Saddam Hussein's Birth Anniversary

 

Saddam Hussein, born on 28 April 1937, in Al-Awja, Iraq, was an Iraqi President and Dictator.

A member of the Ba'ath political party, he was instrumental in its rise to power in Iraq in 1968. Throughout the 1970s he consolidated his power in the country, before formally taking over in 1979. His policies espoused a mixture of Arab nationalism and socialism.

Hussein's dictatorship was exceptionally brutal, with the total number of deaths from purges and genocide conservatively estimated at a quarter of a million people. In 1980 he invaded neighbouring Iran which started a ruinous eight-year war that led to no border changes and hundreds of thousands of war dead on both sides. In 1990 he started the Gulf War by invading and annexing Kuwait before being removed by an international coalition led by the United States.

Through the 1990s Iraq suffered from UN sanctions and isolation. Beginning in the early 2000s under the presidency of George W. Bush,

Hussein was accused of possessing weapons of mass destruction and was deposed in a 2003 invasion. Though no weapons were found, he was tried of crimes against humanity and executed in 2006.

António de Oliveira Salazar's Birth Anniversary

 

António de Oliveira Salazar, born on 28 April 1889, in Santa Comba Dão, Kingdom of Portugal, was a Dictator of Portugal.

António Salazar held power in Portugal for an incredible 40 years, only giving it up after he became too ill to continue in 1968.

Salazar rose to power after the 1926 military coup. He was initially asked to be the Finance Minister but refused the position after he wasn't given the full control of the country's finances. In 1928 General Antonio Oscar de Fragoso Carmona offered him the position again, this time giving him full control and Salazar accepted. His economic policies were successful in balancing the budget for the first time since 1910 and he became Prime Minister in 1932. In the same year he introduced a new constitution the Estado Novo or New State, bringing it in 1933.

Under Salazar's control Portugal supported other nationalist and fascist governments particularly Francisco Franco’s in Spain. However, Portugal remained neutral during WWII. Salazar refused to give up Portugal's foreign territories throughout his dictatorship and although forced to give up Goa in India, brutally repressed unrest that began in 1961 in Angola.

Aligning with the Catholic Church Salazar's government repressed opposition parties and was criticized for keeping his people poor and illiterate till a stroke and ill health ended his dictatorship. He was replaced by Marcello Caetano as Prime Minister.