Analysis Of Country Wih Dictatorship
In a country seemingly fully immersed in the ideals of democracy and taking the power out of the government and placing it in the hands of the citizens, citizens of democratic nations such as the United States of America, Australia, and Sweden, find the establishment and use of a dictatorship as nothing short of appalling and unbelievable. From an outside perspective, the idea of one person holding all the power seems not only frightening for the citizens but also a recipe for disaster. The use and practice of dictatorship being used within a society dates back to times that are not recorded. Although not much is known about him, the first recorded dictatorship occurred in Rome and was assumed by Aulus Postumius Albinus, a politician of the Roman republic in 99 BC. Not only did he carry on a war against the Aequians to protect the border from raiders, but he also paved a new way of leading that took focus on complete control with supreme power that would be used up through present time, being 2019.
Modern dictatorship is a principle of government that is authoritarian and is represented through a single or group of leaders with a new type of party. Contrary to democracies where leaders are voted for by the people, and the general population holds the power, dictators are not voted or elected but rather assume power abruptly usually in a time of crisis or chaos. In the 20th century, the conversion of the old ideas of dictatorship and the up incoming ideas of totalitarianism created a new wave of dictatorship that struck the world. The head of the dictatorships is often referred to as ‘leader’ or something similar in the native dialect of the area. With this formality of the name, the dictator is fundamentally given power by the compliance of people recognizing the power that he/she has. These dictators often have a stern and strong personality that instills fear into the people they rule over. The suppression of freedoms such as speech and religion, i.e. Adolf Hitler expelling the Jews, and retraction of once basic rights, furthers shows the population the power that this one person contains and instills even more fear into these people. As seen in Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Germany in 1933, he created a common enemy, being Jews, for the Christian Germans and spread propaganda that attacked the Jews and blamed them for many of the nation and worlds problems. The use of a common enemy and propaganda lets the dictator use this enemy as a scapegoat for any and all problems that the regime is facing. One of the biggest and most important pillars of dictatorship that frankly is the key to dictatorship is the relationship this leader has with the military.
Some of the most infamous and well-known dictators in the 20th century that shaped the new totalitarian spin of dictatorship were Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Fidel Castro, Ferdinand Marcos and Kim Jong Un. Joseph Stalin was the first of these men to assume power in the Soviet Union during the early 1920s and stayed in power until 1953. Stalin’s predecessor, Vladimir Lenin who was the initial creator of the Soviet Union and was a dictator himself. In a time of chaos and confusion, where the Bolshevik revolution seemed to be falling apart due to the death of their old leader, Lenin, Stalin took the reins and assumed control over the party. With Stalin’s rise to power gaining momentum, he promised a new version of Russia where the outdated focus and concentration dedicated to farmlands were then redirected a new industrialized Russia that could compete with other countries in the technology and arms race. This industrialization was mostly beneficial during World War II when they fought the Germans. Although Joseph Stalin is most known for arguably being the most brutal and cruel dictator in history, seen through his meticulously planned famines that he would create in places that seemed to be of danger to his position, he set the stage for future dictators with new aspects that had previously not been entirely used and discovered. Stalin’s use of reuniting a broke front when things went awry, i.e. Lenin dying, and building his power and leadership from chaos to order was a very tactical and intelligent way of gaining the supreme power of the people.
