Editing Dictatorship (section)

==== Africa ====
[[File:Prins Bernhard in Zaire (voorheen Belgisch Congo), Bernhard en Mobutu, Bestanddeelnr 926-6037.jpg|thumb|[[Mobutu Sese Seko]], Zaire's longtime dictator]]
Many dictatorships formed in Africa, with most forming after countries gained independence during [[Decolonisation of Africa|decolonisation]]. [[Mobutu Sese Seko]] ruled the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a dictator for decades, renaming it [[Zaire]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schatzberg |first=Michael G |date=1997 |title=Beyond Mobutu: Kabila and the Congo |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/16852 |journal=Journal of Democracy |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=70–84 |doi=10.1353/jod.1997.0065 |s2cid=154740659 |issn=1086-3214}}</ref> [[Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo]] has ruled Equatorial Guinea as a dictator since he led a military coup in 1979.<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last1=Sá |first1=Ana Lúcia |last2=Rodrigues Sanches |first2=Edalina |date=2021 |title=The politics of autocratic survival in Equatorial Guinea: Co-optation, restrictive institutional rules, repression, and international projection |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adaa030 |journal=African Affairs |volume=120 |issue=478 |pages=78–102 |doi=10.1093/afraf/adaa030 |issn=0001-9909|hdl=10071/22003 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In 1973, King [[Sobhuza II]] of Swaziland suspended the constitution and ruled as an absolute monarch.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maroleng |first=Chris |date=2003-01-01 |title=Swaziland |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2003.9627233 |journal=African Security Review |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=45–48 |doi=10.1080/10246029.2003.9627233 |s2cid=218646255 |issn=1024-6029}}</ref> [[Samuel Doe]] established a military dictatorship in Liberia in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gershoni |first=Yekutiel |date=1997 |title=War Without End and An End to A War: The Prolonged Wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone* |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/abs/war-without-end-and-an-end-to-a-war-the-prolonged-wars-in-liberia-and-sierra-leone/81265BA4275163818E309F70A78715E8 |journal=African Studies Review |language=en |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=55–76 |doi=10.2307/524966 |jstor=524966 |s2cid=144782596 |issn=0002-0206}}</ref> Libya was ruled by [[Muammar Gaddafi]] for several decades following [[1969 Libyan coup d'état|a military coup]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Schnelzer |first=Nadine |title=From the Monarchy to the Fall of Gaddafi |date=2016 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-11382-7_3 |work=Libya in the Arab Spring: The Constitutional Discourse since the Fall of Gaddafi |pages=31–39 |editor-last=Schnelzer |editor-first=Nadine |place=Wiesbaden |publisher=Springer Fachmedien |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-658-11382-7_3 |isbn=978-3-658-11382-7 |access-date=2022-07-27}}</ref> [[Moussa Traoré]] ruled as a dictator in Mali.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Imperato |first=PJ |date=1991 |title=Mali: Downfall of a Dictator |journal=Africa Report |volume=36 |issue=4}}</ref> [[Habib Bourguiba]] ruled as a dictator in Tunisia until he was deposed by a coup led by [[Zine El Abidine Ben Ali]] in 1987, who in turn ruled as a dictator until the [[Tunisian Revolution]] in 2011.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cavatorta |first1=Francesco |last2=Haugbølle |first2=Rikke Hostrup |date=2012-07-01 |title=The End of Authoritarian Rule and the Mythology of Tunisia under Ben Ali |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13629395.2012.694043 |journal=Mediterranean Politics |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=179–195 |doi=10.1080/13629395.2012.694043 |s2cid=143828270 |issn=1362-9395}}</ref> [[Robert Mugabe]] ruled as a dictator in Zimbabwe.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Arnold |first1=James R. |url= |title=Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe |last2=Wiener |first2=Roberta |date=2007-09-01 |publisher=Twenty-First Century Books |isbn=978-0-8225-7283-1 |pages=10 |language=en}}</ref>

