NationStates Jolt Archive

There've been a lot of dictators in the 20th century. We know the worst ones, the ones that killed the most people, or stole from and plundered their countries.

But who do you think was (or is) the best dictator of the 20th century? Who really helped his country, who managed to respect people's rights despite being an unelected potentate?

Are there any "Father knows Best" states where father actually knew what was best?

If jolt allows me, I might add a poll later on, but first we'd need a few candidates for NSG's favourite dictator.

Nikita Khrushchev - 2 votes
Fidel Castro - 13 votes
Pervez Musharraf - 3 votes
Hassanal Bolkiah - 1 vote
Saparmurat Niyazov - 2 votes
Lenin - 4 votes
Saddam Hussein - 2 votes
King of Bhutan - 2 votes
Tito - 3 votes
Benito Mussolini - 2 votes
Anwar Sadat - 1 vote
Rainier III of Monaco - 1 vote
Mao Zedong - 1 vote
Adolf Hitler - 1 vote
Muammar al-Gaddafi - 2 votes
Gamal Abdel Nasser - 1 vote
Stalin - 1 vote
Mikhail Gorbachev - 1 vote
Félix Houphouët-Boigny - 1 vote

Would Nikita Khrushchev fall under this category?

Fidel Castro?

For sure. Fidel's the only dictator I'd support.

That Pakistani guy. Is he twentieth century?

If not, Castro, recent Castro.

Guess.










Yep, that's right. Margaret Thatcher.

You spelled "favorite" wrong.

You spelled "favorite" wrong.
*sighs*

You up for wearing a dunce cap around the forums?

Hassanal Bolkiah... but then the wealth the country it probably more down to it's natural resources than any wisdom on the part of the sultan...

Guess.










Yep, that's right. Margaret Thatcher.
That's funny because she was neither a dictater nor knew best.

I like this guy as my personal favourite dicatator if you're going to be a dictator be delusional and deranged (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saparmurat_Niyazov#Personality_cult)

That's funny, because she was neither a dictater nor knew best.
I know. It was a bad, drunken attempt to inject humour into the thread. I'll slink out with my tail between my legs now, shall I?

Lenin had the right idea, but war Communism was far too brutal for him to be considered. If you disregard that (though it was kinda important in his period in power), he wasn't too bad.

Francos Spain.

*sighs*

You up for wearing a dunce cap around the forums?

Look, we beat you in the American Revolution, The War of 1812, saved you in WW1 and WW2.

If it wasn't for us, you wouldn't even be enjoying this website!! :p

*braces for flaming*

*unleashes napalm bomb*

OK, that'll do.

Castro is pretty decent as they go.

Look, we beat you in the American Revolution, The War of 1812, saved you in WW1 and WW2.

If it wasn't for us, you wouldn't even be enjoying this website!! :p

*braces for flaming*

DAS UBERSTEREOTYPE!

Francos Spain.

Heh, seconded.

I like this guy as my personal favourite dicatator if you're going to be a dictator be delusional and deranged (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saparmurat_Niyazov#Personality_cult)
The man has an annual holiday dedicated to melons.

Best. World Leader. Ever.

The man has an annual holiday dedicated to melons.

Best. World Leader. Ever.

That man is quite possibly the world's greatest bad-ass.

Ignoring the morality of their actions and instead focusing on national benefit, Fidel and Hussein definetly take the gold and silver.

Fidel led Cuba throught the Cold War, keeping a viable communist economy intact.

Hussein kept the Sunni and the Shia from blowing each others' brains out... until SOMEBODY just had to remove him from power... :rolleyes:

The man has an annual holiday dedicated to melons.

http://209.85.48.10/3630/189/emo/worship.gif

Hussein kept the Sunni and the Shia from blowing each others' brains out... until SOMEBODY just had to remove him from power... :rolleyes:
Buhwhah? What are you talking about? What war? In Iraq? What? No, that's, um, nothing. Nothing to see at all. It's all quite peaceful and dreadfully boring.
*discretely covers the entire country with a doiley*
Let's go into the sitting room and think about something completely unrelated, shall we?

Buhwhah? What are you talking about? What war? In Iraq? What? No, that's, um, nothing. Nothing to see at all. It's all quite peaceful and dreadfully boring.
*discretely covers the entire country with a doiley*
Let's go into the sitting room and think about something completely unrelated, shall we?
What a lovely (and stylish) idea.
I think there should be a world body solely for the purpose of covering Things Gone Dreadfully Wrong with doilies. Discreetly, of course.

