Important Leaders of Other Nations and Empires

 

 

 

Afghanistan

                Mullah Mohammad Omar 1996-2001; leader of the Taliban; gave refuge to bin Laden's Al

                                Qaeda terrorist group

                Hamid Karzai 2001-present

 

Akkadian Empire

Sargon I 2335-2279 BC; united Akkad and Sumer; conquered most of Mesopotamia

 

Algeria

                Ahmed Ben Bella 1962-1965; won independence from France

                Abdelaziz Bouteflika 1999-present; made peace with rebels in civil war

 

Angola

                Agostinho Antonio Neto 1975-1979; won independence from Portugal; established Popular

                                Movement for the Liberation of Angola Party (MPLA)

                Jose Eduardo dos Santos 1979-present; leader of MPLA; signed peace with UNITA leader

                                Savimbi in 1991; agreed to share power with Savimbi in Lusaka Protocol

 

Argentina

                Juan Peron 1946-1955, 1974-1976; married popular Eva (Evita); Peronista party formed to

                                support him; later married Isabel

                Isabel Peron 1974-1976; third wife of Juan Peron; first woman president in Western

                                Hemisphere

                Jorge Rafael Videla 1976-1981; led military junta; guerilla warfare "dirty war" throughout

                                country for years

                Leopoldo Galtieri 1981-1982; resigned after losing Falklands War

                Raul Alfonsin 1983-1989

                Carlos Menem 1989-1999

                Fernando de la Rua 1999-2001; resigned amid economic crisis, led to 5 presidents in 2 weeks

                Ramon Puerta 2001

                Adolfo Rodriguez Saa 2001

                Eduardo Camano 2001-2002

                Eduardo Duhalde 2002- ; Peronist candidate who had lost in 1999 to de la Rua      

 

Armenia

                Robert Kocharian 1998-present; Prime Minister Sarkissian was killed in Parliament in 1999

 

Assyria

                Shalmaneser III 859-824 BC; failed to conquer Aram; monuments include the Black

                                Obelisk and the Gates of Balawat

                Tiglath-pileser III 745-727 BC; took over Babylonia

                Shalmaneser V 727-722 BC; conquered Israel

                Sargon II 722-705 BC; deported Israelites; expanded empire; made capital at Calah and built

                                new city Dar Sharrukin

                Sennacherib 705-681 BC; moved capital to Nineveh; razed Babylonia; commemorated in poem

                                by Byron

                Ashurbanipal 669-627 BC; collected large library in Nineveh; attacked Memphis and Susa

                Ashur-uballit II 612-609 BC; last Assyrian king

 

Australia

                John Adrian Louis Hope 1901-1903; first governor-general

                Edmund Barton 1901-1903; first prime minister

                John Curtin 1941-1945; allied with US in WWII; member of Labor party

                Robert Gordon Menzies 1949-1966; founded Liberal Party; longest term as prime minister

                Gough Whitlan 1972-1975; leader of Labor Party; dismissed by governor-general

                Malcolm Fraser 1975-1983; led Liberal Party

                Robert Hawke 1983-1991; brought Labor Party to power

                Paul Keating 1991-1996; led Labor Party

                John Howard 1996-  ; restored Liberal Party to power

 

Azerbaijan

                Haydar Aliyev 1993-present

 

Aztec Empire

                Montezuma II 1502-1520; killed by his own people when Cortes made him appeal for an end to

                                the revolt against the Spaniards

                Cuauhtemoc 1520; last emperor

 

Babylonia

                First Babylonian Empire

                                Hammurabi 1792-1750 BC; defeated King Rim-Sin of Larsa; established code of

                                                laws (Code of Hammurabi)

                                Samsu-iluna 1750-1712 BC; son of Hammurabi

                Chaldean Period

                                Nebuchadnezzar II 605-562 BC; defeated Egyptians at Carchemish; captured

                                                Jerusalem and Judah; restored Babylonian empire

                                Nabonidus 546-539 BC; son Belshazzar given most power; defeated by Persian

                                                Cyrus the Great

 

Bangladesh

                Mujibur Rahman 1971-1975; killed in coup

                Ziaur Rahman 1977-1981; killed in coup

                Hossain Mohammad Ershad 1983-1990; leader of Jatiya party; jailed for corruption

                Begum Khaleda Zia 1991-1996; widow of Ziaur Rahman; led Bangladesh Nationalist Party

 

Belarus

                Aleksandr Lukashenko 1994-present

 

Bolivia

                Antonio Jose de Sucre 1826-1828; helped win independence for South America from Spain;

