A Critique of Dictator Propaganda

In the Russian Revolution and the Chinese revolution, there were two common threads and those were Communism and dictators. In these two communist countries there were unrelenting and unbending rulers: Mao Zedong and Joesph Stalin. In the Chinese revolution, Mao held China tightly in his fists. He was unrelenting in policies and at one point had almost absolute control of China. The same happened in Russia, Stalin was overbearing and dominant. He harshly and rigidly inflicted his will upon the people of Russia. With Stalin and Mao being such fierce rulers it brings me to the questions: why did Stalin and Mao, who neglected the opinion of others, care so much about how people perceived them? What was the purpose of pro-Stalin propaganda and pro-Mao propaganda?

In my opinion, I believe that Stalin and Mao did not necessarily care about what people thought about them, but rather what their supporters perceived they were doing with their power. In Stalin propoganda, there are visuals of productivity and happiness. Despite the oppression going on in Stalin-ruled Russia, Stalin always tried to project to his international supporters (country leaders envious of Russia's productivity during the Great Depression) that Russia was not only effective but it was what the ideal of what Russia's people expected out of government. Stalin's use of propaganda was to project a positive image of Russia to the world, which unfortunately did not reflect the actuality.

The same can be said of Mao. Mao constantly projected himself as the Red Sun that will guide China. Mao painted himself (literally) as the savior of China. In my opinion, the purpose of Mao's propaganda was to convince his supporters (the peasants) that despite the constant risk of imprisonment and famine, he was still somehow helping the people gain a China that was productive like the West and family oriented. Mao's propaganda generally served to convince his people that despite the harsh reality of China under Mao, that his methods will lead them to happiness and prosperity. Mao and Stalin used propaganda to basically hide the dark reality of life under their rule.