Some made the world a better place, others poisoned it.
In the second half of the 19th century were born men who were to shape and unshape the 20th century. Many became world famous and infamous. Some made the world a better place, others poisoned it. Among them were great men who were compassionate, served humanity, lived ethical and moral lives; they were liberators who enhanced civility, democracy, decency. Their vision had no place for rigidity. They used power for the good of humankind.
Then there were others, who worshipped unworthy causes, champions of racism, colonialism. Unjust murderers, who became rulers of vast nations, declared wars, imprisoned and killed former colleagues and friends. Conscience they had none. They abused and misused their undoubted charisma and magnetism. A few tinpot dictators did immense, horrific damage to their countries. Mercifully, they are forgotten by history.
I have selected 12 individuals, all politicians, born between 1869 and 1918 and divided them into two groups—six in each to make my point.
The first group includes Mahatma Gandhi 1869-1948, Winston Churchill 1874-1965, Franklin D. Roosevelt 1882-1945, Jawaharlal Nehru 1889-1964, Charles de Gaulle 1890-1970, and Nelson Mandela 1918-2013.
The second lot consists of Vladimir Lenin 1870-1924, Joseph Stalin 1879-1953, Benito Mussolini 1883-1945, Adolf Hitler 1889-1945, Hideki Tojo 1884-1948 and Mao Tse Tung 1893-1976.
Those in the first group could be termed the benevolent. The second group the malevolent.
No one, not even Jawaharlal Nehru has summed up Mahatma Gandhi’s life as did Albert Einstein (1879-1955). “A leader of his people, unsupported by any outside authority, a politician whose success rests not upon craft nor the mastery of technical devices, but simply on the convincing power of his personality… Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.”
Had Winston Churchill died in 1939, he would be a footnote in history, known for his literary talent, and perhaps for his public disdain for Gandhi. World War II made him the greatest Englishman of all time. Incidentally, his hatred for India and Indians takes away some of the lustre of his greatness.
Franklin D. Roosevelt is the only American to have been elected President of the United States four times. He brought the USA into World War II in December 1941 after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. With America on their side, Allied victory was a foregone conclusion. He was stricken by polio in his early forties. By sheer will power he conquered his despair and permanent disability to courageously face life and become a truly great man.
Jawaharlal Nehru is the maker of modern India. His popularity during the freedom movement was second only to Gandhi’s. Pettiness did not touch him. Grace did. He spent nine and a half years in jail. More than any other Congress leader. His record as External Affairs Minister is not inspiring. He wrote a superb autobiography.
General Charles de Gaulle invites favourable comparison with Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). History has yet to pronounce its verdict as to which one was the greatest Frenchman of all time. De Gaulle escaped to England after the fall of France in 1940. He became leader of the free French, returning to France in 1944 as a hero. He was President of France from 1958 to 1969.
Nelson Mandela is the greatest African leader of all time. After 27 years in jail he forgave his tormenters. His great achievement was to reconcile black and white South Africans. His speech at his trial in 1964 is among the memorable ones made in the 20th century.
Lenin, Stalin and Mao were the greatest Communist leaders of all time. They were revolutionaries for whom ethics and fair play were luxuries. Regardless, their place in history is ensured. Lenin had less blood on his hands than the other two. Stalin industrialized Soviet Russia. Without the Soviets defeating the German army at Stalingrad the war could have lasted much longer. Lenin was an original thinker of the highest quality.
Hitler is among the monsters of history. Mussolini and Tojo are lesser monsters, but monsters nonetheless. In 1945 their countries were in total shambles, millions had been killed. Hitler committed suicide, Mussolini was shot dead by Italian Partisans. Tojo was hanged in 1948.
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Dilip Kumar turned 98 on Friday on the 11th of this month. Hundreds of millions of his fans wished him well on that memorable day.