Every brilliant leader has its own way of leading his nation. They have different approach in reaching progress and development of their country. I will compare to great military leaders in history Germany’s Adolf Hitler and Italy’s Benito Mussolini. They both rise in power in the times of the World Wars.
When Adolf Hitler came into power in 1933, the Germans have a great belief that he will make Germany as the most powerful nation in the world. Nazi party members believe that Hitler’s leadership is free and independent as well as it was exclusive and unlimited. Hitler’s charismatic leadership gained popularity because of his political skills and magnetism. He managed to minimize unemployment. He was also a great speaker, he always told the public about his missions for Germany. Hitler was a visionary and not a natural Head of State. He was bored with paper works and often signed papers without reading them.
Despite Hitler’s limitless power, Hitler was aware that his power will lose its potency without the help of the Nazi party together with the German people. He listens to the opinions of all the members of the Nazi party and analyzed how these opinions help him in maintaining power. He always told the Germans that he was not a dictator but a guide in obtaining Germany’s mission. Hitler did not believe in the existence of limitless power, because he knew that he has his weaknesses as a leader.
Hitler conceived his role in terms of a duty to restore Germany to a great power, and his belief in the importance of his mission was patronize by the German nation, enabled him to be a charismatic leader. Hitler's own perception was an idealistic belief of an artist with a vision, rather than a politician with ability for running a state. As such he could go beyond official bureaucratic procedures in governing the country and he relied on German support to do so.
On the other hand, Benito Musollini was a great speaker and a good writer of his time. He became an editor for the Milan socialist paper Avanti. He became well known among the Italian socialists, but soon started promoting his views for war against Germany in World War I. He began to develop his ideas that would soon become known as Fascism. He also joined the military and became a corporal. Mussolini and several other veterans formed the National Fascist Party. This party grew in popularity among the people of Italy, who were hopeless with the chaos surrounding them. Mussolini seemed to have the answers to bring their country into order. The ruling Leftist party ordered a general strike in the nation. Mussolini was enraged and issued an ultimatum that if they did not end the strike, his Fascist party would. The Leftist claimed he was trying to siege the government, but the armed forces wanted nothing to do with stopping the fascists from preventing the strike.
As the new premier, he gradually transformed the government into a dictatorship. Opposition was put down by an efficient secret police and the Fascist party militia, and the press was strictly controlled. Parliamentary government ended in 1928, and the state economy was reorganized along the lines of the Fascist corporative state. Conflict between church and state was ended by the Lateran Treaty of 1929.
Mussolini was called Duce (leader) by his followers, and he held, besides the premiership, as many portfolios as he saw fit. His ambition to restore ancient greatness found expression in grandiloquent slogans and speeches and in the erection of monumental buildings. The encouragement he gave to the already high Italian birth rate, his imperialistic designs, and his incitement of extreme nationalist groups created an explosive situation.
Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler realized that the way to a rise in power was through the people and their opinions/support therefore imposing their own ideals through incredible propaganda techniques and speeches.
Hitler believed that only a dictatorship, though he claimed that he was not a dictator could rescue Germany from the pit in which it had fallen. This was not at all unlike Mussolini's ideals and techniques he imposed upon Italy. Mussolini was an opportunist and his rise to power was a combination of parliamentary maneuver and radical pressure. The Italian people welcomed his authority because he made them believe that he would generate change in Italy. Italians were tired of strikes and riots within Italy, responsive to the trappings of Fascism, and ready to submit to dictatorship offered by the Fascist party of Mussolini, provided the national economy was stabilized and their country restored to its dignity as promised. The two leaders both have charisma to the public. They both have the vision of having sustainable progress in their countries. They also lead their political parties to govern their countries. In times of war and poverty, the two military leaders gave hope to the people. Many believed that they can resolve such problems.
Hitler was inspired by Mussolini’s actions, so he obtained absolute power over Germany. They use both the characteristic of Fascism which is the glorification of the emotions. The difference between the two is that Hitler is a visionary while Mussolini was a brilliant tactician. They both practice military values of discipline, courage and intelligence.
References 1. Adolf Hitler and Charismatic Leadership [Online] Available at: http://eeuropeanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/adolf_hitler_and_charmismatic_leadership [Accessed 23 Feb 2010] 2. Commando Supremo [Online] Available at: http://www.comandosupremo.com/Mussolini.html [Accessed 23 Feb 2010]Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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