DOI : 10.14746/pp.2019.24.2.7
Marek Żyromski Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8397-8730
The cult of personality as an important feature of totalitarian propaganda
Abstract: The totalitarian system, in contrast to the system of representative democracy (based on impersonal procedures), is strongly related to the position of the leader. Therefore, the cult of the individual not only serves to consolidate the power of a totalitarian leader, but also contributes to the legitimacy of the entire political system. The article presents the propagation and creation of the cult of the individual around three leaders of totalitarian states: Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler. Key words: propaganda, totalitarianism, individual worship, Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler
1. Introduction
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owadays a great increase of right-wing (or even antidemocratic) values and political views can be observed in some European countries. Certainly, this can be connected with the enormous flow of migrants to Europe, especially in 2015. Many surveys of political opinion show the growing position of such parties as German AFD (Alternative für Deutschland) and Fronte Nationale in France. In the latest opinion poll in Germany (carried out in the beginning of May 2016), AFD had gained as much as 15% of support. Just a few weeks ago (at the end of April 2016), in the first round of the presidential elections in Austria, the best results were obtained by the candidates who openly presented antidemocratic and nationalistic values. Nevertheless, the growth of anti-migrant attitudes can also be observed in some countries which are not ‘in the first line of the battle,’ like Poland. However, there is still a long way from such political views to the victory of fascist (or at least neo-fascist) parties in any European country. But you never know, as Lisa Minnelli said to Michael York in the final scene of the famous movie Cabaret (however in a rather non-political context). In this article the cult of personality that emerged and developed in three totalitarian states of interwar Europe will be analyzed, namely Italian fascism, German nazism and Soviet communism. All three totalitarian dictators, i.e. Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin developed the cult of personality on a really enormous scale. Nevertheless, this cult of personality served not only to strengthen their position within the totalitarian structure of power but also formed an important part of totalitarian propaganda. That is what this article is about. In my most recent book I present and analyze the question of the mutual relationship between propaganda and terror in the cases of some totalitarian regimes (Żyromski, 2015) Undoubtedly, taking into consideration the three above-mentioned totalitarian states (Italy, the Third Reich and the Soviet Union) the greatest level of repression and terror