Essay Sample on Ancient Rulers: Exercise of Power & Dictatorship

Introduction

Exercise of power, dictatorship started from the ancient times when the ruler and kings were considered the most powerful, sacred, and god's representatives on earth. The king exercised power over other persons or communities during the ancient period, and any person who tried to go against the ruler or king was subjected to prosecution with or without trial. The ancient rulers were the only decision-maker in the community or the kingdom. The king's powers controlled everything that related to community life. People believed that the kings and rulers possessed supernatural powers; they are the agent of the sacred, and semi-divine or divine king. People thought that the ruler's certain powers and authority make him exercise supernatural powers. Most of the modern dictators imitated the ancient kingship system where only one person made the final decision, and any person who went against them was prosecuted. This kind of dictatorship instilled fear among people. The events in Italy, France, Germany are related to ancient leadership because the rulers and kings had absolute powers to control people.

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During the ancient period, Sargon was the most influential ruler of Mesopotamia. He rose to power when there was a great division in ancient Mesopotamia. This ruler was an Akkad, which means a barbaric ruler. Once he was in control of his territory, he was able to change the history of western and Sumerian for his benefit. He rose to power and held a position of honor, which made him more powerful. During his tenure as the prominent ruler, he began to appoint Semites to a crucial critical rank in his empire. He founded a new capital in Agade, where hi built a temple for his goddess, who he claimed was his best friend and made him a powerful ruler. He believed that war was an intrinsic part of people's life. Before establishing the new policies, he declared himself as a legitimate ruler of Sumerians. He did everything in his power to defend and retain his throne. As he was expanding his dictatorship to other territories, a powerful king of Uruk attacked him, and he defeated and prisoned him together with other fifty regimental commanders and other prominent citizens who he accused of betraying him. He kept on fighting until he took over other kingdoms in Sumer and held some leaders into captivity. Later on, Sargon kept on extending his territory and establish an empire that lasted for almost twenty years. He used his army to expand his boundaries and imprisoned other leaders, and mass slaughtering prisoners and slaves always followed him.

The ancient brutality by Sargon is linked to the modern dictatorship by Benito Mussolini of Italy. Mussolini emerged to power after criticizing the government of Italy relating to the Treaty of Versailles. He capitalized on the public discount after world war one. He organized the paramilitary unit that he used to overthrow the government. The paramilitary terrorized his opponents and helped him to fascist influence. The terrorization of political opponents led Italy into political turmoil giving Mussolini a perfect opportunity to declare himself as the only leader who can restore order. He was given the authority as the prime minister in 1922. He eventually dismantled all democratic institutions. By 1925, he established himself as a fascist dictator. Before world war two, Mussolini shows his dictatorship by invading Ethiopia. He successful conquered Ethiopia and incorporated it into the new Italian Empire. Later, Mussolini resigned because of pressure from the Allied forces, which led to his arrest, although the German commandos rescued him. He was determined to continue with his dictatorship and brutality by attempting to move his paramilitary government to Northern Italy.

Alexander the Great was one of the rulers of Macedon. Is father, King Phillip II, motivated him to conquer other kingdoms to expand his empire. Alexander grew up and became the world's most fabled military commander during the ancient Macedon. He used the education he acquired from philosophers such as Aristotle to marshal his forces in the battle that seemed impossible to win. After 13 years of battling, Alexander emerged the winner after forging one of the vast empires in the ancient world. After the murder of his father, he succeeded his father, and he wanted to avenge the death of his father. He ruthlessly assassinated all his enemies. This ruthless killing contributed to the extension of his territories and conquered most of the unknown regions of about 10,000 miles. This ruler was a military genius, and he used all the military tactics to expand his territories. He also wielded power with a great using the Greek language. He imposed the used of the Greek dialectal as the standard model of communication which helped him to spread commerce, hegemony, and culture among the conquered kingdoms. He was a great and feared commander because of his arrogance and superiority. He knew that he was always right, and his charismatic dominance made him control a vast region. He knew how to build a great empire that will follow his as his late father instructed him. Upon his death, Alexander has conquered the ancient Greeks.

Joseph Stalin is one of the dictators of the 20th century who possessed the same qualities of dictatorship as Alexander the Great. Under his leadership, USSR was changed from peasant society to military and industrial superpower. Nevertheless, during his tenure, many citizens died because he was ruling by terror and brutal reign. He joined a revolutionary politics and got involved in criminal activities. Just as Alexander the Great, Stalin developed a plan that will help him manage the economy and the compulsory collectivization of agriculture in the USSR. The farmers who refused to obey the orders of Stalin were shot or sent to other countries as a punishment. The collectivization of farming caused an extensive famine all over the Soviet Union that costed the lives of millions of people. He ruled with a dictatorial grip and terror to assassinate anyone who opposed him or disobeyed his commands. He made secret police more powerful and had spies everywhere who had many people murdered and submitted them to forced labor.