Buhwhah? What are you talking about? What war? In Iraq? What? No, that's, um, nothing. Nothing to see at all. It's all quite peaceful and dreadfully boring.
*discretely covers the entire country with a doiley*
Let's go into the sitting room and think about something completely unrelated, shall we?

H N Fiddlebottoms VIII, what did you do?! :eek:

There've been a lot of dictators in the 20th century. We know the worst ones, the ones that killed the most people, or stole from and plundered their countries.

But who do you think was (or is) the best dictator of the 20th century? Who really helped his country, who managed to respect people's rights despite being an unelected potentate?

Are there any "Father knows Best" states where father actually knew what was best?

If jolt allows me, I might add a poll later on, but first we'd need a few candidates for NSG's favourite dictator.

Nikita Khrushchev - 1 vote
Fidel Castro - 5 votes
Pervez Musharraf - 1 vote
Hassanal Bolkiah - 1 vote
Saparmurat Niyazov - 2 votes
Lenin - 1 vote
Francisco Franco - 2 votes
Saddam Hussein - 1 vote

I think you misinterpreted me. Francos Spain was the name of a nation here on NationStates. He ruled The Pacific region with an iron fist for a good long while. A lot of the current rules regarding region politics are because of him.

Thats ok it's a doiley there are plenty of airholes.

I think you misinterpreted me. Francos Spain was the name of a nation here on NationStates. He ruled The Pacific region with an iron fist for a good long while. A lot of the current rules regarding region politics are because of him.
Oops. Fixed.

He doesn't count because he wasn't leader of a real-life country.

Are there any "Father knows Best" states where father actually knew what was best?

The King of Bhutan.

The King of Bhutan.

He gets t3h copper.

The King of Bhutan.
Which kinda begs the question - is there even such a thing as a "good" dictator? Or isn't a dictator inherently rather prickish?
"Unelected potentates", as Neu Leonstein said in the OP - so are all kings & queens dictators?
Or is the definition of dictator tied to negatives?

Ah, so many questions I don't know the answer to.

*goes off to look up "dictator"*

To me, all dictatorships are t3h eb1l.

However, some people get it more right than others.

Oops. Fixed.

He doesn't count because he wasn't leader of a real-life country.

That's debatable.

Thats ok it's a doiley there are plenty of airholes.
Exactly, everything will be OK so long as nobody places a tasteful vase of flowers upon it.

Exactly, everything will be OK so long as nobody places a tasteful vase of flowers upon it.

WHAT?!

Look, we beat you in the American Revolution
True. But every other empire helped you.
The War of 1812
Not really. Your one noteworthy victory occured after the peace treaty was signed, you were repelled from Canada, and we burnt down the White House.

Everyone lost in one way or another - and we went on to save Europe from Napoleon and all.
saved you in WW1 and WW2.
No, World War one was a French and British victory. You were a bunch of do-nowt Jonny-come-latelies.

As for World War two - yes, I'm entirely sure that you weren't about 3 and a half years late for that one, too. Plus that was the USSR who saved us all.
If it wasn't for us, you wouldn't even be enjoying this website!! :p
Britain made the first computer. We've no need for your servers, really :p

Which kinda begs the question - is there even such a thing as a "good" dictator? Or isn't a dictator inherently rather prickish?

Dunno about others...but this guy has done good...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4539308.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigme_Singye_Wangchuk

In 1998 he voluntarily reduced the scope of his absolute powers, and now formally rules with the advice of his government
..
By all accounts he maintains a simple lifestyle— preferring to work in a small log cabin above the capital, Thimphu, rather than in the Dechencholing palace used by the Queen Mother. In the West he has become noted for his stated goal of seeking to maximize "Gross National Happiness" for his country rather than "Gross National Product"
..
On December 17, 2005 he announced his intention to abdicate in 2008, leaving the throne to his son[1]

King Jigme Singye Wangchuk was named as one of Time Magazine's 100 People Who Shape Our World in 2006. [2]. He appeared in the May 8, 2006 issue of Time Magazine.

Exactly, everything will be OK so long as nobody places a tasteful vase of flowers upon it.

