Introduction
The apparent success of democracy in the early twentieth century in European countries was very short-lived. By 1939, France and Great Britain were the only two major European nations that remained democratic. Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union, for example, adopted dictatorial regimes (Spielvogel 758). Japan was also not an exception. Therefore, this work would compare and contrast these authoritarian regimes between 1922 and 1939. While these regimes had some profound differences, their governance had a lot in common.
Discussion
The dictators in the regimes were Benito Mussolini (Italy), Joseph Stalin (USSR), Adolf Hitler (Germany), and Emperor Hirohito (Japan). While in Italy, Germany and Japan regimes adopted the fascist type of governance, communist was the type of government in the Soviet Union (Spielvogel 759). Fascist conception was an anti-democratic, anti-communist, racist and anti-Marxist political ideology that stressed the importance of the state as individuals would be accepted only if their interests coincided with those of the ruling party. Benito Mussolini derived his source of support from large land owners and the middle-class industrialists; Joseph Stalin support was drawn from party officials; Adolf Hitler relied on the military personnel, industrial leaders, landed aristocrats, and bureaucracy for support. In a sense, the authoritarian regimes witnessed in the Soviet Union, Japan, Germany, and Italy, between 1922 and 1939 had many features in common. These features included the domination by a single party headed by a dictator, an official ideology, a monopoly of violence, a terroristic police, a monopoly on the manner of communication, and state control of people’s political, economic, intellectual, and cultural life (Spielvogel 759). One of the basic elements in all these totalitarian regimes was the existence of a terroristic and/or a secret police force that eradicated dissent. This was an oppressive way of controlling the opposition. In Italy, Mussolini outlawed and suppressed other parties, misused the secret police (OVRA), and imprisonment of his critics. In particular, Mussolini’s supporters (the Black Shirts) organized people into a political association that used violence and terror to threaten and intimidate socialists, and even arrest and torture their political opponents (Hallock 76). He suppressed rival parties, silenced the press, and replaced all the elected officials with Fascist. Using his followers, Mussolini staged a completely legal and very popular revolution that led Italy into a one-party state that was ruled by the National Fascist Party that was under his dictatorial control. There is no doubt that, Mussolini’s regime remained in power due to an effective anticommunist propaganda, the Black Shirts, censorship and the support of the Catholic Church. His critics were imprisoned, murdered, or forced into exile (Hallock 72). His system favored the industry leaders and the upper class. Workers were not permitted to strike, and their pay was kept low. Though different, similarly under communism in the USSR, for example, this secretive organization of police forces did not only actively persecute opposing or undesirable subjects, but also generated an atmosphere of fear by promoting the impression that everybody and everything is controlled by them (Spielvogel 761). As could be expected, such repressive organizations that foster protection of a totalitarian system at the expense of individual rights ensures its functions are kept a secret so that its doings cannot be governed by law. That is why, during the dictatorship regime in the Soviet Union, the status, functions and the rules of the organization remained secretive or were off the record, and would be determined through classified decisions, regulations, and decrees of the state bodies or governing party. As a leader of the Soviet Union, Stalin also eliminated those who threatened his power. He used purges, prison camps, state-run press, forced-labor camps, and executions to discipline and control the opposition (Kotkin 50). In Germany, many citizens supported the Nazi Party that was led by Adolf Hitler (Hallock 77). Hitler promised to solve Germany’s problems by creating jobs, ending reparations, and rearming Germany. However, after his election as the chancellor of Germany in 1933, Hitler changed into a dictator. He used the police force, trepidation, suppression, and propaganda, to silence his critics. Just like Mussolini, those who opposed him were targeted by his secret police, killed, imprisoned or forced into exile. Hitler believed that the German citizens were a superior race and that all the minority groups, including Slavs, communists, Jews, and Gypsies should be oppressed and exiled. The brutality and efficient ruthlessness of Hitler created a powerful and a horrifying government that was devoted to the superiority of the white northern Europeans (Hallock 77). His radical beliefs included extreme nationalism, persecution of Jews, aggression, lebensraum, hatred of Communism, and Anschluss. Therefore, the strategies used by the Italian dictatorship were mainly anti-socialism, anti-communism, nationalism, and support from the Catholic Church. Stalin used the collectivization of farms and five-year plans for rapid industrialization. Anti-Semitism, social Darwinism, racial discrimination, rearmament, and extreme nationalism were policies largely employed by the Hitler regime. However, police activities in Italy were never as brutal or repressive as the Nazi Germany police force. Like Italy and Germany, Japan was determined to create a dominating empire. Even though, it was led by Emperor Hirohito, the military had taken complete control of the government. Due to the failure by the government to tackle inflation and unemployment as a result of the Great Depression, the parliamentary democracy in Japan became a victim to a series of military coups and assassinations. The right-wing elements within the country, including military officers and industrialists had opposed democracy as a source of national unity. The military cliques started to control the national government in the 1930s and promoted imperialism (Hallock 72). Emperor Hirohito could not compete with the powerful generals; but, he was worshipped by citizens who frequently fought in his name. Through imperialism, Japan became the first fascist country to expand its empire by conquering Manchuria in 1931. By 1938, it occupied most parts of the eastern China, eventually seeking to bring the Pacific Ocean and all of Asia under its control (Hallock 72).
Conclusion
Overall, a totalitarian type of regime and governance aims to regulate the economic, political, intellectual, social, and/or cultural lives of its people. The dictatorial regimes discussed in this paper pushed the central power of the state far beyond the past governments and sought more than passive obedience from those they ruled. They conquered the hearts and minds of their subjects, achieved their goals through contempt for democracy via ruthless and suppressive policies and governance methods. In this regard, there was domination of a single party, led by a single, dictatorial leader (Spielvogel 751). They rejected the guarantee of individual freedoms and limited government power. Instead, their goals undermined people’s freedoms and established a monopoly on violence.