This deep-rooted maxim stated by Uncle Ben in the Marvel Comic book “Spiderman” has incredible importance for individuals that aim to achieve great success. Some people choose the path to becoming great and possessing substantial powers. The others look at these people with admiration, but not many get to know the sacrifices these leaders have to make. Holding several large-scale areas of influence in one’s hands demands control, the strength of character, the ability to make decisions rapidly, and admitting failure when the results occurred not as planned. Great front-runners oftentimes have to give away all the other sides of their life to save their powers, respect, and appreciation of the people they are leading. Expanding the control and influence, this one individual has to take responsibility for all the circumstances of his actions. World history knows many examples of crucial decisions taken by the leaders, as well as it remembers decent leaders that were overcriticized by the population. Taking responsibility for people’s future lives, possible failure of the decisions, and performing in the interests of his citizens make a true leader great.
Some of the figures in world history are hard not to mention. The French general and statesman Napoleon Bonaparte drastically changed the country’s military, legal, and educational institutions. He was liable for the change, and he was the individual who had the power to realize it. With France’s ability, Napoleon managed to coordinate Europe into a more robust part lead framework, wrapping Feudalism up and taking the gathering and service under state control (Yepremyan 39). His victory in the middle of the XVIII century made him a king with a vision of making the Europeans great again. In a general sense, less thought expresses results — in the case of the response of the extraordinary powers to the enemies’ progress to conquer France, Napoleon retaliated with anger and vigor. The commitment to lead and make an impact gave Napoleon more prominent duties to spread out better-coordinated game plans as expected by the Europeans for nearly two centuries.
However, being a great power means being prepared to take risks and have a great failure as well. In 1812, during the invasion of Russia, Napoleon was left with one-third of his troops and tricked by the enemy (Bonaparte et al. 113). Brutally cold Russian lands did not spare the soldiers of the European army when they entered empty cities and villages. Later, in October 1813, the troops of Napoleon were crushed at the battle of Leipzig (Bonaparte et al. 156). Forced to exile on the island of Elba, Napoleon is still remembered as a great leader. It is hard to estimate if the ambition and power clouded his mind and made him weaker or if the latter events were simply bad luck. This figure shows the high costs of becoming a great leader.
The Soviet Union was another great power, and its leader Stalin during World War II, managed to defeat Hitler’s army with major success. Stalin was indeed strong, but the question is if he can be called a leader. He managed to gather all the forces of the country and participate significantly in winning the war. At the same time, Stalin is also known as a tyrant as he killed around 20 million citizens (Gugushvili and Kabachnik 332). The brutality of his repressive regime made the people live in endless fear (Gugushvili and Kabachnik 318). On the other side, during the war with the greatest and most disciplined army in the world at that time, Russia needed someone ready to fight using all the resources. The ruler remained in the memory of many a hero. Still, some consider him a villain (Gugushvili and Kabachnik 321). The great power Stalin possessed is undiscussable but his attitude toward civilians is still a question.
The word “great” either refers solely to making the country great in the eyes of other nations or it means providing people with care and support. A true leader will not want to harm his citizens directly, using his power and spreading fear. That is why great responsibilities are following the great power as uncontrolled or focused on limited, influence-based goals cannot lead the people of the country to a good life. Sadly, but truly, Russia has a pattern of suffering from great leaders as their greatness, developed within decades of their ruling, destroys the lives of its citizens. The current geopolitical issue with Ukraine is a result of one overpowerful leader fighting for his influence. The leadership that harms and destroys spreads fear and the feeling of insecurity cannot be called a true one.
It might be hard to estimate from modern times the actions of countries facing the army of Hitler. His beliefs in a supreme race broke all the principles of ethics. Hitler wanted Germany to become a great superpower. Still, the way he spread nationalism with propagandistic approaches gave no choice to people to have other opinions (Fritz 23). Hitler built a great military force that was feared by many countries and could not be defeated for a long time. As world history shows, idealistic approaches tend to crush eventually and quickly take away all the believers in former leaders’ tactics.
This paper discussed three great leaders in the last 250 years of world history: Napoleon, Stalin, and Hitler. This assignment also questions if true leadership takes roots in possession of power itself or if it initiates in care and serving the country’s citizens. The author believes that, in modern times, humans do not need a great superpower. Citizens of each country simply want to live a good-quality life, have no political restrictions, and be friendly to other countries. People want successful trades, growth of the economy, and rational decisions from their leaders. They do not obligatory have to be great and remembered by history as heroes. Ruling by giving, caring, supporting, and being proactive defines a leader of the country. This represents responsibilities, adequate possession of power, and appreciation from the residents.
The modern world does not want superpowers such as France at the end of the XVII century, Great Britain in the XIX-XX century, and the United States at the end of the XX century. The fight between these great powers has led to destruction, deaths, and pain. The current fight of the Russian ruler for his power in Ukraine also confirms the latter. Great power, in this sense, takes responsibilities, high risks, and possibilities of failure. The real leading should be focused on building trustworthy relationships with other nations, developing economies, realizing student exchange, language learning, allowing free media, and spreading the principles of justice, ethics, and mutual respect among individuals.
Works Cited
Bonaparte, Napoleon, et al. The Works of Napoleon Bonaparte: Life & Legacy of the Great French Emperor: Biography, Memoirs & Personal Writings. E-artnow, 2022.
Fritz, Stephen. The First Soldier: Hitler as Military Leader. Yale University Press, 2018.
Gugushvili, Alexi, and Peter Kabachnik. “Stalin on Their Minds: A Comparative Analysis of Public Perceptions of the Soviet Dictator in Russia and Georgia,” International Journal of Sociology, vol. 495, no. 5-6, 2019, pp. 317-341.
Krueger, I. Joachim. “The Phantom of the Omniscient Leader,”The American Journal of Psychology, vol. 133, no. 4, 2020, pp. 509–553. Web.
Yepremyan, Tigran. “Napoleonic Paradigm of European Integration: Theory and History”, Napoleonica. La Revue, vol. 39, no. 1, 2021, pp. 35-53.