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Chapter 9: Resistance
Chapter 9 emphasizes that the history of the strongman is also the history of those who oppose him. While assassinations are the most common form of violent resistance, they are not always successful, as evinced by several unsuccessful assassination attempts against leaders such as Mussolini, Hitler, and Pinochet. Nonviolent resistance, on the other hand, can be just as powerful, and is often even more successful. Nonviolent resistance includes both public acts such as peaceful protest and noncompliance, and private acts such as simply keeping a history of the regime’s victims. By giving examples of powerful nonviolent resistance, Ben-Ghiat hopes to inspire and direct those who are facing similar situations in their own nations.
In the modern age, social media has created new avenues for political action, but physical resistance, such as protests, are still the most effective. Resistance to Mussolini was quickly crushed within Italy, and thereafter, most resistance came from anti-fascists abroad who were either exiles or united in the same common cause. One of the most famed resistance movements against Hitler was the White Rose Society, which was responsible for anti-Hitler letters, leaflets, and graffiti. Even after some of their leaders were executed, resistance continued with airdrops of their letters across Germany. Pinochet faced protests and the NO+ (no mas, meaning no more) movement, which was a form of artistic protest. Gaddafi was the target of constant resistance, which he responded to with increased repression, only angering citizens more and increasing resistance. Similarly, Putin’s attempts to crack down on protesters had been met with even greater anger throughout the 2010s.
Berlusconi was able to avoid resistance from old media, such as television and newspapers, because of his control over the industry, but he was unprepared for the internet. During his first presidential term, Trump faced much resistance as well, especially during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Protests erupted over multiple hot-button issues, including reproductive rights, the ban of immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries, and the Black Lives Matter movement. According to Ben-Ghiat, Trump responded like past strongmen by declaring these protestors to be dangers to society and equivalent to domestic terrorists, in some cases, thus giving police substantial immunity in their actions against these protestors.
However, Ben-Ghiat ends this chapter on a hopeful note, remarking that among the most potent weapons against authoritarian leaders is care, love, and empathy. She offers the encouraging example of a 2019 election held in Turkey, for Mayor of Istanbul. The candidate of Erdoğan’s party, running on hatred and predictions of impending doom for Turkey, was defeated by an opposition candidate, Ekrem Imamoğlu, who ran on a platform based on “radical love.” He mingled with voters and used messages of calm assurance to win them over. When Erdoğan insisted that the elections had to be run again, Imamoğlu won by an even bigger margin, allowing hope to replace fear for the first time in Turkey in many years.
Chapter 10: Endings
Chapter 10 describes the final days of the strongmen Ben-Ghiat has analyzed so far. Strongmen, in general, are unprepared for losing power and leaving office, seeing it as the end of their power entirely. Democratic rulers use a graceful exit as an opportunity to extend their legacy of leadership. Strongmen, on the other hand, view it as a kind of death, and thus will do anything to stay in power and retain the adulation of the public.
Mussolini’s power died with a whimper. He was voted out by his own cabinet before being reinstated for a few years by Germany; however, his power had already faded, and it was the Germans, not he, who were in charge during his second, brief regime. Hitler’s downfall came at the end of World War II, where he spent his final days blaming Germany for its downfall and scorning its people up until his suicide.
Franco, in contrast, died peacefully in office of natural causes after a lifetime of focusing solely on his power and covering up his atrocities. Pinochet also died of natural causes, but it was after a gradual stage-by-stage stripping of his power and status, and arrest and prosecution for his crimes.
Gaddafi, in his final years, believed that he had been able to ride out the changing times and had transitioned into a new form of dictatorship. However, he was unable to maintain power and was killed by his own citizens. Berlusconi was unceremoniously forced to resign due to criminal charges against him, including sex with a minor. Despite his dismissal, he offers a sort of cautionary tale: over time, he managed to gradually erode democratic values and institutions by sowing seeds of distrust and fear, something that Ben-Ghiat says that Trump has also attempted. Authoritarianism in America did not start with Trump, Ben-Ghiat claims, but it has worsened under him.
