Dictators, ABA-ŽIV
A dictatorship is a form of government in which one person or a small group possesses absolute power without effective constitutional limitations. The term dictatorship comes from the Latin title dictator, which in the Roman Republic designated a temporary magistrate who was granted extraordinary powers in order to deal with state crises.
Dictators Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Sani Abacha was a Nigerian military leader, who served as head of state (1993–98). Abacha received his formal military......
Agathocles was the tyrant of Syracuse, in Sicily, from 317 to c. 304 and self-styled king of Sicily after c. 304.......
Alexander I was the king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (1921–29) and of Yugoslavia (1929–34), who......
Alexander Of Pherae was the despot of Pherae in Thessaly, Greece, from 369 to 358, whose tyranny caused the intervention......
Aristagoras was the Tyrant of Miletus. He assumed his regency from his father-in-law, Histiaeus (d. 494 bc), who......
Fulgencio Batista was a soldier and political leader who twice ruled Cuba—first in 1933–44 with an efficient government......
Boris III was the king of Bulgaria from 1918 to 1943, who, during the last five years of his reign, headed a thinly......
Julius Caesar was a celebrated Roman general and statesman, the conqueror of Gaul (58–50 bce), victor in the civil......
Carol II was the king of Romania (1930–40), whose controversial reign ultimately gave rise to a personal, monarchical......
Rafael Carrera was the dictator of Guatemala (1844–48 and 1851–65) and one of the most powerful figures of 19th-century......
Cipriano Castro was a Venezuelan soldier and dictator, called the Lion of the Andes, who was the first man from......
Cleisthenes Of Sicyon was a tyrant of the ancient Greek city of Sicyon. He belonged to the non-Dorian family of......
Cypselus was a tyrant of Corinth (c. 657– c. 628 bce). Though his mother belonged to the ruling Bacchiadae dynasty,......
Dion was the brother-in-law of Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse, in Sicily; Dion was master of Syracuse intermittently......
Dionysius I was the tyrant of Syracuse from 405 who, by his conquests in Sicily and southern Italy, made Syracuse......
Dionysius II, ruler of Syracuse, in Sicily, 367–357 and 346–344 bc. Dionysius was the son and successor of Dionysius......
Manuel Estrada Cabrera was a jurist and politician who became dictator and ruled Guatemala from 1898 to 1920 through......
Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus was a Roman military commander and statesman whose cautious delaying tactics......
José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia was the dictator of Paraguay whose intensely personal rule and policy of self-sufficiency......
Francisco Franco was a general and leader of the Nationalist forces that overthrew the Spanish democratic republic......
Gabriel García Moreno was the initiator of a church-oriented dictatorship in Ecuador (1861–75). His rule, oppressive......
Gelon was the tyrant of the cities of Gela (491–485) and Syracuse (485–478) in Sicily. On the death of Hippocrates,......
Antonio Guzmán Blanco was a Venezuelan president and typical Latin American caudillo (military leader or dictator)......
Juan Vicente Gómez was the dictator of Venezuela from 1908 until 1935, reputed to have been the wealthiest man......
Hieron I was the brother of the tyrant Gelon and tyrant of Syracuse, Sicily, from 478 to 467/466 bce. Hieron became......
Hieron II was a tyrant and then king of Syracuse, Sicily, from about 270 to 216/215 bce, who struggled against......
Hippias was the tyrant of Athens from 528/527 to 510 bc. He was a patron of poets and craftsmen, and under his......
Histiaeus was the tyrant of the Anatolian city of Miletus under the Persian king Darius I and a reputed instigator......
Adolf Hitler was the leader of the Nazi Party (from 1920/21) and chancellor (Kanzler) and Führer of Germany (1933–45).......
Victoriano Huerta was the dictatorial president of Mexico (Feb. 18, 1913–July 15, 1914), whose regime united disparate......
Carlos Ibáñez del Campo was a Chilean president from 1927 to 1931 and from 1952 to 1958. Although by preference......
