
			Fascism Compared to Communism

Analyze the similarities and the differences between single party rule 
 in Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia between 1933 and 1945. Answers 
 should consider: methods of dealing with opposition, control of media 
 and education, control of the economy, and war time planning.

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         Why is it that Germany's fascism lasted a relatively short 
 time compared to Russia's communism? The regimes established under 
 Hitler and Stalin were incredibly similar with respect to the rise and 
 control of the state. Both systems were based on entirely different 
 ideology and goals. Hitler's Mein Kampf established the superiority of 
 the German race and the need to expand as wanted by God. Hitler wanted 
 the world. The government in Russia established by Lenin was based on 
 a book called Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx, a call to the 
 proletariate to unite and rebel against their selfish employers. It is 
 my belief that Lenin had entirely good reasons for doing as he did, 
 and felt he was helping the world as apposed to Adolf Hitler. 
 Immediately after Lenin's death, a man very much the same in nature as 
 Hitler, Stalin, came to control the Bolsheviks and throw Russia in a 
 civil war in a quest for power. You now have two men of equal 
 aspirations soon to be in control of two very similar governments.
         In any rise of power, there needs to be a period of careful 
 planning requiring much thought. These two men had very little history 
 with which to work with which to model their revolutions. Times had 
 been changing rapidly, technological improvements in the fields of 
 manufacturing, transportation, and communication made this period of 
 time very different from any other. Hitler spent his time imprison 
 writing his book, Mein Kampf, filling it full of warped ideas of 
 conquest and superiority of one race over another. I think it is 
 strange that such works would go unnoticed with nobody left to watch a 
 man with such dangerous ideas. Lenin planned his revolution while in 
 exile in Switzerland. Then he made a deal with the German government 
 whereby he was hid on a train and passed through enemy Germany to 
 Russia. The conclusions with respect to methods of acquiring power and 
 controlling it when they did get it were very much the same.
         Both rulers had full run of their respective governments. 
 Stalin was already dictator of Russia with his power and loyalty of 
 the people guaranteed by the secret police, the Cheka. This entity 
 provided Stalin with an easy means of destroying the opposition and 
 weeding out the undesirable to be sent to prison camps in Siberia, a 
 virtual death sentence. For Hitler to ascend to that level of power he 
 rammed the Enabling Act through the German Congress which gave him the 
 power to enact laws. Under Article 1 of his new power, Hitler decreed 
 the only existing party shall be the NSDAP. With Article 2 he declared 
 all association of, collaboration with, and support of other parties 
 would result in imprisonment in camps similar to Russia's labor camps. 
 With Hitler's Gestapo, secret police, he enforced those rules and used 
 existing policies to get rid of other unfit Germans. Political 
 prisoners, homosexuals, Jews and other people sent to the 
 concentration camps were given different colored symbols for easy 
 identification. At this point, no one dared speak against their 
 country even in the privacy of one's home lest their children let 
 something slip at school.
         If you control people's thoughts, you control them. Propaganda 
 was an important tool used by both Germany and Russia. Hitler 
 appointed a man by the name of Joseph Goebbles to head the Ministry of 
 Public Enlightenment in Germany. This man used newspapers, magazines, 
 and radio to spread Nazism. Even if a man bathed in thoughts of 
 discontent at home, he was bombarded with propaganda in public, and at 
 the workplace. Banners hung from building, posters on almost every 
 sign or lamppost. Anyone with a suspicious look on their face was 
 first detained, and the sent to a prison camp. It was no longer just 
 desirable to be a Nazi considering the benefits like government 
 contracts or being able to stand first in line, but necessary for 
 employment. Russia employed much the same tactics with much more 
 emphasis on fear. 
         Education was virtually unheard of in the early years of 
 Russia, but by 1933 children were guaranteed primary education. Huge 
 problems resulted form the ignorance and illiteracy, workers usually 
 did not intentionally break machines but did not know how to use them. 
 In official reports the reason for failure was terrorism by the 
 Kulaks, rich peasants persecuted in the same way Germany's Jews. 
 German education was geared toward physical aspects and the fathering 
 of children. Membership to the German Youth for boys was compulsory by 
 1936. Emphasis was placed on physical fitness and team sports in these 
 youth groups. Outstanding youths went to Adolf Hitler schools for 
 secondary education, and Order Castles for future party leaders.
         Control of the economy and war time planning was a must for 
 both nations. A story likened to the fact that with Communism you must 
 give your cows to the government and they give you milk back. With 
 fascism, you got to keep your cows and gave the milk to the 
 government. Both systems were command economies and state controlled. 
 Contingency plans were constantly drawn up and updated to fit new 
 circumstances. Both nations were preparing for war. Germany was going 
 to rule the world, Russia only wanted to defend herself from 
 Capitalism.
         The resulting governments evolving from the two different 
 systems of thought were very similar. But as one can see, the 
 aspirations were radically different. Hitler was a threat to everyone 
 and needed to be dealt with. Russia kept to themselves and bothered no 
 one. A Cold War ensued with Russia complete with the irrational fear 
 of Communism, McCarthyism, and a peace time build up of weapons 
 followed. Germany was crushed in battle and Russia's Iron Curtain is 
 being pulled down as I write. 

