History is replete with one overriding theme: Kings, tyrants, emperors and all forms of non-representative government dominate world history up to the modern era. In all but a few cases, these rulers were oppressive, murderous and in many cases mentally deranged. We’ve all read about the madness of King Henry VIII of England. Certainly, this man was completely insane. All you have to do is look at his misdeeds. In Roman times, we have examples of insane rulers such as Caligula and Nero. Today we have Kim Jung Un in North Korea who certainly looks to be mentally unstable. Successful emperors such as Justinian in the sixth century AD in the Eastern Roman Empire, more commonly referred to as the Byzantine Empire, was not outdone in depravity. These men ruled with an iron hand and they were merciless killers of their own people. Justinian, for example, after some riots against him, herded 30,000 of his own people in his Hippodrome in Constantinople and murdered them all. Nero burned Rome to the ground and blamed the Christians. From antiquity on, whether emperor, tyrant or King, you could murder the king and take his place. This happened often in Israel, Assyria, Greece and other areas. For instance, King Philip II of Greece, also known as Phillip of Macedon was probably murdered in 336 BC on behalf of his son, Alexander, although this is not known for sure. The Byzantine Empire had many such changes in emperors.
The brutality of kings, emperors and tyrants cuts across the spectrum. For over a thousand years, the Pope in Rome controlled about one quarter of all Italy. He was the political head of state, the judge and the jury of his people. In 1849, Pope Pius IX fled Rome for his life when a rebellion against him started. A new government was formed after his departure. In order to get back to power he asked the French for a military intervention in which over 2,000 Romans were killed. Upon his return he was merciless against those who had opposed him. Many who fled were captured and killed on his behalf for no other reason than opposing the Pope. See my previous post on this blog for more details.
The Ottoman Turks ruled a huge empire for about a thousand years until defeated in World War I. The Ottoman Sultans ruled like kings and emperors, with an iron hand. Brutality was their calling card. When conquering a territory, they would offer a town or city peace if they surrendered, if not, they would kill everyone and everything and burn the city to the ground. Alexander the Great used a similar method of conquest. After one or two of these examples, people got the message. The Turks were equally brutal with their own people. Troops would fight to the death because if they lost they would be killed. After the 1683 Siege of Vienna, the commander of the Ottoman Army, Kara Mustafa, a brilliant military leader, was condemned to death upon returning home. They strangled him to death with a rope, cut off his head and dismembered his body. This is the thanks he got for all the service he had done for the Ottomans. See my October 2011 piece called “A House Divided Cannot Stand.”
In our modern era we have countless examples too. Adolf Hitler of Germany was responsible for more than four million German military deaths, not counting civilian deaths. All in search of the glory of conquest which was so remote that at second grader could say it was impossible. Hitler, again, one can easily say, was insane. He murdered six million innocent people all because of their religion-Jewish. Benito Mussolini of Italy may not have been insane, but he was certainly crazy to partner with the suicidal Hitler then declare war on the rest of the world when he probably could not overpower any one country in Europe. His military certainly had not one win and was defeated at every turn in places such as Greece, North Africa, Spain during the Spanish Civil War, and, of course, Russia, where he sent 250,00 troops, half of which perished. In the Soviet Union we had Stalin, who certainly could be considered insane. In his Purge of 1936-38, Wikipedia estimates that 1.2 million of his own people were murdered. In the WW II Siege of Stalingrad, Russian soldiers who were captured by the Germans and then escaped or were released were executed upon their return. In 1940 Stalin ordered the massacre of 22,000 Polish military officers in what became known as the Katyn Forest Massacre. Today we have Kim Jung Un in North Korea, who, depending on how he feels, can order the execution of anyone, including his own family members. In Iraq Saddam Hussein was a brutal killer; not only killing his own people but starting wars with Iran and Kuwait, for no reason, other than conquest and his own glory.
In all of these cases the people ruled by these tyrants were the victims. In places where such tyrants rule, no one dares make a move or they will be killed on the spot. And this is how such tyrants rule, by fear. So, one man can have 50 million people under his thumb and in places such as the Soviet Union, Stalin had about 180 million under his thumb and subject to execution at his command.
Now what is more alarming today is the political left, for example, here in America, tends to love these tyrants. They love Maduro of Venezuela or Fidel Castro of Cuba, for instance. Every day, you can find a young person wearing the Chè Guevara T-Shirt. Famous Hollywood actors, such as Sean Penn will go to Venezuela and speak glowingly of that country’s tyrant, similarly with Cuba. Leftist Hollywood director Michael Moore will speak glowingly of the Cuban health system, as described in his movie “Sicko,”for example. None of these folks, of course, have ever lived under such political systems. They criticize America but will never leave it for these places they love like Cuba and Venezuela.
