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[misko27]

Some of the Romans were crazy, they just didn't last long. Emperor Tiberius? A perverted, rapist, greedy, all around odd old man. He knew his politics though.


Caligula, lasted a far shorter time before people ended him. That should say something in and of itself.

[Xantalos]

I wonder how many dictators have died peacefully in their beds while still ruling their nation.

Niyasow was probably poisoned but at least he died ruling the nation. Same with Stalin.

Stalin had a stroke and died after several hours of lying in his own shit.
Not really peaceful.

[Devling]

I wonder how many dictators have died peacefully in their beds while still ruling their nation.

Niyasow was probably poisoned but at least he died ruling the nation. Same with Stalin.

Stalin had a stroke and died after several hours of lying in his own shit.
Not really peaceful.

Most Serene Glorious Leader.

[Guardian G.I.]

I wonder how many dictators have died peacefully in their beds while still ruling their nation.

Francisco Franco, the fascist dictator of Spain. He took control of Spain in 1939, when he crushed the last pockets of resistance of the democratic Republican government, ending the Spanish Civil War. His rule ended in 1975, when he died of natural causes.
He supported the Axis during World War II and imprisoned his political enemies in labour camps. But he got away with it, because his internal policy was anti-communist and and because he was an American ally during the Cold War (and it is widely known that being an American ally guarantees that you won't get on the "Horrible totalitarian dictators who oppress their own people" list, provided that you don't outlive your usefulness)

[Skyrunner]

I wonder how many dictators have died peacefully in their beds while still ruling their nation.

Probably a bunch actually.
Also depends on how liberally you apply "Dictator".

Though I don't think it quite counts, Jun Duwhan of Korea dictatored for a long while before being succeeded. He's still alive and rich. In fact, his military coup is legal, because 'a successful coup is legitimate.'

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I wonder how many dictators have died peacefully in their beds while still ruling their nation.

Francisco Franco, the fascist dictator of Spain. He took control of Spain in 1939, when he crushed the last pockets of resistance of the democratic Republican government, ending the Spanish Civil War. His rule ended in 1975, when he died of natural causes.
He supported the Axis during World War II and imprisoned his political enemies in labour camps. But he got away with it, because his internal policy was anti-communist and during the Cold War he was an American ally.

I do wonder how things would have been had the Republican factions won. There are people who think it would have lead to communist dictatorship, but I don't think so. The communists were too small to break with the anarchists and the democrats.

Though I don't think it quite counts, Jun Duwhan of Korea dictatored for a long while before being succeeded. He's still alive and rich. In fact, his military coup is legal, because 'a successful coup is legitimate.'

This is probably the only successful way to be a dictator. If you don't get the fuck out before people care about killing you more than dying, or try to hold onto power once that happens, you're gonna have a bad time.

[DJ]

Do Josip Broz Tito and Fidel Castro count? OK, Fidel is still alive, but I really don't see him dying of anything but natural causes.

[Pnx]

The issue I always have with questions like "What if "x faction" had won the war instead?" Is that these conflicts are often a lot more deterministic than people think.
Sometimes there's major events or battles that could have gone either way and swung the war in a different direction, but most of the time these things were won by one side because that side was the one the odds were stacked in favour of.

For example, WW1 could basically have never played out any other way. It was won by the allies because while most of the world was involved in the war, most of it was working against the central powers. It was pretty much Austra/Germany against the world. It's pretty unlikely given the political situation that it would have played out any other way.

Same goes for the Spanish Civil war, I think, though it was a lot more of a complex situation.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Same goes for the Spanish Civil war, I think, though it was a lot more of a complex situation.

I disagree. The Republicans lost because they were receiving insufficient military aid from the Soviet Union, while Germany and Italy's economic recovery allowed them to support the Nationalists.

Had the US, France, and UK gotten over their communist scare and supported the Republicans alongside the Soviet Union, I think the Republicans would have won. This was no small faction. If I recall correctly, they were actually winning the war until the Nationalists got Axis backing. There was certainly no problem of morale, as evidence by a bunch of Republican forces retreating into the mountains and making a habit of shooting at any of Franco's people they could get at for 20 years after the accepted end of the war.

[ChairmanPoo]

 The "Nationals" (it's pretty rich that a bunch of that got in power thanks mainly to German, Italian and Portuguese military aid dubs itself "National", by the way) original plan was for a fast coup to take place. Goes without saying that went out of the window pretty fast. Still, they did gain a lot of ground early on (as it seems logical, given that we're talking of a full-blown insurrection of a sizeable chunk of the armed forces. But yeah, things might have been different had they not been receiving massive Axis support. Then again, the internecine political struggles inside the Republican goverment didn't help. But these probably wouldn't have gotten half as troublesome if the Western political powers weren't bent on isolating the Republic and leaving it at the mercy of the fascists.

[Ultimuh]

What if the communism scare never happened?

[Owlbread]

Stalin had a stroke and died after several hours of lying in his own shit.
Not really peaceful.

I never said it was peaceful, I said he died ruling his nation. A lot of old people have strokes and die after several hours of lying in their own shit though, that's considered dying of natural causes and such. Peaceful by modern standards.

[Guardian G.I.]

What if the communism scare never happened?

In my opinion, the communist parties would gain enough power and popularity (especially during financial crises) to influence the political decisions of Western governments. No one in the ruling elite would let them win the elections and form the government, though, for obvious reasons.

[Ultimuh]

Speaking of alternate history.. What if the Vikings fully colonized America?
What would be different?
How would things look today?

[10ebbor10]

Well, they did.

Then Winter came and they all froze to death. Not much changed.