Margaret Thatcher And Stalin example essay topic

Though these two countries have very different philosophies with which they run their states, their leaders do exhibit similarities and not simply differences. For the sake of comparison, I will compare Tony Blair with Yeltsin and Margaret Thatcher with Stalin. These characters of government are widely known and easily recognizable as well thus we will focus on them. They feature prominently in each country's history of government.

Russia, under Stalin and the "Old Regime", was very Communist, leaving very little room for Capitalism until many different reforms were incorporated so that the superpower would survive. It did not however. Great Britain, after WWII, was Socialist in its policymaking thus change was brought about by the "Iron Maiden", Margaret Thatcher. These similarities are quite superficial; one must discuss each leader in relation to his or her counterpart to more deeply understand these parallels. Tony Blair and Boris Yeltsin are serious opposites. Yeltsin who, when in power, "slurred his speech in public, missed work, and seemed out of touch" does not seem the person to relate to the pristine private and public life of current prime minister Tony Blair.

Boris Yeltsin who took power over the disarrayed government of post-Communist Russia had to basically start a Republic in a nation that has never experienced a democratic form of government before. In Tony Blair's case, Great Britain has had the longest history of democracy and has had a smooth transition of power for at least 300 years. Russia became a federation only after a coup and a provisional government. Boris Yeltsin was starting from scratch while Blair has picked up where Margaret Thatcher has left off. The shock therapy that Yeltsin tried to induce on the economy has dragged into this millennium. In Great Britain, Blair has slowly privatized the economy as Thatcher had begun in the 70's and early 80's.

Margaret Thatcher and Stalin are very different ideologically, but closely related in their methods. While Stalin and his many economic programs were strictly Communist, Margaret Thatcher's programs of privatization are Capitalist and democratic. Stalin who ruled with an iron fist and purged many of his own offices of intelligent and loyal people killed probably more people than Hitler killed Jews. While he is known for being the "man of steel", Thatcher was known for her "iron" makeup. She helped sew the economic crises of Great Britain during the 1970's and she curbed leftist politics. Stalin improved the state of his country concerning its "backwardness", but it obviously lacked longevity when it collapsed because of its strict observance of Communism.

Thatcher, who is as devout a capitalist as Stalin a communist, knew the right way to run a nation headed towards crisis. She, unlike Stalin, knew to abandon something that ceased to work. For example, when she abandoned the Collectivist Consensus in 1974 for the Conservative Party. Stalin, a rabid communist, followed the book and simply purged whoever would speak out against him..