Studied by 528 people
Adolf Hitler
Anti-Semitic leader of the German Nazi Party and head of state from 1933 to 1945; initiated World War II in Europe by breaking the Munich Agreement and invading neutral Poland; architect of the Holocaust
Augusto Pinochet
military dictator of Chile from 1973 to 1990 who came to power in a coup with the help of the United States; while he came to power as a result of conflict, his presidency led to more conflicts as his rule resulted in widespread use of torture and for liquidating thousands of opponents of his regime; was a proponent of the free market and neoliberal in his views, i.e. removing trade protections (tariffs) for local industries, lessening regulations for private businesses, barring labor unions
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
advanced Shia scholar of Islamic law who became the leader of Iran's Islamic revolution and ruled Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989; by consolidating the support of conservatives in Iran, he overthrow the West-friendly Shah of Iran, who went into exile in the US; to demand his return, Khomeini's supporters took 50+ American embassy employees hostage in 1979 for over a year (Iran Hostage Crisis)
Benito Mussolini
charismatic leader of the Italian Fascist party from 1922 to 1945, when he was executed by Italian partisans; staunch ally of Hitler who envisioned an Italian empire in the South Balkans and Northern Africa; invaded and conquered Ethiopia in 1935
Che Guevara
Argentine-born revolutionary who waged guerrilla warfare in an effort to remedy Latin America's and Africa's social and economic ills until his death in 1967; became a well-known face of the Cuban Revolution (along with Fidel Castro) as well as a symbol of radical revolution for those who felt exploited by capitalists; championed land reform in the many regions where he fought, including in Africa
Chiang Kai-shek
controversial political and military leader of the Kuomintang "KMT" (Chinese nationalist party) who headed up the Republic of China between 1928 and 1975, first on mainland China before the communists took over, and then later in Taiwan; while he unified the nation and resisted the Japanese, his authoritarian principles made him a dictator who suppressed and purged opponents and critics and arbitrarily jailed real and perceived opponents
Deng Xiaoping
leader of China from 1976 to 1997, after Mao Zedong; his reforms essentially dismantled the communist elements of the Chinese economy to participate more fully in free trade with the rest of the world
Emperor Hirohito
Emperor of Japan from 1926 until his death in 1989; his reign saw the war on China, Japan's imperialist actions in the Pacific and Asia, and the war against the Allies; upon Japan's surrender, he was allowed to remain on the throne to provide his people with a sense of political continuity but never faced charges or trials for the crimes against humanity that occurred in conquered areas; saw his country become the 2nd most powerful economy in the world after American post-war occupation ended
Fidel Castro
revolutionary leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008 who overthrew the American-friendly government of Cuba; first leader to implement full scale communism in the Western Hemisphere; staunch ally of the Soviet Union and precipitated some of the worse crises of the Cold War
Francisco Franco
Spanish army general who became dictator from 1936 until his death in 1975 after winning the Spanish Civil War against the left-leaning republicans; reinstated the Spanish monarchy just before his death; while he came to power as a result of conflict, his rule led to the repression and deaths of almost 1/2 million political opponents and dissenters; pursued a policy of economic liberalization by the early 1950s and became allied with the West in the Cold War
Gamal Abdel Nasser
President of Egypt who served from 1956 until his death in 1970; upon nationalizing the Suez Canal, Egypt was attacked by Israel, Great Britain and France but when they were called off by the USA, USSR and the United Nations, Nasser's reputation was strengthened; promoted pan-Arabism and initiated socialist and modernization reforms, including industrialization, to develop the Egyptian economy
Ho Chi Minh
Vietnamese communist revolutionary leader and freedom fighter against French colonizers and President of North Vietnam from 1945 to 1969; allied himself with the USSR and communist China to aid his country in gaining its independence from France; eventually fought US forces who started out supporting the French military but then increased their military presence as the French pulled out; the Vietnam War became one of the best known and longest fought proxy wars during the Cold War
Idi Amim
as an Ugandan military officer who served as the President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Popularly known as the "Butcher of Uganda", he is considered one of the cruelest despots in world history; As Amin's rule progressed into the late 1970s, there was increased unrest against his persecution of certain ethnic groups and political dissidents, along with Uganda's very poor international standing due to Amin's support for the terrorist hijackers in Operation Entebbe; Amin's rule was characterized by rampant human rights abuses, political repression, ethnic persecution, extrajudicial killings, nepotism, corruption, and gross economic mismanagement.
Indira Gandhi
was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress; she was the first and, to date, the only female Prime Minister of India. As Prime Minister, Gandhi was known for her political intransigency and unprecedented centralization of power. She went to war with Pakistan in support of the independence movement and war of independence in East Pakistan, as well as increasing India's influence to the point where it became the regional hegemony of South Asia; she also adopted aggressive economic policy, which her government controlled to improve India's economy
Josef Stalin
leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953; initiated the Five Year Plans to industrialize the USSR and collectivize agriculture and the Great Purge to execute or jail perceived enemies; his rule saw the death of millions of people but he also led the USSR to victory in WWII
Julius Nyerere
was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician, and political theorist. His administration pursued decolonization and the "Africanization" of the civil service while promoting unity between indigenous Africans and the country's Asian and European minorities. He encouraged the formation of a one-party state and unsuccessfully pursued the Pan-Africanist formation of an East African Federation with Uganda and Kenya; In 1967, Nyerere issued the Arusha Declaration which outlined his vision of "ujamaa". Banks and other major industries and companies were nationalized; education and healthcare were significantly expanded.
