Propaganda and Its Influence: Mao and Stalin

        

   

     

      In Mao’s China, propaganda greatly contributed to his public image as a ruler and also a godlike figure. As we were introduced to various pictures displaying severely exaggerated images of idyllic Chinese life, I thought of the propaganda that Russian dictator Joseph Stalin used to control and deceive the nation from the true political situation at hand.  Although for the most part the secrets that Stalin hid from the citizens, which were heavily replaced by idealistic pro-Stalin propaganda, were more severe than Mao’s secrets, both dictators utilized the same techniques to lead their followers under the false pretenses that all was beyond perfect in their respective nations.  In both cases, propaganda could be said to be the saving grace of both leaders.  Stalin and Mao each hid the problems in their countries, replacing them with posters declaring that all was flourishing and pleasant, politically and socially.  While famine flooded Russia, and oppressed citizens all around the countryside in the camps were dying more and more every day, Stalin kept it secret.  Instead, to boost his public image, he issued propaganda supporting him.  This propaganda, along with the cult of personality, made an idol out of Stalin, naming him as the reason for all good things in the world.  He even went so far as to create his approved line of art.  Soviet art, as it is called now, included images of Stalin standing in a utopian setting with young children, which made the citizens imagine him as a nurturing, kind leader when in fact thousands of men, women and children were starving and dying from the effects of his land collectivization labor camp program.  Mao, when his attempts to industrialize in the Great Leap Forward failed and mass famine and poverty struck China, instead issued posters with images depicting smiling, happy women participating in the industrialization.  Like Stalin, he also used the cult of personality, through propaganda prasing himself as China’s ‘savior’.  Extreme idolatry was used to depict Mao, including many images of him with a sun around his head, similar to a godlike radiating light.  Propaganda, I believe, was the thing that saved both dictators.  Even when everything was not running smoothly, the propaganda that they created made everyone believe that things were perfect.  By instilling such ideas that were so contradictory to the truth, they kept the people under their iron grips.  By making the people believe that they were their ‘saviors’ per se through propaganda, the people were inclined not to question them.  Since the people believed that Mao and Stalin were perfect, they never fought back.  And therefore, since the people never fought back, Stalin and Mao were able to rule for such long periods of time without anyone calling them into question.