The dictator is who? A little bit about the personalities and powers of dictators

World history is rich in political and social gimmicks. The dictator's position is unique. The veneration of the Romans allowed the Romans to develop on its basis an indispensable way to combat state crises. And in modern times, this position has changed, turning into the likeness of an absolute monarchy.

The birth of a dictatorship

The dictator is a special post for emergency periods when it is necessary to transfer power to the hands of a strong leader with unlimited powers. The title, which translates as "prescribe", fully conveys the meaning of this term. It is believed that Rome was not the place of the emergence of the post of dictator - probably was to take the experience of other Latin cities.

At the end of the tsarist period of the history of Ancient Rome, the state ranks decided to protect the country from tyrannical power, from which no one expected anything good after the experience of the past. Soon it became clear that there are situations in which it is necessary to transfer the board to one person. This allowed a short time to solve the problem with low losses.

When Tarquinia was expelled, after 9 years of the republic, an extraordinary post was imposed. The first dictator of Rome, according to one source - Titus Larcius, on the other - Manius Valerius. There are also several reasons for such an extreme solution: the war against the Latins, the struggle with political supporters of the exiled Tarquinivas, plebes' speeches - mass riots caused by the high pressure of debt obligations and complete injustice.

Roman dictators: personalities and powers

The dictator was appointed a special decision of the consuls' assembly. After the entry into force of the representative of the emergency post, the liquors were dismissed. All powers went to the dictator - before him all the rest were ordinary citizens. The only exception was the people's rostrum - they were sacred and inviolable and continued to defend the rights of the plebeians.

A dictator is a person endowed with unlimited power. His decisions could not be challenged, and he could not be tried neither during, nor after the expiration of his term. After the appointment, he received the title with the addition - the reason for the appointment. The reasons could be: war, loud lawsuits, popular unrest, public games and national holidays, comissions, replenishment of the senate, adoption of radical laws.

The dictator's verdict is categorical, even the consuls obeyed his decision. In the beginning of the existence of the post only patricians could become elected, but from the IV century BC. E. And the plebeians could claim to be the extraordinary leader of Rome. Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Julius Caesar made their title for life and gave it the features of the title of monarch.

The military dictator was the commander-in-chief of the army and the bearer of the supreme executive power. The peculiarities of the relationship between the people's tribunes and dictators have not been clarified to the end. Questions cause the relationship of authority and submission. There is no clear evidence as to whether the rostrum could veto the dictator's decision.

At the usual time, the head of state was the consul, but his powers were limited to the senate. The dictator is a position superior in power to the consuls, it can be equated with the power of the king. At the same time, he could not independently solve financial problems, spend money from the treasury without the permission of the Senate. Also, the dictator could not leave Rome, move around the city on horseback.

"Board of Colonels". Change in the meaning of the word "dictator" in the twentieth century

The concept of dictatorship for the present has changed. A dictator is a person endowed with absolute power in a crisis situation, but for an indefinite period. It is worth noting that this continued the tradition, the beginning of which laid Sulla and Julius Caesar. In the middle of the twentieth century, the term "dictator" denoted the unlimited powers not only in the scale of the country, but even in a separate branch of the economy.

Absolute power does not mean making decisions only by one person - it is impossible. But the advisory bodies during the dictatorship act only by order and by the will of the leader.

In the event of the seizure of power by officers through a coup, a military dictatorship is formed. It is considered a form of stratocracy. In this case, the country is controlled by the military, but there are also modifications of such power - depending on the level of influence of the invaders on the functioning of the state apparatus. Most often this type of dictatorship is found in Africa, South America, the Middle East.

Typical is the junta, the most common in Latin America. The country is governed by a military council. An example is the regime of Jorge Vidal in Argentina and Augusto Pinochet in Chile.

Military dictatorships in Africa and the Middle East are characterized by authoritarianism. The country is governed not by a council or committee, but by one leader. For example, this was the way of the bloody regime of Idi Amin in Uganda.

For the twentieth century, two forms of military dictatorship are typical: the power of the council of persons or one leader. The first is the totalitarian, the second is the authoritarian republican regimes.

Great and terrible. Dictators of our time

The time of great changes and epochal events required strong rulers. The twentieth century became the richest in dictatorships of all kinds and forms.

Europe was ruled by Adolf Hitler (Germany), Benito Mussolini (Italy), Francisco Franco (Spain), Joseph Stalin (USSR), Nicolae Ceausescu (Romania); In Asia, Mao Zedong (China), Kim Il Sung (North Korea), Pol Pot (Cambodia), Saddam Hussein (Iraq); In America - Fidel Castro (Cuba), Augusto Pinochet (Chile); In Africa - Idi Amin (Uganda), Omar al-Bashir (Sudan), Muammar Gaddafi (Libya). Great dictators formed regimes based on Nazi, fascist ideology (Italy, Germany, Spain), severe totalitarian forms of government (USSR, China).

Finally

All the regimes have common features: the authoritarian power of one leader over the years, repressions aimed at the opponents of the head of state, a certain political and economic isolation, statism, strong army control.