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Period: to
Modern European History
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Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658)
Oliver Cromwell fought with parliament agaist the King in the first and second civil war, and played an important role in the trial and execution of King Charles I. He remained in power afterwards, ruling over the British Isles as Lord Protector of the Common Wealth from 1653-1658, when he died. While in power, he worked with Parliaments, but maintained complete authority, as his establishment of the Barebones Parliament, essentially a military dictatorship, had shown. -
Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794)
Robespierre was one of the most influential figures in the French Revolution. He was president of the political Jacobin club, part of the constituent and national assemblies, and he played a pivotal role in abolishing the monarchy, executing the King and forming the Republic. He was also part of the Comittee for Public Safety, which waged the Reign of Terror. He lost popularity due to his autocratic rule and was killed by the guillotine in 1794. -
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)
Napoleon Bonaparte was an important figure in the French Revolution. He became First Consul through a coup d'etat in 1799, and then declared himself Emperor in 1804. He dictated France, overseeing the centralization of power, legal, economic and Catholic reforms. He also waged wars throughout Europe, conquering much of the continent before his final defeat. -
Vladimir Lenin (1870 - 1924)
Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov known better by his pseudoym Lenin, was the first leader of the Soviet Union. He was a radical thinker, who was exiled from Russia in his youth and spent time in Western Europe before being sent back to Russia by Germany during WWI. He led the October/Bolshevik Revolution, a coup d'etat, and then won the civil war against the White Army and became a ruthless dictator and the primary architect of the USSR. -
Benito Mussolini (1883-1945)
Benito Mussolini was drafted into the Army in 1915, and formed the Fascist Party in 1919. The fascists, known as the Black Shirts, terrorized opponents, and in 1921 became part of the coalition government. In 1922, Mussolini and the Black Shirts marched on Rome, where Mussolini claimed he was the only one fit to restore order to Italy, the King granted him more power and in 1925 he declared himself dictator or "Il Duce". He engaged in military conquests and allied with Nazi Germany and Japan. -
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)
Hitler was born in Austria, but moved to Munich prior to WWI. After serving in WWI, he joined the fascist German Workers Party (which became the Nazi Party) in 1919, was leader by 1923 and by 1933 became chancellor of a coalition government. Once in power, he soon made himself dictator, and began the militarization, territorial expansion and extermination campaigns that would lead to WWII and the Holocaust. He's infamous for heinous Nazi ideology and atrocious war crimes.
