Dictators

Now in power, Ion Antonescu immediately saw his position challenged by the undisciplined Iron Guard. He wages war against them, while continuing to grow closer to Hitler. As the atrocities mount, the ...

9 Nov 202151min

Antonescu was a career military man who defended Romania during WWI, despised the corruption of Romania’s monarch, and allied with Hitler during WWII. Today, we explore his complicated relationships w...

2 Nov 202150min

Now in the seat of power, Pavelić begins shifting his alliance away from Mussolini, and toward Hitler. But his actions prove he’s still nothing more than a puppet to Axis leaders. Hatred for Pavelić b...

26 Okt 202147min

Radicalized as a student in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Ante Pavelić wanted nothing more than to see Croatia become separate and independent — even if it meant embracing terrorism, and aligning himself...

19 Okt 202148min

Once in power, Jozef Tiso realized he had made a Faustian bargain with Adolf Hitler. Not wanting to be a total puppet, Tiso would spend his reign pushing his relationship with the Nazis to its limit, ...

12 Okt 202143min

Today, we start a new season of Dictators on lesser-known WWII dictators who allied with the Axis Powers. Up first: antisemitic Catholic priest Jozef Tiso, who spent decades fighting for Slovak autono...

5 Okt 202140min

After the sudden deaths of his father and brother, Anastasio “Tachito” Somoza Debayle took office in May 1967. By 1978, his regime was crumbling. An opposition group known as the Sandinistas were rall...

28 Sep 202152min

In 1934, a beloved anti-imperialist guerrilla in Nicaragua was betrayed and executed by a National Guard commander. General Anastasio Somoza García seized power, establishing his own political party a...

21 Sep 202148min