“I use emotion for a few, and reason for many.” – Adolf Hitler
Hitler is one of the cruellest men known to mankind. He and his Nazis killed approximately 16.3 million people. Although events today have thankfully not reached the extent of the deeds of dictators like Hitler or Stalin, it’s important to consider that such events of war and dictatorship continue today. It’s crucial to consider that war doesn’t cause dictators—dictators cause war. Comparing and contrasting the lives of dictators we can observe a complete sense of dominance. As dictatorship still continues today, lets observe the differences that have been made in history and work towards “ending” it by donating to the organizations listed below.
Understanding War and Dictatorship is crucial to absorb the information presented. Following are the definitions of war and dictatorship to further understand this topic.
War – A conflict that occurs between 2 or more different groups, nations, states.
Dictatorship – An individual(s) who has absolute power without considering the ideas of those in the country
Dictators in the Past:
Adolf Hitler – Germany
Adolf Hitler is known as one of the most vile men in history. Hitler is best known for the Holocaust (1941). Hitler started ruling Germany in 1933, yet died in 1945 as he committed suicide with both a cyanide pill and a gun. Hitler had various ideologies of what is right and wrong. His most famous belief was that there should be inequality between races and nations. He proceeded to plan accordingly to his belief systems, as he formulated a plan to destroy all Jews entirely. His tactics consisted of taking them away from their families, and killing them in gas chambers and labour camps.
Mao Tse-Tung – China
Mao Tse-Tung (Mao Zedong) was well known for is leadership of the Chinese Communist Party until his last breath. He wanted to advance China’s economy through what is known as “The Great Leap Forward.” In this Zedong had contributed in the death of 55 million individuals (1958-1962) through a famine. Although he did achieve what he wanted, he misused his power and put it against the people of his country. This represents true dictatorship, as one could misuse their power for a certain benefit (in this case, economy).
Saddam Hussein – Iraq
A secularist some many refer to him as, as he used this way of leading (by separating religion and the state) in order to increase his countries economy. Through the eye of dictatorship, he could have cared less about the deaths that had been does to execute and torture the individuals of his own nation. Hussein’s objective through this was to gain “oil wealth”, which can serve greatly in the increase of economy. Due to the mass killings that Hussein caused (50,000-100,000 deaths), he was later sentenced to death and died in December 2006.
Josef Stalin – Soviet Union
Stalin was particularly well known for his desire to grow his country’s economy. He had great power as he was the Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In addition to that, Stalin was Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union. Due to a large famine, nearly 5 million people died. In fact, a total of 20 million died due to the Soviet Union collectively. Stalin died in 1953.
Dictators Today:
Vladimir Putin – Russia
The recent Russian invasion of Ukraine was started by Vladimir Putin and has been going on for many days now. Putin has been a dictator of Russia since 2012. In a grab for power, he has recently decided to invade Ukraine. This invasion has caused the loss of countless military and civilian lives. The many deaths involved in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine shows how vile the lens of dictators can be, especially when they seek to grow their power. The desire for money over the lives of innocent individuals is what brings out the reality of such dictators. Spreading awareness through social media platforms has not resolved the issue, but it has created an impact for Ukrainians who are trying to survive this monstrous invasion.
Kim Jong Un – North Korea
Kim Jong Un has been a dictator since April 13th, 2012. Following his father’s footsteps, Kim Jong Un became the next dictator of North Korea after his father’s death in 2011. There have been various laws that he has made which can be seen outrageous. Some include banning the Holy Bible completely from North Korea, which is a form of ethnocentrism. Not only that, Kim Jong-Un has suppressed the rights of the citizens of North Korea, such as the right to freedom of expression, the right to life (to an extent), etc.
Organizations:
Organizations are a incredible way to make a difference directly to the cause that YOU are wanting to support. Creating a difference starts with YOU. The following organizations can allow you to progressively decrease occurrences of specific wars, and make a difference. They do this by providing necessary survival needs to improve their quality of life, and live through the conflict they are placed in.
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CARE International
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https://www.care-international.org/
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International Committee of Red Cross
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https://www.icrc.org/en
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International Rescue Committee
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https://www.rescue.org/
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The World Food Programme
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https://www.wfp.org/
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World Vision International
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https://www.worldvision.ca/
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International Medical Corps
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https://internationalmedicalcorps.org/
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War Child
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https://www.warchild.ca/
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