At around the same time as Stalin, Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany from 1933 to 1945 and led the Nazi regime through the Holocaust and into World War II. As with Stalin, Adolf Hitler also shaped the way dictators were not only used but also portrayed in the future through his very adamant emphasis on military, uniformity, and fear. Hitler’s intense use of military to not only serve as his devoted able-bodied followers but also served as the vehicle for mass destruction which caused destruction and devastation within the Jewish community in East Europe. The devotion of the followers stems from the family-like nomenclature behind the regime further bolstered Hitler’s power and strengthened the dictatorship that he created. Demanding to be called ‘Fuhrer’, meaning father, he made the Nazi military feel as if they were in a brotherhood with each other and needed to please their ‘father’, Hitler, by following his commands and submitting all and every inkling of power that they contained to their supreme leader. Aside from the fear and pain that the gas chambers and concentration camps struck into people, Hitler’s greatest weapon was the use and mass distribution of propaganda throughout his empire. By controlling the media and diminishing the ideas of freedom of speech or expression, it opened a pathway for him and his advisors to create a new type of media that would create a semblance and paint Germany only in the way that Hitler wanted in order for political advancement. This propaganda created a common enemy for Hitler’s supporters. This common enemy served as the scapegoat for all of Hitler’s missteps and the worlds everyday distress. Hitler claimed that the Jews were greedy for money and would do anything for money even if that meant total world destruction. Although the Jews were not the only group of people that Hitler used as enemies, they were the main target of Hitler’s propaganda. Although a common enemy is not a newfangled idea or even something that is necessarily a negative aspect of a country, however, the way that Hitler not only spun the truth but used the Jews as an image of all things evil in the world to instill fear into people debating and contemplating which side to stand for.
What seemed as an issue that only Europe was facing prior to the late 19500s, dictatorship within a communist regime eventually struck the western hemisphere when Fidel Castro, leader of the communist revolution in Cuba, took power. In Castro’s rise to power, he seemed as if he was listening to the people’s wants and needs such as civil and political freedom, a new constitution, and other reforms within the government. However, Fidel Castro’s true colors shone bright once he had officially taken power through his disregard for the wishes of the people and instead decided to pursue his own political agenda. Similar to Germany’s Hitler, Cuba’s dictator Castro decided to explore propaganda to gain support and seem to be on the right side of history. With this propaganda, Castro implemented policies and destroyed any and all ties with the United States which created more and more distance between the two countries. Castro eventually had full monopoly over Cuba by making the country a one-party government which allowed him to claim all power. With the two countries drawing an abundant number of parallels, as well as Castro pulling inspiration from it, the Soviet Union and Cuba began to rekindle ties that had broken down many years before. Since Cuba was not financially ready or able to fund large weapon production and military innovations, and the Soviet Union being too far away from the United States of America to prepare for potential conflict with the United States, the two countries used their underlying brotherhood of communism to work together to hopefully take down their common enemy. The Soviet Union then funneled weapons and missiles to Cuba in exchange for a promise to attack the United States if conflict arose. In 2008, however, Fidel Castro fell ill with a life-threatening illness which forced him to pass power to his brother Raul Castro which ended his dictatorship in Cuba.
One of the most powerful dictators in the world in this day in age, who is carrying on a whole new degree to dictatorship is Kim Jong-Un of North Korea. Unlike the other dictators talked about above, Kim Jong-Un did not overcome some type of major battle or revolution that gained him power but instead followed in the footsteps of his father Kim Jong Il once his father had passed away from a massive heart attack. His father, Kim Jong Il was born in 1941 and raised in the North Korea. Kim Jong Il rose to power during the conflict between North Korea and the Soviet Unions and played a very key role in the department that was responsible for media control and censorship, something that plays a very large and important role under Kim Jong-Un’s rule today over North Korea. Throughout Kim Jong-Ils rise to power, he was just setting the stage for what was to come with his son. Kim Jong-Un was born and raised immersed in his father’s ideas and ways of ruling and was “groomed” into being his father’s successor. The word freedom in the United States and North Korea mean two completely different things. In the United States, politicians and citizens pride themselves on their country being the ‘land of the free,’ and having freedoms written into the constitution that ensure people to express their whole self, however, in North Korea the same bright and positive light is not shone on freedom. In North Korea, all areas of life are controlled and regulated. For example, all media that is allowed and able to be reached are tacitly censored to only show Kim Jong-Un as the supreme leader and the greatest human being alive. This tactic used by Kim Jong-Un and his father create a world where citizens are blissfully ignorant to what is happening outside North Korea and, therefore, options and ways of thinking are not only limited but they are narrowed to a direct path to their supreme leader. Kim Jong-Un and the empire that his family has created instills fear in the curious. People who attempt to learn more outside the 46,000 miles are severely punished and often times killed in public areas to further instill fear into everyone.
