Early dictatorships wearing a Mexican military uniform The concept of "dictator" was first developed during the
Roman Republic. A
Roman dictator was a special
magistrate that was temporarily appointed by the
consul during times of crisis and granted total executive authority. The role of the dictator was created for instances when a single leader was needed to command and restore stability. Caesar subverted the tradition of temporary dictatorships when he was made , or a dictator for life, which led to the creation of the
Roman Empire. The rule of a dictator was not necessarily considered tyrannical in Ancient Rome, though it has been described in some accounts as a "temporary tyranny" or an "elective tyranny". There have been many regimes which have since been compared to or described as dictatorships. In Europe, the
Commonwealth of England under
Oliver Cromwell, formed in 1649 after the
Second English Civil War, has been described as a military dictatorship by its contemporary opponents and by some modern academics.
Maximilien Robespierre has been similarly described as a dictator while he controlled the
National Convention in France and carried out the
Reign of Terror in 1793 and 1794. Dictatorship developed as a major form of government in the 19th century, though the concept was not universally seen pejoratively at the time, with both a tyrannical concept and a quasi-constitutional concept of dictatorship understood to exist. In Europe it was often thought of in terms of
Bonapartism and
Caesarism, with the former describing the military rule of
Napoleon and the latter describing the imperial rule of
Napoleon III in the vein of Julius Caesar. The
Spanish American wars of independence took place in the early-19th century, creating many new
Latin American governments. Many of these governments fell under the control of
caudillos, or personalist dictators. Most caudillos came from a military background, and their rule was typically associated with pageantry and glamor. Caudillos were often nominally constrained by a constitution, but the caudillo had the power to draft a new constitution as he wished. Many are noted for their cruelty, while others are honored as national heroes. When creating a provisional executive in Sicily during the
Expedition of the Thousand in 1860,
Giuseppe Garibaldi officially assumed the title of "dictator", and this period was known as the "
Dictatorship of Garibaldi". During the 1863
January uprising in Poland, "Dictator" was also the official title of four leaders, the first being
Ludwik Mierosławski.
Interwar dictatorships and World War II Europe celebrated
fascism and the rule of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany. In the time between
World War I and
World War II, several dictatorships were established in Europe through coups which were carried out by
far-left and
far-right movements. The aftermath of World War I resulted in a major shift in European politics, establishing new governments, facilitating internal change in older governments, and redrawing the boundaries between countries, allowing opportunities for these movements to seize power. The societal upheaval caused by World War I and the unstable peace it produced further contributed to the instability that benefited extremist movements and rallied support for their causes. Far-left and far-right dictatorships used similar methods to maintain power, including
cult of personality,
concentration camps,
forced labor,
mass murder, and
genocide. The first
communist state was created by
Vladimir Lenin and the
Bolsheviks with the establishment of
Soviet Russia during the
Russian Revolution in 1917. The government was described as a
dictatorship of the proletariat in which power was exercised by
soviets. The Bolsheviks consolidated power by 1922, forming the
Soviet Union. Lenin was followed by
Joseph Stalin in 1924, who consolidated total power and implemented totalitarian rule by 1929. The Russian Revolution inspired a
wave of left-wing revolutionary movements in Europe between 1917 and 1923, but none saw the same level of success. in
East Berlin, 1951. It was removed in 1961 as part of
de-Stalinization. At the same time, nationalist movements grew throughout Europe. These movements were a response to what they perceived as
decadence and
societal decay due to the changing social norms and race relations brought about by
liberalism.
Fascism developed in Europe as a rejection of liberalism,
socialism, and
modernism, and the first fascist political parties formed in the 1920s. Italian dictator
Benito Mussolini seized power in 1922, and began implementing reforms in 1925 to create the first fascist dictatorship. These reforms incorporated totalitarianism, fealty to the state,
expansionism,
corporatism, and
anti-communism. Several right-wing dictatorships also emerged in the
Balkans and the
Baltic states during the interwar period.
Adolf Hitler and the
Nazi Party created a second fascist dictatorship in Germany in 1933, obtaining absolute power through a combination of electoral victory, violence, and emergency powers. Other nationalist movements in Europe established dictatorships based on the fascist model. After being defeated in World War II, the far-right dictatorships of Europe collapsed, with the exceptions of
Spain and
Portugal. The Soviet Union occupied nationalist dictatorships in the east and replaced them with communist dictatorships, while others established liberal democratic governments in the
Western Bloc. and further military coups established new regimes, often in the name of
nationalism. After a brief period of democratization, Latin America underwent a rapid transition toward dictatorship in the 1930s.
Populist movements were strengthened following the economic turmoil of the
Great Depression, producing populist dictatorships in several Latin American countries. European fascism was imported to Latin America as well, and the
Vargas Era of Brazil was heavily influenced by the corporatism practiced in fascist Italy.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has ruled Equatorial Guinea as a dictator since he led a military coup in 1979. In 1973, King
Sobhuza II of Swaziland suspended the constitution and ruled as an absolute monarch.
