Can tyrants make peace?

Historically, many tyrants had the opportunity to reach an agreement with their enemies. AFAIK, few have taken this course and as a result lost their position, power and sometimes even their lives. Napoleon in 1813, Saddam in 2002, perhaps even Hitler in 1943 are good examples.

In the case of Napoleon and Saddam, the reason given is that they feared that giving in would weaken their internal position and power base. That their position was due to being perceived as all-powerful, ruthless and unassailable. And as soon as that image was torn, they would be deposed.

Is this really true? Have there been tyrants who made peace and then were toppled?
Would Napoleon or Saddam have been toppled by a Fouche or a

Saeed al-Sahaf ;)


Can a tyrant ever let the reigns slacken or are they fated to rule with ruthless tyranny forever? Could Franco be seen as a tyrant who reached an agreement? Was he still a ruthless tyrant in his later years?
 

Hendryk

Banned
If you include the absolutist monarchs of the ancien régime among the tyrants, you come up with an impressive list of authoritarian rulers who did make peace, and usually weren't toppled for it. Of course, that was in the pre-national era, back when nobody saw the point of whipping the common people into a jingoistic frenzy.

If you just look at the 20th century, you still have quite a few examples. Kim Il-sung in 1953 and Deng Xiaoping in 1979 are just two instances off the top of my head.
 
Even Saddam who you mentioned in your post made peace with Iran.

The dude who ruled Mauretania a few years ago got toppled internally after making peace with Israel and becoming pro-western.

I don't think peace has much to do with tyranny, other stuff is way more important.
 
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