Acquire Dictators: The Cult Of Personality In The Twentieth Century Written By Frank Dikötter Copy

بیستم قرنی سرشار از دیکتاتورها بوده کسانی که با وجود شکوفایی دموکراسی در آمریکای شمالی و بخشهایی از اروپا با شدت و حدتی بسیارسخت به شیوه حکمرانی قرون گذشته چسبیده و فجایعی بی سابقه و وحشتناک به وجود آوردند.
فرانک دیکوتر نویسنده هلندی کتاب آداب دیکتاتورها نگاهی کوتاه به بنیان گذاران دیکتاتوری های مدرن و روشهای آنان برای تحکیم قدرت و از آن مهمتر تثبیت آن انداخته روشهایی که اگرچه در این زمان ممکن است اندکی قدیمی و شاید ناکارآمد به نظر برسند اما در قرن گذشته و حتی در همین سالیان هم سودمندی خود را ثابت کرده اند.
نویسنده از میان انبوه گزینه ها هشت نفر را انتخاب کرده که از میان آنان موسولینی هیتلر استالین و مائو نقش کلیدی داشته و به مانند استاد و معلم برای دیگران بوده اند چهار نفر دیگر کیم ایل سونگ چائوشسکو دووالیه و منگیستو بیشتر پیرو اصول و قوانین بوده و ابتکار چندانی نداشته اند,
خواننده باید توجه داشته باشد که در لیست نویسنده نشانی از دیکتاتورهایی که غرب و آمریکا حامی آنان بوده اند مانند پینوشه تروخیو سوهارتو پارک چون هی و دیگر دیکتاتورهای مورد حمایت آمریکا به ویژه در آمریکا جنوبی و آفریقا و یا خاورمیانه نبوده و از این نظر کتاب او چندان بی طرفی را رعایت نکرده است,
به هر جهت نویسنده آنچه باعث متمایز شدن و به روز شدن روشهای دیکتاتوری مدرن شده را در ایجاد مفهوم کیش شخصیت و سپس توسعه و بسط آن می داند به کمک این ابزار جدید راه دیکتاتورهای قرن بیستم از مفهوم قدیمی دیکتاتور که تنها از وحشت استفاده می کردند جدا شد و آنان دریافتند که به کمک کیش شخصیت و سپس وحشت حکومت آنان قدرت و استحکام بیشتری پیدا می کند.
اما معنی کیش شخصیت چیست
کیش شخصیت یا شخصیت پرستی به معنی آفریدن خدایی زمینی از دیکتاتور به همراه ستایش فراوان و پرستش آن است لقب مانند دوچه یا پیشوا یا پسر خورشید جای نام او را گرفته و در ادبیات رسمی از او با این القاب یاد می شود آشکار است که ایرادی نمی توان از پسر خورشید گرفت او بانی تمامیت یک کشور بوده و وجودش نعمتی آسمانی برای مردم است,
نویسنده سپس به بررسی ابعاد کیش شخصیت در دیکتاتورهای نام برده در کتاب پرداخته او از موسولینی شروع کرده که کیش شخصیت مدرن را آفرید و به صورت گسترده در ساختار حکومت خود از آن استفاده کرد در حقیقت کیش شخصیت دیکتاتورهای کتاب اگر چه در جزییات مختلف بوده اما از همان اصل کلی پرستش دیکتاتور پیروی می کردند.
نویسنده کتاب تلاش زیادی کرده که معنی کیش شخصیت را به خواننده یاد دهد موضوع اصلی کتاب او کیش شخصیت است که در مدلهای مختلف تکرار شده او اگر چه زندگی نامه مختصری از هر دیکتاتوری را هم بیان کرده اما کتاب او را نباید زندگی نامه دانست او با هوشمندی شخصیت پرستی را اصل ریشه و اساس دیکتاتوری و استبداد دانسته است.
اما شوربختانه داستان آقای دیکوتر پس از قسمت مائو تکراری شده گویا نویسنده به غیر از کیش شخصیت مفهوم دیگری برای بیان ندارد به این دلیل کتاب آداب دیکتاتوری تنها به یک جنبه رایج دیکتاتورها پرداخته و در پایان نتوانسته تصویری نسبتا کامل از آنها را به خواننده نشان دهد. Dictators fascinate me. Seriously. I read so much about them, its probably shocking to some people, Theres a reason for this, though, I think its interesting

how such repulsive people can gain, and often retain, so much power, How do they do it Why do they do it What makes people think, “sure, this is fine, lets go with them”

I heard about this book on a podcast.
Ive really liked the authors stuff on Mao, the Cultural Revolution, the Great Famine, and more, He has a great way for distilling complex topics, and I enjoy how he can cross the cultural divide and make some things that might seem strange to western understandings, easier to grasp.
So when I heard that hed written a book on the personality cults of dictators, I was there with bells on,

As it happens, I got this book about two days before the libraries closed to COVID, so its still sitting in my living room, shiny and nearly new.


