TYRANTS IN HISTORY

"The man dies in all who keeps silent in the face of tyranny" (Wole Soyinka).

A history of power, injustice and terror. When men in power abused their essence. Men who saw even their own followers as enemies and could unleash the gravest terror on anyone/group who opposed them. Heartless men who would see a crying baby and instead of cuddling crushes to death. Men without remorse who could go the longest length in acquisition for power just to maim, intimidate, humiliate and deny people their right to humanity. Kings who ruled without empathy and sympathy for those they led. Mortals who provoked wars and watch innocent men die for them. Men who got hold of anything they wanted and hijacked others possession without remorse. 

They trusted not even themselves. The overlords who portrayed themselves as gods without end, who magnified their powerful existence by suppressing those under them.

Tyrants oppress both poor and rich, old and young. They are an epitome of what death would be. The ruler that craves no successor. 

     A tyrant is a person who has complete power in a country and uses it in a cruel and unfair way. Philosophers Plato and Aristotle defined them as people who rules without law, using extreme and cruel methods against both his own people and others. A ruler with unlimited power. A leader who governs oppressively, unjustly and arbitrarily. Despots.

An absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to repressive means. Tyrants lack the very faculty which is the instrument of judgement - reason. The tyrannical man is enslaved because the best part of him (reason) is enslaved and likewise the tyrannical state is enslaved, because it too lacks reason and order. A state ruled by a tyrant can never know peace, not until the tyrant is conquered. Say no to tyrannism and let all men rise to dust them off the earth.

     Their are more than 100 tyrants who ruled throughout history's history but we would focus on the most popular and famous ones both dead and living. These men reveal what happens when one person is given unchecked power.

                SADDAM HUSSEIN 

Saddam Hussein was an Iraqi dictator that served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. He also served as Prime Minister of Iraq, first from 16 July 1979 until 23 March 1991, and later from 29 May 1994 to 9 April 2003. He was a leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and later the Baghdad based Ba'ath Party and it's regional organization, the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, which exposed Ba'athism, a mix of Arab nationalism and Arab socialism. Saddam Hussein has the dubious distinction of being the best known Middle Eastern dictator. He ruled Iraq from 1979 until his overthrow and capture by a US led coalition in 2003. He was born to a peasant family near Tikrit in 1937. In 1979 immediately upon coming to power Saddam Hussein silenced all political opposition in Iraq and converted his one party state into a cult of personality. Over more than 20 years, his regime systematically executed, tortured, imprisoned, raped, terrorized and repressed Iraqi people. Upon his capture by the US led Army in 2003, Hussein was charged with premeditated murder, imprisonment and the deprivation of physical movement, forced deportation and turture.

Saddam Hussein was hanged on the first day of Eid UL - Adha 30th December 2006, despite his wish to be executed by firing squad (which he argued was the lawful military capital punishment, citing his military position as the commander in chief of the Iraqi military). The execution was carried out at camp justice, an Iraqi army base in Kadhimiya, a neighborhood of northeast Baghdad.

Saddam was buried at his birthplace of Al-Awja in Tikrit, Iraq on 31st December 2006. He was buried 3km from his sons Uday and Qusay Hussein. His tomb was reported to have been destroyed in March 2015.

                      JOSEF  STALIN

Josef Stalin became the leader of the Soviet Union after Vladimir Lenin died in 1924 and launched government programs that would make the country more progressive. Vladimir Lenin also a renowned political tyrant was succeeded by a man even more aggressive than he was. Stalin was a highly significant figure during the early mid 20th century. He forced quick industrialization and collectivization in the 1930s, that coincided with mass starvation and the imprisonment of millions of people.

Josef Stalin was a Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretary of the Communist party of the Soviet Union (1922-1952) and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (1941-1953). Initially governing the country as part of a collective leadership, he consolidated power to become a dictator. Ideologically adhering to the Leninist interpretation of Marxism, he formalized these ideas as Marxism Leninism while his own policies are called Stalinism. He was born to a poor ethnic Georgian family in the town of Gori in the Tiflis Governorate of the Russian Empire (now part of Georgia) on 18th December 1878.

Under Stalin, severe disruptions to food production contributed to the famine of 1930-1933 that killed millions. It was also Stalin who instituted the "Great Purge" just to eradicate enemies of the working class and in the process over a million were imprisoned and at least 700,000 were executed by government agents between 1936 and 1938.

