In Europe, we have a long history and consequently a significant number of villains. A few, such as Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, or Mussolini, have fallen from grace and have been subjected to historical judgment. This is largely because they were the defeated parties (of World War II) against the great Western powers, which have had sufficient power to impose their narrative on a large part of the world.
However, most antiheroes—some far more cruel than the Nazi and fascist leaders—continue to be venerated, such as the following.
JULIUS CAESAR
This famous general caused great suffering. In fact, he himself boasted of having killed 2 million people in 50 battles. Plutarch claimed that in the Gallic Wars alone, 1 million people died and another million were enslaved.
Despite all this, he has been admired throughout history and in many places. Even in his own day, the people acclaimed him when he arrived in Rome victorious. Both during the Roman Empire and after its fall, he continued to be seen as a model to follow and a legacy to carry on. For example, from Charlemagne and Otto I through to Napoleon’s era, in the Holy Roman Empire, emperors were crowned as Caesars (Kaisers) by the Pope.
Something similar happened in Russia starting with Ivan the Terrible, after whom monarchs began to be called Tsar—that is, Caesar—considering themselves the heirs of the Roman emperors. The same happened with the Ottoman sultans. Even today, that Roman emperor retains his aura as a great military leader and statesman in many countries. In fact, in Italy street names and statues are dedicated to him.
But let us not be deceived: a society that admires a criminal against humanity is a society that is deranged—and deranging.
VLAD DRACUL THE IMPALER
This monster, also known as Count Dracula, is Romania’s national hero, whom they honour with statues.
If they call him the Impaler, it is precisely because he impaled people so that they would fear him. And he did not impale 1 or 2 people, nor 20 or 30. No fewer than more than 20,000 victims! Most of them were prisoners of war whom the Ottomans forced to fight against Vlad.
To impale someone, they would hammer a lubricated stake through the victim’s anus until it came out through the shoulder. Experienced executioners did it in such a way that it barely damaged the vital organs, so death would be slower and more painful. Once the stake was inserted, they would set it upright. The victim could take hours or days to die. This description may be very unpleasant, but it is important to know exactly what these supposed national heroes did, so that our eyes may be opened.
LEOPOLD II OF BELGIUM
In this country, apart from Charles V, King Leopold II is particularly notable, as he committed genuine atrocities in the Congo. There he imposed a reign of terror to extract the maximum output from Africans forced to work on his rubber plantations. Ten million Africans died under his rule, and many others were victims of arm amputations as punishment for failing to meet the high production quotas, as well as abuse and ill-treatment.
And despite this, there are still statues of him, although there is a debate about what to do with them.
JAN PIETERZOON COEN
In the neighbouring Netherlands, this figure is a national hero, despite being a genocidaire. The reason is that he drove the expansion in Asia of the Dutch East India Company, an enterprise that many Dutch people continue to honour as the foremost icon of the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century, despite the atrocities he committed.
OTHER EMPIRE BUILDERS
In those and other European countries, some inhabitants are proud of their former colonial empires and see their conquerors as heroes who accomplished glorious feats that brought greatness to their nations.
The reality is that they carried out bloody conquests that caused great suffering to innocents. They introduced systems of exploitation (slavery, serfdom, forced labour) and abuse of Indigenous peoples or of enslaved people taken from Africa or Asia. All of this was accompanied by massacres and genocides, large-scale land theft, the rape of women, torture, and ill-treatment.
Some, like many in the United Kingdom, naively believe that their empire was quite benign. Nothing could be further from the truth. Benevolent empires do not exist, as to dominate and subjugate, one must fight, oppress, punish, and generate fear. Read more at…
LET US LIVE WITHOUT HARMING! Let us oppose imperialism, militarism, and the cult of violence
In Portugal, we have the kings and explorers who built the Portuguese Empire, to whom the probably most important monument in the entire country is dedicated. In Spain, the Catholic Monarchs, Charles I/V, Philip II, Pizarro, Cortés, etc. In France, figures such as Charlemagne, Louis XIV, or Napoleon; in Germany, Bismarck; in Russia, Peter I the Great or Catherine II the Great, etc.
Read LET US NOT HONOR VILLAINS!: Charlemagne, Louis XIV, Napoleon
Bismarck, Frederick the Great, Adenauer
Read: LET US NOT HONOUR VILLAINS!: Peter I the Great, Catherine II the Great, Lenin, Stalin…
Instead of exalting these anti-heroes, let us do them justice so that the atrocities they committed are not repeated. Let us not place them as directional signs by the roadside, because they will lead us down the wrong path. Instead, let us choose those who have contributed to a world with greater well-being.
Read: LET US NOT HONOUR VILLAINS!, but rather those who have fought for a better world
Thank you for sharing to help make it happen,
Xavier Paya
LET’S NOT HARM ANYONE, except in legitimate self-defense against an aggressor.
Read: Peter the Great of Russia, Catherine the Great, Lenin, Stalin
With the DO NOT HARM! initiative, we work to prevent any type of suffering or harm from being inflicted on you, your loved ones, and others.
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