Curated category
Totalitarian states
- Vichy FranceOn the 10th of July 1940, a joint session of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies gathered in the quiet spa town of Vichy.
- North KoreaThe Korean Peninsula rises like a sea in a heavy gale, according to early European visitors who marveled at its successive mountain ranges.
- Slovak Republic (1939–1945)On the 14th of March 1939, the Slovak parliament convened in Bratislava to hear a report from Monsignor Jozef Tiso about his meeting with Adolf Hitler.
- Socialist Republic of RomaniaOn the 6th of March 1945, a new pro-Soviet government took power in Bucharest after mass demonstrations by communist sympathizers and intense political…
- Fascist ItalyOn the 24th of March 1929, a nationwide plebiscite confirmed the Fascist single-party list with 98.43% of voters approving the measure.
- Hungarian People's RepublicThe Hungarian People's Republic was born on the 20th of August 1949, when a newly elected parliament passed a constitution that was, by most accounts, a…
- Protectorate of Bohemia and MoraviaAdolf Hitler stood inside the historic walls of Prague Castle on the 16th of March 1939 to declare a new political reality.
- TurkmenistanTurkmenistan occupies a landlocked position in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to the north. Afghanistan lies to the southeast while Iran…
- Empire of JapanOn the 3rd of January 1868, Satsuma-Chōshū forces seized the imperial palace in Kyoto. The following day, a fifteen-year-old boy named Crown Prince Mutsuhito…
- Ba'athist IraqAt 03:00 on the morning of the 17th of July 1968, tanks halted in front of the Presidential Palace in Baghdad. Telephone lines were cut across the city as…
- AfghanistanHuman habitation in what is now Afghanistan dates to the Middle Paleolithic era, with archaeological evidence suggesting people lived there at least 50,000…
- Nazi GermanyThe stock market crash of 1929 sent shockwaves through Germany that shattered the fragile Weimar Republic. Millions of Germans found themselves unemployed…
- ManchukuoManchukuo lasted just thirteen years, from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945, yet it carried the grand title of empire and the trappings of a brand new…
- Italian Social RepublicOn the 24th of July 1943, Dino Grandi presented a motion to the Grand Council of Fascism. The vote passed with twenty-one votes in favor and only seven…
- Polish People's RepublicIn February 1945, the Red Army occupied the entire country of Poland. Joseph Stalin presented his Western allies with a fait accompli at the Yalta Conference.
- Mongolian People's RepublicIn July 1921, cavalry under Damdin Sükhbaatar captured the capital of Mongolia with Soviet troop support. This event marked the Mongolian People's Revolution…
- People's Republic of BulgariaOn the 9th of September, communist guerrillas launched a coup d'état which de facto ended the rule of the Bulgarian monarchy.
- People's Socialist Republic of AlbaniaOn the 29th of November 1944, partisan forces entered the capital city of Tirana to liberate Albania from Axis occupation.