Dictatorships

Fidel Castro, one of the world's most controversial leaders, rose to power in Cuba, a large island nation only 90 miles off the coast of Florida. A brilliant and charismatic leader, Castro defied all odds when he led a successful effort to depose the corrupt Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in the late-1950s. Soon after, Castro began to reshape Cuba into a communist state while allying himself with the United States' Cold War enemy, the Soviet Union. His belligerence toward the United States has led to a decades-long U.S. embargo of Cuba, the effect of which has left Cuba in desperate poverty. Over the decades, Castro has ruled Cuba with an iron fist, controlling the media, courts, and legislature, while allowing no open opposition to his rule and imprisoning dissidents. At the same time, his reforms of Cuba's health care and educational systems have provided common citizens with access they had not experienced under previous regimes. In Fidel Castro's Cuba, learn more about this complex and compelling man who is a hero to some and a villain to others.

In 1949, Mao Zedong came to power in China after a long and brutal civil war. He and his Chinese Communist Party immediately set out to transform their nation into a Communist state. They seized land from wealthy and middle-class farmers and distributed it to poor peasant farmers. The government also took over ownership of all industries. Citizens who resisted these changes were branded counterrevolutionaries," and thousands were imprisoned or executed. Within a few years, Mao had turned China into a totalitarian state, controlling all aspects of his citizens' daily lives. In the 1960s, he sought to wipe out what remained of traditional Chinese society by launching the Cultural Revolution. Millions died as the country erupted into spasms of mob violence. Yet, despite the tumult, Chairman Mao remained a revered, almost godlike figure, worshiped by his people. How did he do it? Learn more about one of the most powerful and controversial figures of the 20th century.

Saddam Hussein, one of the world's most infamous dictators, rose to power through Iraq's powerful Baath Party and became the nation's president in 1979. His goals included achieving pan-Arabism, more evenly distributing the nation's oil wealth, and extending the party's power by reaching into every aspect of Iraqis' lives. However, through his failed economic programs, greed, corruption, and the murder of thousands, Hussein and his government brought ruin to the nation. His dictatorship came to an end with the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Saddam was later captured by U.S. forces, tried in an Iraqi court and convicted of mass murder, and executed in 2006 by Iraqi authorities. Read this book to learn more about the internal workings of one of the world's most devastating dictatorships.

Kim Jong Il, one of the world's most infamous dictators, rose to power in the mid-1990s in the small East Asian country of North Korea. He succeeded his father, Kim Il Sung, as that nation's leader. Kim Il Sung took power in North Korea-also known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK-in 1948, and eventually established a state governed by his own version of Communism. Today Kim Jong Il continues his father's tactics of building a powerful cult of personality around himself, while crushing criticism and opposition to his rule. These practices by both Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il have largely cut off the DPRK from the outside world. The Kim leaders' harsh policies have led to tragedy within the nation, contributing to devastating famine and creating a network of labor camps in which many North Koreans are tortured and killed annually. Kim's secrecy and his strict control of information entering or leaving North Korea have also made the nation a largely mysterious place. In Kim Jong Il's North Korea, learn more about this inscrutable nation and its dictator.

Pol Pot, one of the world's most infamous dictators, rose to power in the 1960s in the Southeast Asian country of Cambodia. In the mid-1900s, Cambodia had been chafing for centuries under Thai, Vietnamese, and French control. As leader of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia's communist rebel movement, Pol Pot won control of Cambodia in 1975. He intended to establish a farming utopia. Declaring that society needed purification, he set out to extinguish capitalism, non-Cambodian culture, city life, religion, and all foreign influences. But instead of building a strong, just nation, Pol Pot engineered a genocide. During his regime, almost two million Cambodians died from overwork, starvation, disease, and execution. Creating a harsh climate of fear, brutality, misery, and intolerance, Pol Pot's rule drained a once prosperous country of its economic and human resources. Read this book to learn more about the internal workings of one of the world's most devastating dictatorships.

Omar al-Bashir came into power in 1989. Sudan was gripped by famine caused by drought as well as a devastating civil war between the north and south. Its economy was in shambles. Bashir headed a coup to overthrow Sudan's democratic government, and many hoped it would finally bring order to the country. After the coup, Bashir suspended the constitution and appointed himself head of state, prime minister, defense minister, and commander in chief of the army. It soon became clear that his objective was to turn Sudan into a strict Islamic state, even though most people in South Sudan are not Muslim. He dismissed, imprisoned, and even executed those who disagreed with his measures and continued the war in the south, destroying entire villages and scattering their populations. Then in 2003, a crisis arose in the western area of Darfur. Drought had brought farmers and herders into conflict over the land. Bashir armed pro-Arab militia, who worked with the military to bring the same destruction of villages to Darfur. In 2008 the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Bashir for crimes against humanity. In Omar al-Bashir's Sudan, learn more about this ruthless dictator and how the international spotlight might help bring an end to his repressive rule.