Gustav, Ritter von Kahr was a conservative monarchist politician who served briefly as prime minister and then......
Carlos Antonio López was the second dictator of Paraguay, who ended his country’s isolation, sought to modernize......
Francisco Solano López was the dictator of Paraguay during the Paraguayan War (also known as the War of the Triple......
Gerardo Machado y Morales was a hero in the Cuban War of Independence (1895–98) who was later elected president......
Ioannis Metaxas was a general and statesman who was dictator of Greece from 1936 to 1941. After active service......
Mobutu Sese Seko was the president of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) who seized power in a 1965......
Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester was the leader of the baronial revolt against King Henry III and ruler of......
Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera was the president of New Granada from 1845 to 1849 and of Colombia from 1864 to 1867......
Benito Mussolini was the Italian prime minister (1922–43) and the first of 20th-century Europe’s fascist dictators.......
Ngo Dinh Diem was a Vietnamese political leader who served as president, with dictatorial powers, of what was then......
Rafael Núñez was a three-time president of Colombia who dominated that nation’s politics from 1880 and ruled dictatorially......
Theodoros Pangalos was a soldier and statesman who for eight months in 1926 was the dictator of Greece. After service......
Peisistratus was a tyrant of ancient Athens whose unification of Attica and consolidation and rapid improvement......
Periander was the second tyrant of Corinth (c. 627–587 bce), a firm and effective ruler who exploited his city’s......
Juan Perón was an army colonel who became president of Argentina (1946–52, 1952–55, 1973–74) and was the founder......
Phalaris was the tyrant of Acragas (modern Agrigento), Sicily, notorious for his cruelty. He is alleged to have......
Augusto Pinochet was the leader of the military junta that overthrew the socialist government of Pres. Salvador......
Polycrates was a tyrant (c. 535–522 bc) of the island of Samos, in the Aegean Sea, who established Samian naval......
Diego Portales was a Chilean politician and for seven years virtual dictator who was instrumental in establishing......
Miguel Primo de Rivera was a general and statesman who, as dictator of Spain from September 1923 to January 1930,......
José Antonio Páez was a Venezuelan soldier and politician, a leader in the country’s independence movement and......
Konstantin Päts was an Estonian statesman who served as the last president of Estonia (1938–40) before its incorporation......
Rafael Reyes was an explorer and statesman who was president and dictator of Colombia from 1904 to 1909. He attempted......
Syngman Rhee was the first president of the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Rhee completed a traditional classical......
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla was a professional soldier and dictator of Colombia (1953–57) whose corrupt and authoritarian......
Efraín Ríos Montt was a Guatemalan army general and politician who ruled Guatemala as the leader of a military......
Saddam Hussein was the president of Iraq (1979–2003) whose brutal rule was marked by costly and unsuccessful wars......
Anastasio Somoza was a soldier-politician who was dictator of Nicaragua for 20 years. Preferring the use of patronage......
Joseph Stalin was the secretary-general of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922–53) and premier of the......
Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian independence movement and Indonesia’s first president (1949–66), who suppressed......
Theron was the tyrant of Acragas (modern Agrigento in southwestern Sicily) from 488 to 472, allied with Gelon,......
Omar Torrijos was a dictator-like leader of Panama (1968–78), who negotiated the Panama Canal treaties with the......
Rafael Trujillo was the dictator of the Dominican Republic from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. Trujillo......
Jorge Ubico was a soldier and dictator who ruled Guatemala for 13 years (1931–44). Ubico received a commission......
Getúlio Vargas was the president of Brazil (1930–45, 1951–54), who brought social and economic changes that helped......
José María Velasco Ibarra was a lawyer and a major political figure in Ecuador from the 1930s to the ’70s, and......
José Santos Zelaya was a Nicaraguan politician and dictator from 1893 to 1910, noted for his hostility toward the......
Petar Živković was the dictatorial premier of Yugoslavia from 1929 to 1932. In 1903, as a young soldier at the......