Rhetoric Project
Reflection:
For my project I looked into three historical figures who along with their other actions took dictatorial power over a democracy or republic. My goal at first was to create a step by step instruction manual for how to overthrow a democracy. However this went south almost right away as during my research I realized that different dictators took different routes to power. Rather than letting this slow down my project I took it in stride. First I narrowed down the amount of dictators I was looking into from 7 to 3. From here I changed the general layout of my project from a list of steps, to three different methods that could be used to tople democracies. While this did take some reworking of what I had already written, I think it turned out for the better. My project is presented in the way of a Guide Book, or Pamphlet. It also puts off a amount of cynical humor in the way I talk about formal dictators and their rises to power. Another thing I changed from the start of the project was its appeal, and intended message. At first I wanted to draw parallels to the modern day and look at what's happening in the USA, Poland, Russia, and Israel, in regards to the erosion of democracy. However with my more light hearted approach to the project I tried to steer clear of the present and only focus on the past, letting the readers draw any parallels they saw to today.
True I enjoyed this project, but if I had to name two regrets it would be my lack of looking into, in more detail, Rogerian rhetoric, and me shifting the project away from modern politics and ideology. Both these “regrets” were necessary for my project to be what it is. However having said that if I would have had more time I would have liked to add a second chapter detailing the ideologies of the different dictators. Specifically how their political allingings played into their rise to power, so I could better inform people hoping to become dictators what ideology they should tend toward. If then I had even more time there would have been a third and final chapter going over what I think is the best way to dictatorial power. In this final piece of writing I would have tried to use Rogerian rhetoric to influence my readers. Even without those two pieces of refinement, I have made something I am very proud of and more importantly that I enjoyed making. So unless I had more total time to work on the project if I did it again there is nothing I would do differently as I truly did enjoy this project.
For my project I looked into three historical figures who along with their other actions took dictatorial power over a democracy or republic. My goal at first was to create a step by step instruction manual for how to overthrow a democracy. However this went south almost right away as during my research I realized that different dictators took different routes to power. Rather than letting this slow down my project I took it in stride. First I narrowed down the amount of dictators I was looking into from 7 to 3. From here I changed the general layout of my project from a list of steps, to three different methods that could be used to tople democracies. While this did take some reworking of what I had already written, I think it turned out for the better. My project is presented in the way of a Guide Book, or Pamphlet. It also puts off a amount of cynical humor in the way I talk about formal dictators and their rises to power. Another thing I changed from the start of the project was its appeal, and intended message. At first I wanted to draw parallels to the modern day and look at what's happening in the USA, Poland, Russia, and Israel, in regards to the erosion of democracy. However with my more light hearted approach to the project I tried to steer clear of the present and only focus on the past, letting the readers draw any parallels they saw to today.
True I enjoyed this project, but if I had to name two regrets it would be my lack of looking into, in more detail, Rogerian rhetoric, and me shifting the project away from modern politics and ideology. Both these “regrets” were necessary for my project to be what it is. However having said that if I would have had more time I would have liked to add a second chapter detailing the ideologies of the different dictators. Specifically how their political allingings played into their rise to power, so I could better inform people hoping to become dictators what ideology they should tend toward. If then I had even more time there would have been a third and final chapter going over what I think is the best way to dictatorial power. In this final piece of writing I would have tried to use Rogerian rhetoric to influence my readers. Even without those two pieces of refinement, I have made something I am very proud of and more importantly that I enjoyed making. So unless I had more total time to work on the project if I did it again there is nothing I would do differently as I truly did enjoy this project.
Project:
A Beginners Guide to Overthrowing a Democracy
The great Goerge Lucus once said, "All democracies turn into dictatorships, but not by coup. The people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it's Julias Ceaser or Napolean, or Adolf Hitler. Ultimately, the general population goes along with the idea." It's my hope that in this here pamphlet; I can show you, you upcoming dictator you, how to module your rise to power after the greats. It's my intention to steer you clear of the pitfalls of absolute power and guide you to choosing which method for downing a republic is best for you. Whether it's the extremist populism which plays on the fears of people across your country that propelled Hitler to power, the cleaver political manipulations, and military decisiveness Julies Ceaser used to topple the greatest republic of all times or the combination of both those ideas which led Napolean Bonapart to the french throne after only months before criticizing monarchs everywhere. While we all aspire to one day be like the greats, far too many fall short. Unless you wish to end up as a forgotten dictator of the past, you should follow these 5 steps.
