Most Oppressive Regime Ever?

Would it be nazi Germany, or Stalinist Russia, or the feudal English society during the Middle Ages or modern day North Korea or what do you suppose?

I don't mean to ask for a relative answer i.e. compared to others at the time or how things were in those days but more like a raw, absolute answer like which would have been the worst to have to live in.

Also I mean as though you're a commoner.. Obviously the privileged class or aristocracy might have a different opinion on how they enjoy life in those places.

Use any factors you like but here are some suggestions:

1) Range of reasons for, or probability of, your execution or that of your family.

2) How much you are "allowed" either currency, food etc. and how much you are forced to do without because it's taken from you (starvation would be a big factor in some cases)

3) How much is outlawed.. Worship, reproduction etc.

4) Whatever else you consider.

I invite all opinions from all over the world. Thank you! After I learn a bit from the thread I might have my own opinion for an answer.

 

I imagine there are a lot of nasty candidates worth considering. Off the top of my head though, without digging up any stats or piecing together a supporting argument, Democratic Kampuchea in what is now Cambodia comes to mind.

Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge inflicted a horrific amount of harm to their people in spite of how small their country was.

 

North Korea seems pretty (*)(*)(*)(*)ed up

 

Yeah I would say it is a toss up between Pol Pot or North Korea

 

I would go with this.

 

Feudal English society in the Middle ages? ONLY an American could have thought this one up!


Asking for the most oppressive regime ever is next to impossible since we have little information about regimes of the past. Since it is clear that people are going to concentrate on the 20th century then we are better off limiting it TOO just the 20th century in which case I would find it difficult to name anyone BUT the Khymer Rouge Government of 1976-9

 

Feudalism was the system of service which burdened the peasant with many obligations to his lord but it began to decline by the end of the 14th century as medieval English society had gradually made a transition to capitalism and peasants and artisans could demand higher wages and better working conditions. After the Black Death, peasants could leave their villages and roam around the countryside freely to find a better deal from a lord, who was short of desperately needed labour, and thus the peasants could break the bonds of serfdom. England was the first to make this transition to modern democratic society while the surfs in Russia and Eastern Europe were virtually tied to the land until the mid-19th century.

 

I would strongly recommend this book

http://www.amazon.com/Time-Travelers-Guide-Medieval-England/dp/1439112908

While life was not as easy as it should have been. It was not on the level of modern authoritarian governments. Having said that, your case for serfs in Eastern Europe especially Poland and Russia might get at the very least an honorable mention

 

In my view Nazis and Pol Pot definitely took the lead.
Though, according to the Bible Jews killed a lot of their neighbors (p.s. there’s no any anti-semitism here, just joke )

 

This is impossible to pinpoint IMO. How do you meassure oppression?
Pol Pot was probably the worst in terms of massacring his fellow countrymen, basically everybody was considered an enemy.
In Nazi Germany, if you didn't openly oppose the regime and weren't a Jew/Communist/Social-Democrat, you could live a somewhat "normal" (horrible word in this context) life.
I find the arbitrariness in Stalin's Russia quite disturbing. The Nazis had a clear concept of their domestic enemies, Stalin, in his paranoia, on more than one occasion just wanted another 5 or ten thousand to be killed.
Mao could be mentioned here as well, Great Leap Forward.
Augusto Pinochet, maybe not the highest number of deaths, but his regime, from what I've read, must have been as sick as it gets.

 

Feudalism wasn't limited to only England, not even the British Isles. Most of Europe and parts of Asia also had feudal societies.

 

I didn't say it was.

 

So what is with listing medieval england as one of the worlds most repressive societies?

 

Sorry but there is no justification whatsoever for including Pinnochets regime. A very mild abuser in the 20th century listing. Certainly no worse than Cuba and it actually gave up its rule with a popular vote.

 

The list wasn't meant to be comprehensive.. Just trying to prompt ideas.

 

Augusto Pinochet a mild abuser? No worse than Cuba?
I disagree completely.
In my book, the systematic torture and masskillings carried out under Pinochet do qualify him very well for this list.
I have never heard of anything like that under Castro.

 

Then I suggest you read more. Both Cuba and Chile have the same death toll - about 2000 people, both employed torture of people who were against the regime (Che Guevera being head of the prison that tortured opponents of the Cunan revolution)frankly they are pretty similar and neither are anywhere near the A list of bad boys, frankly they don;t make the C list either.


Pinnocjet has a lot of press because he deposed a marxist hero

 

I don't know where you got your numbers from. The exact number of people killed in Chile is unknown due to many documents being destroyed, but I've read numerous times that it's easily beyond 40,000.
You seem to be in favour of Pinochet.
Pinochet came to power by a military coupe resulting in the death of a democratically elected president the US didn't like.
We seem to have different views on this, I'll leave it at that.

 

Oh No ...you don't get to 'have the last word then run away' Actually I despise all dictatorial regimes. Pinnochet included. I have good friends who were refugees from Chile I am certainly no friend of that regime but I am no friend of people faking stuff up to suit a political agenda.

Allende was democratically elected then refused to stand down when Congress impeached him. He then committed suicide after being offered free passage to Cuba.

Chile is now free. Cuba is not.

 

Just checked- Totall numbers killed during the Pinnochet regime is 2,700. So your claim of 40,000 is just nonsense.

2700 is a quarter of the civilians that Hafez Assad killed in one day in 1982

 

How come nobody mentions Israel? Their brutal rule of the Palestinians is in front of us every day... can't be overlooked. To my knowledge they are presently the worst rulers and war instigators.

We can't be sure about N. Korea, as we have no trustworthy or reliable information about their internal doings.

 

Because Israel clearly is not the Most oppressive regime ever. If your knowledge makes them the worst rulers then you have to be pretty devoid of knowledge. We can be pretty sure that North Korea is a vastly more oppressive country than Israel.

 

I didn't mean ever, but rather now, in the present.

Have you been in N.Korea for a few months?

 

Now? Isreal isn't even the most oppressive country in the region. Syria is vastly more oppressive. Have you been in Israel in the past few moths?

 

You need to have your head examined!

No, I haven't! Don't need to either. All their atrocities are common knowledge, because they love to be in the news it seems, unlike N.Korea.

Just ask google:
Is Israel the worst and most dangerous country in the world?
And right away you get a whole slew of answers....

Here is more:
BBC: Israel is third Worst Country in the World

http://www.paltelegraph.com/world/m...rael-is-third-worst-country-in-the-world.html