Dictators for Dummies

Dictators For Dummies By Jacob West™

Common technique used: T.I.C.S T: Threat of fear: Threat of fear is when the dictator threatens citizens. For example, When a dictator threatens their citizens to do something they don't want by fear I: Indoctrination/Propaganda: Indoctrination is the message that the dictator is trying to give and propaganda is the method the message is given. For example, Hitler made videos showing his view on how events happened C: Controlled Participation: Controlled participation is when the dictator controls what the citizens do, for example in a dictatorship there are no elections to elect a new leader but the dictator could hold a fixed election to give the citizens a false sense of hope. The citizens participate in something that the dictator has full control over S: Scapegoating: Scapegoating also known as popular discontent is when a dictator places blame on a person or group of people for something. For example hitler placed blame on the jews for society's ills

Hitler Fun Fact! Hitler was so bad at art that he was rejected by Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and lived in poverty trying to sell his work

Who is Hitler Adolf Hitler was an Austrian born politician who started the Haulocost, he was the dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945. Hitler died in 1945 after committing suicide by swallowing a cyanide pill and shooting himself in the head. Hitler wrote a book about his political beliefs and his life, the books was called Mein Kampf which translates to my struggle and he wrote it while he was in prison.

How Hitler came to power Hitler was working in the army and he did not like the inequality of the treaty of versailles which resulted in Hitler joined the DAP party aka the German workers party in 1919, Hitler quickly rose up the ladder in the party because he was a very good speaker. Hitler threatened to leave if he wasn’t made party leader, and as they did not want to lose him he become leader and later renamed it to the Nazi party. Hitler and his party attempted to take over the government by force but, it did not play out too well as a he was arrested and sentenced to 5 years. During this time Hitler became famous after his trial and writing a book called, Mein Kampf. Hitler only served 8 months, once released he switched tactics and in 20’s Hitler began campaigning like crazy. Towards the end of the 20’s and the Great Depression in the US, Hitler started to protest a revolution. In 1932 Hitler ran for presidency but was defeated by Paul Von Hindenburg, after many backroom negotiations he appointed Hitler as chancellor. When Hindenburg died Hitler took full control.

How Hitler maintained his power One of the ways Hitler stayed in power was the enabling act, which eliminated all other political parties which turned Germany from a democracy to a dictatorship. Hitler stayed in power via the acronym TICS. Threat of fear is one of the main ways Dictators stay in power. Hitler granted the police the ability to put anyone they like in jail for no reason, so if someone was hating on Hitler or was a Jew they could just be arrested and thrown in one of many concentration camps, or even killed on the spot. Hitler used Indoctrination/Propaganda to stay in power by making people go against the Jews or communists by demonizing them. The propaganda promoted Nazi ideology and the values of Hitler. another way that Hitler stayed in power was the use of controlled participation. in 1936 an election was held to as people if they liked the military occupation, but with majority of the people voting being Nazi’s it was a yes, the citizens were not aloud to vote anymore. Scapegoating,was used by Hitler to place blame on the Jews for there societal ills and if they were eliminated all the problems would go away. Hitlers scapegoating was made easy with his propaganda he spread around.

How did Hitler justify his rejection of liberalism Hitlers rejection of liberalism allows the citizens to have a better quality of life, as long as you weren't a Jew, communist, part of the Weimar government or a Roma. Hitler thought that the Aryans which are blonde hair, blue eyed Germans were superior to anyone else. Hitler thought that giving his people a better quality of life over basic human rights was better because he knew what they wanted. Hitler thought that individuals did not have a place in a Facist society unless they were serving the state. The state was Hitlers main concern

Stalin Fun Fact! Joseph Stalin was beaten by his drunken biological father as a child, no wonder he killed so many people!

Who is Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was a Georgian born political leader in the Soviet Union. He led the USSR from 1924 until 1953. Stalin died March 5th 1953 from a massive hemorrhagic stroke, which is a stroke that leads to too much blood in the brain. His goal was to industrialize Russia and in doing so he created a famine known as the Holodomor which killed anywhere from 4 to 10 million people.

How Stalin came to power Before Vladimir Lenin died in January of 1924 Stalin was the leader of the Bolsheviks, a Russian communist party. Lenin never liked Stalin because he knew he wasn't a good dude and the last thing he wanted was for him to be leader. When Lenin died, Leon Trotsky and Stalin were competing for leader, but Stalin managed to make people not like Trotsky so when it came to the election Stalin won. Once Stalin gained power he started to kill off his opponents and he exiled trotsky to Mexico. Stalin was so paranoid that in 1940 he sent someone to kill Trotsky with an ice pick in Mexico.