Hitlerian Populism
Hitler's rise to power began following Germany's defeat in WW1. The allies forced Germany to pay massive amounts of reparations, which ended up shackling their economy. A few years later, the political party of the Nazis was founded, not by Hitler, but he was fast to join and rose through their ranks, becoming the leader. In 1923 Hitler made his first grab at supreme power, as he tried unsuccessfully to overthrow the German government in a coup. He was thrown in jail for 5 years, were while serving his time, he mastered the idea of scapegoating. After being released from prison, he worked to bring the Nazi party into relevance, and through populist appeals to a nation suffering greatly from the great depression, his Nazi party won control of the German government. Hitler then refused to participate in any german governmental body, which completely gridlocked the country, forcing the then president to appoint Hitler chancellor. A few clever political moves later, and Hitler had banned all other political parties and had unilateral control over the country of Germany.
The principles of Hitler's rise to power highlight what I like to call Hitlerian Populism. If you wish to mirror his success above all else, you must create a scapegoat. In Hitler's case, it was the Jews and communists, but for your future dictatorship, feel free to pick any group as long as they are a minority. Things go south really quick if your scapegoat holds a majority. The next key bit of political maneuvering is the use of democracy to destroy democracy. With Hitlerian Populism, there is no great coup, no revolt, no rebelling, but rather what appears to be a fair democratic process. With your populist appearance getting you elected to a seat of power, you have only one step left. DONT GIVE UP YOUR POWER. Populism can be fickle at best, and it's almost impossible to enact populist reforms without unilateral control of the government. Should you end up running for re-election, chances are your populist base will abandon you in return for a flasher-looking candidate. Because of this, once you have the power, you can't give it up. Once your power is secure comes the end steps of Hitlerian Populism. At this time, you need to fulfill your promise; otherwise, you might be ousted in a coup of the people. Next, you must expand your base. While populists are good for getting you into power, you will need more support to keep it. Probably the biggest way to help with this is by lowering the unemployment rate. Ways of doing this are through building stuff. Quiet literally just building stuff, tanks, roads, planes, boats, railroads, massive spending projects like this suck up the unemployed and if done right are guaranteed to expand your base. Every country is different, and you might have to bend a few of the steps if you wish to take over your nation, but as long as you stick to the game plan of Hitlerian Populism, you should be able to come out as a true dictator, now what you choose to do as dictator is up to you.
Caesarian Military-Political Maneuvering
Caesarian Military-Political Maneuvering has out of all the options for becoming a dictator the lowest rock bottom and the highest ceiling. Put simply, you have to be a genius to pull this method off. Julius Ceaser was a genius, but even he one of the greatest dictators of all times, rest his soal, was unable to pull off to 100% completion the very method that is named after him. Julies Ceaser build his career off of killing the enemies of Rome and was quite possibly the most tactically genius general of all time. His military career peaked when in 52 BC he fought and won the Battle of Alesia. This battle is pretty crazy so be prepared. First, Ceaser besieges a Gaul army, which outnumbers him, in the town of Alesia. To keep the Gauls in, he builds a wall around the city. Then Gaulic reinforcements arrive surrounding him. To protect himself from the new Gauls ceaser then builds a wall around his first wall and positions his army between both walls. Ceaser was outnumbered 4 to 1, yet somehow he was able to only lose about a fourth of his army, and in return killed well over half the enemy army, winning the battle. That's the type of genius Julius Ceaser was, so if you don't think you can match his genius move on to the next method. For all those who think they can hear is how Julius ceaser toppled the roman republic. In ancient Rome, military success was highly valued, and given that ceaser had so much military success he was able to spin it into a successful political career. During his time in roman politics, he aligned himself with the populist reformist faction and promised massive sweeping changes for the lower class of Rome along with retirement security for the army. At this time he formed a secret alliance with two other politicians, this became known as the first triumvirate. While in power Ceaser began ignoring the rules, he would refuse to accept vetos and forced his legislation through even if it did not have enough votes to pass. He also rigged elections so that the reformist parties won massive amounts of the roman senate. To add to this he openly passed legislation allowing him to serve for a longer amount of time as a Council of the Roman senate. This all happened in a few years, and after it was done he went off to Gaul with an army and won some more victories. When he was done killing Gauls he went to return to Rome. However, the senate had wanted Ceaser gone. They stripped him of his military command and ordered him to come back to Rome to face justice. Instead, Ceaser took his army which was loyal to him and marched on Rome where he proclaimed himself dictator and proceeded to fight and win a bloody Roman civil war. After winning said cival war, ceaser passed more legislation as dictator which made him dictator for life...Then he was stabbed to death by senators who wanted the republic back. However despite his death because of his actions the roman republic which had stood for hundreds of years collapsed into the roman empire.