Kwame Nkrumah
politician and revolutionary who was the first president of Ghana from 1960 to 1966 after helping his country gain independence from Britain; staunch pan-Africanist and supporter of the policy of "Africa for the Africans"; was a Marxist-Leninist in his political beliefs; appealed to the US for help in building the Volta Dam but expressed solidarity with the communist powers and believed socialism, not capitalism, was the best economic system for Africans
Mao Zedong
controversial Chairman of China's Communist party ("CCP") and de factor ruler of China from 1949 until his death in 1976; overthrew China's Republican government and oversaw the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution that devastated China, leading to millions of deaths
Margaret Thatcher
first female prime minister of Britain who served from 1979 to 1990; promoted free market trade policies and deregulation in the financial sector, privatizing state owned businesses, reducing the power of labor unions and decreasing income tax
Martin Luther King Jr.
leading African-American civil rights leader in the 1960s; following the practice of Gandhi, championed non-violence as a means of bringing about political change
Mengistu Haile Mariam
is an Ethiopian soldier and politician who was the leader of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991; Mengistu purged rivals for power from his party and made himself Ethiopia's dictator, attempting to modernize Ethiopia's feudal economy through Marxist-Leninist-inspired policies such as nationalization and land redistribution. His bloody consolidation of power in 1977-78 is known as the Ethiopian Red Terror, a brutal crackdown on opposition groups and civilians following a failed assassination attempt
Mikhail Gorbachev
leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991; his reform efforts, including glasnost and perestroika, led to the collapse of the USSR
Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi
political leader and undoubted spiritual leader of the Indian drive for independence from Great Britain; the first individual to champion non-violence to achieve political change; although gaining independence, his dream of a united India where Muslims and Hindus could live peacefully side by side was not realized when India was partitioned
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
first president of the newly created state of Pakistan in 1947 until his death in 1948; as leader of India's All-India Muslim league, he was a staunch separatist who advocated creating a separate Muslim state for India upon independence from Great Britain because of perceived or real discrimination experienced by Muslims in India
Mustafa "Ataturk" Kemal
founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey from 1923 to 1938; as a military commander and leader of the Turkish national movement, he made Turkey into a secular state
Nelson Mandela
South African nationalist and leader for the African National Congress who, after decades of incarceration for his opposition to apartheid, became the elected president of South Africa in 1994; practiced non-violence in an effort to bring about the end of apartheid and brought the African National Congress to power
Nikita Khrushchev
leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964; his leadership saw the creation of the Berlin Wall and some of the worst crises of the Cold War, including the Cuban Missile Crises
Osama Bin Laden
leader of Al-Qaeda, a wealthy Saudi Arabian who turned to militant religious fundamentalism; 9/11 and the death of 3000 Americans happened under his leadership, leading to a decade long hunt that culminating with his death in 2011 at the hands of the US military
Pol Pot
Marxist-Leninist Cambodian revolutionary and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Cambodia (i.e. Kampuchea) from 1976 to 1979 and leader of its communist party; in order to create an agrarian socialist society, he forcibly relocated urban dwellers to the countryside to work in collectivized farms; oversaw what came to be known as the Cambodian genocide which saw the death of approx. 3 million people through malnutrition, disease and mass killings
Ronald Reagan
President of the USA from 1981 to 1989; renewed arms race with the USSR; implemented a massive tax cut for the rich; promoted free market policies and deregulation of businesses
Sirimavo Bandaranaike
was a Sri Lankan stateswoman. She became the world's first non-hereditary female head of government in modern history, when she was elected Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960; Bandaranaike attempted to reform the former British Colony of Ceylon into a socialist republic by nationalizing organizations in the banking, education, industry, media and trade sectors; she played a large role abroad as a negotiator and a leader among the Non-Aligned Nations.
Sukarno
was an Indonesian politician who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967; he was also a prominent leader of the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War; He was a prominent leader of Indonesia's nationalist movement during the Dutch colonial period; the early 1960s saw Sukarno veering Indonesia to the left by providing support and protection to the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) to the irritation of the military and Islamists. He also embarked on a series of aggressive foreign policies under the rubric of anti-imperialism, with aid from the Soviet Union and China
Vladimir Lenin
staunch Marxist, Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist who was head of the Soviet state from 1917 to 1924; main leader of Russia's communist revolution and after exercising "war communism," implemented a new economic policy that allowed some free market elements among farmers
Winston Churchill
Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War II (and part of the 1950s); staunch opponent of fascism and communism but ally to the United States and Soviet Union during WWII, was committed to promoting free market policies after WWII but was a fierce imperialist
Woodrow Wilson
President of the USA during WWI and one of the Big Four at the Treaty of Versailles; envisioned an ideal ending to World War I and the creation of the League of Nations to prevent another war; except for the League of Nations, his vision largely failed due to lack of buy in from Americans and Europeans
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