Dictatorship

Dictatorship
A
A dictatorship
dictatorship is
is a
a country that is
country that is run
run by
by a single person
a single person who
who has
has all the
all the

power
power over
over the
the people.
people. The
The power
power ofof dictators
dictators is
is not
not limited
limited by
by aa

constitution
constitution or
or any
any political
political institution.
institution. A
A dictator
dictator is
is not
not the
the same
same as an
as an

absolute
absolute monarch,
monarch, because
because dictators
dictators don’t
don't inherit their title.
inherit their title.

Most
most of the time,
of the time, dictators
dictators take
take power
power by
by force. When aa military
force. When military leader
leader

forces a leader
forces a leader out
out and takes power,
and takes power, it is
is called
it a military
called a military dictatorship.
dictatorship.

However,
However, in
in some
some cases,
cases, a
a dictator
dictator is
is chosen
chosen by the people
by the people in
in democratic
democratic

elections,
elections, and
and slowly
slowly acquire
acquire more
more power
power later.
later.

Joseph
Joseph Stalin,
Stalin, dictator
dictator of the Soviet
of the Soviet
Dictators
Dictators often
often use the military
use the military and
and the
the police
police force to keep
force to keep a
a strong
strong grip
grip Union
Union between
between 1929
1929 and
and 1953
1953

on the society.
on the society. They
They use
use propaganda to develop
propaganda to develop a
a strong
strong personality
personality cult
cult

and
and decrease
decrease the
the influence
influence of their opponents.
of their opponents. Propaganda
Propaganda is
is the spreading of
the spreading of (partly) false information
(partly) false to influence
information to the
influence the

opinions
opinions of the population.
of the population.

Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is
is a type of
a type of dictatorship
dictatorship in
in which
which a
a dictator
dictator controls
controls all
all parts
parts of
of a
a

Sitter ba [auf society, including schools, businesses, and

society, including schools, businesses, the media.
and the media. Citizens
Citizens who
who are
are critical
critical may
may
Selfi mii even
even be
be killed.
killed. Some famous totalitarian
Some famous totalitarian regimes
regimes include the Soviet
include the Soviet Union
Union (Russia)
(Russia)

of
of Joseph
Joseph Stalin,
Stalin, and
and Nazi
Nazi Germany
Germany of
of Adolf
Adolf Hitler.
Hitler.

Absolute
Absolute rulers
rulers have
have been around for
been around for thousands
thousands of years, but
of years, but the term dictator
the term dictator

54
was first
was first used
used in the Roman
in the Roman Republic
Republic (509
(509 BC – 27
BC — BC). During
27 BC). During that
that time, the ancient
time, the ancient

Romans
Romans democratically
democratically elected their leaders.
elected their leaders. However,
However, in
in times
times of
of chaos
chaos or
or war,
war,

they appointed
they appointed a
a dictator.
dictator. These
These dictators weren’t always
dictators weren't always bad,
bad, and
and only
only reigned
reigned for
for

a limited
a time.
limited time. The
The first
first ‘real’
'real' dictator
dictator of the Romans
of the Romans
was
was Julius
Julius Caesar.
Caesar. He
He ruled
ruled Ancient
Ancient Rome
Rome until
until his
his

death
death in
in 44 BC.
44 BC.

Propaganda
Propaganda during
during Nazi
Nazi Germany
Germany
In the 19
In the 19th and
th
and 20
20th centuries,
th
centuries, many
many colonies
colonies in
in

Africa,
Africa, and
and South
South America
America gained
gained their
their

independence.
independence. Several
Several of these countries
of these countries became
became dictatorships
dictatorships during this time.
during this time.

It
It is
is difficult to say
difficult to say how
how many
many dictatorships
dictatorships there
there are
are in the world
in the world today.
today. Many
many
dictators
dictators are
are more
more disguised,
disguised, as
as they
they pretend to run
pretend to run a
a democratic
democratic government
government
and value human
and value human rights.
rights. Examples
Examples of
of current
current dictators these include
dictators these Belarus
include Belarus

(Alexander
(Alexander Lukashenko),
Lukashenko), Venezuela
Venezuela (Nicolás Maduro) and
(Nicolås maduro) and Syria
Syria (Bashar
(Bashar al-Assad).
al-Assad).
Julius
Julius Caesar
Caesar