If your nation has not been ruled by a dictator in the last 100 years, did it ever come close?Who are some "potential" dictators in your nations history who you think-had they got into power-would have actually done good? Bonus points if:>Not military>You reckon they'd have eventually given up commandGenerally just wanna hear about some strongmen/talented geezers who potentially *could* have but *didn't* seize power.
no dictatora?
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For Ireland, probably Eoin O'Duffy. He was a prominent military leader in the Irish War of Independence, promoted to the rank of Brigadier and invited into the secretive Irish Republican Brotherhood-he was quite instrumental in the management of the IRA's campaign in Monaghan, and later went on to be one of the main leaders of the Pro-Treaty side of the Irish Civil War.The Irish Blueshirts were a right-wing group set up in the 1930s in around the 1932 elections; the victory of the more Republican (Ireland was at this point a Dominion of the British Empire; Republicans wanted full independence) party "Fianna Fáil" saw many of the imprisoned IRA veterans released, many of whom immediately stated that they were hostile to the new government-wanting to restore the Republic they fought for from 1918-1922.Veterans of the Pro-Treaty side of the Irish Civil War (who suppressed the IRA) bound together to form the "Army Comrades Association" (ACA) to "defend" against agitation or attacks by the IRA or other groups; the IRA had assassinated Kevin O'Higgins in 1927, the Minister for Justice, for his role in executing IRA prisoners.In 1932, O'Duffy was Commissioner of the Irish Police-and was one of several people who suggested to the sitting government (Cumann na nGaedheal) that he use the police to help stage a military coup should Fianna Fáil win. O'Duffy was later sacked as Commissioner by Fianna Fáil, and in 1933 he became leader of the ACA. The group took a lot of inspiration from Mussolini, and began to wear a distinctive blue uniform. A huge parade was planned in 1933 to commemorate several dead Pro-Treaty leaders, and many worried this was to be Ireland's "March on Rome." The parade was banned and the police raided many ACA members' homes to seize firearms. The parade was banned, and security was beefed up to prevent any attempts to mess around.1/2
>>18119834The Blueshirts shifted further toward a loose set of ideals, again inspired by Mussolini and with corporatism as their main driving ideology. They wanted:>Ireland to be reunified>to oppose "the evils of both Marxism and Nazism">To generally reform Ireland into a Corporatist State In our "timeline", the outcome after the ban of the 1933 parade and the declaration of the Blueshirts to be an illegal group, O'Duffy was approached by Cumann na nGeadheal to have the Blueshirts merge with them to form the party we know now as "Fine Gael." They adopted a new programmed, ditching mention of Corporatism and instead simply pushing for a United Ireland within the British Commonwealth. O'Duffy eventually became to opolarising a figure due to many of his extremist views, and he (along with many followers) left Fine Gael in 1934.He visited the Montreuz Fascist Conference in Switzerland, then returned to Ireland to found the National Corporate Party-an openly Fascist party with its own military wing, known as the Greenshirts. They ended up going to Spain to fight for Franco, which was largely their ruin; they were humiliated and sent home.I suppose the "best" chance for an O'Duffy dictatorship is either>1932The "March on Dublin" goes ahead, and power is seized before Fianna Fáil can release the dissidents from prison. Britain's reaction would likely be somewhat apathetic, as the coup would be preventing a very hostile regime coming to power.>1934-?O'Duffy's men never go to Spain, and instead somehow have several miracles in a row that grant them the popularity to either seize power or get in by the ballot.Problem comes when we hit their>United Irelandpoint. Britain would have no issue with democratic deficit to ensure they remained in control in Ireland-but as soon as it's "they want Northern Ireland", it's an issue. However, most of the "we join the allies and get NI" guys were in Fine Gael/O'Duffy's crowd, so who knows.
