history; how did hitler and mussolini gain and maintain power?
How did Hitler and Mussolini gain and maintain power?
Hitler and Mussolini both came in to power in the early days when their countries, Germany and Italy were facing problems after the Great War. Even then, both Hitler and Mussolini successfully gain and maintain power and control the country.
In order to gain full control of the country they had to remove or eliminate their political rivals. Hitler used excuses to blame and imprison his political rivals. One good example would be when he used the Reichstag fire as an excuse to imprison many communist leaders, which stopped them from campaigning during the election so that he could win more seats and power. He also used fear and terror by creating a group known as S.S or Black Shirts. The Black Shirts originated as Hitler’s secret service which were against political opponents and soon enough expanded to the S.S who were able to arrest or seize anyone at will without any reason.
Mussolini also used a similar tactic. He had fascist thugs and would give out order to use violence against people who opposed him. The fascist thugs would beat up or kill communist and his oppositions but killing wasn’t something Mussolini often approves. The thugs would threaten the oppositions to support their Fascist movement or they would be living in fear of being killed or beaten up. Therefore, people who were terrified would give up and support them to avoid getting themselves or their family members in danger.
Hitler also knew that if he wanted to succeed, he had to gain support from the citizens. He took advantage of the German’s anger and desperation. He was also a powerful speaker; so it was easy for him to convince people because he made it sound perfect. The Germans were still angry with the Treaty of Versailles and Hitler promised them that he would overturn it. This made the Germans support him because he said he would overturn the Treaty of Versailles and get back their loss. He also promised a better living
Hitler and Mussolini both came in to power in the early days when their countries, Germany and Italy were facing problems after the Great War. Even then, both Hitler and Mussolini successfully gain and maintain power and control the country.
In order to gain full control of the country they had to remove or eliminate their political rivals. Hitler used excuses to blame and imprison his political rivals. One good example would be when he used the Reichstag fire as an excuse to imprison many communist leaders, which stopped them from campaigning during the election so that he could win more seats and power. He also used fear and terror by creating a group known as S.S or Black Shirts. The Black Shirts originated as Hitler’s secret service which were against political opponents and soon enough expanded to the S.S who were able to arrest or seize anyone at will without any reason.
Mussolini also used a similar tactic. He had fascist thugs and would give out order to use violence against people who opposed him. The fascist thugs would beat up or kill communist and his oppositions but killing wasn’t something Mussolini often approves. The thugs would threaten the oppositions to support their Fascist movement or they would be living in fear of being killed or beaten up. Therefore, people who were terrified would give up and support them to avoid getting themselves or their family members in danger.
Hitler also knew that if he wanted to succeed, he had to gain support from the citizens. He took advantage of the German’s anger and desperation. He was also a powerful speaker; so it was easy for him to convince people because he made it sound perfect. The Germans were still angry with the Treaty of Versailles and Hitler promised them that he would overturn it. This made the Germans support him because he said he would overturn the Treaty of Versailles and get back their loss. He also promised a better living