Samuel Doe established a military dictatorship in Liberia in the 1980s. Libya was ruled by
Muammar Gaddafi for several decades following
a military coup.
Moussa Traoré ruled as a dictator in Mali.
Habib Bourguiba ruled as a dictator in Tunisia until he was deposed by a coup led by
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 1987, who in turn ruled as a dictator until the
Tunisian Revolution in 2011.
Robert Mugabe ruled as a dictator in Zimbabwe. Early socialist dictatorships in Africa mainly developed as personalist dictatorships, in which a single socialist would take power instead of a ruling party. Later in the Cold War, the Soviet Union increased its influence in Africa as Marxist-Leninist dictatorships developed in several African countries. One-party Marxist states in Africa included
Angola under the
MPLA,
Benin under
Mathieu Kérékou, Cape Verde under the
PAICV, the
Congo under the
Congolese Party of Labour,
Ethiopia under the
Workers' Party of Ethiopia,
Madagascar under
AREMA,
Mozambique under
FRELIMO, and
Somalia under
Siad Barre. ,
Ethiopia, during the country's period of Marxist dictatorship, the
People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Many African countries underwent several military coups that installed a series of military dictatorships throughout the Cold War. These include Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Uganda, each undergoing at least three successful military coups between 1959 and 2001. Some leaders of African countries abolished opposition parties, establishing one-party dictatorships. These include the
National Liberation Front in Algeria, the
Chadian Progressive Party under
François Tombalbaye in Chad, the
Gabonese Democratic Party under
Omar Bongo in Gabon, the
Democratic Party under
Ahmed Sékou Touré in Guinea, the
Malawi Congress Party under
Hastings Banda in Malawi, the
MNSD under
Ali Saibou in Niger,
MRND under
Juvénal Habyarimana in Rwanda, the
Socialist Party under
Léopold Sédar Senghor in Senegal,
Julius Nyerere in Tanzania, the
RPT under
Gnassingbé Eyadéma in Togo, and the
United National Independence Party under
Kenneth Kaunda in Zambia. The
KANU in Kenya ruled under a
de facto one-party state.
Asia (pictured with his wife
Imelda) was a Philippine dictator and
kleptocrat. His regime was infamous for its corruption. The
Chinese Civil War ended in splitting the Republic of China under
Chiang Kai-shek and the People's Republic of China under
Mao Zedong. Mao established the People's Republic of China as a one-party communist state under his governing ideology of
Maoism. While the People's Republic of China was initially aligned with the Soviet Union, relations between the two countries
deteriorated as the Soviet Union underwent
de-Stalinization in the late-1950s. Mao consolidated his control of the People's Republic of China with the
Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, which involved the destruction of all elements of capitalism and traditionalism in China.
Deng Xiaoping took power as the
de facto leader of China after Mao's death and implemented
reforms to restore stability following the Cultural Revolution and reestablish
market economics. Chiang Kai-shek continued to rule as dictator of the National government's
rump state in
Taiwan until he died in 1975. Marxist and nationalist movements became popular in Southeast Asia as a response to
colonial control and the subsequent
Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia, with both ideologies facilitating the creation of dictatorships after World War II. Communist dictatorships in the region aligned with China following the latter's establishment as a communist state. Three Communist dictatorships were formed in Southeast Asia:
North Vietnam, Laos, and
Kampuchea. North Vietnam conquered
South Vietnam at the end of the
Vietnam War, and the two merged into a single Communist country. Anti-Communist dictators also ruled in the region.
Suharto became dictator in Indonesia after
taking power in 1967.
Ngo Dinh Diem ruled South Vietnam as a dictator until the
1963 military coup.
Ferdinand Marcos ruled Philippines as a dictator until the
People Power Revolution in 1986. A
socialist military dictatorship was also created separately from the Communist governments in Burma until it was
overthrown in 1988 and replaced by a
new military dictatorship. (left) attending a stage event with
Hafez al-Assad (right), during his state visit to
Syria A similar phenomenon took place in
Korea, where
Kim Il Sung created a Soviet-backed communist dictatorship in North Korea and
Syngman Rhee created a US-backed nationalist dictatorship in South Korea.
Park Chung Hee and
Chun Doo-hwan would continue the pattern of dictatorship in South Korea until the
June Democratic Struggle in 1987, which enabled the country's first free and fair elections and its subsequent democratization under
Roh Tae Woo. The Middle East was decolonized during the Cold War, and many nationalist movements gained strength post-independence. These nationalist movements supported
non-alignment, keeping most Middle Eastern dictatorships out of the American and Soviet spheres of influence. These movements supported
pan-Arab Nasserism during most of the Cold War, but they were largely replaced by
Islamic nationalism by the 1980s. A
1953 coup overseen by the American and British governments restored
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as the absolute monarch of Iran, who in turn was overthrown during the
Iranian Revolution of 1979 that established
Ruhollah Khomeini as the
Supreme Leader of Iran under a Shia
Islamist government, with
Ali Khamenei taking over after Khomeini's death.
