Dictatorship
Dictatorship
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Controlling a Country
A dictatorship is defined as a form of government in which one man possesses absolute power which he employs arbitrarily without effective constitutional limitations. Since the beginning of history as we know it, the world has seen a significantly large amount of leaders managing to achieve, and also lose, this type of power. For a ruler, the most difficult task as a dictator is not attaining power, but preserving it. In his discussion about politics, Aristotle states, in what seems to be a prophetic vision of the future, the fundamental qualities needed in a tyrannical state to maintain total control over its citizens. Aristotle cleverly asserts that in order to retain his position, a dictator must focus his efforts in addressing a number of factors within the state that play a crucial role in obtaining and preserving effective control over the subjects.
When discussing the devices needed for a ruler to exert and preserve control of a country, Aristotle provides two methods, both touching a variety of concepts and ideas, many of which have been employed by most dictators of our time. Among the most predominant subjects addressed by the great philosopher in the first method is the prohibition of clubs, schools, meetings and intellectual organizations that foment knowledge, as well as the persecution or limitation of intellectuals and free-minded individuals. According to him, this must be done to keep the citizens from sharing ideas and plots that may directly affect the regime. Aristotle also stresses the extensive use of spies, or secret police, to collect information and to prevent the people from speaking freely. The use of spies also helps stir mistrust, another of Aristotle’s requirements for maintaining control of society. One more very important aspect of the philosopher’s vision of a dictatorship is the necessity for keeping the subjects busy, either by work or through war, so that they do not have time to conspire against the government. In general, as Aristotle concludes: “the wishes of tyrants may be reduced in fact to these three defining principles […]: that the ruled not trust one another; that they be powerless; that they think small.”
In the second method, Aristotle argues that in order to make a regime transcend it must become or come close to becoming a monarchy. In this case, the leader, although conserving his absolute power, must be seen as a righteous and noble person. To achieve this, the ruler must begin by taking good care of the state’s resources, allowing the people to know where the money is being spent and using it to finance public structures and activities. Furthermore, the dictator ought to keep a serious and virtuous image, free of vices and indulgence, and should also cultivate the country’s religion. This concept of promoting the state religion, however, becomes a polemic when the ideals of the regime substitute the country’s religious beliefs. Most importantly, Aristotle states that the ruler should make both rich and poor believe that he is protecting their interests, so that both groups will go to battle for him when it is needed. We will see through an analysis of the regimes of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Joseph Stalin, how factors from both of Aristotle’s methods come into play in each man’s conquest and achievement of control over their respective countries.
Even though it is very unlikely that Adolf Hitler read Aristotle, the philosopher’s ideas on how to operate a dictatorship are significantly exemplified by Hitler’s utter control of Nazi Germany. Brought to power by perfectly legal means, Hitler is the ultimate example of a totalitarian leader. He was so deeply loved and respected by both his subjects and companions that they would obey every single command uttered by him without any hesitation. Hitler projected himself as the messiah, the savior of Germany, the man that would work for every single individual to bring triumph and prosperity to his country. This flawless image, as well as his ambitious plans for the country, inspired plenty of confidence and trust among the people, a quality that he would use to his advantage to achieve his objectives.
In addition to the very charismatic and well-projected leader, Nazi Germany was controlled by a vicious secret police, the SS, and continuous propaganda, consisting mostly of massive congregations. People who did not cooperate with the regime or did not participate in its activities, were arrested by the SS and sent to concentration camps. Thus, every citizen was compelled to join and become an activate participant of the Nazi party. Furthermore, Hitler destroyed social life in Germany. The Nazis tried to keep people from meeting together in any activity that was not associated with the regime. Namely, meeting places such as restaurants, bars, theaters and even churches were eliminated or closely surveyed by the SS. Education was also being controlled; Hitler wanted to create a new type of German individual. As a result, children and young people were being brought up and indoctrinated in the beliefs of the regime. Moreover, there was no unemployment in Germany during Hitler’s time, most workers were controlled by the government and plenty of jobs were created through numerous public activities such as the rebuilding of Berlin. Therefore, people were kept busy most of the time either through work, through the activities of the party or, in the later days of the regime, through the war. These aspects of Hitler’s regime serve as excellent examples of how Aristotle’s ideas become reality to function perfectly in attaining absolute control over a country.
