You're all forgetting Turkmenistan - surely the closest thing to a europen North Korea? It's only now starting to loosen up since the death of President Niyazov.
One problem, Turkmenistan happens to be in Asia...
Still, you've got a point.
You're all forgetting Turkmenistan - surely the closest thing to a europen North Korea? It's only now starting to loosen up since the death of President Niyazov.
You're all forgetting Turkmenistan - surely the closest thing to a europen North Korea? It's only now starting to loosen up since the death of President Niyazov.
Nicolae Ceaușescu.
So was Marx's.*Her father was a Lutheran priest.
sorry friend, but keyboards in English-speaking countries don't have a ș key![]()
He also had a "Uday Hussein" type playboy son, Nicu, who was groomed to take over upon Nicolai's death.
At the time of Ceausescu's death, son Nicu was in eclipse -- he got ideas above his station (like, replacing Daddy before Daddy was ready to go) and got exiled to a provincial Party post. (1)
By all accounts, Nicu was a classic dictator's kid. (2) That is, he was a sullen, mean-spirited spoiled brat, hard-drinking, womanizing, arrogant, and pretty generally wretched and worthless. (3) After Ceausescu's fall, Nicu moved to Russia, where he drank himself to death fairly quickly, dying of cirrhosis at the age of 45.
Point being, unless you provide Nicu with a brain transplant, he's probably not going to last long as absolute leader.
Doug M.
(1) He was party boss of Sibiu, a small industrial city in Transylvania -- a very strange choice for the dictator's son.
Defector Ion Pacepa claims Ceausescu exiled Nicu to Sibiu for plotting against him. It's also possible that Nicu's mother Elena moved him there prophlactically because he was planning something stupid.
(2) The Ceausescus had an older son -- Valentin -- who was adopted; he was a war orphan, and the postwar Party had a program of encouraging up-and-coming members to adopt. Whether because of heredity, or just because he was already a young adult when the Ceausescus took absolute power (Nicu was just 13), Valentin grew up surprisingly sane; he became a physicist and showed no signs of political ambition.
(3) "Womanizing" is the kindest interpretation. There are stories of Nicu keeping a rape chamber, and having his Securitate guards simply seize attractive women who caught his eye. These may be exaggerated, but on the other hand it's not entirely impossible to believe.
The problem with turning Romania into the North Korea of East Europe is that if the Ceausescu dynasty can't be secured then either the regime will be overthrown later than in OTL or the rest of the party will grab power.
Hmm, did they have more children than just Valentin and Nicu?
The rest of the party will try to pull his chair from under him so he'll need the army and preferably the Securitate as well. Expect a power struggle. I don't know who would've won; ask the other Romanians on the board for suggestions (Andrei, Magnum, thor2006, Zajir).Or, say if Nicu's "plotting" was more successful, then could it work?
At the time of Ceausescu's death, son Nicu was in eclipse -- he got ideas above his station (like, replacing Daddy before Daddy was ready to go) and got exiled to a provincial Party post. (1)
By all accounts, Nicu was a classic dictator's kid. (2) That is, he was a sullen, mean-spirited spoiled brat, hard-drinking, womanizing, arrogant, and pretty generally wretched and worthless. (3)
(1) He was party boss of Sibiu, a small industrial city in Transylvania -- a very strange choice for the dictator's son.
Defector Ion Pacepa claims Ceausescu exiled Nicu to Sibiu for plotting against him. It's also possible that Nicu's mother Elena moved him there prophlactically because he was planning something stupid.
(2) The Ceausescus had an older son -- Valentin -- who was adopted; he was a war orphan, and the postwar Party had a program of encouraging up-and-coming members to adopt. Whether because of heredity, or just because he was already a young adult when the Ceausescus took absolute power (Nicu was just 13), Valentin grew up surprisingly sane; he became a physicist and showed no signs of political ambition.
(3) "Womanizing" is the kindest interpretation. There are stories of Nicu keeping a rape chamber, and having his Securitate guards simply seize attractive women who caught his eye. These may be exaggerated, but on the other hand it's not entirely impossible to believe.