How Stalin maintained power Stalin's main method of staying in power was mainly using fear and terror, he had purges where he encouraged people to turn on eachother and get people arrested for his gulags (labour camps). People were afraid of being purged so they would turn on there friends and family hoping to not be killed first. Another method Stalin used was propaganda and it was everywhere, from posters around town to films. Stalin used films to make his policies and himself look good to everyone else. Stalin rewarded good behaviour with higher wages and better quality of life amenities like better schools and apartments, he also gave out Stakhanovite medals to the non party hard workers. He used show trials as a way of controlled participation, the show trials were set up trails for his opponents, people were tortured into saying certain things to make them look bad so they can be locked up.

How did Stalin justify his rejection of liberalism Stalin had the gulags which were labour camps for prisoners or people who were arrested, this is how Stalin was completing his goal of industrializing the USSR. The labour camps helped to cultivate the land and build massive projects, and slave labour is cheap. Stalin thought that having full control over everything was better for the people and better for both of the 5 year plans for industrialization. When Stalin sold all grain to get money for the industry he thought it was a good idea but it backfired on him because the Kulaks killed their animals and burned their buildings so Stalin couldn’t have them.

Pol Pot Fun Fact! Pol Pot’s birth name was Saloth Sar and later when he became leader he changed his name to Pol Pot, which translates to “The Original Cambodian”

Who is Pol Pot Saloth Sar or better known as Pol Pot, was a Cambodian dictator who ruled from 1976 to 1979 and led the Cambodian Genocide. An estimated 1.5 to 2 million Cambodians were killed by starvation, disease, execution or overworking. Pol Pot wanted a one party communist society, he relocated all urban Cambodians onto collective farms on the countryside. He was born May 19th, 1925 and died April 5th, 1998 due to a heart failure.

How Pol Pot came to power In 1953 Pol Pot joined the Proto Communist Khmer People's Revolutionary party or KPRP, while teaching at a school he had been secretly plotting a revolution. In 1960 he helped to reorganize the KPRP into a party that adopted Marxism and Leninism. In 1968 Pol Pot led the newly formed Khmer Rouge guerilla army into a revolution, although it was slow at first. In march 1970 a civil war broke out while General Lon Nol initiated a military coup, a guy named Prince Norodom allied with Pol Pot's army and Lon Nol got backup from the US. the US bombing ended in 1973 and the Khmer Rouge had control over ¾ of Cambodia. On April 17 1975 the Khmer Rouge won the civil war, roughly 500,000 cambodians had died. in 1976 Prince Norodom was forced to resign and Pol Pot took the reigns.

How Pol Pot maintained power Pol Pot maintained power through fear and force, right after the war all Cambodians were sent to the fields to work and if they chose not to they would be tortured in the infamous S-21 which was a school converted into a interrogation Center that held over 14000 minorities, and then they would be killed. 20000 people were known to have been imprisoned and only 7 people made it out alive. Pol Pot had people's bodies buried in massive graves called killing fields. Pol Pot controlled everything from money to private property, and most books and religions were outlawed. The children were all sent to the military and all agriculture was collectivized.

How did Pol Pot justify his rejection of liberalism Pol Pot believed in a collective single party state, he didn’t want anyone else to have control over anything. He wanted to turn Cambodia into an agrarian socialist society, which is basically a cultivating land society which would turn into a communist society. He rejected cambodians rights and freedoms because he felt that they conflicted with his communist regime.

Mao Zedong Fun Fact! When Mao died his body was put in a clear coffin, which is held at the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong in Beijing

Who is Mao Zedong Mao Zedong was the leader of the People’s Republic of China or PRC, which was a Chinese communist revolutionary. He believed in a Marxism and Leninist view, which was known as Maoism. He was born December 26th 1893 and died September 9th 1976 from a series of heart attacks. He was in power with the PRC from 1949 until his death in 1976. Mao Zedong holds the record for most deaths by a person, up to 55 million people were killed as part of Mao’s Great Leap Forward, although no one really knows how many died. The Great leap forward was Mao’s plan to reconstruct the country from an agrarian farming economy to a communist society.

How Mao Zedong came to power working as a librarian, Mao became a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party or CCP which later helped him found the Red army. On October 1st 1949 Mao founded the PRC, which was controlled by the CCP. From 1953 to 1958 he played an important role in enforcing a planned economy in China. In 1957 he launched the anti rightist campaign in which 550,000 people were prosecuted and a year later he launched the Great Leap Forward.

How Mao Zedong maintained power During the Great Leap Forward Mao wanted to turn China‘s economy from agrarian to industrial and in doing so the deadliest famine in history was a result, between 15 and 55 million people died between 1958 and 1962. He maintained his power by removing anti revolutionaries in 1966 by creating the cultural revolution program, which lasted 10 years. Mao used propaganda to make kids think he was a god, he had a massive gold statue of himself made. He used fear by showing people they would be punished if they did not believe in his views.

How did Mao Zedong justify his rejection of liberalism Mao believed that liberalism was dangerous because it did not allow unity in his party, he wanted to control everything. Mao had his own view which was Maoism, which is Marxism and Leninism and a few other ideas. It’s the idea of a permanent revolution and the importance of small scale industry and agriculture collectivization.