Are dictators able to maintain power because of brainwashed militaries?

Question

Obviously, one man cannot stop people from throwing him out when he tries to abuse him. But if there is a culture who is trained to think it's moral to submit to whatever claims to be an authority, then you have masses of men with guns who will kill anyone who tries to stop the dictator. In the United States, these folks are called Neocons. What were they called under Hitler? He was only one man too. Who were all those mindless followers with guns who protected the Nazi state?

Answer 1

Your history is very spotty, but I will try to explain how dictators remain in power.

Often the dictators (ei. Mobutu, Pinochet, Nasser) come from the military that overthrows the prior government. Therefore they have military support because they came from the military.

Dictators like Stalin and Castro (yes, Castro) have controlled the military through purges of the leadership. Many Russian and Cuban generals have been executed. This is the same appraoch that Saddam used.

Nazi Germany has a different case entirely. Much of the German military felt humiliated by the Treaty of Versailles and bought into the "stab in the back" excuse of why Germany was defeated in the First World War. However, the German military had a tradition of being apolitical and only supported Hitler through his promises of the return of German military might. Hitler maintained control of the military in the same way he controlled German society, through repression by the SS. Therefore, it was not one man that controlled the German military, but thousands of Nazi leaders, especially SS leader Himmler. Saddam had his Republican Guard in much the same manner. When the generals finally decided to get rid of Hitler, the plot failed and severe punishment was dealt to them. Many thousands of officers and their families were executed by the SS.

The flaw in the German military lay with they sense of duty. The army in particular was mainly apolitical and German law prevented them from voting. Traditionally the military swore an oath to Kaiser, then to the president when Wilhelm II abdicated. When Hitler did away with the office of president, he made the army swear allegience to him, aided by the blind assistance of the army chief, General Blomberg.

The American military does not owe its allegience to President Bush or any other individual. Each and every member of the American military swears an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States". Therefore, American soldiers, airman, Sailors, and Marines are bound to the Constitution and may only follow lawful orders of their leaders, such as the commander in chief.

Answer 2

When you are in the military, you are trained to follow orders, no matter who is in charge of the country. What about the Chinese Army, millions and millions of men and women under one leader. If you are given an order and dis-obey it then you are punished. That is why the military, even under an evil dictator does not overthrow him. Of course there are always exceptions to any rule, like in a coup attempt but then again, the military is just following the orders of their leaders in that case.

Answer 3

Do you smell SPAM? I do.