Muammar al-Qaddafi led a group of young army officers who overthrew the government of King Idris I in 1961. After the officers seized control, Qadaffi emerged as head of the ruling council. Although he doesn't hold any title in Libya, it is clear that he is the absolute ruler of the country. Qaddafi brought socialism to Libya by taking over and nationalizing all industries, including the profitable oil industry. He reorganized the government in a way that seemed to give more voice to the people, but he and his close advisers made all important decisions. Dissenters were imprisoned or killed. In the name of promoting Arab unity, Qaddafi supported Arab and other terrorists around the globe. He also sent assassins to kill exiled Libyans who spoke out against him. Still, he spoke out strongly against the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. In recent years, Qaddafi has opened Libya to foreign investors and agreed to give up his nuclear program. It is not clear whether he has also reduced his firm control of Libyan citizens. After forty years of rule, Qaddafi is still a puzzle to the outside world.

Robert Mugabe, one of the world's most infamous dictators, rose to power in Rhodesia, the southern African region now known as independent Zimbabwe. As a leader in Rhodesia's nationalist resistance movement of the 1970s, Mugabe mobilized his compatriots in their struggle for control of the white-ruled African nation, which had declared independence from Great Britain in 1965. The bloody civil war finally ended with Zimbabwe's independence in 1980. As the president of the newly free nation, Mugabe was a beacon for black African self-rule, raising hopes on the continent and around the world. However, through a series of ill-conceived economic programs and a disastrously mismanaged land-redistribution scheme, Mugabe and his corrupt government brought ruin to his homeland. Creating a harsh climate of fear, brutality, and zero tolerance for opposition, Mugabe's rule drained a once prosperous nation of its economic and human resources. In Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, learn more about the internal workings of one of the modern world's most devastating dictatorships.

Than Shwe was part of a military coup that took over Burma in the 1960s. The British had granted Burma independence in 1948, but the country, with its many ethnic groups, had trouble building a democratic government. Than Shwe rose through the military ranks, and after the army stepped in to quell demonstrations and riots that began on August 8, 1988, he emerged as head of the military council. He became one of the most secretive and repressive leaders in the world. Than Shwe uses Burma's resources to finance a strong military. To suppress dissent, his soldiers destroy the countryside, sending people into hiding, refugee camps, or slavery. His control has isolated the country from international observers. In 2007, Internet images of monks being beaten during a protest rally reached the rest of the world. This was followed by reports in 2008 of a devastating cyclone, when Than Shwe banned outside aid for weeks. Both events helped to raise global awareness about the human rights abuses suffered by the Burmese people. In Than Shwe's Burma, learn more about this dictatorship and about Burma's long struggle to become a free nation.

Augusto Pinochet, commander-in-chief of Chile's army, rose to power in 1973 when he participated in a military coup to overthrow the president, Salvador Allende. Allende was a Socialist, and the upper classes and the military feared that Socialism would lead to a takeover of the country by the Communist Soviet Union. On September 11 of that year, the military attacked the presidential palace, and Allende committed suicide. Pinochet took charge of the junta formed to rule, naming himself president. Military personnel controlled all phases of the government and industry, and the junta shut down the Congress. National police were stationed on almost every block to enforce curfews and keep order, arresting thousands of Socialists and other enemies of the state." Many were tortured, many were exiled or fled into exile, and many just disappeared. The secret police even assassinated opponents outside the country. Pinochet ruled the country with an iron fist for seventeen years even as he brought reforms that stabilized the economy. Increasing unrest and economic problems eventually forced him from office. He was arrested when in Great Britain a few years later and charged with murder and other crimes against humanity. Released for medical reasons, he returned to Chile. He died there in 2006, under indictment for murder and other crimes. Read this book to learn how a trusted military leader became a ruthless dictator, all in the name of protecting his country.

In the 1990s, Slobodan Milosevic served as president of Serbia (a republic of Yugoslavia) and then president of Yugoslavia itself. He ruled as a dictator, using his secret security forces to crush political dissent and imprison his enemies. He also censored the media, making sure his opponents remained silent. During that time, Yugoslavia was torn apart by civil wars and ethnic violence, and troops under Milosevic's command imprisoned, raped, and killed tens of thousands of civilians. In the 2000s, the United Nations put Milosevic on trial for these atrocities, but he died before the trial was finished. Milosevic is considered one of the most brutal dictators of the twentieth century. In Slobodan Milosevic's Yugoslavia, learn more about Milosevic and his role in one of the most devastating periods of modern European history.

Hafez al-Assad became president of Syria in 1971, following a long line of military leaders. At first, his goals included achieving pan-Arabism, more evenly distributing the nation's oil wealth, and extending the party's power by reaching into every aspect of Syrians' lives. However, through a series of poorly planned economic programs, censorship, and old-fashioned greed and corruption, Assad and his government brought intimidation and the loss of freedom to the nation's people. After his death in 2000, the nation's ruling party elected his son, Bashar, as president. Bashar has continued many of his father's policies, enforcing his own will on the nation and stripping people of their freedoms and economic prosperity. In The Assads' Syria, learn more about the internal workings of one of the world's most devastating dictatorships.