CONDITION
Economic/ Social Context
STALIN
 Debating over the NEP/ the appropriate pace of industrialization  High Unemployment  Inflation  Food shortages
HITLER
 High unemployment, 6m in 1932  Great depression, deflation  Dependence of foreign loans  Rise of communism  people pushed to extremes out or fear of communism (middle and upper class)  Pressure from reparations  Defeat in WW1, heavily demilitarized  Treaty of Versailles, dictated peace treaty, Germany given no say
MAO
 Mismanagement of the economy, inefficiency.  High inflation, by 1947 at 3000%  Rationing  No land reform, peasant population living in poverty
Military Context
 After WW1 and the Russian civil war  Russia now isolated  Debate between permanent revolution (Trotsky) and socialism in one country (Stalin)  Death of Lenin, power vacuum at the head of the communist party, had not named a successor  Fears over the unity of the party, rift forming between the radical and the conservative  Do not want a dictator who will divide the party.  Not a failure, Stalin could only come to power after the death on Lenin  Failure of the opposition to stop Stalin  Trotsky unwilling to engage in political machinations was not as tactical as Stalin.  Failed to realize they were being manipulated
 WW2, humiliation, Japanese invasion  CCP victory in the civil war despite being outnumbered and having less equipment than the GMD.
Political Context
 Weimar never very popular as it was seen as a dictated peace  Proportional representation, led to unstable coalitions  Desire for a strong leader  German tradition of rule by a single leader  many looked favorably on life as it had been under the monarchy before the war.  Collapse of Weimar, only temporary successes  Over reliant on foreign investment  Wall street crash, depression, unemployment  Weak coalitions  Article 48, emergency powers, could be exploted.
 Anti-foreigner  Weak corrupt government  Peasant welfare disregarded, GMD support base was mostly middle/upper class in towns/ cities.  Dependence on foreign aid
Failures /weaknesses of existing government
 Detached from Chinas needs  Failure to achieve three principles, nationalism, democracy, socialism.  Negotiated/ compromised territory to warlords and Japan  Unfair Tax System  Chiang poor leadership, appointed own relatives, reliance on secret police
Emergence of an individual leader
 People underestimated him grey blur  Personality, peasant/ worker background  Political machinations, teams with right to defeat left, then turns on right himself. (uses Kamenev and Zinoviev against Trotsky)  Teamed for a time with Bukharin, significant as the editor of Pravda  Used his positions, General secretary, appoint friendly party members  1924 conference, chose a room full of his supported, able to get rid of Trotsky.  Stalin literally means steel in Russian, was ruthless in his quest for power  In tune with party, supported NEP at first to get rid of the Left  Then turned against it when it was becoming less productive to get rid of right.  Genuine ideology or pure tactics?  Takes on Cult of Lenin, promotes himself as Lenins disciple  Socialism in one country, popular post war, people reluctant for further disturbance.
 Had charisma, impressive orator  Sole leader of the Nazi party, when he was in prison 1923-24 the Nazi party completely fell apart  Was this Hitlers personal appeal or the work of Goebbels?  Opportunistic, played on the wants and fears of the people in the early 1930s.  Political machination, convinced the elites to elect him as chancellor
 Ruthless in dealing with all opposition, as shown at the Futian incident, accused many in his party of being in the AntiBolshevik League, from 1930, estimates 70,000 purged.  Emerged as sole leader after long march 1934.  Recognized useful people. Eg Lin Bao  Flexible (guerilla tactics), determined, strong
Ideology
 Nationalism, reduced reliance on foreign aid.  Anti-Versailles  Anti-communism, appeals to middle class who fear communism.  Remilitarization  Make Germany great again, people felt under Weimer Germany fell into decline, decadence.  National regeneration through racial purity (anti-Semitism played down during RTP)  Reduce unemployment
 Designed his policies to please the peasantry 80% of the population.  Mao Zedong thought  Nationalism, land redistribution  Land reform is moderated slightly to win popular support in the beginning  Mass mobilization  Rapid industrialization
Support base
 The party, careful to change his ideology to  Elites, due to fear of communism, Von please the party Papen, Hindeburg.  Stalins RTP had less to do with support  Middle and Upper classes in general outside the party  Some success in German rural areas, not so much in cities.
 Peasants, Maos ideology designed to improve the lives of the peasantry (often at the expense of the middle and upper classes)
Methods Propaganda
 Lenins funeral, Trotsky did not attend  Stalin seen at Lenins disciple  Sets up foundation in Lenins name  Goes on a series of lecture tours
 Posters, film, radio.  Hitler over Germany, visited 20 cities in just 6 days  Rallies, marches, public speeches  Work of Goebbels or Hitler?  Gauleiters ensured local appeal
 Cult of Mao  Long march  Films, radios in town  Troops spread the communist message, Mao enforced a code of conduct, insured CCP soldiers showed communism as beneficial.
Methods Organization
 Party Secretary  In charge of Orgburo  Ban on Factionalism uses it against united opposition  Lenin enrolment, anyone can join the party, means he can fill the party with allies.
 Gauleiters, party officials spread all over  Local committees, dealt with local issues, Germany, ensured local representation. education, healthcare  Able to respond to local issues  All reported back to the central national  Only party who do this, communist party at government fault as they only focus on large cities  United party, authoritarian leadership  Fuhrerprincip, hierarchical structure, pyramid below Hitler, everyone working towards the Fuhrer
Methods Terror
 Not used much until Stalin was in power
 Role of SA, SS  Removal of rivals  Almost backfired on him 1923  Landlords stripped of their land, publically  Tried to make it appear legal, uniforms etc. humiliated  Pressure, watching over elections  Disrupting communist meetings
Trigger
 Lenins Death
 Von Papen, Hindenburg, decision of the elites
 Victory in the Civil war