A dictatorship is a form of government in which one person or a small group possesses absolute power. The term dictatorship comes from the Latin title dictator. In ancient Rome, a dictator was a temporary magistrate who was granted special powers to deal with state crises. Modern dictators, however, resemble ancient tyrants rather than ancient dictators. Dictators usually resort to force or fraud to gain political power. They remain in power through the use of intimidation, terror, and the suppression of basic civil liberties. They may also use propaganda to sustain their public support.
In the 19th and 20th centuries monarchies based on hereditary descent began to decline. In their place, dictatorships began to rise. Rule by dictators has taken several different forms. In some instances, self-proclaimed leaders tried to establish control over a territory with their armies before marching upon a weak national government. In other instances, leaders were put in their position of power by nationalistic military officers. These leaders usually allied themselves with a particular social class and attempted either to maintain the interests of wealthy and privileged elites or to institute far-reaching left-wing social reforms. Other dictators came to power by election, after which they captured personal power by establishing one-party rule and suppressing the opposition. In addition, sometimes an army or group of army officers seized power and established a military dictatorship.
The communist and fascist dictatorships that arose in some countries in the first half of the 20th century were totalitarian regimes that allowed no individual freedom. Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler, Italy under Benito Mussolini, and the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin are examples of these regimes. These dictatorships had in common a charismatic leader who headed a single mass party, the use of an official ideology to legitimize and maintain the regime, and the use of terror and propaganda to stop dissent and opposition. After World War II Soviet-type communist dictatorships arose in central and eastern Europe, China, and other countries. However, most of them (as well as the Soviet Union itself) collapsed by the last decade of the 20th century.
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