Seven great dictators who left their mark on world literature

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

On December 20, 1924, the future Fuhrer Adolf Hitler leaves the prison where he ended up after the failure of the "beer putsch". He used the time spent in prison to write his book "Mein Kampf", in which he outlined the ideas of National Socialism. However, it is worth noting that other great dictators also wrote books.

"Mein Kampf" by Adolf Hitler was published in the USSR 6 times

The first volume of the book "My Struggle" ("Mein Kampf"), written by Adolf Hitler while he was in prison after the failure of the "beer putsch", was published on July 18, 1925, the second - about a year later. It is known that the text of the book Hitler dictated to Emile Maurice. This work combines elements of the autobiography of the Fuhrer and the presentation of the ideas of National Socialism. The ideology of the "Jewish threat" became the leitmotif of the book. The Fuhrer argued that even Esperanto was part of the Jewish conspiracy. The original title of the book - "4, 5 years of struggle against lies, stupidity and cowardice" - seemed too long to the publisher, and he shortened it to "My struggle".

In the USSR, Hitler's Mein Kampf was issued several times: in the 1930s in a limited edition for party workers, then in 1992, and then 4 more times in the period from 1998 to 2003. In 2002, the Russian Federation issued a law on extremist activity”, which prohibits the distribution and production of extremist materials, including Hitler's book.

Benitto Mussolini "dabbled" in fiction

The dictator Benitto Mussolini, who led the Fascist Party of Italy in 1919 and tried the profession of a laborer, an assistant to a blacksmith and a bricklayer, began his journalistic activities in 1908. His first article was entitled "The Philosophy of Power" and was devoted to Nietzsche, whom Mussolini admirably called "the most brilliant thinker of the last quarter of the 19th century."

Mussolini possessed a rare journalistic talent that allowed him to attract readers to himself. In his youth, the future unlimited ruler of fascist Italy dabbled in fiction, and from under his pen came out a very successful novel in the spirit of Dumas the father and Gaborio. "The Cardinal's Mistress", as the Duce's novel was called, was written so captivatingly that she even shot a film based on its plot from the film companies.

Among other writings of Mussolini are known essays on the "doctrine of fascism" (1932), autobiography "La Mia Vita" and memoirs, which were created by Duce in 1942-1943.

Since 1951, Stalin's collected works have not been published

The publication of the complete collected works of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, begun by the Marx Engels Lenin Institute under the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, was interrupted in 1946 and has not been renewed since 1951. Then 13 volumes were published. Already in 2006, under the general editorship of Doctor of Philosophy, Professor R. I. Kosolapov, 14-18 volumes were published.

Each volume combines the works of the "leader of the nations", written by him in a certain period of time. So, the first volume contains works from 1901 to April 1907, in the thirteenth volume - works of the early 1930s, dedicated to collectivization and industrialization, in the fifteenth volume the work of I. V. Stalin's "History of the CPSU (b). A short course ", and the last volumes contain reports, speeches and orders of I. V. Stalin during the Great Patriotic War, appeals to the people in connection with the defeat and surrender of Nazi Germany and Japan, and other interesting documents.

Spanish Caudillo Franco preferred cinema to books

The dictator Francisco Paulino Ermenehildo Teodulo Franco Baamonde, who ruled Spain from 1939 to 1975, did not particularly like literature. He was an avid movie buff. In the El Pardo Palace in Madrid, which was Franco's residence, there was no library; it was replaced by a superbly equipped cinema hall. Nevertheless, the caudillo Franco left his mark on literature. In 1922 he wrote the book "Diary of a Unit", which tells about the service in the Spanish Foreign Legion, and in 1920 under the pseudonym Jaime de Andrade he wrote the book "The Breed" - a kind of fictionalized family chronicle. In addition, Francisco Franco, under the pseudonym Hakin Bor, wrote a number of articles in which he denounced Freemasonry.

It is worth noting that the artist actively supported the dictator Franco and his regime. Salvador Daliwho had a reputation as a political opportunist.

Mao Zedong wrote classical poetry from the Tang dynasty

Mao Zedong, a statesman and political leader of China in the 20th century and the main theorist of Maoism, has written a lot of works. The most famous of them are "On Practice" (1937), "Against Liberalism" (1937), "On New Democracy" (1940), "On Literature and Art", (1942) "On the correct resolution of contradictions within the people" (1957) and "Bring the Revolution to the End" (1960). Mao's ideas gained popularity not only in China. Back in 1968, British and French students, going out at demonstrations against the authorities, chanted slogans from the works of Mao. In the USSR, however, Maoist ideas were strictly prohibited, and Mao's works were not published.

In addition to political prose, Mao Zedong wrote poetry in the style of the Tang Dynasty. In total, he wrote about 20 poems that are popular in China and abroad today.

Kim Il Sung told the world about Juche ideas

The founder of the state of North Korea and its de facto leader from 1948 to 1994, Kim Il Sung, and the developer of the Korean quasi-Marxist state ideology - the Juche in the 1980s, wrote the book On Juche in Our Revolution, which was first published in the early 1980s. The North Korean media wrote: “In this book, our Leader Kim Il Sung, based on the Juche and Songun ideas, illuminated the way to solve all the theoretical and practical issues facing the unprecedentedly difficult and complex Korean revolution, and gave a scientifically grounded answer to the question of the methods of struggle of progressive peoples peace for building a new society”.

The novel, written by Saddam Hussein in prison, published by the Japanese

Iraqi politician and statesman, President of Iraq until 2003 Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid at-Tikriti wrote four novels.

Saddam Hussein told his biography in the book "Men and the City". This is the story of a shepherd boy who stops at nothing to achieve his goals. He grows up and becomes a warrior who dreams of reviving his nation. After the 1991 war, the novel The Impenetrable Fortress was published about the situation in the Kurdish provinces in northern Iraq, which were outside the control of Baghdad.

The novel, Zabiba and the Tsar, was published in 2000 on an anonymous basis. The CIA believed that this book, which became a real bestseller in Iraq, was written by other authors at the request of Hussein.

In 2003, while already in prison, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein wrote the novel "Go away, damned!" This book is written in the style of an ancient legend and has become a symbol of the people's struggle against the occupation. The novel was first published in Japan under the title "Devil's Dance".

Iraqi literary critics still today assess Saddam Hussein's writings as epic, highly moral works with deep philosophical overtones, while Western scholars are trying to prove that the author of these books was obsessed with megalomania.