Comparing and contrasting Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin
Introduction
It is always a great temptation when comparing Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. There are two main reasons for this: first, the events of both of their careers converged around the same point of history hence increasing the impact made by both and secondly their names are have become metaphors for ideologies and offences that today are reviled. Therefore, we can raise the question: who was inferior between them? Hitler or Stalin? Stalin was born on December 18, 1879[1]. He used to be a Russian politician and a leader of the Soviet Union who embraced a dictatorial leadership in the 1920s until he met his death in 1953. Hitler was born on April 20, 1889. He was an Australian-German politician and an unshakable leader of Nazis party from the 1921s until he died in 1945. He had established an absolute dictatorship during his leadership[2]. Although these two leaders never met, their lives and fates have a significant link.
Hitler regime
When Hitler became into power in 1933, he started claiming more power. Germany entered a new phase of complete dictatorship. There were so many arrests and intimidation that were rising every day[3]. His government also banned the communist party, and more than 10000 communists got arrested. Hitler had opened several camps to hold a large number of prisoners. The circumstances in those prisons were atrocious, people were mistreated, tortured, and others killed. Germans who were Jews faced a tough time during his rule. Some instances are when the guards would pick Jewish prisoners outside the gates and shoot them dead. They would then claim that they were trying to escape.
Joseph Stalin regime
In 1917, various leaders among them Joseph Stalin vied for positions to gain power. It is at this time that Joseph Stalin was appointed as secretary-general for a newly created Communism party. The position was considerately a small one, but it is where he was able to create his power base. He recruited his allies to hold government positions. After the death of Lenin in 1924, Stalin wielded power at the highest level[4]. In the following three years, he had cemented himself at the regime. He was able to place himself into a personality that created propaganda that he is a saviour of Russia in several ways. He created a big network for police agencies, setting them up in different places as spies to give him information about his local opponents as well bout the intention of other nations about his regime. He did not focus on building a right working environment of workers but instead he set priority in protecting Russia from invasion. Finally, he launched a five years plan to industrialize and modernize the economy. He forced peasants to move from their land to labour in huge state-run farms. This step was indeed transformational into agriculture industrial superpower, but it was a painful action to peasants.
Similarities between Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin
They were not natives of the places they became national leaders. Adolf Hitler was born in Vienna, Australia but rose as a leading representative of Germany. Joseph Stalin was also a leader representative that took reign in Russia but was born in Georgia. It is significantly important to note that the two of them rose to power in the tumultuous year during the two world wars. They joined radical political movements that supposedly saw them through to becoming national leaders in their respective representation. They hated the fact that their cities were growing big with swarms of foreigners coming there. They developed hatred towards those different ethnic groups[5]. They often faced challenges while involving themselves in the movements. Unfortunately, when they become into reign, both incorporated their homelands to be a one solid-state believing that they wanted better lives for their country people.
For a period of six years from 1902 to 1907, Stalin was arrested several times for apparently organizing a meeting that was opposition to czarist and demonstrations. He was forced to work in desolate camps that were remote and had a terrible climate. He always managed to escape from these nether regions, something that made his enemies conclude that he was a czarist agent. However, that was not true, thus being depicted by his act for organizing anti-czarist meetings. Altogether, Adolf was arrested for about a year. First, in 1922, he was detained for five weeks with an allegation of inciting people to riot against the government of Weimer. His last incarceration was because of trying to overthrow the government of Bavaria with nearly a thousand of his followers. Sixteen of his followers were killed, and two were wounded. He was sentenced for five years, but he served a jail term of thirteen months.
Differences between Hitler and Stalin
Hitler was so much emotional, and this made him make bad decisions. He was so ruthless, proud, and viewed himself as someone very popular. Whatever he was doing was just to suppress his traitors who were acting against German people[6]. On the other hand, we can say that Stalin was better when compared to Hitler. He was a bit calm, and he acted more rationally. When Stalin was seeking for power, his roadmap was different. He did not require support from large masses, unlike Hitler. Stalin was paranoid. He used to listen to his war advisors and was more reasonable in his doings than Hitler.
Another difference is the way they committed their massacres. Stalin’s massacre was based on class where there were struggles between capitalists and socialists, while Hitler was based on race. Hitler had so much hatred towards Jews, therefore, emerging to be a racist. He killed so many people, including several associates and many military officers.
Conclusion
We can see what happens behind the scene where the leader is looking for control. There are weaknesses that citizens should observe as underlying ethical issues. Citizens should be careful of misguiding images of politicians that are put and created to them using propagandas. In one way, we can consider Joseph Stalin worse because he was already a criminal before being a national leader. He raised money through kidnapping and theft to banks. So, ethically Stalin was already corrupted with a record of victimizing citizens. This made him be always nervous of what was said about him by citizens suspected to be against his regime. In a different opinion, Hitler is also considered worse since he was filled with hate for foreigners that swarm into their cities. His action for open racism is unethical as a leader. He arrested the races he hated anyhow without any offence. Besides, Hitler would order the killing of the races he discriminated. This was very unfair, but he was a dictator, and his words must have been acted upon a command.
Bibliography
Alan Bullock, Baron Bullock, Wilfrid F. Knapp, and John Lukacs. “Adolf Hitler.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., April 26, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Hitler.
Adolf Hitler. Accessed May 11, 2020. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/adolf-hitler.
Hingley, Ronald Francis. “Joseph Stalin.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., March 27, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Stalin.
“Joseph Stalin.” Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, September 4, 2019. https://www.biography.com/dictator/joseph-stalin.
Klein, Christopher. “The Secret Hitler-Stalin Pact.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, August 22, 2014. https://www.history.com/news/the-secret-hitler-stalin-pact-75-years-ago.
Kotkin, Stephen. “When Stalin Faced Hitler.” Foreign Affairs, November 7, 2019. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russia-fsu/2017-09-19/when-stalin-faced-hitler.
[1] “Joseph Stalin,” Biography.com (A&E Networks Television, September 4, 2019), https://www.biography.com/dictator/joseph-stalin.
[2] Adolf Hitler accessed May 11, 2020, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/adolf-hitler.
[3] Christopher Klein, “The Secret Hitler-Stalin Pact,” History.com (A&E Television Networks, August 22, 2014), https://www.history.com/news/the-secret-hitler-stalin-pact-75-years-ago.
[4] Ronald Francis Hingley, “Joseph Stalin,” Encyclopædia Britannica (Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., March 27, 2020), https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Stalin.
[5], Stephen Kotkin, “When Stalin Faced Hitler,” Foreign Affairs, November 7, 2019, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russia-fsu/2017-09-19/when-stalin-faced-hitler.
[6] Baron Bullock Alan Bullock, Wilfrid F. Knapp, and John Lukacs, “Adolf Hitler,” Encyclopædia Britannica (Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., April 26, 2020), https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Hitler.