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Alternate Political Strongmen and Strongwomen

Comisario

Hello Tony, I am 1952
Published by SLP
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Something that I always find fascinating, especially in the post-Cold War world we’re living in, is the persistence of the existence of political strongmen (and strongwomen, but they are rarer). From Rodrigo Duterte to Viktor Orbán, the modern world still has its fair share of leaders who subvert democratic norms, revel in corruption, and exert control over their respective societies through an array of nefarious means.

Because of my fascination with these kinds of leaders, I find myself wondering - where else could they take root? For my own trouble, I’ve previously speculated on a Federico Trillo premiership in Spain (after experiencing an alternate, more violent Nineties) going the way of some of Europe’s more notorious strongmen. But, I wonder what other nations might have/have had the same experience with strongmen leaders in alternate universes?

The more recent the scenario or POD, the easier it is to imagine fitting into the post-Cold War world - so, do keep that in mind.
 
Having recently read 'British Liberal Leaders', Duncan Brack's essay on Ashdown, in particular his analysis on Ashdown's emotional life, left me with a vague, uncomfortable feeling that Ashdown would have been well suited for authoritarian rule, and been a strongman who would have happily 'played' the structure of liberal democracy like Orbán had he felt it necessary.
 
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Winston Peters
I think it could make for a fair-to-middling NZTL if you somehow keep Winston at the head of National in the 90s, though it'd require a fairly drastic reimagining of either what that party or Winston himself (or both) became post-Muldoon IOTL.

Arguably, pre-1925 NZ was full of these in real life: Seddon and Massey in particular. On which note, you could get a nice dark little story if the agricultural depression and anti-Catholic hysteria of the post-WWI period get even worse than they did.
 
Having recently read 'British Liberal Leaders', Duncan Brack's essay on Ashdown, in particular his analysis on Ashdown's emotional life, left me with a vague, uncomfortable feeling that Ashdown would have been well suited for authoritarian rule, and been a strongman who would have happily 'played' the structure of liberal democracy like Orbán had he felt it necessary.

this is a very spooky idea and i lyk it
 
Thorpe is also a good one for 'strongman', given that he had the nerve IoTL to plan a murder (although if he had the nerve to go through with it is YMMV), and was largely just a glory hound who desired power for powers sake and out of a delusional sense of 'destiny'- his own dedication to the Liberal party was itself questionable, as he was more keen on the prestige and fame that came with it rather than the actual 'liberal' bit.

Not to mention the cult of personality he groomed.
I hope someone writes a dark Ashdown TL
"Beneath a Setting Moon"
 
Yes Thorpe would be excellent maybe if he’d chosen Tories or Labour instead... Although I would prefer a Liberal Party one. Maybe Pipisme can be pursuaded to work it in:unsure:
 
Yes Thorpe would be excellent maybe if he’d chosen Tories or Labour instead... Although I would prefer a Liberal Party one. Maybe Pipisme can be pursuaded to work it in:unsure:
Thorpe would have been happier in the Tories than Labour- he was closer to them on an ideological level, and he came from a(n Ulster) Unionist family.

He was also a populist and joined the Liberals because they were the weakest party- had he not gotten it into his head and become obsessed with the idea of "posing destiny a challenge", he'd of probably joined Rees-Mogg in the Tories, and given his political instincts, he'd of made a decent whip.
 
An American choice that is quite hipster is Alvin Owsley, who was about as close to a fascist as you could get (his name even sounds like a GTA V version of Oswald Mosley).

If the Diefenbaker never comes to the position of leader of the PCs and the SoCreds become the main opposition party (as many thought at the time), there are a host of peculiar figures that could be used. If the party actually implements social credit along with their kooky religious agenda, all hell will break loose. Just look at what Abenhart tried to do in Alberta, such as removing the power of the media to speak against the government.

Mulroney, if he hadn’t experienced his failures in his second term, could have also gone to Berlusconi-like territory. The Secret Mulroney Tapes are a really powerful but frightening look into his mind.
 
I think it could make for a fair-to-middling NZTL if you somehow keep Winston at the head of National in the 90s, though it'd require a fairly drastic reimagining of either what that party or Winston himself (or both) became post-Muldoon IOTL.

Arguably, pre-1925 NZ was full of these in real life: Seddon and Massey in particular. On which note, you could get a nice dark little story if the agricultural depression and anti-Catholic hysteria of the post-WWI period get even worse than they did.
I like the Massey idea.

Similarly, a much shitter 1930s could see Sidney Holland rising to the top as leader of the New Zealand Legion.
 
IIRC Switzerland's WWII military chief Henri Guisan had some fascist inclinations and cultivated a cult of personality. Could a successful resistance / National Redoubt against a German invasion have swept him into power postwar, as a De Gaulle figure or something worse? Or would the experience of Nazi occupation have tarnished his image among the majority of Swiss who weren't included inside the Redoubt?
 
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