Famous Dictators Quiz #1

Missed 4 but got Zaire... some easy ones some a bit obscure

I guess it depends on your age. Aside from the obvious Hitler, Napoleon and Mussolini, I can remember all of these being in power except for Sulla (obviously). I also couldn't place Trujillo for the life of me, though I knew his name. The rest were easy only because the news was full of them in their heydays.

Got them all this time. But had to guess Hispanic countries for Trujillo. Yay learning.

It would be a good quiz to see the "retirement" plan for each of these dictators. How many besides Sulla stepped away from power voluntarily and how many were carried out feet first?

Only Castro stepped down voluntarily (to be succeeded by his own brother), Mugabe is still power. Mao, Tito, Duvalier, Kim, Franco and Brezhnev all governed until they died of more or less natural causes. The rest (except Sulla) were all either kicked out or assassinated.

Okay. So how random is Sulla. There isn't a person on the list, except for Napoleon, who is pre-20th century. Then all of a sudden Sulla, a guy who was born before Christ.

But to be fair, Sulla is probably the only one one the list whose official job description actually was "dictator" (:

what about Pol Pot, Stalin, Lenin?

Brezhnev was also a dictator, although Stalin was worse.

Why doesn't this quiz include Barack Obama?

Excuse me, I almost fell out of my chair at that. Very funny. Literally came close to ROTFL.

Sigh...

If you genuinely believe Obama was a dictator then you are both wrong and very gullible.

TinklePot, there is pretty much zero evidence of voter fraud being a problem in the united states. Don't believe everything you read on the internet

I don't think Hosni Mubarak. He stepped down immediately after people started to get hurt. Although I admit I'm not a Mubarak expert.

Sacrebleu! You put Napoleon on zis list, zis is an outrage, Monsieur! Sulla and Napoleon are indeed dictators but more in the old Roman way: all powers to one person so he can end the internal troubles of a country. No genocide, no mass-killing of own citizens, or at least not more than any French king at least...

Alongside several other people, this comment defends someone from the calumny of being a dictator, associated with repression, imprisnoment without trial, murder and genocide. Yet the quiz doesn't do anything of the sort. It doesn't say "these people were evil monsters" it simply describes them as dictators, which they all were, and asks you to name the country they ruled, which they all did. Lucassar actually says "Yes, he was a dictator, but of the good sort". Nobody said any different. The quiz isn't making any judgements, it's all in the eye of the beholder.

There are evil dictators and sometimes there are benevolent ones, they're still dictators.

actually adolf hitler is from austria not germany. he led nazi germany but wasnt german. please fix! its false info!

Dictator of Germany, not necessarily born in Germany.

When Hitler was born Germany has only been around for about 20 years. Just because Austria didn't happen to be one of the countries that unified into Germany right at the beginning, that doesn't mean Hitler wasn't German. Nationality is not something that is fixed, and when Germany annexed Austria Hitler was also leader of Austria. "Germany" and "Austria" we're not at that time fixed concepts like "the USA" or "Canada" are today. But anyway the quiz does ask for the country they ruled, not their nationality, and Hitler ruled Germany.

oh wait never mind didnt see the top bit

Shouldn't Scotland work for Idi Amin?

The last King, didn't James McAvoy succeed him :)

You just made my day, bro :)

I thought putting Sulla was really cool. His title was officially Dictator (said in a Latin accent, of course). It would also have been appropriate to put Julius Caesar, whom everybody thinks was the first Roman Emperor, which he wasn't.

Where's Porfirio Diaz or Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna? We Mexicans have our not-so-bright history as well.

I sort of agree, in that if the question said Stalin, nobody would complain about calling him a dictator.

Dictatorship of the proletariat

A couple more you could add on would be Chiang Kai-Shek of Taiwan/China (ROC) and maybe General Ne Win of Myanmar (Burma). Great quiz though!

you missed Porfirio Díaz in México

I got Sulla the first... Enjoy your life.

For Sulla, I typed in Roman Empire, The Roman Empire, Italy, and pretty much every single nation that used to be part of the empire. Never did I think to type in 'Rome'.

How was Stalin not in there?

In what region?

Is 50% good for a 12 y/o

That's pretty bad not gonna lie.

For a 12 year old? I'd say it's pretty good actually.

The average score is 14 so yes, I would say that is good for a 12 yo. Definitely not bad. Most of the people on this site are older than that, and could have heard of several from the news. Only some are covered in history classes.

So anyone saying getting 11 is bad for a 12 yo, has got some issues. (inferiority or superiority.. always hard to tell..)

even it it was bad, no need to rub it in someone's face.

I doubt I would have done that well on a similar quiz when I was 12. Mubarak and Gaddafi would have still been in power but I doubt I could have named them.

Nice idea! Would suggest mentioning in the caveats that some of the countries no longer exist

Suprised by a lot of these being guessed more than Mugabe. Also is there any reason why Stalin was omitted from this quiz?

He's in the next one

In modern English, "dictator" pretty much is a synonym of "authoritarian leader".

Ohhh right Zaire was where that Muhammad Ali fight was

Now DR Congo ofc

Since when is Rome a country? The answer to Sulla should be Italy.

Since when is Italy a country? 'Rome' or 'Roman Empire' are the most appropriate answers for Sulla.

EcceHomo, you answered my rhetorical question.

Italy didn't exist as a country at the time. Sulla was the dictator of Rome. The quiz is correct.

Surprised so few got Trujillo, el jefe

How about adding Mohammed Farrah Aidid? He was a famous Somalian dictator and plunged the country into poverty and despair.