And from this day forward I shall refer to Nukes as a tasteful vase of flowers :rolleyes:

There've been a lot of dictators in the 20th century. We know the worst ones, the ones that killed the most people, or stole from and plundered their countries.

But who do you think was (or is) the best dictator of the 20th century? Who really helped his country, who managed to respect people's rights despite being an unelected potentate?

Are there any "Father knows Best" states where father actually knew what was best?

Tito of Yugoslavia held the place together. I don't know if he was a good person or not. Probably not.

Dunno about others...but this guy has done good...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4539308.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigme_Singye_Wangchuk
I change my vote to him. He's got style. I just hope some demagogue doesn't take advantage of the new democratic reforms.

WHAT?!
Imagine this (http://www.uark.edu/~kimartin/2063/downloads/foto/flowers_glass_vase.jpg), only magnified until the area of the base is a few hundred thousand square kilometers and it weighs seveal thousand tons.
Now think about what that for a moment.

Il Duce

Il Duce
The man couldn't even hold his own country in one piece, and he only made it as long as he did (in the face of near universal oppositon) by becoming Hitler's bitch.
Not only that, but he actually made the train schedules worse after his predeccesor dumped an assload of public cash into trying to fix them.

Look, we beat you in the American Revolution, The War of 1812, saved you in WW1 and WW2.

If it wasn't for us, you wouldn't even be enjoying this website!! :p

*braces for flaming*

If it wasn't for the English settling it America as you know it would exist. And as for the "we saved you in WWII excuse I'm always hearing, it's something you invented in retrospect to try and make yourselves feel big, you entered that war is because YOU got attacked. Otherwise you would have helped from the beginning.

*pitches heat-retardant tent and hides*

Otherwise you would have helped from the beginning.
You're right, if we'd really cared we'd have been shipping you lot guns, ammo, and allowing you to use our warships basically for free on the hope that the "Empire where the sun never sets" could sort out a deranged, upstart dictator in a country that had been broken by losing the exact same war a few decades before.
Oh, wait . . .

I like this guy as my personal favourite dicatator if you're going to be a dictator be delusional and deranged (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saparmurat_Niyazov#Personality_cult)
Ah yes, the "Father of All Turkmen"

Can we count Monarchs as dictators? Because if that's the case, then I've got my vote for King Hussein of Jordan.

If I can't then the vote goes for Anwar Sadat.

The man couldn't even hold his own country in one piece, and he only made it as long as he did (in the face of near universal oppositon) by becoming Hitler's bitch.
Not only that, but he actually made the train schedules worse after his predeccesor dumped an assload of public cash into trying to fix them.

whatever, he made the trains run on time.

You're right, if we'd really cared we'd have been shipping you lot guns, ammo, and allowing you to use our warships basically for free on the hope that the "Empire where the sun never sets" could sort out a deranged, upstart dictator in a country that had been broken by losing the exact same war a few decades before.
Oh, wait . . .

I didn't mean to insult your country and it's motives for entering the war as much as I did. My main point is I'm sick of people claiming the bragging rights to "saving all of us" when you entered the war late and because Japan pissed you off.

To the OP, I don't know much about dictators so I won't give an opinion. And I apologise for not having anything relevant to the topic at hand.

Tito of Yugoslavia held the place together. I don't know if he was a good person or not. Probably not.
Horrible person. Kept the trains on time, though.

I didn't mean to insult your country and it's motives for entering the war as much as I did. My main point is I'm sick of people claiming the bragging rights to "saving all of us" when you entered the war late and because Japan pissed you off.

Welcome to politics in a democracy. War is not the favorite thing of the people.

FIDEL CASTRO!-seems to manage his country eventhough America tries to undermine him for so long. I wonder what a capitalistic Cuba would look like?

FIDEL CASTRO!-seems to manage his country eventhough America tries to undermine him for so long. I wonder what a capitalistic Cuba would look like?
Much like Haiti, but bigger.

There've been a lot of dictators in the 20th century. We know the worst ones, the ones that killed the most people, or stole from and plundered their countries.

But who do you think was (or is) the best dictator of the 20th century? Who really helped his country, who managed to respect people's rights despite being an unelected potentate?

Are there any "Father knows Best" states where father actually knew what was best?

If jolt allows me, I might add a poll later on, but first we'd need a few candidates for NSG's favourite dictator.

