Dinh 1

Thu Dinh
Mrs. Housepian/Mrs. Howell
English 2H; Period 2
20 May 2016
Dictator: Misery
How did people like Hitler and Stalin gain complete control? Throughout the 20th
century when the world was in total war, many seeked for a new government that could take
them out of the misery of poverty and terror. This was when dictators, such as Hitler, Stalin and
Mussolini, rose to power. They appeared when Europeans were devastated and suffering the
most, therefore making their spread of power easier. Specifically, dictators effectively enforce
their power through the brutalities of police terror, propaganda, and the elimination of others,
which results in the agony of the citizens.
Many citizens face agony when leaders control them with the threat of police violence.
Adolf Hitler, known for the mass execution of the Jewish race, utilized police forces to move
families to concentration camps, as seen in the picture Jews on selection ramp at Auschwitz
(Jews 1944). The dictator often enforced orders upon Jewish families with the assistance of
violence from his organization of police, the SS. Hitler unfortunately succeeded in the
deportation of millions of Jews to concentration camps which resulted in the tragedy of the
Holocaust. Similarly, Napoleon the Pig from Animal Farm caused other animals to suffer when
he commands his dogs: [...] he uttered a high pitched whimper. Immediately the dogs bounded
forward[...] seized four of the pigs [] pigs ear were bleeding (Orwell 92). The tyrannical pig
violently drags out those one who secretly supported Snowball out of the farm and orders his
dogs to slay them. Napoleon uses his army of vicious dogs to secure his authority causing the

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cruel slaughter of many animals. Dictators such as Hitler and Napoleon gained control over their
government not only with police brutality but also with the help of propaganda.
Through the use of propaganda, dictators effectively manipulate the citizens, causing the
torment of people. During his long reign over the Soviet Union, the infamous Joseph Stalin
promotes the idea of collective farms through persuasive poster, depicting: The poster visualizes
an ideal of disciplined workers in ordered fertile fields. The robust figure give no hint of the
actual crop failures and famine [] (Voron). In order to industrialize the USSR, Stalin came up
with the idea of large farms where all citizens must work together and get the same amount of
food. Stalin controls the Soviet Unions perspective through manipulated publicity leading many
to follow and suffer the outcomes of his failures. Additionally, just like Stalin, Hitler created
erroneous information through stories,such as Poisonous Mushroom, in order to shape the
Germans perspective on Jews. In their eyes, Jews are poisonous, bad mushrooms and they are
bad people[] (Hiemer). The descriptions in the stories often created a negative image of
Jewish people in German children eyes. Hitler altered many Germans beliefs with constant
propaganda, generating to the overwhelmed support of the removal of Jews. In order to secure
their control, tyrants also eliminate any possible threats to their power.
Dictators gain complete control over the government through the process of eliminating
others, which leads to the suffering of many people. Notoriously known for the Great
Purge,Stalin killed anyone whom he suspected of betraying the USSR. Nikita Khrushchev, who
led the USSR after Stalin, described him as: Instead of proving his political correctness and
mobilization the masses, he often chose the path of []physical annihilation not only against
actual enemies, but also against individuals who had not commited against the party
(Khrushchev). Stalin falsely accused Soviet Union members of being unloyal to the party and

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executed them. Along with citizens, many of the USSR members were cruelly killed during the
Great Purge by Stalin in order to guarantee his sole control over the whole country.
Correspondingly, Napoleon also gained complete control over the farm after he ambushed
Snowball: Napoleon with the dogs following him, now mounted on[] where Major had
previously stood[] announced that Sunday morning meetings would come to an end (Orwell
68). During a meeting, Napoleons dogs chase SnowBall out of the farm. Napoleon successfully
acquires the farm after he gets rid of Snowball, his ex-companion, resulting in many animals
agony under his horrible rule. All dictators secure absolute power through the expulsion of other
possible leaders.
Leaders effectively gain complete control over the citizens with the help of police
violence, propaganda and the extermination of others, causing many to suffer. Hitler was able to
force Jews to move to concentration camps with the use of the SS, Stalins constant use of false
publicity helped him brainwash the Soviet Union, and the elimination of SnowBall starts
Napoleons rule of the farm. These all end with death, misery and agony. Therefore, in order to
prevent the suffering of a country, all citizens must come together and prevent any dictatorship.

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Works Cited
Hiemer, Ernst. Der Giftpilz. Nuremberg, Strmerverlag, 1938.
Jews on the selection ramp at Auschwitz. May 1944. 11 May 2016.
https://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/online-features/special-focus/theholocaust-in-hungary
Khrushchev, Nikita. Secret Speech. Twentieth Party Congress of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union. n.d. Speech.
Voron, Maria. Shock-brigade Reaping for a Bolshevik Harvest (1934). Persuasive Images:
Posters of War and Revolution from the Hoover Institution Archives. Princeton NJ:
Princeton University Press. 1992. Print.
Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1945. Print.