Comparison - Mohandas Gandhi and Mao Zedong

Mohandas Gandhi and Mao Zedong were two great leaders who succeeded in many ways by their actions and decisions. Gandhi was an Indian leader and Mao a Chinese leader. However, their approach to success, peace, and ultimately, a revolution, was very different. Mao favored peace through violence, and Gandhi favored peace through non-cooperation and standing up for what is right. He also believed that these changes will be accomplished by "conscious suffering", was the way he put it. However, despite their differences, these two leaders were similar too. They were both very charismatic leaders who successfully made it through their revolutions. Mao's revolution led to change in class structure while Gandhi's revolution involved India as a country, and he wanted people to realize that working together is a great way to gain independence. While Mao and Gandhi both believed that each of their countries have the need of independence, their views differed when it came to the use of violence, development towards the revolution, and their thoughts on a caste system.

Gandhi and Mao Zedong had different ideas when it came to the use of violence. Mao believed that "Force is the midwife of every old society pregnant with a new one." (reading packet, 12) What this means is that force is absolutely necessary and the outcome of force is violence. Mao is in total agreement with violence and sees the people opposing the movements he is favoring as "paper tigers". As in, at first, these rebels might seem terrifying, but in reality, they are helpless and harmless. Mao actually blames the Hunan landlords and the higher, wealthier class for a bloody battle between the peasants and the landlords. He said that for a long time now, the wealthier class has been taking advantage of the peasants and has driven them to do this to the landlords. Mao also describes a revolution as "an act of violence by which one class overthrows another." (reading packet, 13) And in order to get rid of this problem, violence must take place for "in order to get rid of the gun," he says, "we must first grasp it in the hand." (reading packet, 13) In the aspect of violence, clearly Mao had a positive view toward it. Gandhi, on the other hand, felt that violence was never the answer. He even believed that one should not even wish ill to anybody or have an evil thought. Gandhi felt that it was best to be a person who "feels the presence of the soul within." (reading packet, 16) This means that if you do what your heart is yearning for you to do, everything will be alright and India's revolution will be successful. Some people like Louis Fisher, felt as if Gandhi's nonviolent belief was "almost bordering on fanaticism." (reading packet, 17) In other words, there were people who respected Gandhi but disagreed in some of his teachings. Fanaticism means to have extreme enthusiasm in terms of politics or religion and this is exactly what Gandhi had. But then again, many people did believe in what Gandhi taught, and tried to follow it as best as they could. These people, Gandhi mentioned that "they [his followers] do not believe in my doctrine of non-violence to the full extent. For them it is a weapon of the weak, and expedient." (The Project Gutenberg, II The Khilafat) This proves that not even someone who truly tries to follow Gandhi's teachings can thoroughly understand and comprehend with him. Gandhi also worked on Satyagraha which was "a movement intended to replace methods of violence and a movement based entirely upon truth." (reading packet, 17) Gandhi thought of physical suffering worse than mental suffering and so that's how he thought of Satyagraha. He even believed that if people did the right thing, they would even change the worst person to a better one. The results of both leaders' actions are similar in the way that they both got through in their revolutions, and they differ in exactly how they got to complete their revolutions in the first place. This idea brings us to the next idea on how Mao and Gandhi's views differed.

Gandhi and Mao Zedong also had different ideas when it came to the development of each of their revolutions. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, Mao favored war, and Gandhi favored love. These two aspects of things contributed greatly in both their revolutions. Starting with Mao then moving on to Gandhi, Mao's ideas of development included the bourgeoisie and the proletariat of China. He said that the bourgeoisie "cannot escape either the economic crisis or the political crisis...without a vast war..." (reading packet, 44) He also wanted the Chinese revolution to be divided into two. These two stages were that the castes should be one and changed into a democratic and independent nation. The second was that, through the revolution, a socialist society should be made. These two were the main things Mao wanted to accomplish in order to develop a good revolution. This socialist revolution is actually against the bourgeoisie but also aiming at making China a more

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