Tour Guides to Dystopia

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Image: Office renovation in the movie Brazil

by Ray Tabler

This post seems to be appropriate for Black Friday, the day of the year when our flimsy veneer of civilization wears thinnest. Fair warning, the following is a catalog of real, historical dystopia, which could be used to model fictional nightmare societies upon. Won’t blame you if you don’t read on. I didn’t enjoy writing this one.

The word “dystopian” has been bandied about much of late, both as a literary sub-genre and in political debate.

Dystopian – “…of, relating to, or being an imagined world or society in which people lead dehumanized, fearful lives…” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dystopian

Dystopia – “…an imagined state or society in which there is great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post-apocalyptic…” https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en

The above definitions remind me that dystopia, of various origin and degree, are not all that unusual throughout history. It’s an open secret that authors will troll through history to help flesh out the world-building of speculative fiction tales. Reportedly, George RR Martin cribbed Game of Thrones from the English War of the Roses. A declining Rome inspired Tolkien’s Gondor. There are other instances. So, I thought I’d list some examples of actual, factual dystopian times as a service for those who pen such stories.

Sulla’s Reign of Terror – In 84 BC, Lucius Cornelius Sulla won a bloody, vicious civil war against his rival, Gaius Marius, to become dictator of Rome. Taking a cautious approach, Sulla immediately began eliminating everyone who had supported Marius. He posted “proscription lists” in the Forum each morning, cataloging the names of people who could be killed by anyone. Just bring in the head of the proscribed individual, and collect your bounty. Enterprising entrepreneurs were none too careful about making sure that they had the right head, and many ‘innocent” people thus met an undeserved fate. Over the next few months upwards of ten thousand people died in Sulla’s cleanup operation. Related to a Marius ally by marriage, a teen-aged Julius Caesar narrowly escaped execution, through the intervention of his mother’s family. Now, there’s a point-of-departure for your alternate history writers. https://1440review.com/2024/03/07/sulla-as-dictator-romes-reign-of-terror/

Taiping Rebellion – The Taiping Rebellion lasted from 1850 to 1864, and is estimated to have immolated 20 – 30 million people, 5 to 10 % of China’s population at the time. Aspiring bureaucrat Hong Huoxiu failed the civil service exam for the 3rd time, and suffered a nervous breakdown. This resulted in visions, and the unshakable conviction that he was in fact Jesus Christ’s younger brother, and was destined to rid the world of all demons and found a Heavenly Kingdom right there in China. (What could go wrong with that?) Hong must’ve preached a good game. Although the central regime sent expedition after expedition to stamp out the movement, the Taiping forces triumphed. Ain’t no war like a religious war. The Taiping faithful tended to massacre whoever refused to convert. Hong filled his army by conscripting almost everyone in his territories, and that won’t work long term. Eventually, the central government successfully besieged Hong’s stronghold, and defeated him. Hong committed suicide. His remains were dug up, chopped up, burned, and shot from a cannon. Just to be sure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion

French Reign of Terror – The people who started the French revolution worried that France would settle on some kind of (constitutional) monarchy, similar to Britain, once everyone calmed down and sobered up. The revolutionaries didn’t want a return to normalcy, and frankly worried that they might have to answer for their actions should non-revolutionary order be restored. Between 1789 and 1799, this paranoia resulted in the arrest of close to ½ million French citizens, and the execution of 30,000 to 50,000, by conservative estimates. They sought to channel a “river of blood” between the French nation and its past. So, the guillotine was kept busy, fed with anyone who might be lonesome for the old days. One city didn’t have enough guillotines to handle the traffic. So, the locals bound hundreds of suspected counter-revolutionaries hand and foot, stacked them on barges, and sank the barges in a river. The reign of terror didn’t end until Napolean seized power. A generation of continent-wide war followed. https://www.worldhistory.org/Reign_of_Terror/

Russian Terror(s) – When considering Russian history, it’s probably a good idea to specify which terror you’re talking about.