During the second part of his tenure, he initiated the Great Purge designed to eliminate the military, communist part, and other people who were threats to his brutal leadership. He manned to build a personality cult that surrounded him in USSR. He renamed all the cities in his honor, rewrote historical books, and changed rules to make him prominent. He also controlled USSR medial and ensured that everything that is published made him more famous. When the second world war commenced, he signed a pact with Germany dictator, Adolf Hitler which made him proceed in invading other countries such as Lithuania and Latvia.

Qin Shi Huangdi is the ancient Chinese brutal ruler who united ancient China, and he the pioneer for the building of the Great Wall. Before becoming the ruler, the kingdoms of China were battling for supremacy. Eventually, Qin state works the battle under the leadership of King Zheng who was brutal. This victory made him change his name to Qin Shi Huangdi which means "First Qin Emperor." He started to unify the diverse territories into one Chinese Emperor that will obey his commands and do everything according to his will. He wanted to unite China to make it easy to rule people brutally. After unifying China, he embarked on dividing it into a command area that added up to 36. He appointed governors, military commander, and imperial inspector to supervise these areas and ensure every person obey his commands. He relocated influential people from their homes to the capital to monitor them. He commanded for the unification of chines writings to ensure that the same characters represented different languages in China. Huangdi brutally repressed those people who opposed him. He killed the scholars who were criticizing his leadership, and the message they were using was taken away from the people and burned. Those who were against him were criminalized, mutilated, executed, and some sentenced to forced labor. He ordered his army to build a wall along the yellow river that created 44 districts that he staffed by villain laborers. The wall stretched for more than 3,000 miles. During the construction of the Great Wall, several laborers died due to hard labor. Huangdi was the target for many assassination attempts.

Adolf Hitler is one of the modern dictators that reigned in Germany in the 20th century during world war II. He focused on economic woes, political infight, and popular discontent to take absolute dictatorship in Germany. He is the one who led Germany to invade Poland that led to World War II. His army helped him to occupy a more significant portion of Europe. Hitler focused on the obsessive pursuit and anti-Semitism of Aryan supremacy that led to the assassination of Jews and other Holocaust victims. Germany did not win World War I, and Hitler believed that the defeat was a result of patriotic traitors in Germany. This misconception set the ground for Hitler's rise to power, which eventually turned into a dictatorship. Hitler joined the Nazi Party that had an interest in uniting the Germany workers and build a stable Germany nationalism.

Hitler was charismatic and had outstanding oratory skills that made him hold higher ranks in the party. He initiated a countrywide campaign showing their discontent with the Versailles Treaty. Many soldiers who were not satisfied with the treaty joined him, which made him more powerful. He formed a strong arm that helped him to attach the opponents and protect the party meetings. He led a national revolutionary the led to a gunfight with the police. He was arrested and prisoned for nine months. He believed that the unit of German requires a supreme leader, which intensified his despotism. When he left prison, he started working on reshaping and reorganizing the party. In the pursuit to rule Germany, he ensures that the Nazi party was the only legitimate party. With this declaration, other parties and trade unions ceased their existence. Nazi party made him autocratic, and he focused on ruling the whole of Europe. Hitler because so powerful and began to invade other countries to expand his territories.

Conclusion

In conclusion, dictatorship and brutal ruling started during the ancient period when rulers and kings who were hungry for power treated people with brutality. Most of those rulers wanted to expand their territory to avoid opposition from other kinds and made people do everything according to their wills. Nevertheless, the brutalization and assassination of people did not end during the ancient period, and it extended to the modern world. Leaders became powerful dictators who could remain in power for as long as they survive. Dictatorship started before the 20th century, and it intensified during the World War. Still, in the 21st century, some countries have dictators in power.

Bibliography

Behan, Tom. The resistible rise of Benito Mussolini. Bookmarks, 2003.

Grote, George. A history of Greece: from the earliest period to the close of the generation contemporary with Alexander the Great. Vol. 6. J. Murray, 1862.

Lee, Stephen J. European Dictatorships 1918-1945. Routledge, 2012.

Mann, Elizabeth. The great wall. Mikaya Press, 1997.

Marsh, Rosalind. Images of dictatorship: Stalin in literature. Routledge, 2017.

Melville, Sarah C. The Campaigns of Sargon II, King of Assyria, 721-705 BC. Vol. 55. University of Oklahoma Press, 2016.