                                fought with Bolivar at Ayacucho

                Hilarion Daza c. 1880; fought with Peru against Chile in War of the Pacific; ceded Atacama

                                Province to Chile

                Victor Paz Estenssoro 1952-1956, 1960-1964, 1985-1989; founded Nationalist Revolutionary

                                Movement; nationalized tin industry

                Jorge Quiroga Ramirez 2001-present

 

Brazil

                Pedro I 1822-31; son of Portuguese John VI, who had fled to Brazil as Napoleon invaded

                                Portugal

                Getulio Vargas 1930-1945; dictator took control in junta

                Fernando Cardoso 1995-

 

Caliphate

                Early Period

                                Muhammad 619-632; raised by Abu Talib; married Khadija; made Hegira from

                                                Mecca to Medina; became ruler of Medina and defeated Mecca; wrote

                                                Koran; founded Islam

                                Abu Bakr 632-634; Muhammad's father-in-law

                                Umar I 634-644; defeated Persia; conquered Egypt, Syria, and Iraq

                                Uthman ibn Affan 644-656; assassinated by rebel troops

                                Ali 656-661; fought Muawiyah at Siffin; assassinated by the Kharijites; his

                                                followers were the Shiites

                Umayyad Dynasty

                                Muawiyah 661-680; revolted against Caliph Ali; moved capital from Mecca to

                                                Damascus; successors conquered North Africa and Spain until stopped

                                                by Martel at Poitiers

                                Yazid I 680-683; slaughtered Husayn and the Kufan Shiites at Karbala

                                Muwan II ?-750; overthrown by Abbasids

                Abbasid Dynasty

                                Abu al-Abbas 750-754; overthrew Umayyads

                                al-Mansur 754-775; built capital at Baghdad

                                Harun al-Rashid 786-809; court described in Arabian Nights; member of

                                                Barmecides family was grand vizier; exchanged gifts with Charlemagne;

                                                vizier Jaffar and chief executioner Mesrour

                                al-Mustasim ?-1258; killed by Mongol Hulagu, ending dynasty

                Fatimid Dynasty

                                Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi 909-?; established dynasty in Tunisia; he was a Shiite

                                                claiming descent from Mohammad's daughter Fatima and Caliph Ali;

                                                proclaimed Moslem messiah (Mahdi)

                Spanish Umayyads

                                Abd-ar-Rahman 929-?; descendants ruled from Cordoba until 1031

               

Cambodia

                Norodom Sihanouk 1941-1955; king; still head of state

                Pol Pot 1975-1985; leader of Khmer Rouge; arrested 1997

                Hun Sen 1998-present

 

Canada

                John MacDonald 1867-1873, 1878-1891; Conservative; first prime minister

                Alexander Mackenzie 1873-1878; Liberal

                Wilfrid Laurier 1896-1911; Liberal

                Robert Laird Borden 1911-1920; switched from Conservative to Union party

                W.L. Mackenzie King 1921-1926, 1926-1930, 1935-1948; Liberal

                Richard Bennett 1930-1935; Conservative; proposed the Bennett New Deal during Depression

                Louis St. Laurent 1948-1957; Liberal

                John Diefenbaker 1957-1963; Progressive Conservative

                Lester Pearson 1963-1968; Liberal; won 1957 Nobel Peace Prize for diplomatic work in

                                Korea and the Suez

                Pierre Trudeau 1968-1979; Liberal

                Brian Mulroney 1984-1993; Progressive Conservative; negotiated Meech Lake Accord with

                                Quebec Premier Bourassa in 1987 included Native Americans

                Kim Campbell 1993; Progressive Conservative; first female prime minister

                Jean Chretien 1993-present; Liberal

 

Chile

                Bernardo O'Higgins 1817-1823; leader in South American independence from Spain

                Salvador Allende Gossens 1970-1973; niece is author Isabel Allende

                Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, 1974-1990; led anti-Marxist coup; committed human rights abuses

                Patricio Aylwin Azocar 1990-1994

                Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle 1994-2000

                Ricardo Lagos Escobar 2000-present; first socialist president since Pinochet's coup

 

