Comparison Between M and H

Schalk  1 Rene Schalk  History HL Mr. Hunt  Comparison between Mao Zedong and Adolf Hitler

Mao Zedong was leader in China from 1931 until his death in 1976. He proposed many different policies for the Communistic government and completely changed China’s society. His ideology was Marxism-Leninism, but he quickly adapted it to Chinese conditions, and party he followed such CCP`s theoreticians. Communism was soon growing in China and he soon created a party that supported his Communistic beliefs. Adolf Hitler Hitle r took over Germany’s government, which was at this point of time still a republic (Weimar Republic), in 1934. His ideology was to significantly change the society and government of an economically destroyed Germany. He offered new jobs within his nationalistic party for all unemployed people, which convinced many people to vote for his party. He was extremely against the Jews who were blamed for the outcome of World War 1 and an d therefore completely rejected by Hitler. His hatred for this particular religion and developing an “arien” Germany was an a n important ideology throughout his career. Both Hitler and Mao changed the government into a dictatorship and significantly adjusted their beliefs to the economy and politics. Nevertheless, they both killed a tremendous amount of innocent people due to their strong reluctance of particular groups of  people such as Hitler against the Jews, and Mao against people who belonged to other parties or adapted completely different beliefs. Hitler and Mao were

Schalk  2 somewhat similar in the way of achieving total power, but significantly different in the approach of political beliefs.

When Mao came to power he strongly believed to change the entire country to Communism and any other party or belief should be banned. He analyzed the Chinese society into the very few educated people in the one hand, and on the other into the classification of peasants-farmers as rich, poor and middle peasants, with all that that implied for the collectivization and re-organization of rural society in China. Hitler achieved to rise as the chancellor of Germany by taking advantage of  the farmers and all the people who were affected by the extreme economic inflation that happened prior to Hitler’s overthrow. Mao and Hitler also used strong propaganda to get the publics attention. Paintings and drawings of Mao could be found on walls, pictures and houses. The pride of establishing Communism was severely high, and if anyone attempted to disobey his propaganda in any way, was either sentenced to death or punished with extreme torturous methods. Hitler used a similar strategy of promoting his image to the public. He used flyers and speeches to bring the feeling of hope back to the people. Especially his speeches are known as the most influential ones of all time since his promises were somewhat directly turned into action.

The rise of militarism and defense were both Mao’s and Hitler’s strong attribute during their campaign. Nevertheless, the approach of how to use both was significantly different. While Mao’s a im was to kill anyone who opposed him, Hitler

Schalk  3 did not kill the people who opposed his believes. He was more focused to rationalize his Germany by eliminating all the remaining Jews and religions that seemed to be guilty for the outcome of World War 1. He established concentration camps for the Jews and he is known for the only dictator that ever killed that many people from one religion. Hitler and Mao killed many people during their lifetime but Mao was killing his opponents to stay in power while Hitler eliminated the Jews to form a better Germany.

The policies of both Hitler and Mao were extremely influential for the government; some were more important than others. Both dictators anticipated many achievements. Mao brought China back again as a major world power. The long March, where Mao established his leadership of the Communist Party or The Truce, where Mao successfully developed his own version of Marxism based upon the Significance of Marxism, its adaption to Chinese culture and conditions, were two of Mao’s achievements that were mostly focused on rising his party to the top. He also established Maoism, a form of Marxism that he developed during his campaign. It described the mobilization o the masses, particularly in large-scale political movements. In 1953, the first Five Year Plan was opposed. It was designed to end Chinese dependence on agriculture in order to become a World Power. This plan was introduced during industrialization also focusing on controlling inflation and re-establish full communication. Then, the Great Leap Forward was introduced, probably Mao’s most famous policy. It was designed to develop Chinese style democracy, increase agricultural production and also overtake USA and Britain as

Schalk  4 an industrial power in 15 years. All of Mao’s successful policies were referring to establish a better China where the peasants and the working class were the most  important group of people as well as the belief of Communism that had to be established in every household. Adolf Hitler also had policies that changed the government of Germany, but his focus was more on militarism. He built a classless society by replacing individual liberty with securing the greater good of the nation. Comparable to Mao, he also wanted to get rid of all non-Nazi influences. Since he put extreme focus on the youth and women of Germany, they were prepared to become the strong future patriots of  Germany. Hitler’s foreign policies were his focus next to the military. When he wrote the book “Mein Kampf” during his time in p rison he described the way to integrate Germany as a great power again to dominate Europe. Destroying the treaty of  Versailles, uniting all German speakers together in one country as well as the establishment of “Lebensraum” promising the Germans more land and freedom were crucial parts of his popular book. During 1933 and 1939, he used his tactics explained in the book and made it reality. Especially in 1930, before his putsch on the Reichstag, his foreign policies proved to be successful making him to a very popular figure in Germany. Hitler was more focused on foreign policies and tried to establish his Nationalistic party in other parts of Europe, while Mao Zedong was mostly focused on domestic policies and his rise of Communism in China.

Militarism was one crucial factor in bot h Mao’s and Hitler’s campaign. Nevertheless, Hitler was significantly focused to use his strong military to take

Schalk  5 revenge on Europe for the defeat of World War 1. Since he had most people in Germany on his side, his army was at that point of time the strongest in Europe. He started World War 2, which was designed to overthrow countries like France, Russia and England. Hitler’s strategies such as the Blitzkrieg that was designed to break through enemies with their best troops proved to be successful in the beginning but soon became Hitler’s self -destruction. Mao created a few military “groups” such as the Red Army, which was the most successful one. Mao’s armies were majorly designed to bring the peasants to power and remove everyone who opposed Mao’s views. Throughout the war, Mao says following quote:

Revolution is not a dinner party, nor an essay, nor a painting, nor a piece of  embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act  of violence by which one class overthrows another.

This describes Mao’s aim throughout the war, and he attempted to achieve his aim through the highest degrees of violent acts.

In conclusion, Mao Zedong and Adolf Hitler are both extreme leaders who were able to change their country through a high use of propaganda, militarism and policies. While Mao’s believes were to bring the peasants to power, Hitler’s aim were to unite all the German speaking countries and establish Germany as furious power in Europe through militarism. Also, Hitler’s aim throughout the war was

Schalk  6 majorly to establish Germany as a World power, Mao created a domestic war in order to ascertain peasants their power. Since Mao’s Great Leap Forward proved to be a failure and signatures almost Mao’s end of his power, his policies pertaining agriculture and economical establishment were rather seen as ineffective. Also, he showed very little enthusiasm towards the development of Communism in other countries than China itself. Hitler, instead, focused on spreading his beliefs in countries surrounding Germany. While Hitler believed in an arien Germany and the necessity to eliminate all Jews, Mao focused on keeping Communism the one and only party in China and everyone who tried to oppose were killed. Mao was, however, more violent than Hitler and despite of Hitler’s concentration camps and one world war, Mao was seen as the more torturous and violent.