The Definition of Dictatorship
Though the age of the absolute monarch is over, there are still leaders who want to rule in this way. A governing system in which one person claims absolute authority is called a dictatorship. The difference between absolute monarchs and dictators is that dictators do not inherit their power. Instead they take power for themselves, often violently and suddenly.
Dictatorship in Ancient Rome
Dictatorship began in ancient Rome. At first, Roman dictators served for only brief times during emergencies. Later, however, some Roman dictators refused to give up their control.
Dictators do not belong only to the past. Several have ruled in the twentieth century.
Adolf Hitler in Germany, Pol Pot in Cambodia, and the Ayatollah Khomeini (eye»uh»TOH»luh koh»MAY»nee) in Iran are all examples of dictators in recent history.
Most dictatorships are examples of the kind of government called totalitarianism (toh»ta*luh*TAIR»ee»uh»nih»zuhm). That is, the government has total authority over people's lives. In many dictatorships the government controls all land, schools, and newspapers. Dictators, like absolute monarchs, often rule until their deaths or until they are overthrown.
Dictatorship in Cuba
The only dictatorship in the Americas is in Cuba, an island nation located less than 100 miles (161 km) off the coast of Florida. In 1959 Fidel Castro took over Cuba's government. Soon after, Castro began to make Cuba into a communist country, like the Soviet Union.
In 1962 the world came close to war when United States pilots discovered that Soviet missile launching sites were being built in Cuba. President John F. Kennedy demanded that Nikita Khrushchev who was then the communist leader of the Soviet Union remove the sites. When he finally did, war was prevented. Castro continues to rule in Cuba as a communist dictator, even though communism collapsed in the Soviet Union.
Cuba is not the only dictatorship in the world. A few countries that claim to be republics are actually dictatorships. Though they may have elections and a legislative branch of government, all real power is in the hands of n single person. One such country is Iraq.
How is a dictatorship like an absolute monarchy?
Though the age of the absolute monarch is over, there are still leaders who want to rule in this way. A governing system in which one person claims absolute authority is called a dictatorship. The difference between absolute monarchs and dictators is that dictators do not inherit their power. Instead they take power for themselves, often violently and suddenly.
Dictatorship in Ancient Rome
Dictatorship began in ancient Rome. At first, Roman dictators served for only brief times during emergencies. Later, however, some Roman dictators refused to give up their control.
Dictators do not belong only to the past. Several have ruled in the twentieth century.
Adolf Hitler in Germany, Pol Pot in Cambodia, and the Ayatollah Khomeini (eye»uh»TOH»luh koh»MAY»nee) in Iran are all examples of dictators in recent history.
Most dictatorships are examples of the kind of government called totalitarianism (toh»ta*luh*TAIR»ee»uh»nih»zuhm). That is, the government has total authority over people's lives. In many dictatorships the government controls all land, schools, and newspapers. Dictators, like absolute monarchs, often rule until their deaths or until they are overthrown.
Dictatorship in Cuba
The only dictatorship in the Americas is in Cuba, an island nation located less than 100 miles (161 km) off the coast of Florida. In 1959 Fidel Castro took over Cuba's government. Soon after, Castro began to make Cuba into a communist country, like the Soviet Union.
In 1962 the world came close to war when United States pilots discovered that Soviet missile launching sites were being built in Cuba. President John F. Kennedy demanded that Nikita Khrushchev who was then the communist leader of the Soviet Union remove the sites. When he finally did, war was prevented. Castro continues to rule in Cuba as a communist dictator, even though communism collapsed in the Soviet Union.
Cuba is not the only dictatorship in the world. A few countries that claim to be republics are actually dictatorships. Though they may have elections and a legislative branch of government, all real power is in the hands of n single person. One such country is Iraq.
How is a dictatorship like an absolute monarchy?
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