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How to Become a Tyrant

Miniseries

2021 · 6 episodes

The documentary series explores different political figures throughout history.

  1. 1. Seize Power

    2021-07-09 · 31m

    Interested in becoming a tyrant? There are rules, and the playbook for a rise to dictatorship starts with one of history's most brutal: Adolf Hitler.

  2. 2. Crush Your Rivals

    2021-07-09 · 27m

    You've secured your place at the top, but maintaining power means watching your back. Nobody did that better or more ruthlessly than Saddam Hussein.

  3. 3. Reign Through Terror

    2021-07-09 · 28m

    When keeping your population under control, is it better to be loved or feared? Idi Amin certainly thought he knew the right answer to that question.

  4. 4. Control the Truth

    2021-07-09 · 27m

    Through public relations spin, revisionist history and censorship. Soviet autocrat Joseph Stalin found a certain flexibility with the truth useful.

  5. 5. Create a New Society

    2021-07-09 · 26m

    Free speech? Right to assembly? Rebel-turned-dictator Muammar Gaddafi realized that civil liberties had to go when reshaping society. But he got soft.

  6. 6. Rule Forever

    2021-07-09 · 30m

    Seizing power is hard, but keeping it is harder. In North Korea, the Kim dynasty unlocked the secret to ruling forever: They declared themselves gods.

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