A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, and they are facilitated through an inner circle of elites that includes advisers, generals, and other high-ranking officials. The dictator maintains control by influencing and appeasing the inner circle and repressing any opposition, which may include rival political parties, armed resistance, or disloyal members of the dictator's inner circle. Dictatorships can be formed by a military coup that overthrows the previous government through force or they can be formed by a self-coup in which elected leaders make their rule permanent. Dictatorships are authoritarian or totalitarian, and they can be classified as military dictatorships, one-party dictatorships, personalist dictatorships, or absolute monarchies.
Members of the Reichstag salute Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945
Benito Mussolini in the March on Rome that installed him as dictator in Italy
Soldiers occupy Seoul, South Korea as part of the May 16 coup that placed General Park Chung Hee in power
An assembly at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses in Moscow, Soviet Union
Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power is held by the ruler, known as an autocrat. It includes most forms of monarchy and dictatorship, while it is contrasted with democracy and feudalism. Various definitions of autocracy exist. They may restrict autocracy to cases where power is held by a single individual, or they may define autocracy in a way that includes a group of rulers who wield absolute power. The autocrat has total control over the exercise of civil liberties within the autocracy, choosing under what circumstances they may be exercised, if at all. Governments may also blend elements of autocracy and democracy, forming an anocracy. The concept of autocracy has been recognized in political philosophy since ancient times.
The coronation of Louis XVI of France (Gabriel François Doyen, 1775)
The Russian Revolution led to the replacement of the autocratic Russian Empire with the autocratic Soviet Union.
Julius Caesar (engraved c. 1587 – c. 1589)
Members of the Nazi Party salute Adolf Hitler in 1940