former Nazis regained prestige and held high posts in the new republics. Kurt Waldheim, an Austrian Nazi, even held the highest post as Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 and as President of Austria from 1986 to 1992. France after the downfall of the Vichy Regime, when many collaborationists, whether home-grown fascists or Nazi sympathizers, played down their role in the former government and its institutions. Iran after the overthrow of the last Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi's regime. At that time many persons who had formerly led a life based on secular and liberal values and who had fervently supported the Iranian monarchy suddenly embraced the stern religious values imposed by Ayatollah Khomeini's regime with unbridled fervor. Russia and the former Communist Eastern European countries after the fall of the USSR, where many former communists suddenly became fervent supporters of capitalism. As a result, many former apparatchiks abandoned the Communist Party in favor of positions in the new government structures. In Spain after the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), and again during the Spanish transition to democracy (1975 onwards). See also Abjuration Benedict Arnold a general who originally fought for the American Continental Army but defected to the British Army Collaboration with the Axis Powers during World War II Cover-up Defection Dual loyalty in politics Flip-flop (politics) Historical revisionism (negationism), falsification of history History of the Soviet Union (1982–1991) Dissolution of the Soviet Union Jacques Dutronc whose song L'opportuniste is about being a turncoat List of former Nazi Party members Nazi hunter Pursuit of Nazi collaborators Quisling Whitewash (censorship) References Human behavior Deception Political science Defectors by type