Hitler’s youth) - All communication and media controlled by Nazis. - Economic life closely organized. Telling industries what to produce, controlling prices, etc. - Religion brought under state control. - Hitler’s views were widely accepted in Germany which led to the wave of enthusiasm in 1933. - Lowered unemployment, - For a brief time in 1936, the Nationalists renewed their alliance with the communists in order to ward off the increasing threat of Japanese invaders. The ensuing war sapped the Nationalist government’s strength, while the Communist Party’s political and military power was restored. By 1945, the communists controlled areas populated by nearly one hundred million Chinese. On October 1, 1949, Mao was proclaimed president of the newly established People’s Republic of China. - After signing the treaty (Sino-Soviet), Mao retired to a largely ceremonial role in China as chairman of both the Communist Party and the People’s Republic. Day-to-day administration was left to party bureaucrats, who eventually fell under the influence of technical and military advisors from the Soviet Union. - In 1957, Mao initiated the Great Leap Forward Movement. It was an attempt to break with the Russian model of communism. - Mao initiated the movement (Cultural Revolution) in order to prevent further development of a Soviet-style communism. - Mao thought too many communist leaders in China were getting too comfortable in their long-held positions and letting the communist movement drift away from his hard-core philosophy. He did not want Chinese communists to become too friendly with noncommunists elsewhere. Overall, with regards to establishing and maintaining power, Hitler and Mao differ greatly. Hitler fought his way into power and into the position of dictator. While Mao did fight to create the Red Army as opposition to the Nationalists, he in a way fell into power after that. Also, Mao didn’t have to do to much to stay in power. His only real threat was the USSR because he wanted to break with their style of communism. Hitler on the other hand utilized every department at his disposal to ward off possible opposition, relying heavily on the secret police as well.
 * ATTRACTING SUPPORT: **
 * REPRESSING OPPONENTS: **
 * 2. **** How this Criterion Applies to Mao and Hitler. **
 * Hitler: **
 * Mao: **
 * 3. **** Analysis on how these two are similar based on the Criterion. **