Stalin founded the "Outfit" a criminal gang that were involved with armed robberies, racketeering, assassinations, arms procurement and child couriering. Widely considered to be one of 20th century's most significant figures, Josef Stalin was the subject of a pervasive personality cult within the international Marxist Leninist movement, which revered him as a champion of the working class and socialism. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Stalin has retained popularity in Russia and Georgia as a victorious wartime leader who cemented the Soviet Union's status as a leading world power. Nevertheless, his regime has been widely described as totalitarian and is condemned for overseeing mass repression, ethnic cleansing, wide scale deportation, hundreds of thousands of executions and famines that killed millions. Stalin died on 5th March 1953 at his Kuntsevo Dacha after suffering a massive hemorrhagic stroke involving his left cerebral hemisphere, at age 74. He was given a state funeral in Moscow on 9th March, with four days of national mourning declared.

                        ADOLF HITLER

Adolf was an Austrian born German politician who was the dictator of Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi party, becoming the Chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Fuhrer and Reichskanzler in 1934. 

During his dictatorship, he initiated World War 11 in Europe by invading Poland on 1st September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of about six million Jews. His total number of killings were approximated to be over 40million people.

Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria Hungary on 20th April 1889 and was raised near Linz. He lived in Vienna later in the first decade of the 1900s and moved to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his service in the German Army in World War 1. In 1919, he joined the German Workers Party(DAP) the precursor of the Nazi Party in 1921. In 1923, he attempted to  seize governmental power in a failed coup in Munich and was imprisoned with a sentence of five years. In jail, he dictated the first volume of his autobiography and political manifesto Meinkamp (My Struggle). After his early release in 1924 Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting pan-Germanism, anti-Semitism and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. He frequently denounced international capitalism and communism as part of a Jewish conspiracy. By November 1932, the Nazi Party held the most seat in the German Reichstag but did not have a majority. Hitler aimed to eliminate Jews from Germany and establish a New Order to counter what he saw as the injustice of the past World War 1 international order dominated by Britain and France.

Adolf Hitler's first six years in power resulted in rapid economic growth from the Great Depression, the abrogation of restrictions imposed on Germany after World War 1 and the annexation of territories inhabited by millions of ethnic Germans which initially gave him significant support. His aggressive foreign policy is considered the primary cause of World War 11 in Europe.

He directed large scale rearmament and on 1st September 1939, invaded Poland, resulting in Britain and France declaring war on Germany. In June 1941, Hitler ordered an invasion of the Soviet Union. In December 1941, he declared war on the United States. By the end of 1941, German Forces and the European Axis powers occupied most of Europe and North Africa. I'm 1945, the Allied Armies defeated the German Army. Under Hitler's leadership,the Nazi regime was responsible for the genocide of six million Jews and we're also responsible for the killing of an estimated 19.3million civilians and prisoners of war. In addition, 28.7million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in the European theater. World War 11 the greatest conflict in history was instigated by Adolf Hitler. Hitler committed suicide on 30th April 1945 in order to avoid being captured by the Soviet Red Army.

                          IDI AMIN 

General Idi Amin, the Uganda dictator, otherwise popularly known as "the butcher of Uganda". Amin overthrew an elected government in Uganda with a military coup and ruled ruthlessly for 8 years. He declared himself president and was renowned for his incredibly ruthless and brutal policies against his own people.

Born in 1925, Idi Amin Dada Oumee was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971-1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern world history. He was born in Koboko in what is now northeast Uganda to a Kakwa father and Lugbara mother. In 1946, he joined the King's African Rifle (KAR) of the British colonial Army as a cook. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant, taking part in British actions against Somalla rebels and then the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya. Uganda gained independence from the United kingdom in 1962 and Amin remained in the Army, rising to the position of Major and being appointed commander of the Ugandan Army in 1965. He became aware that Ugandan President Milton Obote was planning to arrest him for misappropriating army funds, so he launched the 1971 Ugandan coup d'etat and declared himself president. During his years in power, Amin shifted from a pro- western ruler enjoying considerable support from Israel to being backed by Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko, the Soviet Union and East Germany. In 1972, Amin expelled Asians, a majority of who were Indian-Ugandans leading India to severe diplomatic relations with his regime. The United kingdom broke diplomatic relations with Uganda in 1977 and Amin declared that he had defeated the British and added "CBE" to his title for Conqueror of the British Empire.