This book covers a handful ofth century dictators, The first covered is Mussolini, then Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Kim IlSung, Ceausescu of Romania, Mengistu of Ethiopia, and Duvalier of Haiti, Now, the book is onlypages long, maybe a few more pages than that, but not many, so that really doesnt leave a whole lot of wiggleroom for exploration and I think thats where my biggest problem rested.


As Ive said before, when I read history, I dont typically enjoy overviews, and thats really all we are left with here, A few sweeping overviews with all the nuances and nuggets I enjoy left out, And thats fine. If someone is not very well versed in these individuals, likely an overview is exactly what youre looking for, Its a great jumpingoff point for further research, and the important points are all detailed here and laid out nicely, However, for someone like me who has been voraciously studying dictators and routinely readspage books on these people and topics that apply to their times in power, this book was really nothing new, and nothing incredibly informative or illuminating.


I think the biggest problem rests with me, I went into this book wanting one specific thing, and I didnt get it, Its a good overview of the bullet points of these people, but theres really nothing about the how or whys of personality cults, and thats what I think I wanted.
I wanted some deep dive exploration into WHY people follow these guys, and HOW these repulsive figures managed to get people to say, “Sure, lets set up concentration camps.
I think this is a great idea, Please pass the potatoes. ” I wanted to know how this sort of thing becomes normal, and why people are so willing to buy into these really terrible, horrible, tragic ideas,

Stalin, for example, killed MILLIONS of people in his various purges, Millions. MILLIONS. And still there were Russians who were all, “This is great, All of my neighbors were executed, Long live Stalin. ” Yeah, a whole lot of people followed him because they were killed if they didnt, but many people really, genuinely believed in the dude, Talk about a cult of personality, He wasnt even Russian. Not really, and his early days were spent very engaged in Georgian politics, not Russian politics, But still And WHY Thats what I wanted to know, Why, with all this death and tragedy all around him, did a whole bunch of people still march under his particular banner,

Not only that, but there are people in Russia today who think, “If we had Stalin back for five minutes, hed sort this shit out, ” He oversaw mass executions. He starved an entire nation, wherein up to ten million people died, He really exercised the Gulag system to its limits, This isnt a secret. And still, people are still existing in the world today who are all, “Lets get another Stalin in this place, He is exactly what we need, ” THAT is what I want to dig into, That small bit of humanity who sees all those facts, and are still behind this guy, and people like him,

So yeah, I wanted to know WHY, I wanted to know what these people do to get people to buy into what they are selling, and why humans as a species are so willing to do soto excuse horror, in favor of the person who is at the helm of such horrific policies.
However, what I ended up getting was a brief rundown of the highlights of every individual, with some new nuggets thrown in here or there to keep me going, but it wasnt what I wanted.
It wasnt a book on how to be dictator, rather it was a footnotes course on these specific dictators, Interesting Yes. Well written Yes.

Perhaps better suited to a person just being introduced to these people, and the historical periods they represent, though, and not someone who is interested in delving deeper into the psychology of these movements.


sitelink bookwormblues. net/



The book didnt work, I read it and Im still not a dictator,

I thought the book skimmed over a lot of details that left me with more questions than answers, Some passages could have been substituted for Wikipedia pages,

Overall I was able to learn some of the common threads that dictators share and learn about some more obscure leaders like Mengistu, Duvalier and Kim ilSung.
I want to begin by saying I am going to struggle to get across just how much I loved reading this timely, wellresearched book as not only is it informative but it is absolutely fascinating too it's not that often I have trouble putting a nonfiction book down, but I simply couldn't stop reading and thinking about the topics Dikötter broaches.
Each of the eight chosen dictators is covered extensively with much of the information deeper than most people would know, Keeping people subservient has been rampant across the world for centuries, and I fear we are doomed to repeat history if we don't wake up soon,

Sometimes these type of books are very wordy, which I myself enjoy, but this narrative style allows it to be accessible and eminently readable to everyone who has an interest in tyranny and oppression.
This book addresses both the state the world is now in by looking at the tyrant's backgrounds and formative years as many of those who go on to be dictators come from "bad backgrounds", however, this is no way diminishes what they have done or are doing currently.
Moving past their biographies we learn about the tactics and strategies carried out in order to attain power and then stay in power,

It's packed full of really intriguing information and will provide anyone who picks it up with plenty of food for thought, Despite the heavy topic, this is an easy and quick read of just overpages in length, Everything is laid out clearly and the narrative flows beautifully from one page to the next, This is the perfect introduction to some of the twentieth centuries most infamous dictators and shows how they gained a cultlike following and how they maintained that grip over said followers.
Highly recommended. Many thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing for an ARC, .