[100 Challenge] DanJi’s reading note_93

How to Be a Dictator
The cult of personality in the twentieth century
Frank Dikotter
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 03 Dec 2019

Table of Contents
a preface
1 Mussolini
2 Hitler
3 Stalin
4 Mao Zedong
5 Kim Il Sung
6 On the back
7 Ceausescu
8 Mengistu
review
Selected references
Week
words of thanks

To be the object of fear or to be the object of affection.
It may be correct to say that you want to be both, but it is not easy for them to go together. Therefore, if you have to choose, it is much safer to be an object of fear than to be loved. Humans are less afraid when they disappoint those who have made themselves an object of love than those who have made themselves an object of fear. When you feel grateful, love is binding, but humans are pathetic, so you forget your gratitude as soon as you become bothered. Fear means fear of punishment, which people will never forget.
Nicolo Machiavelli, The Prince's Theory
The dictator's face adorned billboards and buildings worldwide, and their portraits were hung in every school, office, and factory. Ordinary people were forced to bow to the dictator's portrait, pass by the dictator's statue, recite the dictator's book, praise the dictator's name, and praise the dictator's genius. From radio and television to mass-produced posters, badges, and busts, modern technology made dictators exist everywhere to an unimaginable level during Louis XIV. Even in a relatively small country like Haiti, thousands of people periodically marched in front of the presidential palace. They cheered for the leader to the extent that the celebrations held at the Palace of Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV were overshadowed.
Mussolini brought from Plato the basic principles of fascism, such as rule by the elite, opposition to democracy, and priority on obligations to the state. Fascism rapidly increased its momentum, and in 1921, he formed a national fascist party with an all-investment alliance in Rome. In October 1922, he took over the government as the 'Roman advance.'
Mussolini secured public support by stabilizing the Italian economy through public works and infrastructure expansion. At the same time, he reformed society as a whole to solidify the foundation of the dictatorship. He implemented imperial expansion policies through invading Ethiopia and interference in the Spanish Civil War.
Mussolini signed a military alliance with Germany in May 1939 to form an international fascist camp with the Nazis, Germany, and Japan. World War II broke out the following year and fought against Britain and France, but lost. After the Allied landing on Sicily in July 1943, he was arrested. However, in April 1945, he tried to flee with his lover Clara Petaci but was arrested and killed by communist Partizan.