A contemporary and ally of Hitler, Benito Mussolini took similar paths to his German counterpart for obtaining power and control in Italy. Like Hitler, Mussolini also obtained power legally, although he staged a march into Rome for propagandistic purposes. In addition to being a very charismatic leader and a great speaker, Mussolini also projected himself as the serious, clever and ambitious ruler that Italy so desperately needed, elevating his image to the stature of a deity. He also made smart as well as extensive use of strong propaganda to further earn the trust and support of the Italian people. Although he never achieved absolute control over the state, he governed pretty much to his own discretion, consulting only a few issues with the king. Nevertheless, in the end, not being the absolute ruler caused him to lose his position as Il Duce.
The Fascists, similar to the Nazis, wanted to create a new Italian man, thus, children and teenagers were being indoctrinated into the ideals of the regime through education and books. However, the Fascist regime was not as oppressive or violent as other regimes of its time. Even though Mussolini employed the secret police to maintain control of the citizens, many organizations such as industries, the Church and universities were left intact. Most of the repression was directed against journalists, socialists, opposing parties, secret organizations and anyone who opposed the Fascist party.
In order to keep his subjects occupied as Aristotle advocated in his discussion, Mussolini ordered the construction of many monuments, roads and public buildings that still stand today. An admirer of the Roman Empire, he ordered the rebuilding of many parts of this ancient city, including the Coliseum, as well as the creation of roads and highways throughout Rome. Mussolini, in his attempt to restore the Roman Empire, also engaged Italy in a series of wars, beginning with the war in Ethiopia and ending with World War II. These wars, however, did not serve either Italy or himself very well and eventually would be the main reason that he was forced to abdicate. Overall, Benito Mussolini’s regime effectively put into practice most of Aristotle’s theories. Its downfall was not caused by a lack of tyrannical methods of control, but more by a combination of inefficient economic and military planning, along with the reckless behavior of Il Duce himself in his last days in power.
It is peculiar that the third dictatorship that will be analyzed was also contemporary with that of Hitler and Mussolini. Joseph Stalin’s regime was more intense, oppressive, and lasted longer than the other two regimes that have been discussed. In contrast to Hitler or Mussolini, Stalin did not exactly reach absolute power by perfectly legal means; nevertheless, he was loved and supported by the Soviet people. Stalin had more power, over more time and over more people than any other dictator of our time.
Joseph Stalin controlled the Soviet Union predominantly through terror and violence. As Aristotle would have recommended, he created a secret police, the NKVD, which operated with heartless, official brutality. The NKVD was not only in charge of the great purges of the 1930’s, which ended the lives of millions of Russians, but also of managing prisons, labor camps, registry and even the fire department. This secret police took care of eliminating intellectuals and members of the opposition, eradicating free-thinking and social life and, most importantly, stirring enormous mistrust and uncertainty among the Soviet people. Anyone who resisted or opposed the orders of the party was arrested, trialed and either executed, exiled or sent to a labor camp. In fact, most of the heavy labor and construction conducted under Stalin’s administration was performed by prisoners and slaves.
It is ironic that even though the Soviet Union was clouded by famine, poverty and violence, Stalin was still greatly admired and praised by the people. It would only make sense to assume that he accomplished this feat through propaganda, through the indoctrination of his subjects into the ideas of the regime and through the complete isolation of his citizens from the outside world. Furthermore, as in the other dictatorships discussed, the Soviets were kept busy most of the time. The party encouraged everyone, including women and children, to work at making Russia a better place. In addition, some peasants were obliged to work and in some cases surveillance took place at some of the factories and farms to push peasants to work hard and efficiently. As a result, there was no unemployment in the Soviet Union, a factor that allowed Stalin not only to monitor his subjects, but also to make constant changes in the country from the beginning of his rule to his death.
Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin not only shared similar time-spans, characters and visions of the world, but also similar styles of exercising control over their respective societies. As seen from the analysis of the regimes of these three dictators, we can conclude that there are several crucial factors that a totalitarian ruler must assess in order to attain and preserve the absolute control of his country. These factors, most of which are addressed by Aristotle in his discussion of politics, include the elimination of knowledge development and free-thinking, the use of spies or secret police to eliminate opposition and maintain order, the indoctrination of the subjects into the ideals of the regime, the maintenance of a positive image by the dictator, and, finally, the use of public activities and works to maintain the citizens occupied. Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini, though they probably never studied Aristotle’s work, diligently addressed these issues in their respective countries and, as a result, managed to effectively exert immense power over their subjects over extended periods of time.
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