Amin persecuted certain ethnic groups and political dissidents. He then attempted to annex Tanzania's Kagera region in 1978. The Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere ordered his troops to invade Uganda in response. Tanzanian Army and rebel forces successfully captured Kampala in 1979 and ousted Amin from power. Idi Amin went into exile first in Libya then Iraq and finally in Saudi Arabia where he lived until his death in 2003. Amin's rule was characterized by rampant human rights abuses, including political repression, ethnic persecution, extrajudicial killings, as well as nepotism, corruption, and gross economic mismanagement. International observers and human rights group estimate that between 100,000 and 500,000 were killed under his regime.

He died as a result of kidney failure on 16th August 2003. He was buried in Ruwais cemetery in Jeddah in a simple grave without any fanfare.

                BENITO MUSSOLINI 

Benito Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the fascist government of his country from 1925-1945. Mussolini, like many members of this list, didn't grow up in the most peaceful environment. He had always been an outspoken political activist. In 1936, Mussolini formed an alliance with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in which he introduced anti-Semitic policies in Italy. He was ousted from office in July 1943 when the country's prospects of victory in World War 11 soured.

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian dictator and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. In the world of 20th century dictators, he was a pioneer. He created fascism, a movement that would plunge most of Europe into darkness. From undermining judges to indoctrinating children, he pioneered key tactics that other dictators would use to seize power.

Mussolini was born on 29th July 1883. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 1943 as well as Duce of Italian fascism from the establishment of the Italian fasces of combat in 1919 until his summary execution in 1945 by Italian partisans. He was appointed Prime Minister by King Victor Emmanuel 111 becoming the youngest individual to hold the office up to that time. Within five years, Mussolini had established dictatorial authority by both legal and illegal means and aspired to create a totalitarian state.

In late April 1945, Benito Mussolini was executed together with his mistress Clara Petacci by firing squad near lake Como. Their bodies were taken to Milan where they were hung upside down at a service station to publicly confirm their demise.

                  MUAMMAR GADDAFI 

Born Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Al Gaddafi, on 7th June 1942. Gaddafi was de facto leader of Libya first as Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then as the Brotherly leader of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977-2011. Gaddafi's government was overthrown in the wake of the fall of Tripoli to the rebel forces in August, although pockets of resistance held by forces in support of Gaddafi's government held out for another two months, especially in Gaddafi's homeland of Sirte, which he declared the new capital of Libya in September.

Having taken power, Gaddafi converted Libya into a republic governed by his Revolutionary Command Council. Ruling by decree, he deported Libya's Italian population and ejected it's Western military bases. Gaddafi transformed Libya into a new socialist state called a Jamahiriya (state of the masses) in 1977. He officially adopted a symbolic role in governance but remained head of both the military and the revolutionary committees responsible for policing and suppressing dissent. He developed a hostile relationship with Israel, the United States and the United kingdom, resulting in the US bombing of Libya in 1986 and United Nations imposed economic sanctions. A highly divisive figure, Gaddafi dominated Libya's politics for four decades and was the subject of a pervasive cult of personality. He was captured and killed near his hometown in Sirte by NATO forces.

                      KIM  JONG  UN

Kim Jong UN, the latest communist dictator of North Korea (2011-present) inherited power from his father who died in December 2011. Kim Jong UN, supreme leader of North Korea was born 8 January 1984. He has been leader of North Korea since 2011 and leader of Workers Party of Korea since 2012. He is the third son of Kim Jong 11, who was North Korea's second supreme leader from 1994-2011. He is a grandson of Kim 11 Sung, who was the founder and first supreme leader of North Korea from it's establishment in 1948 to his death in 1994. Kim Jong UN is the first leader of North Korea to have been born in the country after it's establishment. Kim holds the title of General Secretary of the Workers Party of Korea and president of state affairs. He is also a member of the Presidium of the WPK Politburo, the highest decision making body in the country. In July 2012, Kim was promoted to the highest rank of Marshal in the Korean people's Army, consolidating his position as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. North Korean state media often refer to him as Respected Comrade Kim Jong UN or Marshal Kim Jong UN.

Kim rules North Korea as a totalitarian dictator and his leadership has followed the same cult of personality as his father and grandfather. In 2014, a United Nations Human Rights Council report suggests that Kim could be put on trial for crimes against humanity. He has ordered the purge and execution of several North Korean officials. He is also widely believed to have ordered the assassination of his half brother Kim Jong Nam in Malaysia in 2017. He once had confrontations and heightened tension with South Korea, the United States and China because of his nuclear weapons expansion. He still lives and resides in his home country North Korea.

     Let all men rise and say no to tyrannism.