“The use of force was the most important method used to maintain power in authoritarian states.” Discuss with reference to two authoritarian states.

The question requires that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the statement. The two authoritarian states may or may not be drawn from the same region and they may or may not have been contemporaneous with each other. A comparative approach may or may not be used. Candidates may offer equal coverage of the two authoritarian states or they may emphasize their discussion of one of them; however, both authoritarian states will be a feature of the response. Candidates may refer to campaigns against political enemies and the use of torture, executions, prison and censorship, for example Mao and the Cultural Revolution, or Stalin and the Purges. They may also refer to the role of paramilitary forces or special police, for example Hitler and the Sturmabteilung (the SA) and the Gestapo. While other relevant factors, for example propaganda, economic and social policies, or charismatic leadership, may be referred to, the bulk of the response will remain on the issue raised in the question. Candidates may agree, partly agree or disagree with the statement.

The question required candidates to offer a considered and balanced review of the statement that the use of force was the most important method used to maintain power in authoritarian states. This was one of the most popular questions on the exam paper and most candidates chose the Third Reich and the People’s Republic of China as their examples. A few candidates took a longer view and quite appropriately used, for example, both Lenin and Stalin for the USSR and both Mao and Deng Xiaoping for the PRC. This indicated that the candidates were, indeed, thinking along the lines of “Authoritarian States” rather than “Single Party Leaders”. Most responses demonstrated some knowledge of the use of force and many candidates balanced this with references to the use of propaganda to convince populations that their lives were improving. Even so, several examiners commented on how candidates continue to be confused over what would be relevant to the emergence of the authoritarian state rather than maintenance of power.