Nikita Khrushchev - 1 vote
Fidel Castro - 5 votes
Pervez Musharraf - 1 vote
Hassanal Bolkiah - 1 vote
Saparmurat Niyazov - 2 votes
Lenin - 1 vote
Saddam Hussein - 1 vote
Senor Castro for one thousand, Alex.

Senor Castro for one thousand, Alex.

Castro? Khrushchev made Castro the leader he is! And stuck nuclear missiles on Cuba in 1962! Not to mention the Soviet economy boomed and living standards soared during his time in office...

Khrushchev for $1,000!

Castro? Khrushchev made Castro the leader he is! And stuck nuclear missiles on Cuba in 1962! Not to mention the Soviet economy boomed and living standards soared during his time in office...

Khrushchev for $1,000!

Well, yeah, okay, I guess you've got a point there.

Well, yeah, okay, I guess you've got a point there.

Eh, they were both good IMHO. Had NK remained in office, the USSR would likely still be around and a lot better off than it ended up.

If royalty can be included then I choose Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi.

You spelled "favorite" wrong.
You have a mountain for a name.:rolleyes:

Hitler, Castro or Gadafi.

Lenin or Castro.

Definitely Musharraf, or Saddam Hussein.

Definitely Musharraf, or Saddam Hussein.
Where is this Musharraf champ from?

Where is this Musharraf champ from?

Pakistan.

Mao Zedong did some crazy stuff.. but china simply wouldn't be in nearly as powerful position as it is today without the reforms he put into place.
Deng Xiaoping probably did a lot more positive stuff.. but he really wouldn't have been in a position to do so without Mao

So my vote goes to Mao with Fidel a close second..

Both crazy bastards but I think they really did have their countries interests at heart

Least worst dictator? I'd probably go with Fidel Castro.

Pakistan.
George Bush knows him as General.

Reporter or some such]Who's the leader of Pakistan?
Bush]General
Reporter or some such]But what's his name?
Bush]I told you it's General.

[QUOTE=Neu Leonstein;12087217]

But who do you think was (or is) the best dictator of the 20th century? Who really helped his country, who managed to respect people's rights despite being an unelected potentate?

Fidel Castro - 5 votes

LOL, you should all live in Cuba as Cuban citizens with no rights at all,
including not being able to be on a forum like Jolt Co UK Forums - Nation States, to see how much he really cares about you all, LOL.

I'm sort of a fan of Lenin. He was a genuine communist who, at the same time, was moderate enough to give Russians some leverage with what they did own.

Sadly, though he knew how dangerous Stalin was, he could do nothing to keep that poo-pusher out of his chair, because he was dead.

Tito of Yugoslavia held the place together. I don't know if he was a good person or not. Probably not.

I'm surprised that no one else mentioned him...I'd have him on the list no doubt!

Look at what happened after he died...total chaos.

whatever, he made the trains run on time.

Sorry but its a myth that il Duce made the trains run on time.

http://www.snopes.com/history/govern/trains.htm

Myrth.

I'm sort of a fan of Lenin. He was a genuine communist who, at the same time, was moderate enough to give Russians some leverage with what they did own.

Sadly, though he knew how dangerous Stalin was, he could do nothing to keep that poo-pusher out of his chair, because he was dead.
He was hoping that Zombie Lenin would stop Stalin. *nods*

I'm sort of a fan of Lenin. He was a genuine communist who, at the same time, was moderate enough to give Russians some leverage with what they did own.

Sadly, though he knew how dangerous Stalin was, he could do nothing to keep that poo-pusher out of his chair, because he was dead.

From what I've seen of Lenin, he was an absolute bastard. Krondstadt Uprising, anyone?

Nikita Khrushchev - 1 vote
Fidel Castro - 5 votes
Pervez Musharraf - 1 vote
Hassanal Bolkiah - 1 vote
Saparmurat Niyazov - 2 votes
Lenin - 1 vote
Saddam Hussein - 1 vote

Huh? Lenin and Nikita - dictators?
And no nomination for Stalin?
Or Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Salazar, Pinochet, Videla, Pol-Pot, Reza Palewi (spelling??? the Shah of Persia), Bokassa, Mobutu, Qaddafi, Nasser, Sadat...
We could also argue that Mubarak is a sort of dictator...
Also I forget the names of the former dictators of Cuba (before the revolution), of Haiti, of Panama...
and many, many others...

