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Lately I've come in contact with a few parts of European history that were a bit new to me. Former dictators, Todor Zhikov who ruled Bulgaria from 1954 to 1989. Then there was Enver Hoxha in Albania from 1941 to 1985. Rather long tenures.. Has anyone heard of them? Was also fascinated by the former one as I've been to Bulgaria now and was with a woman with ancestry from there for a long time. There's probably a lot more we've never heard of, of course there was that Eric Honecker from the former East Germany who seemed to be quite infamous.

We don't have any kind of European history threads here, but then it is so spread out both in time and geographically..
 
stadtaffe said:
Lately I've come in contact with a few parts of European history that were a bit new to me. Former dictators, Todor Zhikov who ruled Bulgaria from 1954 to 1989. Then there was Enver Hoxha in Albania from 1941 to 1985. Rather long tenures.. Has anyone heard of them? Was also fascinated by the former one as I've been to Bulgaria now and was with a woman with ancestry from there for a long time. There's probably a lot more we've never heard of, of course there was that Eric Honecker from the former East Germany who seemed to be quite infamous.

We don't have any kind of European history threads here, but then it is so spread out both in time and geographically..
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Wait until you hear about Franco and Ceausescu.

I guess people generally don't know about Bulgaria and Albania because they are small countries which aren't really known for anything except their diaspora. And Albania being the only hardcore Maoists of the Eastern Bloc in Europe, but I guess even that is sort of obscure for most people.
 
Raskolnikov said:
Wait until you hear about Franco and Ceausescu.
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I had heard the name Franco but not the other one.

Turns out Franco was in in Spain from 1936 to 1975

Ceausescu was in in Romania from 1965 to 1989

All of these characters are in for 3+ decades. I suppose all the Yugoslavian countries were a unity over this period so it was just the 1 really, Tito.

None of them have beards or mustaches, which is something one usually associates with dictators. Stalin definitely had one.
Raskolnikov said:
And Albania being the only hardcore Maoists of the Eastern Bloc in Europe
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But aren't they now one of the most Muslim countries in Europe, along with Kosovo?

Well, you need to be careful what you wish for, at time I wish there was just a strongman dictator instead of a fake democracy with satanic values behind it. People who have lived under these regimes however will often go on about how bad it was, although I have not really heard that from the East Germans I have known.
 
stadtaffe said:
But aren't they now one of the most Muslim countries in Europe, along with Kosovo?

Well, you need to be careful what you wish for, at time I wish there was just a strongman dictator instead of a fake democracy with satanic values behind it. People who have lived under these regimes however will often go on about how bad it was, although I have not really heard that from the East Germans I have known.
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Along with Bosnia, methinks. I'm gonna hold out my neck here and say that Kosovo is actually Serbian and therefore not Muslim.

All Eastern Bloc countries have had plenty of people fleeing, so I think it wasn't all that great. My mom and my grandparents fled Romania, which I think was a mistake but I wouldn't complain as I wouldn't have been born otherwise.

There was a lot of "this crappy system is holding me down and I can't make money and travel the world" type nonsense in people's head, because the West broadcast propaganda into the East about freedom and sports cars and sexy women and the jetset life.

But many Eastern refugees and refuseniks pretty much moved into ghettoized areas, had to get low level jobs and then hung out and drunk exclusively with co-ethnics and didn't interact much with the new culture. My grandparents did okay, but if you look for example at the Russian community in New York, it's ridiculous. They lost their identity and their place in society only to become poor and feel lost in the West. And then all they ever tell you are stories about the good times they had back under communism.

It definitely wasn't all that bad in material terms, but I can empathize with people not liking the state constantly getting on their case about ridiculous nonsense and telling you what you're allowed to consume and where to go and when.
 
Profile badges have been given a new order, as they were previously a bit all over the place. The order is:

1. Religion
2. If moderator
3. Heritage, heirloom, remnant
4. Philanthropist (donator)
5. Other status, like troll
 
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Cynllo said:
Profile badges have been given a new order, as they were previously a bit all over the place. The order is:

1. Religion
2. If moderator
3. Heritage, heirloom, remnant
4. Philanthropist (doantor)
5. Other status, like troll
Click to expand...
What's the difference between heritage, heirloom and remnant?
 
Thomas More said:
I just realized Handsome Creepy Eel isn't here. He was a very regular poster on RVF for many years and right up to the end. How many other regular posters on RVF didn't come over?
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Viktor Zeegelaar.

stadtaffe said:
I had heard the name Franco but not the other one.

Turns out Franco was in in Spain from 1936 to 1975

Ceausescu was in in Romania from 1965 to 1989

All of these characters are in for 3+ decades. I suppose all the Yugoslavian countries were a unity over this period so it was just the 1 really, Tito.

None of them have beards or mustaches, which is something one usually associates with dictators. Stalin definitely had one.

But aren't they now one of the most Muslim countries in Europe, along with Kosovo?

Well, you need to be careful what you wish for, at time I wish there was just a strongman dictator instead of a fake democracy with satanic values behind it. People who have lived under these regimes however will often go on about how bad it was, although I have not really heard that from the East Germans I have known.
Click to expand...

Enver Hoxha was the only commie dictator in Europe that managed to fully enforce state atheism. Closed down all the places of worship (churches and mosques alike).

He also feared a conflict with Yugoslavia, the Warsaw Pact and NATO simultaneously and built over 700 000 bunkers in the small country. When in Albania it is very hard to avoid seeing these bunkers, it's basically the Atlantikwall but covering the entire territory.

images - 2024-01-20T040744.837.webp
 
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