There are several key points to Ceaser's rise to power that if you wish to emulate him you must follow. First, be a genius military general, this helps when creating a populist base, and when taking the government by military force. Second, push limits. Julius Ceaser was able to break the rules of roman politics because no one stopped him. Because of his military record, and his populist base everybody was too afraid to challenge him when he broke the rules. When you are in a position of power do the same. Push established rules. If the rules give, keep pushing, if they don't back off a bit, and find a different weak point to push at. At some point, the government you are trying to overthrow is going to have enough and try to get rid of you. This is where that whole being a military genius comes into play as with your support from the army, and populist appeal you can win the following civil war. Following the war take complete power, and don't be too harsh on your enemies. Your goal is not to come off as tyrannical, but rather as someone who was wronged by the government and is only taking power to stabilize the situation. Finally and this is the step Ceaser failed at. Don't get assassinated. Easier said, than done, as with this method a lot of people are going to want you dead so you will have to always be on the lookout for assassins. If you have made it this far then congratulations you have won, a democracy or republic lays destroyed, you will have been immortalized in history, and now you have absolute power to do with it as you wish, you have earned it.
Napoleonic Hybrid Style
Napolean's way to the top was masterful and ever so simple. He was a genius general and as such had built up a repore with the people of France. The reason for this is that at the time of his rise to power France was at war with practically all of Europe, and was losing. That is until Napolean, stepping in he kicked the living life out of all enemies he fought. He won over the people by saving them from their barbaric enemies. Politically he was indispensable as he had just saved the revolutionary government of France. This put Napolean in an incredible position of power. The people loved him, the army loved him, and the politicians loved him. After gathering some support he requested/demanded that the French government at the time know as the Directory name him soul council of France. They refused and chased him out of the government building he responded by going in with his loyal troops and formally taking power. He was the savor of France, and no one stood up to stop him from taking the power. For Napolean, it was as simple as that. Again to reiterate, the military supported him, the people supported him, and while not as much as before the coup, the politicians of France supported him. All these factors combined led to him having an easy road to total power.
There are really only two things about Napoleans's journey to power that need to be recognized in order to follow in his footsteps. Most importantly you must command the support of the military. With the military on your side, no one will stop you from taking power. Next, you must have the support of the people. So that way when you do take power you are seen as a hero and there is no annoying peasant rebelling. Simple. An example of this gone badly however does exist in Hitler's first attempt to seize power. He had partial military support and a minority of civilian support. This resulted in him not having the power to pull off a coup and instead he was through in jail. So let this innocent serve as a warning to you. While the Napoleonic Hybrid Style is simple its can still be messed up, but assuming you don't mess up you have power, you have the military, and you have the people on your side, the world is at your fingertips.
Now it's all up to you. How will you over through your government? Pick one of our methods and execute it to a T, and you are garmented to take complete power from your current government. If not and somehow one of our methods does not work you are entitled to a full refund and can return, "A beginner's Guide to Overthrowing a Democracy." Godspeed and good luck for even the best plans can't succeed without a bit of luck.
A Beginners Guide to Overthrowing a Democracy
The great Goerge Lucus once said, "All democracies turn into dictatorships, but not by coup. The people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it's Julias Ceaser or Napolean, or Adolf Hitler. Ultimately, the general population goes along with the idea." It's my hope that in this here pamphlet; I can show you, you upcoming dictator you, how to module your rise to power after the greats. It's my intention to steer you clear of the pitfalls of absolute power and guide you to choosing which method for downing a republic is best for you. Whether it's the extremist populism which plays on the fears of people across your country that propelled Hitler to power, the cleaver political manipulations, and military decisiveness Julies Ceaser used to topple the greatest republic of all times or the combination of both those ideas which led Napolean Bonapart to the french throne after only months before criticizing monarchs everywhere. While we all aspire to one day be like the greats, far too many fall short. Unless you wish to end up as a forgotten dictator of the past, you should follow these 5 steps.
- Know your friends and your enemies. While one day you will have absolute power, you will need help to get there. Be careful, though, for some of your close friends could just be your enemies in disguise. Take the late great Julius Ceaser. He had years of political maneuvering wasted all because he did not know an ally from an enemy and was stabbed to death by those he called his friends.
- Create a scapegoat. It is inevitable that at some point during your quest for supreme power, you or one of your allies will mess up. You can't afford to take the blame, so put the blame on something or someone else. When Hitler failed to coup the german government, he was thrown in jail for 5 years. Normally a failed coup would end one hope of dictatorship, but cleverly Hitler used the scapegoat of the Jews to justify his coup attempt and keep his hopes of total power alive.