My favourites would be Qaddafi and Nasser, as the most benevolent guys in the dictator category.

Huh? Lenin and Nikita - dictators?
And no nomination for Stalin?
Or Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Salazar, Pinochet, Videla, Pol-Pot, Reza Palewi (spelling??? the Shah of Persia), Bokassa, Mobutu, Qaddafi, Nasser, Sadat...
We could also argue that Mubarak is a sort of dictator...
Also I forget the names of the former dictators of Cuba (before the revolution), of Haiti, of Panama...
and many, many others...

My favourites would be Qaddafi and Nasser, as the most benevolent guys in the dictator category.

Yeah, but they're not our favourite dictators, cos we haven't mentioned them.

A few possibilities spring to mind, but the 20th dictator who did the most good for his country was undoubtedly Castro.

Huh? Lenin and Nikita - dictators?
And no nomination for Stalin?
Or Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Salazar, Pinochet, Videla, Pol-Pot, Reza Palewi (spelling??? the Shah of Persia), Bokassa, Mobutu, Qaddafi, Nasser, Sadat...
We could also argue that Mubarak is a sort of dictator...
Also I forget the names of the former dictators of Cuba (before the revolution), of Haiti, of Panama...
and many, many others...

My favourites would be Qaddafi and Nasser, as the most benevolent guys in the dictator category.

Why did I have to get to page five before seeing Pol Pot mentioned? And what about Idi Amin?

Khrushchev, or

Musharraf (for good intentions if nothing else)

Fidel Castro is good.

I have no favorite dictator :rolleyes:

Why did I have to get to page five before seeing Pol Pot mentioned? And what about Idi Amin?

Or Enver Hoxha, the leader of pro-China Albania... he really screwed his own country, that bloody bastard.
And Ceausescu of Romania... poor bastard, his own fellows executed him in a hurry to safe their own hides. More a corrupt leader of an authoritarian country than an outright dictator.

Hey, I cannot remember the name of the leader of fascist Hungary.

Hey, I cannot remember the name of the leader of fascist Hungary.

Miklos Horthy, replaced by Hitler in '44 with Ferenc Szalasi.

Miklos Horthy, replaced by Hitler in '44 with Ferenc Szalasi.

Thank you.

Thank you.

No problem. I'm actually glad when my fountain of worthless knowledge can help someone out. ;)

Stalin!

http://www.jau.dk/upload/00002070.JPG

Lenin is my choise.

Dunno about others...but this guy has done good...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4539308.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigme_Singye_Wangchuk
Oh, I know, that's what I was trying to say. I think I phrased it somewhat badly.

I was asking if someone doing only good things for their country could actually be called a dictator.

He's doing great things. But just because he happens to be king and not, say, President, he's a dictator?

He's doing great things. But just because he happens to be king and not, say, President, he's a dictator?

IMO, any leader not democratically elected by the majority in a free and fair elections, is a dictator - whether he be an army chief or King or once elected and became "president for life" or whatever.

Benito Mussolini

Updated. People can vote for as many guys as they want. Tomorrow morning I'll make a poll with the 10 most popular ones.

So you got roughly 24 hours to nominate more people.

Mikhail Gorbachev. He was a dictator only in name. And a good guy at that.

http://www.thebeststuffintheworld.com/category/dictator
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061213094612AAoo1Ez

Félix Houphouët-Boigny, hands down. Moderate, sensible, benevolent. Very lenient toward his opponents (he never executed a single political prisoner, and personally pardoned the lives of God only knows how many people tried to kill him). He was more of a pragmatic than an ideologue. Excellent foreign policy (very anticommunist, very pro-Western, didn't even establish relations with the U.S.S.R. and China until the 80's). Plus, in terms of the economy, he made enormous strides. Yes, the man had his faults. Corruption in Côte d'Ivoire was rampant and distribution of income was among the most unequal in the world. But under his rule, the economy thrived, the standard of living rose sharply, and the country was peaceful and politically stable.

Cosimo Il Vecchio de Medici. Or failing that, Tito.

Okay, I made a poll with the 10 most popular choices. It's going to close in three days, and then we can crown a people's champion.

I cast my vote for Pervez Musharraf. He's got the coolest looking uniform. Next to the late Augusto Pinochet.