Friday 23 December 2011

_statues of dictators

The 17th of December 2011 saw the death of the "Dear Leader" of North Korea, Kim Jong-Il. Reputed to have been the largest single customer of Hennessy Cognac at a time when 2 million members of the North Korean population starved to death Kim - Il maintained his leadership through an elaborate cult of personality. One tactic this diminutive ruler employed, like many dictators before him, was the extravagant and monumental reconstruction of himself as a giant statue. Below is Jong-Il's statue, or rather an image of it from the North Korean military newspaper "Chosun People's Army" as well as a few more examples from around the world;

Kim Jong-Il, one of the 'Three Mt. Baekdu Generals' dressed in military uniform at the Revolutionary History Museum of the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces, revealed on 11th May 2010


Kim Il-Sung, Prime Minister and then President of North Korea and father of Kim Jong-Il, on Mansudae Hill
Stalin Monument, Budapest. A gift from the people of Hungary to Josef Stalin it was torn down only five years later during the October Revolution.
Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq, 1979 - 2003.


Memorial of Kwame Nkruma, leader of Ghana 1952-1966, Accra, Ghana. courtesy of amaah (Flickr)


The golden statue of former Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov at the summit of the Neutrality Arch, Ashgabat.


Statue of the late Hafez Al-Assad, Damascus, Syria


The last remaining statue of General Franco in Spain, removed from Santander in 2008.


Mao, with long hair, Changsha Hunan Province, under construction 2009.


Margaret Thatcher, Members Lobby, House of Commons.






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