Military Dictatorship

A military dictatorship (also known as a military junta) is a form of government different from civilian dictatorship for a number of reasons: their motivations for seizing power, the institutions through which they organize their rule, and the ways in which they leave power. Often viewing itself as saving the nation from the corrupt or myopic civilian politicians, a military dictatorship justifies its position as “neutral” arbiters on the basis of their membership within the armed forces. For example, many juntas adopt titles, such as “National Redemption Council", “Committee of National Restoration", or “National Liberation Committee". Military leaders often rule as a junta, selecting one of them as the head.

Since 1945 Latin America, Africa, Southern Europe, and the Middle East have been common areas for all military dictatorships. One of the reasons for this is the fact that the military often has more cohesion and institutional structure than most of the civilian institutions of society.

The typical military dictatorship in Latin America was ruled by a junta (derived from a Spanish word which can be translated as "conference" or "board"), or a committee composed of several officers, often from the military's most senior leadership, but in other cases less senior, as evidenced by the term colonels' regime, where the military leaders remained loyal to the previous regime. Other military dictatorships are entirely in the hands of a single president, sometimes called a caudillo, normally the senior army commander. In either case, the chairman of the junta or the single commander may often personally assume office as head of state.

In the Middle East, Africa and Spain, military governments more often came to be led by a single powerful person, and were in addition to military dictatorships. Leaders like Idi Amin, Sani Abacha, Muammar Gaddafi, Gamal Abdul Nasser, Francisco Franco and Saddam Hussein worked to develop a personality cult and became the faces of the nation inside and outside their countries.

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