Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Dictators
It seems as though in WWII dictators are often one of the first things that come to mind. But that is limited, as the first one thought of immediately is Adolf Hitler of Germany. Last year, we learned about another, slightly lesser known dictator Josef Stalin the dictator of USSR. But what about the others? There was Benito Mussolini of Italy, Francisco Franco of Spain, and Hideki Tojo Prime Minister of Japan, and they are hardly if at all mentioned, moreover known to the public. Yet they were dictators none the less, they ruled communistic/fascist countries and killed any opposed to the government. Why is it that of the dictators, only Hitler and Stalin are really remembered and taught?
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I definitely agree that any mention of communism or dictators brings to mind Hitler first. When we talked about Stalin last year we were surprised to hear that so many were also killed under his rule but we never really talked about him. I think Hitler is remember and taught the most because of the Holocaust and that it was very recent in history. There was also a lot of famous literature written about the Holocaust and as middle schoolers we read stories more then learned about it in history. Maybe they only taught us about Hitler to introduce us to genocide and the other dictators were more complex for us to handle.
ReplyDeleteWe don't really learn about dictators just to learn about them. Like what Meghan said, it's mostly through literature about what Hitler and Stalin did. Although Mrs. Allbach did teach us some stuff about Hitler, I think the real reason we know as much as we do is from background info to set up books that were part of the curriculum. Books like Night and Animal Farm just happened to be a good insight into genocide, or fit into the theme of the year, so we read them. It's as if what Hitler and Stalin did were the worst of the worst, so people write memorable books about them, whereas Francisco Franco just didn't kill enough people to get a good book.
ReplyDeleteHitler is definately the most remembered because of the Holocaust. Because so many people are informed about the Holocaust, Hitler becomes more well known to the public. However, after learning about Stalin, it was learned that he could have killed even more people than Hitler. Hitler and Stalin were leaders of major countries and like Jackie said, their actions have been put into books or movies, making their acts mroe well known to the public.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Hitler is the first name that comes to mind when you hear the word dictator and I think that's mainly because of the Holocaust. There's definitely importance in remembering the Holocaust which is why so many movies, books, shows, etc about the Holocaust are put out there so that people will not only remember what happened, but be educated about them in the first place. Along with remembering the Holocaust comes the association of Hitler since he was the dictator that was responsible for it. The Holocaust was a huge thing that people will always remember which is why Hitler will be remembered above all other dictators. Also, Germany was a major part of the Axis Powers so we usually associate WWII with Germany being the biggest "bad guy" and Hitler was their leader.
ReplyDeleteHitler is the most well-known dictator in history. Hitler wiped out about 6 million European Jews. However, the persecution of these Jews happened in "stages" or steps. Concentration camps were established, where Jews died of exhaustion or the harsh "slave labor" they were put through. Hitler confined the Jews into ghettos, where many families were separated, and children needed to try and survive by themselves. By trains, Jews were transported to extermination camps, where most of them were killed in gas chambers. Germany was considered to be a "slaughter, or mass execution state". Germany engaged in many violent acts, including the systematic murders of Jews and citizens of the state. Adolf Hitler is complex to understand, but other dictators including Stalin, were just as bad. Hitler will be remembered just for presiding over the Holocaust. I agree with Jackie, that certain books like "Night" and "Animal Farm" emphasize the idea of Stalin and Hitler. With these books still being read, Hitler and Stalin will never be forgotten.
ReplyDeleteI agree with how Hitler and Stalin come to mind first when dictators are mentioned coming from WWII. But I also think it is from the media, and the amount of material out there that focuses especially on Hitler and the Holocaust. Like what Jackie said, literature is incorporated into our curriculum, but also through genres like film, and mini series, do we educate ouselves about this topic. Schindler's List, The Diary of Anne Frank, and even Valkyrie are all focused on Hitler's reign. We do not see as many movies out there about Communist Russia or the dictators in Japan. Media has a huge influence on what first pops into someones mind when someone says the words "evil dictator".
ReplyDeleteAgain, media plays a major role in the rememberance of Hitler. Like D-Day, the media has turned Hitler's reign into something that is well known to the public by means of books, movies, and mini series. Obviously Hitler would be remembered and taught in schools if the media did not continually reference his actions, but by the media continually making productions of his reign, it causes him to be remembered and thought of when speaking about dictators.
ReplyDeleteGina makes a good point. Hilter is remembered because of the way he treated the jews. It was his mission to exterminate them. Stalin is not as well known as Hitler because he did not set out to kill his people, he just did not care enough about them to supply them with the things they needed. Mussolini sent out an army to control citizens that had anti-government parades. However, neither of these two men went as far as Hitler to control their citizens.