Europe with
Dominican dictator
Rafael Trujillo, 1954
António de Oliveira Salazar became Prime Minister of Portugal in 1932 and established the
Estado Novo.
Francisco Franco took power in Spain after leading the
Nationalist faction to victory in the
Spanish Civil War and became a dictator in 1939. During World War II, many countries of Central and Eastern Europe had been occupied by the Soviet Union. When the war ended, these countries were incorporated into the Soviet sphere of influence, and the Soviet Union exercised control over their governments.
Josip Broz Tito declared a communist government in Yugoslavia during World War II, which was initially aligned with the Soviet Union. The relations between the countries were strained by Soviet attempts to influence Yugoslavia, leading to the
Tito–Stalin split in 1948. Albania was established as a communist dictatorship under
Enver Hoxha in 1944. It was initially aligned with Yugoslavia, but its alignment shifted throughout the Cold War between Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union, and China. The stability of the Soviet Union weakened in the 1980s. The Soviet economy became unsustainable, and communist governments lost the support of intellectuals and their population in general. In 1989, the Soviet Union was
dissolved, and communism was abandoned by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe through a series of
revolutions.
Latin America Military dictatorships remained prominent in Latin America during the Cold War, though the number of coups declined starting in the 1980s. Between 1967 and 1991, 12 Latin American countries underwent at least one military coup, with Haiti and Honduras experiencing three and Bolivia experiencing eight. A one-party communist dictatorship was formed in Cuba when the dictatorship of
Fulgencio Batista, weakened by an American arms embargo against his regime, was overthrown in the
Cuban Revolution, creating the only Soviet-backed dictatorship in the western hemisphere. To maintain power, Chilean dictator
Augusto Pinochet organized
Operation Condor with other South American dictators to facilitate cooperation between their respective intelligence agencies and secret police organizations.
Hereditary dictatorship Hereditary dictatorships are characterized by the dictator keeping political power within their family due to personal choice. The successor may be groomed during their lifetime, as was the case for Bashar al-Assad and his brother
Bassel, or a member of their family may manoeuvre to take control of the dictatorship after the dictator's death, similar to the case of
Ramfis Trujillo.
21st century dictatorships The nature of dictatorship changed in much of the world at the onset of the 21st century. Between the 1990s and the 2000s, most
dictators moved away from being "larger-than-life figures" that controlled the populace through terror and isolated themselves from the global community. This was replaced by a trend of developing a positive public image to maintain support among the populace and moderating rhetoric to integrate with the global community. In contrast to the overtly repressive nature of 20th-century dictatorships,
authoritarian strongmen of the 21st century are sometimes labeled "
spin dictators", rulers who attempt to monopolize power by authoritarian upgrading, appealing to
democratic sentiments and covertly pursue repressive measures; such as embracing modern technology, manipulation of information content, regulation of cyberspace, slandering dissidents, etc. On the other hand, a handful of dictators like
Kim Jong Un rule with deadly repression, violence and
state-terrorism to establish extensive securitization through fear, in line with many 20th century dictatorships. 21st-century dictatorships regularly hold
sham elections with massive approval ratings, for seeking public legitimacy and maintaining the autocrat's image as a popular figure loved by the masses. The manipulated election results are often weaponized as propaganda tools in
information warfare, to galvanize supporters of the dictatorships against dissidents as well as to manufacture compliance of the masses by publicizing falsified data figures. Another objective is to portray the
dictator as the guardian figure who unifies the
country, without whom its security disintegrates and chaos ensues.
North Korea is the only country in East Asia to be ruled by the
Kim family after the death of
Kim Il Sung and hands over to his son
Kim Jong Il in 1994 and grandson
Kim Jong Un in 2011, as of today in the 21st century. , China's
Xi Jinping, Egypt's
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (from r. to l.) and others at the
16th BRICS summit in
Kazan, Russia, 24 October 2024 Dictatorship in Europe largely ended after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the liberalization of most communist states. though the
rule of
Vladimir Putin in Russia has also been described as a dictatorship. Latin America saw a period of liberalization similar to that of Europe at the end of the Cold War, with Cuba being the only Latin American country that did not experience any degree of liberalization between 1992 and 2010. The countries of Central Asia did not liberalize after the fall of the Soviet Union, instead forming as dictatorships led by former elites of the Communist Party and then later by successive dictators. These countries maintain parliaments and human rights organizations, but these remain under the control of the countries' respective dictators. The Middle East and North Africa did not undergo liberalization during the
third wave of democratisation, and most countries in this region remain dictatorships in the 21st century. Dictatorships in the Middle East and Northern Africa usually take the form of illiberal republics in which a president holds power through unfair elections.
Iraq,
Israel,
Lebanon, and
Palestine are the only democratic nations in the region. Although
Tunisia was seen as a pillar of the
Arab Spring for democracy, by 2023, it was no longer classified as a democracy.
Turkey's President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been described by several sources as a dictator or as a personalist leader. == Economics ==