Rise and rule of single-party states
From Ibstudy
Single Party State | Stalin's Russia | Hitler's Germany | Mussolini's Italy | Mao's China |
time of rule | 1924-1953 | 1933-1945 | 1922-1945 | civil war 1931-1949, rule 1949-1976 |
rise to power | tactical, political manipulation (stuff like making trotsky miss lenin's funeral, and creating a cult of lenin) | public appeal, weak Weimar constitution, support from anti-communists | public appeal, military 'threat' (march on rome) | public appeal (not stealing during war with kuomintang), 'long march' |
fall from power | Death only (USSR falls later) | WWII (+suicide) | WWII (attempted escape + execution) | death only |
Foreign policy | ||||
invaded anything? | only buffer states | 'lebensraum,' re-uniting Germany w/ austria, reclaim Ruhr and germans from Czechoslovakia, reclaim Sudetenland - , then taking over the whole freakin' world | unite Italy, colonize Abbysinia (recreate Roman empire) | unite the chinese |
treaties | Nazi-soviet pact (agreement to not attack eachother, and to divide poland) | Nazi-soviet pact (agreement to not attack eachother, and to divide poland), rome-berlin axis | Rome-berlin axis | Isolation |
Domestic goals | creation of strong self-sufficient soviet state through industrialisation and collectivisation, "Socialism in one country" | rearmament | establishment of corporate state, reclaim glory of rome, battle for babies/land/grain etc, increase nationalism + miliarism | establish communist state |
Economy: | ||||
industrialized already? | no | yes | partly | no |
industrialisation | 5 year plans | prioritised industry (for war) | corporate state | 5 year plans, Great leap forward (bad because they melted down bad-quality metal and made it into tractors, which then broke) |
centralisation | yes | yes | yes | yes |
collectivisation | yes, forced in many cases | no | no | yes, but not forced! |
Political control: | ||||
political position | Socialist: "Socialism in one country" | Nazi/Fascist | Fascist, Corporate State | Communist |
re: political opposition | political parties banned, show trials | political parties banned | political parties banned | political parties banned, show trials |
resistance anyway? | Gulag'd | yes | yes | Kuomintang still in Taiwan |
purges | Political purges | Political purges | Political purges (rectification campaign) | |
democratic discussion | no | no | no | no |
secret police | KGB | Gestapo, S.S. LOTS of informants | Informants | |
Social control: | ||||
control of the media/propaganda | Censorship - newspapers, limiting works of artists, school books adapted | Censorship - newspapers, limiting works of artists, school books adapted. Goebbel important | Censorship - newspapers, limiting works of artists, school books adapted, propaganda in modern arts+media | Censorship - newspapers, limiting works of artists, school books adapted |
cult of personality | yes | yes | yes | yes |
instill nationalism? | yes | yes | yes | yes |
use of military | purges, reign of terror, secret police: rather than military | military state | military state | Red Guards |
common enemy | capitalism | communists, non-aryans, Jews, signatories of Versailles | communists, (signatories of Versailles) | capitalism |
church and state | anti-religious (allowed pogroms) | concordat of rome, Lateran pact: recognized the church, gave them their own state, allowed them to have youth organizations -> led to divided loyalties | anti-religious | |
antisemitism | existed already (with Tsars, etc) | yes, to the extent of genocide | attempted but unpopular | none |
ethnic cleansing | russification, stalinisation ? | yes | no | no |
classless society? | yes | class shd be meaningless: opportunity for all Germans, but dictatorship is fine | ultimate aim | yes |
cultural changes | none(?) | yes - nature, family, 'germanic ideal' | yes - natural inheritor of ancient Rome, return to traditional family values | creation of new china (abolish four olds - culture, habits, customs, ideas), cultural revolution |
role of women | assigned roles - breed aryans | originally supposed to be equal, later became housewives only | ||
Difficulties | 'de-kulakization' leads to ppl burning crops and killing animals rather than give them up | he shouldnt've invaded russia. | general strength of Italy wasn't really that great. | had to fight a civil war |
Writings | 'foundations of leninism' | Mein Kampf | newspapers lol | lil' red book |
Conclusion: | Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Mussolini were actually the SAME PERSON!!! OMFG |
Outside Resources:
- An immensely helpful Google Spreadsheet being used to study History. A Single party leader comparison sheet is on the second sheet.