39,327
edits
Genghis Gambit: Difference between revisions
m
update links
m (update links) |
|||
Line 40:
* Jacen Solo does this in the ''[[Legacy of the Force]]'' novels. The catch? {{spoiler|He's the threat, which makes this a [[Thanatos Gambit]] to boot}}
* ''[[Illuminatus]]'': Among the ([[Gambit Pileup|many, many]]) conspiracies is that the government(s) use this to keep the populace distracted from their own sinister agendas. A character is told to watch China after the USSR falls.
* ''[[Angels
* ''[[Discworld]]'': [[Magnificent Bastard]] Havelock Vetinari of manages to pull off an interesting variant; he knows the heads of the various guilds of Ankh-Morpork want nothing more than to see him "dancing the hemp fandango", but the only thing keeping him alive is one common enemy -- an Ankh-Morpork ''without'' Vetinari. [[Vetinari Job Security|You don't have to be the BEST patrician to succeed, just slightly better than the alternative.]]
* [[Ursula K. Le Guin|Ursula K. LeGuin's]] ''The Lathe of Heaven'' uses the threat of aliens to unite the nations of Earth.
Line 102:
== Real Life ==
* [[Trope Namer]]: [[Genghis Khan]], who went on conquests to unite the Mongols. Cracked.com described it as something akin to a massive work team-building exercise.
* This was [[Otto
* This is ''the'' standard operating procedure of fascism: The leaders instill in the people a strong nationalistic pride and militaristic culture, usually hearkening back to the old days when almost everyone fought each other, and then finds an enemy (external or not) and uses them to unite the people.
** This is a trope common to totalitarianisms in general, not just fascism - Communists use "international Capitalism/Reactionaries/Imperialists", right-wing dictatorships used "Communism/Socialism", religious dictatorships use "atheists/infidels/apostates" and the Nazis used "Judeo-Bolshevism/Jewish High Finance/English Plutocrats (who are also Jews)."
| |||