History Main / CrushingThePopulace

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This is the will of the Empire. Those who oppose it will be crushed and hanged for all to see.

** This was thoroughly deconstructed in the ExpandedUniverse. Far from terrifying the populace into compliance, obliterating Alderaan purely to MakeAnExampleOfThem — their government had been following an ActualPacifist policy since the Clone Wars and had outright disbanded its armed forces — [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome galvanised public opinion against the Empire]] and drove a considerable number of their own personnel who WouldNotShootACivilian or [[InternalReformist thought they could make things better from within]] to desert or mutiny.

* General [[ShoutOut Tarquin]] of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' favours these kinds of tactics. What finally convinces Elan that he's genuinely, properly Evil and not just a benevolent tyrant is when he crushes a [[SlaveLiberation slave revolt]], crucifies the escapees, and sets them on fire. In the shape of Elan's name. ''As a homecoming present.''

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* In ''Film/TheHungerGames'', President Snow explains to Seneca Crane why the aforementioned games are more effective at subduing the districts than rounding up twenty-four of their children at random and simply executing them: because hope is easier to control than fear. In ''Mockingjay'', he orders the execution of district residents for joining the rebels.

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* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', the Boltons do this [[spoiler:in the North, after destroying House Stark]]. It doesn't seem to be very effective, given their medieval feudalistic paradigm of politics; a number of feudal lords conspire against them, like the Manderlys, or outright deny them, like the Mormonts and Reeds.

* ''Literature/TheBurningKingdoms'': Parajatdvipa's attitude towards Ahiranya after expelling the yaksa. They have {{public execution}}s for Ahirani rebels and sympathizers with [[CruelAndUnusualDeath vicious methods]] in hopes of ending the rebellion (it doesn't work however).

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* In ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'', the first action we see the Greater Korean Republic take is shooting several parents in front of their children before they get sent to labor camps/breeding pens.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Gungnir}}'', after Esperanza is temporarily forced to give up their rebellion, Imperial commander Regina orders all Leonica in the slums to be killed by their fellow poor if said fellow poor don't want to be executed too.
* Many strategy games (''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'', the ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' series) give the player a choice between integrating a newly conquered settlement or pillaging and razing it. The latter usually gives an immediate substantial cash bonus at the cost of a significant hit to foreign relations.

* You can do this once you've conquered a town in ''VideoGame/OverlordII'' by using magic to enslave and dominate the citizen's minds, forcing them to gather periodic tributes for you to collect. Its actually considered the nicer option over simply slaughtering the populace for a quick cash payout.

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-->'''Haley:''' ''(in flashback)'' What the heck is it going to take for you to see that your dad is bad news? Do you need, like, [[{{Foreshadowing}} 200-foot-high flaming letters or something?]]

-->-- '''Emperor Palpatine''', ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''

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See ReignOfTerror for the rebel version for {{you rebel scum}}.

In RealLife, there are many examples of despotic rule ruining the lives of people. [[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease More detail is not necessary.]]

In RealLife, there are many examples of despotic rule ruining the lives of people. More detail is not necessary.

** This was thoroughly deconstructed in the ExpandedUniverse. Far from terrifying the populace into compliance, obliterating Alderaan purely to MakeAnExampleOfThem — their government had been following an ActualPacifist policy since the Clone Wars and had outright disbanded its armed forces — [[RealityEnsues galvanised public opinion against the Empire]] and drove a considerable number of their own personnel who WouldNotShootACivilian or [[InternalReformist thought they could make things better from within]] to desert or mutiny.

** For all her talk about her 'Breaker of Chains' title, Daenerys has a nasty habit of tormenting slavers and criminals with increasingly constricting death penalties. Examples include locking a backstabbing merchant in his own empty vault, publicly crucifying the nobles who crucified children, and pushing nobles into a cave with two very hungry dragons on suspicions of treason. Eventually, this bleeds over into her city's cultural freedoms when she executes a former slave in public [[DeliberateValuesDissonance for reasons that don't make sense to them]], causing some of them to turn rebel at the apparent implications of 'you are all free, so that me, my armies, and my dragons may accuse you of crimes at random and enslave you to death'.

* ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'' depicts the aftermath of the war between Azania and the Northern Confederation this way. The Confederation, a [[EvilReactionary reactionary]] [[TheFundamentalist Christian dominionist]] regime, deeply and thoroughly hates the principles and society of Azania's LGBT-friendly LadyLand, and does its mortal best to stamp them out. The old capital is very thoroughly burned and razed, and all the old symbols outlawed. Women who surrender are re-educated to be fit for life as subservient housewives in the Confederation, and those who resist are [[MadeASlave sold as slaves]].
** They also had most of the faculty of Dartmouth College [[KillemAll butchered with swords]] while a choir sang a musical accompaniment. This was treated as an objectively good and necessary action in the story. Dartmouth is the college that the author of ''Victoria'' attended.

* You can do this once you've conquered a town in ''VideoGame/OverlorII'' by using magic to enslave and dominate the citizen's minds, forcing them to gather periodic tributes for you to collect. Its actually considered the nicer option over simply slaughtering the populace for a quick cash payout.

* You can do this once you've conquered a town in ''VideoGame/Overlord2'' by using magic to enslave and dominate the citizen's minds, forcing them to gather periodic tributes for you to collect. Its actually considered the nicer option over simply slaughtering the populace for a quick cash payout.