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Christopher Liu
Mr. Erik Korling MYP Honors World History; Word Count: 1653 20 March 2015 Exactly what type of people become dictators? Are dictatorial traits inherited or obtained and developed? In order for one to truly understand exactly what dictators are, their motives, and their means to achieve them, one must first be cognizant of the individual early life and formative political education of dictators of the past that would later rise to power. One can explore the the lives and specific contexts of Hitler and Stalin, two of the most prominent, influential and infamous dictators as relevant examples to delve and answer these questions. Both Hitler and Stalin possessed specific characteristics and were raised in a defined setting that contributes and lead to them becoming a totalitarian dictator. As they absorb more and more influence from the environments they are raised in, they gain totalitarian ideals and they can begin to use their dictatorial traits as a means of power, control, and to influence others. Through the exploration of the early life and political education of both Hitler and Stalin, one can discover the specific context that is required for an individual to emerge as a dictator. Adolf Hitler was born on April 20 1889 in the Austrian town of Braunau am Inn, born as the fourth of six children. All three of Hitler’s older siblings died during infancy. From the very start, Hitler was already born into a struggling and catastrophe-stricken family. Alois Hitler, his father, made a successful career being a customs official and wanted Hitler to follow in his footsteps. However, Hitler was more interested in a career in the visual arts. This, coupled with the fact that Hitler defiantly refused to conform to the strict discipline and customs of his state ran school Volksschule led to many intense and physical father-son conflicts (Hitler Early Years). Despite the family troubles, Hitler was described to be an outgoing, extroverted, confident, and conscientious student in his early childhood. However, the death of his younger brother Edmund from measles in 1900 would greatly affect Hitler’s personality and views on life and school. He quickly became morose, detached from others, sullen, and the fights between himself and his fathers and teachers drastically increased. On September 1900, Hitler was sent to the technical school of Realschule in Linz. Hitler greatly despised this decision and strived to go to a more classical school with a larger emphasis on the arts. Hitler even decided to underperform and get bad grades on purpose, in hopes that his father would withdraw him from the school. It was during this age of rebellion where Hitler began to develop German nationalistic ideas (Adolf). He absolutely hated the Habsburg Monarchy for ruling an “ethnically varied” nation and only expressed loyalty towards Germany. Hitler’s life took a turn after his father’s sudden death on January 3 1903. His mother allowed Hitler to leave the school and go into a more classical one, where he showed signs of improvement. Hitler graduated in 1905, and then looked towards his dream of becoming an artist. However, he was ultimately rejected by Vienna’s Academy of Arts twice. It was at this same time where his mother died of breast cancer, someone Hitler was extremely close to. Hitler would eventually run out of money after the academy’s second rejection, and Hitler was reduced to living in homeless shelters and hostels (Adolf Hitler). It was here when Hitler was exposed to harsh anti-semitism, and fears of being “overrun by immigrants” were starting to become rampant in Vienna. Jews were being commonly politically exploited and used as a scapegoat in Vienna and Hitler bought into all of this. In May of 1913 Hitler moved from Vienna to Munich in order to evade being drafted into the Austrian army because of the mixture of races. Hitler failed his physical exam and was first deemed unfit for service. However, after the outbreak of World War I, he volunteered to join the Bavarian Army. It was here where Hitler would gain much needed publicity, fame, and military experience. He received the Iron Cross twice, a major military award for his bravery. His time spent serving during World War I reinforced his German nationalism, and the idea of a single purified German race. Military leaders took note of Hitler’s bravery that would later help Hitler when running for office. It was after World War I where Hitler would start his entry into politics. Attracted to the nationalist, anti-semitic, and anti-capitalist ideas of the party, Hitler would be assigned to monitor and later join the German Workers’ Party. Hitler would rise in ranks and become the leader of the German Workers’ Party, effectively turning the party into a puppet which he could make do whatever he so wanted to do. Hitler would give speeches criticizing the Versailles Treaty, Jews, and Marxist ideals for the Party, and thousands of people would come to listen to his speeches. These speeches would establish Hitler as a great oratorical speaker and give him massive amounts of publicity (Early Life). Stalin was born on December 18, 1878 as Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughasvili in the village of