China

                Xia Dynasty 2205-1766 BC

                Shang Dynasty 1500-1027 BC

                Western Chou Dynasty 1027-770 BC

                Eastern Chou 770-256 BC

                                Spring and Autumn Period 722-481 BC

                                Warring States 403-221 BC

                Ch'in (Qin) Dynasty 221-206 BC

                                Shih Huang-Ti 221-210 BC; originally Cheng; advised by Li Ssu; built Grand Canal

                Western Han Dynasty 202 BC - 9 AD

                Hsin Dynasty 9 - 23, interrupting Han

                                Wang Mang - usurper; reformer; murdered by Liu clan

                Eastern Han Dynasty 25-220

                Three Kingdoms (Wei, Shu, Wu) 220-265

                T'ang Dynasty 618-906

                Sung Dynasty 960-1279

                Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty 1279-1368

                                Kublai Khan 1279-1294; grandson of Ghengis; built court at Cambaluc (Beijing);

                                                visited by Marco Polo (Venice); Buddhist

                Ming Dynasty 1368-1644

                Ch'ing (Manchu) Dynasty 1644-1912

                                Pu Yi 1908-1912; last emperor; appointed head of Manchukuo by Japan in 1932

                Republic 1911-1937

                                Yuan Shikai 1912-1916; former Manchu general            

                                Chiang Kai-shek 1927-1937; led Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party founded by Sun

                                                Yat-sen; purged communists

                Occupied by Japan 1937-1945

                Communist 1949-

                                Chairman Mao Tse-Tung 1949-1976; led Long March; established Communist

                                                government in China; policies included Hundred Flowers, Great Leap

                                                Forward, and Cultural Revolution

                                Premier Zhao Enlai 1949-1976

                                De Facto Leader Deng Xiaoping 1976-1997; encouraged "Four Modernizations" and

                                                instituted reforms leading to more market-style economy

                                General Secretary Hu Yaobang 1981-1987; reformer supported by Tiananmen

                                                Square protestors

                                General Secretary Zhao Ziyang 1987-1989; was removed for being sympathetic to

                                                Tiananmen Square protestors

                                Premier Li Peng 1987-1998

                                General Secretary Jiang Zemin 1989- ; former Shangai mayor; continued Deng's

                                                reforms

                                Premier Zhu Rongji 1998 -

               

Colombia

                Simon Bolivar 1821-1830; won independence from Spain, freeing Colombia at Boyaca;

                                continued to liberate Ecuador and Peru while Santander ran government of Gran

                                Colombia, including Venezuela and Panama

                Francisco de Paula Santander 1832-1837; Colombia and Panama became New Granada

                Ernest Samper 1994-1998; Liberal Party; accused of accepting bribes from drug cartels

                Andres Pastrana 1998-present; Conservative Party

               

Congo (former Zaire)

                Patrice Lumumba 1960; first premier; removed by President Kasavubu and murdered by

                                Tshombe's Katangan rebels

                Mobutu Sese Seko 1965-1997; renamed nation Zaire

                Laurent Kabila 1999-2001; leader of rebels who ousted Mobutu; assassinated by bodyguard;

                                renamed nation Democratic Republic of the Congo

                Joseph Kabila 2001-present

 

Costa Rica

                Miguel Angel Rodriguez Echeverria 1998-present

 

Cuba

                Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar 1952-1959

                Fidel Castro Ruz 1959-present; ousted dictator Batista and established Communist government

 

Dominican Republic

                Rafael Trujillo 1930-1961; dictator; assassinated

                Joaquin Balaguer 1961-1962, 1966-1996; defeated Bosch in 1966 election after US intervention

                Hipolito Mejia 2000-present

 

Ecuador

                Abdala Bucaram 1996-1997; known as "El Loco" (The Crazy One)

                Gustavo Noboa Bejarano 2000-present

 

Egypt

                Predynastic Period c.3500-c.3100 BC

                Early Dynastic Period c.3100-2686 BC, 1-2 dynasties

                                Menes c. 3100 BC; also Narmer; united Upper and Lower Egypt; killed by

                                                hippopotamus 

                Old Kingdom c.2686-2181 BC, 3-6 dynasties, capital at Memphis

                                Djoser c. 2600 BC; his architect Imhotep build Step Pyramid

                                Khufu 2551-2528 BC; also Cheops; built Great Pyramid at Giza

                First Intermediate Period c.2181-2040 BC, 7-10 dynasties, capital at Thebes and Herakleopolis

                Middle Kingdom c.2040-1786 BC, 11-12 dynasties

                                Amenemhet I c. 1991 BC; controlled Nubia; capital at Itjtawy; began Dynasty 12

                Second Intermediate Period 1786-1567 BC, 13-17 dynasties (Hyksos ruled during 15)

