alternate villains

[horticultureandmelodrama]

Evil Mrs Gandhi

Indira Gandhi had all the makings of an "Axis of Evil"esque leader. She proclaimed an emergency in 1977 suspending the world's largest democracy. She suppressed civil liberties, locked up the opposition parties and allowed allowed forced sterilization in the name of "population control"

She also pissed off the Americans by cosying up to Russia and launching a nuclear program. Plus, there was that incredible nose and the scary streak of white hair.

 

[Ivan Druzhkov]

I can't believe no one has mentioned Vladimir Zhirinovsky. He had the potential to win the Russian Elections in 1996, it's just due to various factors (among them his obvious insanity) that his party fell out of favor after 1993. A timeline where the LDP took over Russia is pretty much guaranteed to have some kind of Second Holocaust and/or Nuclear War.

I can't believe I forgot about ol' Mad Vlad, with his policies for Alaskan and Iranian anchluss, using Germany as a nuclear waste storage depot, and his praise of Pat Buchanan. This guy has potential!

 

[Mako-Chan]

William Gibbs McAdoo: In OTL, he was thankfully unsuccessful when he attempted to run for President in 1920 and 1924. Had he gotten the Democratic Party's nomination, we would have had a die-hard Klan supporter and prohibitionist in the Whitehouse.

Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley: This is yet another person I can't believe no one has mentioned. Mosley had the potential to become a serious political contender, had he stuck with the Labour or Conservative parties. Even if he doesn't become dictator, he could still do some real damage...

Ahmed Abdel Hadi Chalabi: Considering the clout he had with the US government and various neo-Conservative figures, he could have become leader of Iraq in OTL were it not for his various shenanigans (the most obvious being his alleged counterfeiting). Actually, to be honest I suspect Chalabi will somehow stage a huge political comeback.

Yuri Andropov: Andropov was regarded as one of the most hard-line General Secretaries of the post-Stalin era (e.g. his anti-alcohol campaign). [1] It was under him that the Bureau of Atomic Scientists issued out a statement saying the Doomsday Clock had been moved to 3 minutes before midnight. Had he lived longer -- or gotten into power earlier -- we might have had a nuclear war.

[1] To say nothing of his tenure as head of the KGB (1967-1982), when he cracked down on numerous dissidents. I can't imagine how many people he was responsible for murdering or torturing.

 

[Straha]

anti-alcohol campaign? explain please

 

[Mako-Chan]

anti-alcohol campaign? explain please

I actually don't know a tremendous amount about it, but under Andropov and Gorbachev the USSR began to crack down on liquor consumption due to rampant alcoholism. From what I've read, it didn't go down well and by the late 80's it was ended due to mounting opposition...

 

[ShawnEndresen]

Why has no one come up with a good Pope? The right breed of fanaticism and desperation preached from that office ought to make the world a staggeringly unpleasant place even if only half the RCC worldwide goes along with him.

Say Italy goes Communist in 1946. The Holy See goes into exile...If I were Pope, I'd pick Brazil, but if not, ah well. 20 years of vigorous "anything is acceptable to defeat World Communism!" ought to leave South America an utter wreck (especially with Che and Castro running about), possibly screw up Poland as well, and, if things go as badly as humanly possible, mess up the Cuban Missile Extravaganza...or CAN we get Brazil, Argentina or someone else interesting to try and invade Italy?

 

[Max Sinister]

Did anyone already mention Idi Amin? Or Marcos?

 

[Smuz]

Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley: This is yet another person I can't believe no one has mentioned. Mosley had the potential to become a serious political contender, had he stuck with the Labour or Conservative parties. Even if he doesn't become dictator, he could still do some real damage...

It would take quite a change to let anyone take him seriously. Outside of major unemployment centres, there really wasn't much support- most conservatives in Britain found him something of a distastful maniac when he started talking politics, apparently. You'd have to let him come to power in the Conservative party, THEN start spouting the anti-Semitic/racist stuff. Bear in mind the Battle of Cable street- even with the police rather siding with him, his supporters (near their heartland) were still outnumbered by Communists, so imagine what chance he would have got nationwide.

 

[Ivan Druzhkov]

Yuri Andropov: Andropov was regarded as one of the most hard-line General Secretaries of the post-Stalin era (e.g. his anti-alcohol campaign). [1] It was under him that the Bureau of Atomic Scientists issued out a statement saying the Doomsday Clock had been moved to 3 minutes before midnight. Had he lived longer -- or gotten into power earlier -- we might have had a nuclear war.

[1] To say nothing of his tenure as head of the KGB (1967-1982), when he cracked down on numerous dissidents. I can't imagine how many people he was responsible for murdering or torturing.

On the flip side, he was also in favor of economic reforms to the USSR, was considered the most intellectual of the Brezhnev-era Politburo, and gave Gorbachev his first big break in high-level politics. Granted, he was no democrat, and his reforms were mostly conservative in nature, but he had a few redeeming qualities.

 

[Mako-Chan]

On the flip side, he was also in favor of economic reforms to the USSR, was considered the most intellectual of the Brezhnev-era Politburo, and gave Gorbachev his first big break in high-level politics. Granted, he was no democrat, and hs reforms were mostly conservative in nature, but he had a few redeeming qualities.

True, he did implement anti-Corruption policies at a time when criminal activity was rampant (among other things). The key thing to remember is that while he had a few redeeming qualities, that's just it -- they were only a few.

 

[Wendell]

Did anyone already mention Idi Amin? Or Marcos?

Ah, the King of Scotland

 

[Count Dearborn]

Pat Robertson, he puts a puppet in the White House, and gets himself turned into the American Ayatollah.

 

[sunsurf]

Shawn Endresen wanted to know why nobody mentioned Popes.
So many to choose from...

Somebody did write a dystopian Catholic tyranny story, The Karamazov Caper.

Leni Riefenstahl, of Triumph of the Will infamy, claimed that she didn't know or care about what Hitler was up to. I find that a little hard to believe. But what could she or Eva Braun have done in an ATL?

Benedict Arnold, Aaron Burr?