· Russian Pogroms – Although not limited to Russia, pogroms were a favored technique of the Czars as a safety valve, aimed at convenient minorities (typically Jews). Basically, the authorities will declare open season on a group of people, some of whom may or may not have done something to annoy those in power. This distracts the grievances of the general populace, who eagerly slaughter before time runs out. It’s a long list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogroms_in_the_Russian_Empire

· The Red Terror – Taking a page from the French revolution’s playbook, Lenin initiated the Red Terror, which ran from the start of the Bolshevik revolution through the mid-1920s. It followed the rule of thumb, liquidate anybody who might even think about opposing you, and seize their property. (See the pattern emerging here?) Death toll: 600,000 to 1,700,000 (depending on whose numbers you believe). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Terror

· The Holodomor – Stalin learned at the feet of Lenin, then surpassed him. Recalcitrant land-owning Ukrainian peasants, kulaks, perished in forced famines, the Humidor. This was to eliminate opposition to collectivized farming. Death toll: ~7 million, 25% of Ukrainian population at the time, 1932-1933. https://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/stalin.htm

· The Great Terror – Smoking Joe carried out the Great Terror, or Great Purge, 1936-1938, to rid himself of opposition in the party, the Red Army, and pretty much everywhere else he could reach. Stalin’s minions executed victims outright, or sent them to Siberia to be worked to death. Toll: 700,000 to 1.2 million deaths. (Official figures, so probably a lowball estimate). https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/great-purge, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Purge

Armenian Genocide – Fearing that they would be sympathetic to the Western Allies during WW1, the authorities of the Ottoman Empire forcibly relocated their ethnic minority population of Christian Armenians away from strategic areas in 1915-1916. The Turks still deny that genocide was their intention. Still, 600,000 to 1.2 million Armenians (out of a starting population of 1.5 million Armenians in Turkey) died in the process, either through exposure, starvation, disease, or massacres. Malicious intent or callous, gross incompetence, the debate remains unresolved. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-armenian-genocide-1915-16-overview

The Holocaust – Nazi Germany, and conquered countries (with varying degrees of collaboration). 1939-1945. 6 million Jews, along with communists, gypsies, homosexuals, and other people Hitler didn’t like. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust

The Great Leap Forward & Cultural Revolution – Hoo boy! Mao probably didn’t set out to murder tens of millions of his own people, intentionally. But he didn’t shrink from the task, if that’s what it took to keep his grip on power. This is a common thread running through dystopia. Not so much that people don’t have inherent value. More along the lines of their value as fuel for the flame of revolution/the faith/preserving order outweighs that inherent value. The Great Leap Forward (1958-1962) was Mao’s effort to drag China into the modern age in record time. Result: a famine which starved 15-50 million Chinese to death. The Cultural Revolution (166-1976) attempted to purge all remnants of pre-revolution culture from Chinese society. Only 1-2 million deaths. But the damage was heavily weighted to China’s educated population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution

The Killing Fields – When the Khmer Rouge wone the Cambodian Civil War they set about transforming Cambodia into an agrarian socialist utopia (1975-1979). In the process, government officials murdered 1.7-2.2 million Cambodians (out of a population of 8 million) who were judged to be a stumbling block to that goal. Methods of liquidation included shooting, blunt force trauma, and suffocation by putting a plastic bag over the head. (Bullets are expensive.) Targeted were Cambodians who had contact with foreigners, free-market activity, or wearing glasses. Not kidding about the glasses. If you wore glasses, you likely read. And, as we know, reading is the gateway drug for thinking for yourself. Khmer Rouge couldn’t have that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Fields

Rwandan Genocide – In 1994, during the Rwandan Civil War, 500,000-660,000 Tutsi civilians were systematically massacred by the other side (mainly ethnic Hutus). It might be argued that the Tutsis ‘started “the civil war in 1990. But, even if they did, ethnic cleansing was clearly a step too far. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_genocide

That ought to be enough.

Please don’t get me wrong. I might be a bit flip in the above descriptions. But that’s only because the horrific nature of these events demands some gallows humor, or else it just gets too grim. Also, I’m not pointing a finger, specifically, at any particular political ideology. Reigns of terror are an equal-opportunity technique for getting rid of inconvenient people. The root cause for terrors lays in human nature, not political beliefs.

The above list is certainly not comprehensive. This is just what I remembered off the top of my head. A hit parade of man’s inhumanity to man. Although, being included in the catalog is not something to be celebrated, regardless of which end of the equation groups involved occupied.

The point is, if you’re going to write about some future or other-worldly dystopia, there is an embarrassment of source material to draw from. Histories, and personal accounts from these sad, dark episodes are helpful guides to dystopian world-building. The only essential ingredient for dystopia is for people in power to see advantage in the misery and death of others.

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