                New Kingdom 1570-1085 BC, 18-20 dynasties

                                Ahmose I 1550-1525 BC; established New Kingdom; drove out Hyksos

                                Thutmose I 1504-1492 BC; defeated Nubians

                                Thutmose II 1492-1479 BC; husband of Hatshepsut

                                Hatshepsut 1473-1458 BC; daughter of Thutmose I;

                                Thutmose III 1479-1425 BC; ruled as coregent with stepmother Hatshepsut;

                                                expanded empire; defeated Syria at Plain of Jezreel

                                Ahmenhotep III 1391-1353 BC; built palace at Thebes; encouraged arts

                                Ahmenhotep IV 1353-1335 BC; introduced monotheistic Aton religion; changed

                                                name to Akhenaton and built capital at Akhenaton

                                Tutankhamun 1333-1323 BC; restored Thebes and Amon worship; tomb discovered

                                                by Carter and Carnarvon in 1922

                                Ramses II 1290-1224 BC; fought Hittites at Kadesh

                                Ramses III 1194-1163; fought Lydians and Sea People; defeated Harem conspiracy

                Late Dynastic Period 1085-332 BC, 21-31 dynasties

                Ptolemaic Dynasty 323 BC - 30 AD

                                Ptolemy I 323-283 BC; general of Alexander the Great; built library at Alexandria

                                Cleopatra VII; committed suicide with Marc Antony at Actium; Rome took Egypt

                Ayyubid Family

                                Saladin 1169-1193; vizier of Egypt nominally under the Fatimids; captured

                                                Damascus and the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem from Crusaders; signed

                                                armistice with Richard I (England) in Third Crusade, keeping Jerusalem

                                                in Muslim control

                Mamluks (Bahri and Burji sultans) 1250-1517

                Modern

                                Mohammed Ali 1805-1848; Ottoman viceroy of Egypt but operated independently

                                                of Ottomans

                                Ibrahim Pasha 1848; general and son of Mohammed Ali

                                Ismail Pasha 1863-1879; opened Suez canal; westernized Egypt

                                Fuad I 1922-1936; king

                                Faruk I 1936-1952; king

                                Gamal Nasser 1954-1970; led coup ousting Faruk in 1952, then ousted Naguib; built

                                                Aswan High Dam; ended British occupation; Suez Crisis; lost Six Day

                                                War; formed United Arab Republic with Syria 1958-1961

                                Anwar al-Sadat 1970-1981; lost Arab-Israeli War; signed Camp David Accords;

                                                encouraged foreign investment (infitah); assassinated by Islamic

                                                extremists

                                Hosni Mubarak 1981-present

 

El Salvador

                Jose Napoleon Duarte 1979-1989; leader of Christian Democratic Party; military, out of his

                                control, killed many during civil war

                Alfredo Cristiani 1989-1994; leader of Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA); negotiated

                                end to civil war

                Francisco Flores 1999-present

 

Estonia

                Lennart Meri 1992-present

 

Ethiopia

                Menelik II 1889-1909; united tribes; made capital at Addis Ababa; defeated Italians at Adowa

                Haile Selassie I 1930-1974; last emperor

 

Gambia

                Dawda Jawara 1970-1994; formed Senegambia with Senegal 1981-1989; deposed by Jammeh

 

Georgia

                Eduard Shevardnadze 1992-present; survived coup and two assassination attempts

 

Ghana

                Kwame Nkrumah 1957-1966; won independence for British Gold Coast; became first prime

                                minister then president; overthrown by military coup; advocated forming United

                                States of Africa

                Jerry Rawlings 1982-2001

 

Guatemala

                Jose Rafael Carrera 1840-1865; ended United Provinces of Central America, liberating

                                Guatemala, by defeated Morazan

                Manuel Estrada Cabrera 1898-1920; US United Fruit company exported many bananas

                Jorge Ubico 1931-1944; liked Hitler but joined US in WWII

                Juan Jose Arevalo 1944-1951; began "Ten Years of Spring" reforms

                Alfonso Portillo Cabrera 2000-present

 

Gupta

                Chandragupta 320-353; founded dynasty; capital at Patna on the Ganges

                Samudragupta 353-375; conquered much of India; pillar at Allahabad describes his exploits

 

Haiti

                Toussaint L'Ouverture 1801-1802; had led 1791 slave revolt; established republic but was

                                defeated by Leclerc, sent by Napoleon, and jailed

                Jean-Jacques Dessalines 1804-1806; won independence from France; proclaimed himself

                                emperor; called the Tiger

                Henri Chrisophe 1806-1820; plotted assassination of Dessalines; ruled north as Henri I;

