Compare and contrast the methods used to maintain power in two authoritarian states, each
from a different region.1
INTRODUCTION
Thesis – Both Hitler in Nazi Germany and Mao in PRC followed similar ideas to maintain their
power, ranging from use of force, propaganda to domestic policies, yet their methods to achieve so
were not always the same.
Topics – Use of force, Propaganda, Domestic policies
Authoritarian states – PRC, Germany
PARAGRAPH 1 – use of force
HITLER:
The SS
--> SS created 1925 and became powerful after the Night of Long Knives 1934 (assassinated 85
political leaders in one evening (Rohm, Strasser, von Papen, von Schleicher). Cleared the path
for Hitler’s RTP, also, was good as public resented these leaders for their ‘thuggish brownshirt
tactics’)
-->220 000 members by 1935
-->1935 Nuremberg Laws defined the racial rules to defend German purity and the racial
requirements to be a citizen of the Reich
-->Death's Head units of the SS ran concentration camps from 1934
--> Himmler also built up Waffen SS – members who were more highly trained and better equipped
with motorised vehicles and tanks
--> During WWII the SS to control and many factories the SS became a kind of state within a state
and played a major part in the ruling of territories conquered by Nazis and in carrying out what
Himmler called ‘the final solution of the Jewish question’ ○
-->Einsatzgruppen units of SS rounding up and killed thousands of Jews gypsies and slavs in Poland
and Russia from autumn 1939 onwards ○
-->Known as the Holocaust, killed over 11 million undesirable people, including jews and racial and
ethnic minorities
Concentration camps
--> Dachau: The first concentration camp opened in March 1933
1
Germany – 1933 – 1945
China – 1950 – NOW
, -->Never fewer than 10000 prisoners in the camps and in total about 225 000 Germans were
imprisoned for Political crimes in the years of 1933 to 1939
--> Discipline in the camps was brutal, the diet poor and living conditions inadequate
-->Prisoners made to do hard labour and was subjected to sadistic beatings and torture
Resistance groups(“opposition”) were few and far between, faced harsh punishments after
being rooted out - White Rose - a peaceful resistance movement in University of Munich,
distributed pamphlets that called for resistance against Nazi regime. Extent of impact unclear,
operated from 27. 6. 1942 until 18. 2. 1943, every member given death sentence - Other
groups such as Edelweiss pirates, who terrorized the Hitlerjugend, were violently persecuted
and killed
Policing and Security Forces
--> Alongside the ordinary police forces use jobs were to detect crime and keep under a new system
of policing developed – both systems under Himmler ○ Goering set up Gestapo in Prussia 1933
--> Gestapo heavily dependent on denunciations by ordinary Germans e.g., in Wurzburg 54% of all
race related charges were initiated by private citizens
--> Gestapo and security service (SD) rooted out and dealt with political offenders and opponent
of the regime
-->SD was set up in 1931 by Himmler increasingly they were given the task of gathering intelligence
and monitoring public opinion
--> Incredibly corrupt, officers could essentially arrest anyone they wanted without any form of trial
(even sending them to a concentration camp), which was often intertwined with personal motives,
rather than ideological
-->Members only had to present themselves with a badge, no additional documents required and had
near limitless power over citizens
MAO:
Hundred flowers campaign purged the “rightists”, over 300 000 people sent to labour
camps, imprisoned or executed, February 1957: speech, Mao encouraged criticism saying the
CCP thought it could learn from the people and be rectified.
The Three-anti Campaign was launched in Manchuria at the end of 1951. It was aimed at
members within the Communist Party of China, former Kuomintang members and
bureaucratic officials who were not party members. Three antis imposed were: corruption,
waste, bureaucracy
The Five-anti campaign was launched in January 1952. It was designed to target the
capitalist class. The Communist party set a very vague guideline of who could be charged,
and it became an all-out war against the bourgeoisie in China. Deng Xiaoping warned the
from a different region.1
INTRODUCTION
Thesis – Both Hitler in Nazi Germany and Mao in PRC followed similar ideas to maintain their
power, ranging from use of force, propaganda to domestic policies, yet their methods to achieve so
were not always the same.
Topics – Use of force, Propaganda, Domestic policies
Authoritarian states – PRC, Germany
PARAGRAPH 1 – use of force
HITLER:
The SS
--> SS created 1925 and became powerful after the Night of Long Knives 1934 (assassinated 85
political leaders in one evening (Rohm, Strasser, von Papen, von Schleicher). Cleared the path
for Hitler’s RTP, also, was good as public resented these leaders for their ‘thuggish brownshirt
tactics’)
-->220 000 members by 1935
-->1935 Nuremberg Laws defined the racial rules to defend German purity and the racial
requirements to be a citizen of the Reich
-->Death's Head units of the SS ran concentration camps from 1934
--> Himmler also built up Waffen SS – members who were more highly trained and better equipped
with motorised vehicles and tanks
--> During WWII the SS to control and many factories the SS became a kind of state within a state
and played a major part in the ruling of territories conquered by Nazis and in carrying out what
Himmler called ‘the final solution of the Jewish question’ ○
-->Einsatzgruppen units of SS rounding up and killed thousands of Jews gypsies and slavs in Poland
and Russia from autumn 1939 onwards ○
-->Known as the Holocaust, killed over 11 million undesirable people, including jews and racial and
ethnic minorities
Concentration camps
--> Dachau: The first concentration camp opened in March 1933
1
Germany – 1933 – 1945
China – 1950 – NOW
, -->Never fewer than 10000 prisoners in the camps and in total about 225 000 Germans were
imprisoned for Political crimes in the years of 1933 to 1939
--> Discipline in the camps was brutal, the diet poor and living conditions inadequate
-->Prisoners made to do hard labour and was subjected to sadistic beatings and torture
Resistance groups(“opposition”) were few and far between, faced harsh punishments after
being rooted out - White Rose - a peaceful resistance movement in University of Munich,
distributed pamphlets that called for resistance against Nazi regime. Extent of impact unclear,
operated from 27. 6. 1942 until 18. 2. 1943, every member given death sentence - Other
groups such as Edelweiss pirates, who terrorized the Hitlerjugend, were violently persecuted
and killed
Policing and Security Forces
--> Alongside the ordinary police forces use jobs were to detect crime and keep under a new system
of policing developed – both systems under Himmler ○ Goering set up Gestapo in Prussia 1933
--> Gestapo heavily dependent on denunciations by ordinary Germans e.g., in Wurzburg 54% of all
race related charges were initiated by private citizens
--> Gestapo and security service (SD) rooted out and dealt with political offenders and opponent
of the regime
-->SD was set up in 1931 by Himmler increasingly they were given the task of gathering intelligence
and monitoring public opinion
--> Incredibly corrupt, officers could essentially arrest anyone they wanted without any form of trial
(even sending them to a concentration camp), which was often intertwined with personal motives,
rather than ideological
-->Members only had to present themselves with a badge, no additional documents required and had
near limitless power over citizens
MAO:
Hundred flowers campaign purged the “rightists”, over 300 000 people sent to labour
camps, imprisoned or executed, February 1957: speech, Mao encouraged criticism saying the
CCP thought it could learn from the people and be rectified.
The Three-anti Campaign was launched in Manchuria at the end of 1951. It was aimed at
members within the Communist Party of China, former Kuomintang members and
bureaucratic officials who were not party members. Three antis imposed were: corruption,
waste, bureaucracy
The Five-anti campaign was launched in January 1952. It was designed to target the
capitalist class. The Communist party set a very vague guideline of who could be charged,
and it became an all-out war against the bourgeoisie in China. Deng Xiaoping warned the