Gori, Georgia. As a young child, Stalin was born with many health issues as a child, and was born with two adjoined toes on his left foot, and his face was scarred with smallpox at the age of 7 (Joseph Stalin). This would lead to a sense of insecurity and a paranoia to just be normal and as healthy as others. Stalin also experienced many family problems as well. His father was an alcoholic and was very abusive towards the family, and was banished from the city after assaulting the police. Stalin attended a church school as a young child and achieved good grades. When Stalin reached the age of 16, he received a scholarship to attend Tiflis Spiritual Seminary. Here, Stalin was exposed to a secret organization that supported Georgian independence from Russia, and developed a strong sense of Georgian nationalism. Some of the members were socialist and exposed Stalin to socialist and Marxist ideas. Skipping his final exams, Stalin dropped out and joined the Russian Social-Democratic Party, a Marxist group. The government cracked down on all communists and Stalin was exiled from Russia for coordinating a labor strike in 1902. Stalin was forced to go in hiding, and Stalin became an unemployed revolutionary, solely living off donations. Stalin excelled in the secretarial operations of the revolution and raised money for the revolution illegally and was marked as a solid speaker (Guided History). Both Hitler and Stalin shared many similarities in both their personalities and their early life experiences and formative years that led and helped them to become totalitarian dictators over their respective countries. Perhaps the biggest similarity between the two was their extreme family issues. Hitler and Stalin both had a disjointed family that would effect and inhibit their childhoods. Stalin’s father was an abusive alcoholic and left the family to fend for themselves after being put on exile. In the case of Hitler, he constantly fought with his father throughout his childhood and both his father and mother died when Hitler was still relatively young. All the misfortune that happened to both Stalin and Hitler during their early childhood would go on to prompt them to become a totalitarian dictator, as if they are able to control all aspects of daily life of all citizens they can prevent misfortunes from happening to them again. Their disastrous early life also served another function, as it toughened both Hitler and Stalin up towards catastrophes. Hitler and Stalin would both have experienced misfortunes before, and when a few bumps come up along the way when running for power, they will know how to deal with them. Their early life worked to train them for the potential misfortunes that would occur later on in their life. Another similarity between the two dictators was their lack of interest and priority in school education. While both thought education and knowledge were important, and both were marked as intelligent by their peers and teachers, both Stalin and Hitler saw school as inhibiting not extending knowledge. Both despised the traditional schooling system and strived for a more well-rounded education in the case of Hitler, and Stalin prioritized politics over education. This allowed both Stalin and Hitler to focus on other priorities which would help advance themselves towards becoming a totalitarian dictator. Stalin and Hitler both developed nationalistic mindsets and viewpoints from a young age as well. As a result, both of them had large amounts of ride towards their country and would want nothing more but to rule the country themselves. In addition, both Hitler and Stalin proved to be strong oratorical speakers and charismatic from a young age that would greatly aid their rise to power. Lastly, both Stalin and Hitler both contained a major sense of insecurity. For Hitler, he could never find something he truly excelled at and was turned down twice by the Vienna Arts Academy, his dream school and career path. Stalin was marked as abnormal and was plagued with many health issues during his childhood. These insecurities would drive both Stalin and Hitler to become the sole ruler, as if they are the ones in charge and they are the ones in power, their insecurities would become irrelevant in the face of society at large. By viewing and analyzing the early life and formative political years of both Hitler and Stalin, one can understand what particular circumstances does an individual gain dictatorial ideals and what traits and personalities are present in a dictator. Insecurities, the lust for power, a miserable childhood and family, oratorical skills, and charisma are all characteristics that dictators may contain during their early childhood years. One can go on to predict which people may have an increased aptitude for becoming a dictator solely by tracing their specific context during their early years. By doing so, one can truly be cognizant of the specific context required for an individual to emerge as a totalitarian dictator. Voice Recording Link: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0kkjW6HcBT4 |
Works Cited
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"Joseph Stalin." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.
"Joseph Stalin." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.