Finally, the SA’s activity is also to put fear on the street to get votes for the next elections. Hitler attempted the Munich Putsch because he thought it would benefit them. Firstly, Hitler was very confident about his huge SA army and thought he was powerful. Not only that, but he thought that the army would join him because of the influence of Ludendorff and the SA which are technically ex-Freikoprs. Hitler also thought that since the government was just developing it would have been a good time to seize power and take over the government.
This propaganda continued even once they had won the election. Furthermore, once the Nazi’s had gained power, they began to push anti-Jew and other very racist and fascist propaganda on the people of Germany. Hitler was shown in newspapers and presented on the radio as a strong and just leader; with the Jews being represented as evil. Propaganda was therefore crucial to the maintenance of power by the Nazis as it meant when they began their attack on the Jews, they had the support of their people. Furthermore, it can be argued that propaganda was crucial to the maintenance of power by the Nazis as they portrayed Hitler as powerful and showed him to be good for the country, making sure people continued to show support for the Nazis and it portrayed Hitler as above all party politicking and as a figure for national focus and loyalty.
Although there as a spy, Hitler could not restrain himself when a member made a point he disagreed with, and he stood up and made a passionate speech on the subject. Anton Drexler was impressed with Hitler's abilities as an orator and invited him to join the party. At first Hitler was reluctant, but
Upon becoming more popular and gaining more of the people’s support, both parties eliminated opposing political parties in some manner. Both banned opposing parties, but Hitler got Nazis into the legislative party, then took control, while Stalin exiled then killed Trotsky, whom he had a power struggle with. Stalin then used terror to keep power and eliminate opposing parties. Both leaders led political parties to support and power, but used different methods of gaining that power. Another similarity between Hitler’s and Stalin’s struggles to power is their method of gaining the people’s support.
Kaiser Wilhem II was an unpredictable, intelligent man with a poor judgement, hardly the kind of person you would give almost unchallenged political powers. The Kaiser's constitutional powers showed that he certainly had enough potential powers to be a authoritarian leader and i believe he fulfilled all his potential by using his power to 'ensure the constitution preserves the power of the elite' which was Bismarks main aim as the chancellor. The Kaiser could appoint and dismiss the Chancellor, dissolve the Reichstag with the consent of the Bundesrat, control Germany's foreign policy and serves as the commander of chief of the armed forces. The plethora of consitutional powers the Kaiser held clearly supports the
Since Stalin was a paranoiac man who was obsessed of power, he was ruthless towards people and was not afraid of killing anyone who might oppose or opposed him. Stalin was determined in purging the party as there were many aspects against him such as older Bolsheviks were not happy with the treatment towards the peasants created discontent in the way of collectivisation and industrialisation was rising. Stalin was also terrified of being replaced by another member, Kirov in particular as a popular alternate where on the other hand party members were calling in for Trotsky to lead them as they acknowledged him better after the civil war. Just like Lenin, Stalin started using terror in 1934 to win against potential opponents by purging using Kirov’s murder as an excuse to clear out his rivals in the party. Shortly after receiving more applause than Stalin in the 17th Party Congress, the Kirov was shot at the back of the head in a hotel in Leningrad.
He did not let anything stand in his way; unfortunately, the S.A was in the way. Hitler had many goals for Germany, and was able to succeed but he was only able to do that because he got rid of the S.A. Once he gained absolute power World War 2
Stalin’s oppression had many results including, but not limited to, the strengthening of his political dominance. The purges allowed Stalin to remove elements of the Party that he considered to be unsafe. It transformed Russia from a one party state to a totalitarian dictatorship, with Stalin as its unchallenged ruler, and resulted in him becoming the most politically dominant person in Russia. This is due to the fact that the population could not speak out against Stalin through fear of being sent to the Gulags, and neither could the rest of the communist party, as they feared being exiled or even executed. What’s more is that through the purges Stalin was able to publically establish the guilt and corruption of his opponents.
Ideology was crucial to the alliances that formed following Lenin’s death. Stalin on the other hand didn’t take any extreme position which made him more flexible and his ideas were welcomed on both sides. As Trotsky was the most likely to take power after Lenin, Stalin formed an alliance with Kameniv and Zenovev against Trotsky. Stalin made sure Trotsky missed Lenin’s funeral and most of the important meetings and thereby he had a little say of what was going on in the party. They also criticized Trotsky’s book and questioned his respect and love to Lenin.
The Night Of the Long Knives is significant to the political development of the Nazi state and cementing Hitlers power. By purging the SA and others, Hitler aimed to make concessions to groups in German society to gain their support. The German army, for example, were highly respected by the public and were much better trained than the SA. They also remained the only institution which had the power to remove Hitler from office so Hitler needed them on his side. The ambitions of the SA and Rohm however, were regarded as serious by the army leaders, the more so when SA units began stopping army convoys and confiscating weapons and supplies in the summer of 1934.