7 ms·

Which european dictatorship left their country better off?

• rayiner 2mo ago
  "Better off" is too vague a criterion because it suggests some comparison with a counter-factual hypothetical. Instead, I think it's important to observe that the modern organs of state, rule of law, etc., were developed under (pre-constitutional) monarchs and dictators in most western European countries. For example in Germany, much of the bureaucracy was developed by the Prussians and the court system was developed under the Kaiser. Germany's 1949 Basic Law did not create a state from scratch, but instead largely subjected pre-existing institutions to democratic rule.
  • derektank 2mo ago
    Yeah, Frederick the Great is the closest thing I can think of to a European analogue to Lee Kwan Yew. Maybe Napoleon to a lesser extent.
• worik 2mo ago
  > Which european dictatorship left their country better off? If monarchs count as dictators, and monarchic states as dictatorship, then almost all economic progress in Europe upto the 1840s
• hollerith 2mo ago
  The UK for one. By the time it became a democracy, it was already stable, peaceful and the wealthiest country per capita that had ever existed.
  • junofan 2mo ago
    It was a narrow miss. There was a time the crown wanted everyone farming cotton, but entrepreneurs pitched arbitrage instead.
    • hollerith 2mo ago
      Do you mean raising sheep for wool? The UK has never grown a significant amount of cotton.
• spacebanana7 2mo ago
  Franco, at least in the sense of GDP per capita indicators and escaping WW2.