Early socialist dictatorships in Africa mainly developed as personalist dictatorships, in which a single socialist would take power instead of a ruling party. Later in the Cold War, the Soviet Union increased its influence in Africa as Marxist-Leninist dictatorships developed in several African countries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ottaway |first=Marina S. |title=The African State in Transition |year=1987 |isbn=9780333415665 |editor-last=Ergas |editor-first=Zaki |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-18886-4_8}}</ref> One-party Marxist states in Africa included [[People's Republic of Angola|Angola]] under the [[MPLA]], [[People's Republic of Benin|Benin]] under [[Mathieu Kérékou]], Cape Verde under the [[PAICV]], the [[People's Republic of the Congo|Congo]] under the [[Congolese Party of Labour]], [[People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia|Ethiopia]] under the [[Workers' Party of Ethiopia]], [[Democratic Republic of Madagascar|Madagascar]] under [[Malagasy Revolutionary Party|AREMA]], [[People's Republic of Mozambique|Mozambique]] under [[FRELIMO]], and [[Somali Democratic Republic|Somalia]] under [[Siad Barre]].
[[File:Communist rally in Meskel Square.jpg|thumb|A communist rally in [[Addis Ababa]], [[Ethiopia]], during the country's period of Marxist dictatorship, the [[People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia]]]]
Many African countries underwent several military coups that installed a series of military dictatorships throughout the Cold War. These include Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Uganda, each undergoing at least three successful military coups between 1959 and 2001.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McGowan |first=Patrick J. |date=2003 |title=African military coups d'état, 1956–2001: frequency, trends, and distribution |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/abs/african-military-coups-detat-19562001-frequency-trends-and-distribution/C7E923CE86B78DD099FDEFAF89F1F88E |journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |language=en |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=339–370 |doi=10.1017/S0022278X0300435X |s2cid=59497624 |issn=1469-7777}}</ref>

Some leaders of African countries abolished opposition parties, establishing one-party dictatorships. These include the [[National Liberation Front (Algeria)|National Liberation Front]] in Algeria,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Testas |first=A. |date=2002-12-01 |title=Political Repression, Democratization and Civil Conflict in Post-Independence Algeria |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/714000287 |journal=Democratization |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=106–121 |doi=10.1080/714000287 |s2cid=145094802 |issn=1351-0347}}</ref> the [[Chadian Progressive Party]] under [[François Tombalbaye]] in Chad,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nolutshungu |first=Sam C. |title=Limits of Anarchy: Intervention and State Formation in Chad |year=1996 |isbn=9780813916286 |pages=17|publisher=University of Virginia Press }}</ref> the [[Gabonese Democratic Party]] under [[Omar Bongo]] in Gabon,<ref>{{Citation |last=Mengara |first=Daniel |title=The Making of a Monarchical Republic: The Undoing of Presidential Term Limits in Gabon Under Omar Bongo |date=2020 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40810-7_3 |work=The Politics of Challenging Presidential Term Limits in Africa |pages=65–104 |editor-last=Mangala |editor-first=Jack R. |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-40810-7_3 |isbn=978-3-030-40810-7 |s2cid=216244948 |access-date=2022-07-27}}</ref> the [[Democratic Party of Guinea – African Democratic Rally|Democratic Party]] under [[Ahmed Sékou Touré]] in Guinea, the [[Malawi Congress Party]] under [[Hastings Banda]] in Malawi,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gabay |first=Clive |date=2017-11-02 |title=The Radical and Reactionary Politics of Malawi's Hastings Banda: Roots, Fruit and Legacy |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2017.1365525 |journal=Journal of Southern African Studies |volume=43 |issue=6 |pages=1119–1135 |doi=10.1080/03057070.2017.1365525 |s2cid=149414794 |issn=0305-7070}}</ref> the [[National Movement for the Development of Society|MNSD]] under [[Ali Saibou]] in Niger,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Moestrup |first=Sophia |date=1999-06-01 |title=The role of actors and institutions: The difficulties of democratic survival in Mali and Niger |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13510349908403616 |journal=Democratization |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=171–186 |doi=10.1080/13510349908403616 |issn=1351-0347}}</ref> [[National Revolutionary Movement for Development|MRND]] under [[Juvénal Habyarimana]] in Rwanda, the [[Socialist Party of Senegal|Socialist Party]] under [[Léopold Sédar Senghor]] in Senegal,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hunter |first=Brian |chapter=Senegal |date=1992 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230271210_151|url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230271210 |title=The Statesman's Year-Book: Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of the World for the Year 1992–1993 |pages=1153–1156 |editor-last=Hunter |editor-first=Brian |place=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |language=en |doi=10.1057/9780230271210 |doi-broken-date=5 February 2025 |isbn=978-0-230-27121-0 |access-date=2022-07-27}}</ref> [[Julius Nyerere]] in Tanzania, the [[Rally of the Togolese People|RPT]] under [[Gnassingbé Eyadéma]] in Togo, and the [[United National Independence Party]] under [[Kenneth Kaunda]] in Zambia. The [[Kenya African National Union|KANU]] in Kenya ruled under a ''de facto'' one-party state.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gertzel |first=Cherry |date=1966-11-01 |title=The provincial administration in Kenya |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/14662046608447047 |journal=Journal of Commonwealth Political Studies |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=201–215 |doi=10.1080/14662046608447047 |issn=0021-9908}}</ref>