History’s most shocking Nobel Peace Prize nominations: #3 will blow your mind

From Epstein's list to sexual misconduct, from the Russia investigation to funding Israel in its mass massacre, US President Donald Trump is one of the most polarising figures in the world as of now. But he is being endorsed for the Nobel Peace Prize by leaders from several countries, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Israel, and Cambodia. Ironically, he might not be the most scandalous nomination. Here is the list of three well-known dictators who were also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize at different points in history.

Benito Mussolini

Mussolini was nominated in 1935 by a German law professor and a French professor. It had been 13 years since Mussolini had been the ruler of the totalitarian regime in Italy. His regime jailed and tortured political opponents. The Italian fascist dictator was then preparing for the invasion of Ethiopia. However, the proper reason behind the nominations is unknown, as the letter of recommendation is missing from the archive. Many suggest that he was praised for signing the Lateran Treaty of 1929, which resolved long-standing tensions between the Italian state and the Vatican. However, the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided not to shortlist him.

Joseph Stalin

The Communist dictator was nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize, once in 1945 and next time in 1948. There were different nominators, including a Norwegian Parliamentarian. The reason provided was his role as a leader of the Allied forces to end World War II. Even though the role of the USSR in ending the war was massive, he was overlooked because his domestic purges were well-known. His rule saw mass detention, labour camps, also known as Gulags, and suppression of dissent. Thus, there was a real detachment from the nomination and the actual actions of the candidate.

Adolf Hitler

This is perhaps the most absurd of all. In 1939, Adolf Hitler was sarcastically nominated by Erik Brandt, a Swedish Parliamentarian. He meant it as a protest against the appeasement policies. Brandt was mocking the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's agreement with Hitler. He was also mocking his fellow parliamentarians who were seriously considering Neville for the prize. He called Hitler a "hope for peace' as a joke. But this caused a huge public and media uproar; the joke fell flat in the tense pre-war period, and Brandt quickly withdrew his nominations.

These nominations, however, do not represent the spirit of the prize, nor do they diminish the efforts of others who made serious contributions. For example, in 1935, when Benito Mussolini was nominated for the prize, it was won by Carl von Ossietzky, a German pacifist who was imprisoned by Nazi Germany, because of his warning about the German rearmament, which had been severely restricted by the Treaty of Versailles, following World War I. It is also to be noted that nomination for the Nobel Prize does not account for endorsement from the Nobel Committee. These lists can be longer than 300 people, which are then narrowed down to 20-30 people, from which, after deliberation by the Nobel Committee, a laureate is chosen and awarded the prize on December 10, on the death anniversary of Alfred Nobel.