- Find a problem people are facing and provide a solution. You will need support on your way to the top period. You can't do this alone, and as such, you need to form a base of support. A good example of how to do this comes from the legend himself, Julius Ceaser. He formed a mass movement of people in ancient Rome by supporting widespread mass reform. His biggest seller was Land Reform. He promised to take away land from the evil upper class and give it back to the people. At the time in Rome, the rich were gobbling up every bit of land they could find and using slave labor to work it. This left many without land and work. Ceaser saw this problem and proposed a solution that only he could bring about.
- Don't invade Russia in the winter. Know when to quit. Napolean, in 1812 was the most powerful person in the world. Apart from the British, his enemies were all dead and gone. Then he decided to push his look. He assembled a massive army and invaded Russia. Long story short, it did not go well for him, and once winter came, his entire army of over one quarter million men were killed. The majority had their lives taken by the weather. Napolean was never able to recover from this defeat, and his incredible span as the most powerful person in the world was cut short. All because he did not know when to stop fighting.
- Choose one of, or merge the following methods of taking power to whatever works best for you. This is by far the most important step as this is the one that will lead you to greatness. The methods for taking power are as follows: Hitlerian Populism, Ceasorian Military-Political Maneuvering, and Napoleonic Hybrid Style. The following portions of the pamphlet will detail these three different methods in order to allow you to pick which won it right for you.
Hitlerian Populism
Hitler's rise to power began following Germany's defeat in WW1. The allies forced Germany to pay massive amounts of reparations, which ended up shackling their economy. A few years later, the political party of the Nazis was founded, not by Hitler, but he was fast to join and rose through their ranks, becoming the leader. In 1923 Hitler made his first grab at supreme power, as he tried unsuccessfully to overthrow the German government in a coup. He was thrown in jail for 5 years, were while serving his time, he mastered the idea of scapegoating. After being released from prison, he worked to bring the Nazi party into relevance, and through populist appeals to a nation suffering greatly from the great depression, his Nazi party won control of the German government. Hitler then refused to participate in any german governmental body, which completely gridlocked the country, forcing the then president to appoint Hitler chancellor. A few clever political moves later, and Hitler had banned all other political parties and had unilateral control over the country of Germany.
The principles of Hitler's rise to power highlight what I like to call Hitlerian Populism. If you wish to mirror his success above all else, you must create a scapegoat. In Hitler's case, it was the Jews and communists, but for your future dictatorship, feel free to pick any group as long as they are a minority. Things go south really quick if your scapegoat holds a majority. The next key bit of political maneuvering is the use of democracy to destroy democracy. With Hitlerian Populism, there is no great coup, no revolt, no rebelling, but rather what appears to be a fair democratic process. With your populist appearance getting you elected to a seat of power, you have only one step left. DONT GIVE UP YOUR POWER. Populism can be fickle at best, and it's almost impossible to enact populist reforms without unilateral control of the government. Should you end up running for re-election, chances are your populist base will abandon you in return for a flasher-looking candidate. Because of this, once you have the power, you can't give it up. Once your power is secure comes the end steps of Hitlerian Populism. At this time, you need to fulfill your promise; otherwise, you might be ousted in a coup of the people. Next, you must expand your base. While populists are good for getting you into power, you will need more support to keep it. Probably the biggest way to help with this is by lowering the unemployment rate. Ways of doing this are through building stuff. Quiet literally just building stuff, tanks, roads, planes, boats, railroads, massive spending projects like this suck up the unemployed and if done right are guaranteed to expand your base. Every country is different, and you might have to bend a few of the steps if you wish to take over your nation, but as long as you stick to the game plan of Hitlerian Populism, you should be able to come out as a true dictator, now what you choose to do as dictator is up to you.