ReplyDeletePeople are usually either remembered for doing something great or something terrible. Hitler hated Jewish people and what he did during the Holocaust was so horrifying that he'll always be remembered for it. Other dictators during WWII weren't going out of their way to move hundreds of thousands of people to camps where they would be starved, tortured, and eventually killed. Unlike Hitler, other dictators didn't take the time to set up camps where people would be slaughtered. Although Stalin and Mussolini were by no means angels, they certainly look that way in comparison to Hitler. They were unfair to their citizens and as a result of that many people did die, yes. However, nothing that they did will ever be as terrifying as what Hitler wanted to and was allowed to do.
ReplyDeleteGoing back to what Jackie said about Franco not having killed enough people to have a good book is very true. High schoolers are not interested in learning about someone, that compared to Hitler, was less destructive and less evil. They were all in power at the same time so instead of taking the time to learn about all of the dictators we learn about the most powerful, influential, and most interesting.
ReplyDeleteStatistics show that Hitler was a ruthless man, and killed anywhere between 11-17 million people during the Holocaust. However, Hitler pales in comparison to Stalin, who is shown to have killed over 60 million people in his reign. Why, when Stalin killed more thatn triple the people, is Hitler still the "bad guy" and Stalin was acceptable enough to become an allied force in the war?
ReplyDeleteAnother point on Franco is that Spain did not actually join WWII, his rise to power preceded it. But an interesting follow up is why didn't Spain join?
ReplyDeleteFraNCO felt for the Axis powers, and even helped them with supplies. However he wanted to keep Spain's interests and therefore did not get involved in the war. He was a pragmatic leader acted in SPain's interest because he believed in high nationalism.
ReplyDeleteI think that Spain was a lot like the U.S. in not wanting to get involved in WWII. However, when the Allies were failing, the U.S. stepped in. Spain would have been expected to do the same for the Axis powers because he had received aide from Germany and Italy during the Spanish American War. At the same time, you wouldn't expect them to get out of one war and hop back into another one. Spain was still pretty weak and still getting back on its feet. After doing some digging, I found out that Franco did allow people to volunteer to join the German army. However, this could ONLY be done if they were fighting against the USSR. Franco didn't allow fighting against western European countries or the Allies because he wanted to remain "neutral." In total Spain sent 18,104 troops in all, 2,612 of which were officers. Clearly he was trying to help out Germany for their help in the Spanish American War. Although Spain was technically neutral, they definitely didn't stay 100% out of the war.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point Shawna, that Spain did get involved in the war. Statistics are pretty outstanding though, showing Stalin killed over 60 million people. although his mission was not to eliminate them, he was worse by making people in his country think that even though they were starving because of him, he was the only way they could get out of poverty. One woman quotes "my family knew nothing of his ways of power, we only knew we were so hungry, and his picture on the wall was like his promise of better days ahead." This shows they did not know that they were hungry because of Stalin, and thought only to keep working. Why, if Stalin was such a murderer, was he allowed to join the allied powers? Especially when socialist Russia was so different than Great Britain or the US?
ReplyDeleteI think had this been any other war, STalin would have been an enemy of the US. But because the axis powers, mainly Germany would have taken over Russia, Stalin had no choice. The US needed Stalins help and they were willing to overlook his personality in doing so. The us needed another front that Germany would be occupied with.
ReplyDeleteObviously Hitler is remembered for the Holocaust, and Stalin is remembered for the genocides he committed, and the harsh economic plan he had for the USSR. I agree with Max that the US needed any exuse to try and get the Axis powers to surrender. The US overlooked his personality traits, and just looked at the power he could bring to WWII.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like Stalin joined the allied forces mostly because he was an enemy of the allies enemy, meaning that if Hitler wanted to destroy Stalin, and Stalin wanted to destroy Hitler, the USSR was good enough for the allies. Stalin and Hitler were both ruthless dictators, so the allies hoped they would be occupied with running each other into the ground. And like Max said, having the USSR join the allies meant that Hitler had to worry about one more area he could be attacked from.
ReplyDeleteThe US didn't allow the Soviet Union to be a part of the allied powers. The USSR was already a part of it when America joined. Other allied powers allowed the USSR to join because the more power the allies had the better. Stopping Germany from taking over more land was more important than the values of Stalin. The deaths had to be overlooked in order to end the war.
ReplyDeletesometimes Stalin's (USSR's) involvment with the Allied forces is described as war making strange bedfellows - I see it as, as much as the Communists were anti-capitalistic, they were more anti-fascist. And perhaps the proximity to Nazi Germany (and Imperial Japan) didn't hurt in their wanting help fending off invasions
ReplyDeleteUSSR definitely did not hurt the allied side of the war, especially considering they lost the most people and sacrificed a lot of their people for the war. It seemed as though America wouldn't have liked to have USSR join becasue their government was so similar to that of the countries they were fighting
ReplyDeleteI can see why the alignment with USSR can be controversial. America was partly fighting to eliminate dictators. It is hypocritical for America to fight against countries with certain beliefs, but align with some that are similar to the those that they are fighting. Regaurdless the USSR was very helpful in demising the Axis powers.
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