How Does Power Corrupt And Absolute Power

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Moralist John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton once said:
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."
This quote has been scrutinised and dissected on numerous occasions by historians and philosophers. It reveals that when total authority is presented to one, it is destined that this position will be abused. A moral weakness is developed once exposed to this political power that other people abide by even if they don’t believe it is morally right. This weakness may take time to develop and become evident although all power tends to corrupt in several instances, as explained by Hitler, Machiavelli, Mary I and Stalin. These individuals all share a common characteristic that gave them the desire to maintain absolute power over all dogmatic parties and endeavoured to coerce others to be subordinate to their commands.

Adolf Hitler formed a Nazi Party in July of 1921 and soon came to power in 1934. His ambition was to restore the lost territory in WWI in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. However during his reign, he tortured, and killed tens of thousands of Jews, in effort to create what he believed was the “Perfect Race”. In affect the concentration camps generated fear amongst the German population as it symbolised Hitler’s ruthless capability. This fear stimulated his followers has they were frightened to act otherwise. Furthermore, Hitler’s used his compelling oratory and propaganda, to advocate Germany and Europe that the Jews were malevolent people that needed to be eradicated. However Hitler’s reasoning behind the elimination of the Jews never had a factual explanation. He soon became intoxicated by his authority and became all consumed by the crazed obsession to utilize hi...

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...n’s communist power as the wealth of the nation circulated through the Soviet Union. These economic changes resulted in the imprisonment of millions of people in labour camps and the extradition others to remote areas. Stalin’s desire to maintain his communist power became evident in 1936 when he instituted a campaign against suspected rivals within his regime, known as the Great Purge, in which hundreds of thousands were executed. Stalin persisted to desire power as his accomplices began to threaten his communist power. Several Red Army leaders, also known as the Anti-Soviet Military Association, were executed after being convicted of plotting to rebel against Stalin and the government. He was soon to form a secret police force for his personal protection and an intelligence agency which a network of spies collected global information including threatening rivals.

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