Caesarian Military-Political Maneuvering
Caesarian Military-Political Maneuvering has out of all the options for becoming a dictator the lowest rock bottom and the highest ceiling. Put simply, you have to be a genius to pull this method off. Julius Ceaser was a genius, but even he one of the greatest dictators of all times, rest his soal, was unable to pull off to 100% completion the very method that is named after him. Julies Ceaser build his career off of killing the enemies of Rome and was quite possibly the most tactically genius general of all time. His military career peaked when in 52 BC he fought and won the Battle of Alesia. This battle is pretty crazy so be prepared. First, Ceaser besieges a Gaul army, which outnumbers him, in the town of Alesia. To keep the Gauls in, he builds a wall around the city. Then Gaulic reinforcements arrive surrounding him. To protect himself from the new Gauls ceaser then builds a wall around his first wall and positions his army between both walls. Ceaser was outnumbered 4 to 1, yet somehow he was able to only lose about a fourth of his army, and in return killed well over half the enemy army, winning the battle. That's the type of genius Julius Ceaser was, so if you don't think you can match his genius move on to the next method. For all those who think they can hear is how Julius ceaser toppled the roman republic. In ancient Rome, military success was highly valued, and given that ceaser had so much military success he was able to spin it into a successful political career. During his time in roman politics, he aligned himself with the populist reformist faction and promised massive sweeping changes for the lower class of Rome along with retirement security for the army. At this time he formed a secret alliance with two other politicians, this became known as the first triumvirate. While in power Ceaser began ignoring the rules, he would refuse to accept vetos and forced his legislation through even if it did not have enough votes to pass. He also rigged elections so that the reformist parties won massive amounts of the roman senate. To add to this he openly passed legislation allowing him to serve for a longer amount of time as a Council of the Roman senate. This all happened in a few years, and after it was done he went off to Gaul with an army and won some more victories. When he was done killing Gauls he went to return to Rome. However, the senate had wanted Ceaser gone. They stripped him of his military command and ordered him to come back to Rome to face justice. Instead, Ceaser took his army which was loyal to him and marched on Rome where he proclaimed himself dictator and proceeded to fight and win a bloody Roman civil war. After winning said cival war, ceaser passed more legislation as dictator which made him dictator for life...Then he was stabbed to death by senators who wanted the republic back. However despite his death because of his actions the roman republic which had stood for hundreds of years collapsed into the roman empire.
There are several key points to Ceaser's rise to power that if you wish to emulate him you must follow. First, be a genius military general, this helps when creating a populist base, and when taking the government by military force. Second, push limits. Julius Ceaser was able to break the rules of roman politics because no one stopped him. Because of his military record, and his populist base everybody was too afraid to challenge him when he broke the rules. When you are in a position of power do the same. Push established rules. If the rules give, keep pushing, if they don't back off a bit, and find a different weak point to push at. At some point, the government you are trying to overthrow is going to have enough and try to get rid of you. This is where that whole being a military genius comes into play as with your support from the army, and populist appeal you can win the following civil war. Following the war take complete power, and don't be too harsh on your enemies. Your goal is not to come off as tyrannical, but rather as someone who was wronged by the government and is only taking power to stabilize the situation. Finally and this is the step Ceaser failed at. Don't get assassinated. Easier said, than done, as with this method a lot of people are going to want you dead so you will have to always be on the lookout for assassins. If you have made it this far then congratulations you have won, a democracy or republic lays destroyed, you will have been immortalized in history, and now you have absolute power to do with it as you wish, you have earned it.
Napoleonic Hybrid Style
Napolean's way to the top was masterful and ever so simple. He was a genius general and as such had built up a repore with the people of France. The reason for this is that at the time of his rise to power France was at war with practically all of Europe, and was losing. That is until Napolean, stepping in he kicked the living life out of all enemies he fought. He won over the people by saving them from their barbaric enemies. Politically he was indispensable as he had just saved the revolutionary government of France. This put Napolean in an incredible position of power. The people loved him, the army loved him, and the politicians loved him. After gathering some support he requested/demanded that the French government at the time know as the Directory name him soul council of France. They refused and chased him out of the government building he responded by going in with his loyal troops and formally taking power. He was the savor of France, and no one stood up to stop him from taking the power. For Napolean, it was as simple as that. Again to reiterate, the military supported him, the people supported him, and while not as much as before the coup, the politicians of France supported him. All these factors combined led to him having an easy road to total power.
There are really only two things about Napoleans's journey to power that need to be recognized in order to follow in his footsteps. Most importantly you must command the support of the military. With the military on your side, no one will stop you from taking power. Next, you must have the support of the people. So that way when you do take power you are seen as a hero and there is no annoying peasant rebelling. Simple. An example of this gone badly however does exist in Hitler's first attempt to seize power. He had partial military support and a minority of civilian support. This resulted in him not having the power to pull off a coup and instead he was through in jail. So let this innocent serve as a warning to you. While the Napoleonic Hybrid Style is simple its can still be messed up, but assuming you don't mess up you have power, you have the military, and you have the people on your side, the world is at your fingertips.
Now it's all up to you. How will you over through your government? Pick one of our methods and execute it to a T, and you are garmented to take complete power from your current government. If not and somehow one of our methods does not work you are entitled to a full refund and can return, "A beginner's Guide to Overthrowing a Democracy." Godspeed and good luck for even the best plans can't succeed without a bit of luck.