Dictators and Despots Quiz

The original "dictators" were put in place during times of emergency.

Despots and dictatorships are extremely similar, but we mostly call nonmonarchs dictators.

Before fascism began to be synonymous with dictatorial and despotic leaders, it was a movement that would (in theory) revolutionize government and the state.

The Black Shirts became the national militia.

Pol Pot was his "revolutionary" name, but it has no actual meaning.

One of the world's worst perpetrators of genocide was a high school civics teacher.

Zedong took over leadership of China in 1928.

Again, one thing despots love: overthrowing traditional systems.

It lowered the age to 34, , conveniently also Bashar's age. Bashar al-Assad then ran unopposed for president.

Only 10-15 percent of Muslims in Syria are Shiite, and Alawites make up a smaller segment.

Hard to say whether Kim Jong Il's birth was accompanied by a double rainbow, but it seems unlikely.

Called the "arduous march," the famine was extremely severe.

Kim Jong Il was named chairman of the National Defense Commission after his father's death, but he added "supreme leader" to his resume later for good measure.

Any Asian who was not a nationalized Ugandan was ordered to leave the country in a move that wrecked the economy.

Amin attacked ethnic groups and enemies.

About 300,000 people were killed. Amin's government was eventually overthrown in 1979.

Gadhafi ruled Libya for more than 40 years before being ousted in the Arab Spring.

"The Green Book" is a somewhat incomprehensible collection of Gadhafi's beliefs and ideology.

Ceausescu was in power from 1965 until he was killed in a revolution in 1989.

He wanted to increase Romania's population, but maternal death rates skyrocketed, with 87 percent of them attributed to unsafe and illegal terminations.

It's a very sweet name for a guy who led the regime that killed an estimated 30,000 to maintain power.

Jean-Claude Duvalier, or Baby Doc, was Francois' son who took over the family dictatorship.

Khomeini may have been violently opposed to opposition, but he was installed by a vote of the people.

The bands of men were looking for any infraction against Islamic law, including Western music or attending a party with alcohol present.

Let's not forget that Hitler's Nazi Party won support through popular election.

The Beer Hall Putsch, an unsuccessful 1923 attempt to seize power, led to a prison term for Hitler.

Estimates vary, but millions of Russians lost their lives.

Ivan was born a prince but proved to be tyrannical and violent.

He was commander in chief. Manuel Urrutia was a moderate president, but Castro eventually took over as head of government.

According to a National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture report, Pinochet committed many human rights abuses while ruling Chile, but died before he could be tried.