Mohandas Gandhi and Mao Zedong were two great leaders who succeeded in many ways due to their actions and decisions. Gandhi was an Indian leader and Mao was a Chinese leader. However, their approach to success, peace, and ultimately revolution, was very different. Mao fostered peace through violence, and Gandhi fostered peace through non-cooperation and standing up for what is right. He also believed that these changes would be achieved through “conscious suffering,” as he put it. However, despite their differences, these two leaders were also similar. They were both very charismatic leaders who managed to successfully overcome their revolutions. Mao's revolution brought about a change in the class structure, while Gandhi's revolution involved India as a country and 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 needed independence, their opinions differed when it came to the use of violence, the development towards revolution, and their ideas 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 package, 12) This means that force is absolutely necessary and the result of force is violence. Mao is totally okay with violence and sees opponents of the movements he favors as “paper tigers”. For example, these rebels might seem terrifying at first, but in reality they are defenseless and harmless. Mao actually blames Hunan's landowners and the upper, richer class for a bloody battle between peasants and landowners. He said that for a long time now, the richer class has...... middle of paper......a caste system, they are truly equal in one thing: they are both very great leaders who have influenced China and India to date. They were both very creative with their ideas and had different motivations and knew how to convey what they believed to the people of all their nations. Today's leaders like Barack Obama can learn a lot from these two influential leaders. From Mao they can certainly learn different war strategies and the like, as well as how to best develop their country. From Gandhi, leaders can learn how to get what they want with peace and kindness, while learning that independence is possible through peace, which also leaves a clear stain of nationalism. Mao and Gandhi both had a lot to offer and both expressed themselves in different but effective ways that changed China and India forever.