The Great Dictator(s) Trivia Quiz

Answer: Paraguay

Stroessner's 35 year control of Paraguay was one of the longer reigns for a South American dictator. His predecessor as President appointed Stroessner to head Paraguay's military. In 1954, Stroessner repaid the favor by overthrowing him and taking power for himself. Under his grip, Paraguay was a noted haven for former Nazis, deposed dictators and various criminals. Deposed himself in 1989, Stroessner went into exile in Brazil where he died from complications of hernia surgery in 2006.

Answer: Albania

Hoxha led Albania's Communist government as well as its military from 1944 until his death in 1985. Under his rule Albania first embraced Stalinist philosophy, then denied it in favor of Maoist doctrine and ties with China. Among his many dictates, Hoxha banned color TV, typewriters and beards.

In a nation of 3 million, more than 700,000 military bunkers were constructed throughout Albania during Hoxha's reign.

Answer: Dominican Republic

Known as El Jefe (The Boss), Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic from 1930 until his death by assassination in 1961. He was responsible for the deaths of more than 50,000 Dominicans. In 1937 Trujillo's army conducted the 'Parsley Massacre' in which as many as 12,000 Haitian immigrants were murdered.

Answer: Cuba

Castro ruled Cuba as, at various times, President, Prime Minister and First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until health issues forced him to the background in 2008. Human rights organizations charge the Castro regime with human rights violations including limitations on free speech and the press and holding large numbers of political prisoners. Estimates of executions under Castro's rule range as high as 4 to 5 thousand.

Answer: Romania

Ceausescu was the Communist leader of Romania from 1965 until he was executed along with his wife in 1989. He called himself the "The Genius of the Carpathians" and required Romanian scientists to give his wife (a near illiterate) co-authorship credit in all their research.

In 1989 as Communist governments fell across Eastern Europe, the Ceausescus were tried and sentenced to death by a revolutionary court. Three soldiers were chosen to be the firing squad from several hundred who volunteered.

Answer: North Korea

Born Kim Song-ju, Kim changed his name to Kim Il-sung, meaning "Kim become the sun" in 1935. As Soviet installed leader of North Korea, Kim initiated the Korean War, launching his forces against South Korea in 1950. His leadership became a personality cult and passed power on to his son, Kim Jong-il who was succeeded in turn by his son, Kim Jong-un.

Answer: Uganda

Idi Amin was head of Uganda's military in 1971 when he led a coup which overthrew his predecessor as president of the central African nation. He enjoyed support from such diverse nations as Libya, Zaire, the Soviet Union, East Germany and the United States CIA.

In his eight year reign, Amin's rule was responsible for the deaths of military, political, tribal and economic opponents numbering as many as 500,000. After surviving eight attempts to overthrow him, Amin was deposed in 1979 by Ugandan opponents with support from Tanzanian forces.

He died of natural causes in Saudi Arabia where he had lived in exile.

Answer: Cuba

Batista was elected Cuba's president and served from 1940-44. As president he adopted Cuba's 1940 Constitution which was populist and progressive. Running for president again in 1952, Batista sensed defeat and instead launched a coup, took power, threw out the constitution and eliminated political freedom. Siding with large businesses and landowners, Batista led a harsh regime which lasted until 1959 when he was overthrown by Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution. Batista found asylum in Portugal. He lived there on his stolen fortune until his death in 1973.

Answer: Spain

In 1936 Franco led the military junta which rebelled against Spain's elected Republican government precipitating the Spanish Civil War which cost a half million lives. With assistance from Fascist governments in Germany and Italy, Franco's Falangists, a royalist and nationalist coalition, defeated the Republic's forces. From 1938 until his death in 1975 Franco ruled with an iron hand.

In the years immediately following the Civil War, as many as 400,000 of Franco's political opponents were executed or died performing forced labor in concentration camps.

Answer: Haiti

Following the 14 year reign of his father, Francois 'Papa Doc' Duvalier, Jean-Claude ('Baby Doc') assumed the office of President and ruled Haiti until forced out of the country due to a popular uprising in 1986. Thousands of Haitians were murdered and tortured under Duvalier and hundreds of thousands left the country to escape his dictatorship. 30 years of rule by Duvalier father and son left Haiti the most poverty-ridden nation in the western hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world.

Answer: Central African Republic

Bokassa led a coup in 1966 and became president of the Central African Republic. After 10 years of harsh rule, Bokassa styled himself as Emperor Bokassa I and changed the country's name to Central African Empire. Among his atrocities was the murder of 100 schoolchildren, beaten to death for pretesting when he required them to purchase expensive school uniforms bearing his photo. Bokassa was overthrown in 1979.

Answer: Japan

Tojo, a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, became Prime Minister just in time to order the attack on Pearl Harbor, initiating war with the United States. Upon Japan's defeat, Tojo unsuccessfully attempted suicide and was arrested and tried for waging aggressive wars and for ordering inhumane treatment of POWs and civilians. Tojo accepted responsibility for his acts. Found guilty, he was executed by hanging.

The sentence was carried out in December, 1948.

Answer: East Germany

Ulbricht was a founder of the pre-WWII Communist Party of Germany. He spent the Nazi era in exile in the Soviet Union, then became First Secretary of the East German Communist Party from 1950 to 1971 and head of state beginning in 1960. He ruled the German Democratic Republic ruthlessly and under the shadow of the Soviet Union. Probably his most lasting memory is the creation of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and the killing of dozens of East German citizens trying to escape into West Berlin. During the Brezhnev era, Ulbricht balked at participation in detente and mellowing of relations with West Germany.

This dispute led to his forced resignation in 1971.

Answer: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Born Joseph Mobutu, the term 'kleptocracy' could have been created to describe his reign. During his 32 years in charge of the Congo, he personally took as much as $15 billion from his nation's resources. His family and cronies took still more. When he changed his name, he chose Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga.

The full translation is "The warrior who knows no defeat because of his endurance and inflexible will and is all powerful, leaving fire in his wake as he goes from conquest to conquest".

Answer: Philippines

Marcos was elected Philippine president in 1965. He maximized his control of the nation by declaring martial law and ruled with an iron hand until 1986. Marcos' policies left the nation's economy in the doldrums, largely propped up by billions in US aid over the years. Marcos was forced out of office by a popular revolution.

He was replaced by Corazon Aquino whose husband, an opponent of Marcos, had been assassinated under suspicious circumstances a few years earlier.