We have spent 15 years touring via nations the place democracy collapsed, slowly at first, then unexpectedly. We have walked via cities the place folks have been tortured by regimes, heard tales of households silenced by propaganda, and visited locations the place freedom was stripped away one coverage at a time.
From Cambodia to Hungary, Brazil to Russia, and the echoes of Nineteen Thirties Germany, we have now seen what occurs when division prevails and reality is misplaced. Now, for the primary time, we’re beginning to see those self same warning indicators at dwelling. And it scares us.
What Democracy Looks Like, And How It Dies
Democracy is not only about casting a poll. It is a few free press, transparency, the peaceable switch of energy, and the power to criticize political leaders with out concern. It is about defending human rights and making certain that political opposition can exist with out being crushed.
Looking again at historic dictatorships, a transparent sample emerges. Democracies don’t collapse in a single day. They erode progressively via concern, division, and disinformation. From the autumn of the Roman Republic to the rise of contemporary dictatorships, the lesson stays the identical: as soon as authoritarian rule takes maintain, it’s extremely arduous to reverse.
The Historical Warning Signs We’ve Witnessed Firsthand
The fragility of democracy is one thing we noticed firsthand whereas visiting nations the place folks lived underneath totalitarian regimes. The price of dropping democratic freedoms is measured not solely in political rights however in lives destroyed via widespread human rights abuses.
Myanmar
Myanmar is presently dwelling underneath a brutal navy dictatorship, following a coup in February 2021 that overthrew the democratically elected authorities of Aung San Suu Kyi. The navy junta, led by General Min Aung Hlaing, has since dominated via concern and violence—jailing political leaders, silencing journalists, and killing hundreds of civilians who dared to protest. Promises of future elections are broadly seen as a facade to legitimize authoritarian rule. What was as soon as a fragile democracy is now a rustic gripped by repression, resistance, and the day by day wrestle of its folks to reclaim their freedom.
Cambodia: Rise of the Khmer Rouge
In Cambodia, we stood within the Killing Fields and walked via the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. We noticed the place the Khmer Rouge turned their nation right into a totalitarian state the place private energy mattered greater than life itself. Under the banner of equality, the communist celebration led by Pol Pot created a system the place political opponents, intellectuals, and even kids have been brutally eradicated.
Between 1975 and 1979, practically two million Cambodians died. It was a cultural revolution soaked in blood, the place even carrying glasses may mark you for execution. People have been stripped of their humanity, tortured and killed, all to keep up energy for a tiny ruling elite.
Cambodia’s nightmare was not remoted. It adopted the identical chilling playbook utilized by different totalitarian states throughout historical past — the Soviet Union underneath Joseph Stalin, Mao’s China in the course of the Cultural Revolution, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, and trendy dictatorships like North Korea underneath Kim Jong Un.
Adolf Hitler and World War II Nazi Germany
In Germany, the collapse got here after World War I left the nation devastated. The Treaty of Versailles shattered Germany’s financial system and nationwide delight. Into that void stepped Adolf Hitler, a political chief who provided indignant slogans as a substitute of actual options.
We walked the streets of Berlin and Nuremberg, the place the Nazi Party rose from a fringe group to the dominant pressure in German politics. Hitler seized energy not via violence, however via authorized means, exploiting concern and division. After the Reichstag Fire, he demanded a short lived grant of emergency powers that rapidly became totalitarian rule. Democracy was useless, and dictatorship had taken its place.
Political opponents have been among the many first targets. Dissenters disappeared into focus camps, usually after present trials or midnight arrests. The state glorified navy uniforms and used mass rallies to create a cult of persona round Hitler. The world would quickly pay the value throughout World War II, because the Axis powers unleashed devastation throughout Europe and past.
From Joseph Stalin to Putin’s Russia
In Russia, we noticed the shadows of the Soviet Union nonetheless lingering right now. Joseph Stalin created one in all historical past’s most brutal totalitarian regimes, utilizing purges, pressured labor camps, and mass executions to eradicate any risk to his private energy. Millions died in the course of the Great Purge, a terror marketing campaign that worn out political opposition and sowed concern throughout Eastern Europe.
Today, underneath Vladimir Putin, lots of the similar ways have returned. Political opponents like Boris Nemtsov and Alexei Navalny have been murdered or imprisoned. Independent media has been silenced. Elections are hole rituals designed to legitimize a authorities that has already determined its personal victories. Modern authoritarian rule in Russia is a chilling reminder that dictatorship can evolve while not having to announce itself.
Cold War Hungary
In Hungary, we noticed how the dream of freedom was crushed underneath Soviet domination after World War II. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was a determined cry for democracy, led by college students and staff who wished to reclaim their nation’s future. For a quick second, it seemed like they could succeed. But when the Soviet Union despatched tanks into Budapest, the rebellion was brutally crushed. Thousands have been killed, and a whole lot of hundreds extra fled the nation. Hungary turned one other pawn within the Cold War chess recreation, one other instance of how totalitarian states use violence to suppress dissent and destroy the hope of political freedom.
