# Who preceded the Nazis as the cliched embodiment of evil?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-preceded-the-nazis-as-the-cliched-embodiment-of-evil/358882>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 31, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-preceded-the-nazis-as-the-cliched-embodiment-of-evil/358882 "2006-05-31T15:20:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-preceded-the-nazis-as-the-cliched-embodiment-of-evil/358882/61 "2006-06-03T02:03:07Z")

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In 16th-Century Europe, everybody was terrified of witches. Terrified enough to . . . well, you know the rest.

In the same century and for some time after, Europe was divided into Catholic and Protestant populations and each demonized the other. “I’ll weed the turnips when I’m ready, who are you, the Pope of Rome?” might actually have been used in Protestant countries, who knows?

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-preceded-the-nazis-as-the-cliched-embodiment-of-evil/358882/62 "2006-06-03T06:37:58Z")

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> [@pseudotriton ruber ruber](#):
>
> Well, the answer could be–and it seems as if it is-- “No one. There WAS no universal cliched embodiment of tyrannical authoritarian evil before the Nazis assumed that role,” which is kinda what I was thinking.

Sure there was.

“Hope you guess my name.”

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-preceded-the-nazis-as-the-cliched-embodiment-of-evil/358882/63 "2006-06-05T15:40:44Z")

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[QUOTE=Mr. Slant]  
I heard the Dutch were pretty danged evil…  
[/QUOTE]

What was Michael Caine’s line from the second _Austin Powers_ movie? Something like, “I hate only two things in this world. Stupid, blind, unreasoning hatred of any single country or its people… and the Dutch!”

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