                                committed suicide with silver bullet

                Francois Duvalier 1957-1971; "Papa Doc"; used Tontons Macoutes forces to intimidate

                                opposition

                Jean-Claude Duvalier 1971-1986; "Baby Doc"

                Jean-Bertrand Aristide 1991, 1994-1996; priest; ousted by coup led by Cedras but restored with

                                US intervention

                Rene Preval 1996-present

 

Honduras

                Carlos Roberto Flores Facusse 1998-present; Hurricane Mitch killed thousands in 1998

 

Huns

                Balamir 300s; defeated Alans, conquering land between Volga and Don

                Roas 400s; collected tribute from Roman Theodosius I

                Attila 433-453; murdered brother Bleda; defeated Byzantine Theodosius II; invaded Gaul but

                                lost to Romans at Chalons; ended advance on Rome after meeting with Pope Leo I

 

Incan Empire

                Topa Inca  to 1493

                Huayna Capac 1493-1525

                Atahualpa ~1525-1532; executed brother Huascar; conquered by Spanish under Pizarro

 

India

                Robert Clive 1750s; British governor of Bengal; won control of India at Plassey in 1757

                Warren Hastings 1772-1784; British colonial governor of Bengal; worked for British East India

                                Company; tried by Francis, supported by Burke, in Parliament

                Jawaharlal Nehru 1949-1964; led independence movement

                Indira Gandhi 1966-77, 1980-84; ordered attack on Sikh's Golden Temple at Amritsar;

                                assassinated by Sikh bodyguards

                Rajiv Gandhi 1984-1989; son of Indira; assassinated by Tamil terrorist

                Narasimha Rao 1991-1996

                Atal Bihari Vajpayee 1996-present; member of Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party

 

Indonesia

                Sukarno 1950-1968; led independence from Netherlands; killed many Communists after coup            

                Suharto 1968-1998

                Jusuf Habibie 1998-1999

                Abdurrahman Wahid 1999-2000; many East Timorese killed after voting for independence

                Megawati Sukarnoputri 2001-present

 

Iran

                Reza Shah Pahlavi 1925-1941; ousted by Britain during WWII

                Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi 1941-1979; Premier Mossadegh led oil nationalization drive

                Ayatollah Khomeini 1979-1989; led Islamic revolution

                Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani 1989-1997

                Mohamed Khatami 1997-present

 

Iraq

                Faisal I 1921-1933; aided Britain in WWI; secured full independence for Iraq in 1932

                Faisal II 1939-1958; became king at age three; formed pro-Western Arab Union with Jordan,

                                opposed by United Arab Republic, which supported a coup by Kassem in which

                                Faisal II was assassinated

                Saddam Hussein 1979-present; leader of Arab Baath Socialist Party; fought Iran in Iran-Iraq

                                War and UN in Persian Gulf War after invading Kuwait; persecuted Kurds

 

Israel

                United Kingdom

                                Saul  1020-1000 BC; defeated Philistines and Ammonites; jealous of David

                                David 1000-961 BC; son of Jesse; anointed by Samuel; slew Goliath; defeated Saul;

                                                friends with Saul's son Jonathan and married Michal; committed adultery

                                                with Uriah's wife Bathsheba, denounced by Nathan; son Absalom rebelled

                                                and was killed by general Joab

                                Solomon 961-922 BC; son of David and Bathsheba; built Temple; wrote Proverbs

                Israel (capital at Samaria)

                                Jeroboam 922-901 BC; became king of the northern ten tribes

                                Ahab 869-850 BC; married Jezebel; worshipped Baal

                                Jehu 850-? BC; killed Jezebel; appointed king by Elijah 

                                Hoshea ?-722 BC; Assyrians conquered Israel

                Judah (capital at Jerusalem)

                                Rehoboam 922-? BC; northern tribes rebelled under Jeroboam, leaving only Judah

                                                and Benjamin

                                Asa 910-870 BC; defeated Egyptian invasion

                                Jehoshaphat

                                Josiah 648-609 BC; discovered Deuteronomy; slain by Egypt at Megiddo

                                Zedekiah 597-586 BC; defeated by Nebuchadnezzar II, and Babylon conquered

                                                Judah

                Modern Israel

                                Chaim Weizmann 1949-1952; first president

                                David Ben-Gurion 1948-1953, 1955-1963; first prime minister; member of Zionist

                                                labor Mapai party; 1956 Suez Crisis

                                Golda Meir 1969-1974; resigned after Arab-Israeli War; leader of Labor party

                                Menachem Begin 1977-1983; Likud party; sign