Chile – Latin America
In Chile, we traced the bloody path of Augusto Pinochet’s navy dictatorship. After overthrowing a democratically elected authorities in 1973, Pinochet dominated Chile with an iron fist for practically twenty years. His regime engaged in widespread human rights abuses, together with torture, disappearances, and executions of political opponents. Chile’s financial system was reshaped via neoliberal reforms, however the human price was staggering. Under Pinochet’s navy uniforms and thoroughly managed propaganda, the nation turned a brutal reminder that Latin America, like different areas, was not resistant to the seductive guarantees of strongman rule.
When you examine navy dictatorships, communist party-led regimes, or fascist actions, you begin to acknowledge the acquainted indicators. It nearly at all times begins after a disaster: a battle, an financial collapse, or a large cultural shift. In Latin America, we noticed nations fall into authoritarian rule in the course of the Cold War as navy leaders seized energy, promising stability.
Such leaders usually emerge when public assist for democracy has been weakened by concern and frustration. They promise fast options. They supply scapegoats. They use the language of patriotism whereas undermining the very establishments that defend freedom.
In central and jap Europe, authoritarian regimes usually arose by dismantling democratic buildings from inside. The one-party rule of the Soviet satellite tv for pc states turned vibrant societies into grey, paranoid locations the place loyalty to the celebration mattered greater than expertise or reality.
Benito Mussolini
In Italy, Benito Mussolini set the stage for future dictators by combining nationalism with authoritarianism. As the primary main European fascist, the Italian dictator confirmed how simply a democratic system may very well be manipulated when a rustic seeks a strongman as a substitute of a authorities primarily based on legislation.
The Roman Empire itself transitioned from a republic to dictatorship when Julius Caesar and later emperors concentrated absolute energy into their very own palms. Ancient dictators laid the groundwork for the oppressive rule we might see repeated throughout the centuries.
Kim Jong Un and North Korea
In trendy instances, totalitarian rule could take totally different kinds, however its targets stay the identical: complete management. Party members are rewarded, dissenters are silenced, and navy uniforms fill the streets. Whether it’s the People’s Republic of China, North Korea underneath Kim Jong Un, or different authoritarian states, the patterns stay horrifyingly acquainted.
The Dangerous Parallels We Are Seeing Today
Today, the Western Hemisphere shouldn’t be immune. Looking south towards the United States, the warning indicators are flashing pink.
Donald Trump’s administration reveals how simply democratic norms might be eroded. Through fixed assaults on the media, loyalty exams, govt orders bypassing Congress, and private glorification, he mirrors ways we had seen earlier than in dictatorships throughout historical past.
By calling journalists enemies of the folks, praising dictators like Vladimir Putin, and undermining public belief, and inspiring rage as a substitute of motive, he’s pushing America nearer to authoritarian rule. His management fashion is much less about serving the nation and extra about securing private energy.
In Canada, we’re seeing echoes of this similar playbook. Pierre Poilievre fuels division as a substitute of unity, assaults trusted establishments, and dismisses info when they’re inconvenient. Danielle Smith’s flirtation with separatism and cozying as much as right-wing American influencers is not any accident. It is a part of a technique to interrupt belief, simply as different dictators have accomplished in two nations after one other.
Today, the Western Hemisphere shouldn’t be immune. Looking south towards the United States, the warning indicators are flashing pink.
Donald Trump’s administration reveals how simply democratic norms might be eroded. Through fixed assaults on the media, loyalty exams, govt orders bypassing Congress, and private glorification, he mirrors ways we had seen earlier than in dictatorships throughout historical past.
By calling journalists enemies of the folks, praising dictators like Vladimir Putin, and undermining public belief, and inspiring rage as a substitute of motive, he’s pushing America nearer to authoritarian rule. His management fashion is much less about serving the nation and extra about securing private energy.
In Canada, we’re seeing echoes of this similar playbook. Pierre Poilievre fuels division as a substitute of unity, assaults trusted establishments, and dismisses info when they’re inconvenient. Danielle Smith’s flirtation with separatism and cozying as much as right-wing American influencers is not any accident. It is a part of a technique to interrupt belief, simply as different dictators have accomplished in two nations after one other.
We are watching the seeds of authoritarianism being sown, and if historical past has taught us something, it’s that ready till it’s apparent is much too late.
What We Can Do Before It’s Too Late
The excellent news is that we nonetheless have time. But democracy doesn’t survive by chance. It calls for public assist, vigilance, and braveness.
We should defend human rights, defend political opposition, and keep knowledgeable via dependable sources just like the Washington Post and different actual journalism. We should vote not simply as an obligation, however as an act of hope. We should do not forget that democracy is fragile, that it requires upkeep, and that each time a dictator has risen to energy — from historical dictators in Rome to trendy tyrants right now — it occurred as a result of unusual folks stopped believing their voice mattered.
Democracy shouldn’t be good, however the different is evident. The twentieth century was scarred by the actions of dictators who brought about untold struggling: Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Saddam Hussein, and so many others.
The subsequent chapter is ours to write down. But if we don’t act with urgency, we threat repeating the darkest chapters of historical past. Canada remains to be price combating for. And if we keep in mind the teachings carved into the battlefields, graveyards, and damaged cities of historical past, perhaps this time, we will defend what others misplaced.
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