Dictators

She was never supposed to be queen. But in 1474, when Isabella of Castile’s half-brother King Enrique died, she seized her chance to take what was hers. And after holding onto the crown from Portugues...

8 Sep 202044min

Tired of playing second fiddle, Isabella decided to turn on her husband and join forces with his enemies: the exiled barons. Together, they planned an invasion of England to take the throne from Edwar...

1 Sep 202047min

All her life, Isabella of France knew she was going to be Queen consort of England. But when her husband took the throne in 1307, it became obvious that he had chosen another as his favorite: Piers Ga...

25 Aug 202047min

He attacked the press, oversaw egregious human rights violations, and even welcomed a notorious Nazi war criminal into his country. For decades, Alfredo Stroessner largely acted with impunity—until th...

18 Aug 202042min

In 1932, 20-year-old Alfredo Stroessner was a cadet at the Paraguayan military academy. It would take a little over two decades for him to seize power through a military coup, and begin his 35-year re...

11 Aug 202043min

From 1973 to 1990, Augusto Pinochet ruled over Chile with a brutality that left tens of thousands people missing, tortured, or dead. Despite his atrocities—and an unprecedented arrest—Pinochet escaped...

4 Aug 202045min

He was a career military man until a coup against socialist President Salvador Allende installed him as Chile’s next leader. But Augusto Pinochet relished his newfound power, and in June 1974, passed ...

28 Jul 202046min

After establishing himself as a military dictator, Videla fought a bloody conflict against citizens of his own country. With his public perception suffering, he turned to an American advertising agenc...

21 Jul 202044min