List of totalitarian regimes

This is a list of totalitarian dictatorships.

Totalitarian states

Islamist totalitarian states

Country	Leader	Ideologies	Government	End goals	Date of establishment
Governance of the Gaza Strip^[1]	Ismail Haniyeh	Islamism Palestinian nationalism Anti-Zionism Antisemitism	Unitary self-governing presidential system	Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Destruction of Israel, until 2017)	2007
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia^[2]	House of Al Saud	Hanbali Islamism Wahhabism Saudi Arabian nationalism	Unitary Islamic absolute monarchy	Saudi Vision 2030	1932
Republic of the Sudan^[3]	Omar al Bashir^[3]	Arab nationalism Islamism Salafism Social conservatism	Federal dominant-party presidential republic (1998–present) Federal one-party republic (1993-1998)		1993

Former Islamist totalitarian states

Country	Leader	Ideologies	Government	End goals	Date of establishment	Date of dissolution
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan^[4]	Mohammed Omar^[4]^[5]	Deobandi fundamentalism^[6] Islamism^[6] Pashtunwali^[7] Religious nationalism^[7] Salafi jihadism^[4]	Unitary Islamic theocratic absolute monarchy^[5]	Talibanization Afghan reunification^[4]	1996^[4]	2001^[4]
Islamic Republic of Iran^[8]	Ruhollah Khomeini	Islamism Shia Islam Khomeinism Republicanism Anti-imperialism Anti-communism Anti-Americanism Anti-Zionism	Unitary one-party theocratic Islamic republic under a Supreme Leader	Islamization of Iran	1979	1989

Left-wing totalitarian states

Country	Leader	Ideologies	Government	End goals	Date of establishment	Date of dissolution
Democratic People's Republic of Korea^[9]^[10]^[11]	Kim dynasty^[11]	Chulsin-songbun^[12] Juche^[12] Korean nationalism Kimism Songun	Unitary Juche one-party socialist republic under a hereditary military dictatorship	Korean reunification	1948
Syrian Arab Republic^[13]	Hafez Al Assad (1971-2000)^[13] Bashar Al Assad (2000–present)^[13]	Arab socialism Pan-Arabism Ba'athism Neo-Ba'athism Assadism Anti-zionism Secularism	Unitary one-party republic (until 2011) Unitary dominant-party republic (since 2011)	Arab Union Greater Syria Syrian reunification	1971

Former left-wing totalitarian states

Country	Leader	Ideologies	Government	End goals	Start date	End date
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics^[11]	Joseph Stalin^[11]	Stalinism Stalin's cult of personality Soviet socialist patriotism Communism	Federal Marxist-Leninist one-party socialist republic	Socialism in One Country	1924^[11]	1953^[11]^{[failed verification]}^[14]^[15]^[16]
People's Republic of China^[11]	Mao Zedong^[11]	Mao Zedong Thought Mao cult Chinese nationalism Communism	Unitary Marxist-Leninist one-party socialist republic	Chinese reunification	1949	1976
Democratic Republic of Vietnam^[17]	Ho Chi Minh	Ho Chi Minh Thought Ho Chi Mihn's cult of personality Vietnamese nationalism Marxism-Leninism Communism	Unitary Marxist-Leninist one-party socialist republic	Vietnamese reunification World communism World revolution	1945	1969
Democratic Kampuchea (1976-1982) Kampuchea (1975-1976)^[18]^[19]	Pol Pot	Agrarian socialism Communism Khmer nationalism Mao Zedong Thought Marxism–Leninism Socialism	Unitary Marxist-Leninist one-party socialist republic	Cambodian genocide World communism World revolution Year Zero	1975	1982
People's Socialist Republic of Albania (1976-1990) People's Republic of Albania (1946-1976)	Enver Hoxha (1946-1985) Ramiz Alia(1985-1991)	Anti-revisionism Communism Hoxhaism Hoxha’s cult of personality Marxism–Leninism Socialism Stalinism	Unitary Marxist-Leninist one-party socialist republic	Greater Albania World communism World revolution	1946	1991
Socialist Republic of Romania	Nicolae Ceaușescu	Nicolae Ceaușescu's cult of personality Communism Stalinism Romanian nationalism Marxism–Leninism National Communism Protochronism Socialism Stalinism	Unitary Marxist-Leninist one-party socialist republic	Greater Romania World communism World revolution	1971	1989
Iraqi Republic^[20]	Saddam Hussein	Anti-Zionism Antisemitism Arab nationalism Arab socialism Ba'athism Iraqi nationalism Neo-Ba'athism Pan-Arabism Saddamism Secularism	Unitary one-party socialist republic under a military dictatorship	Arab Union Greater Iraq	1979	2003
Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya^[21]^[22] (1986-2011) Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (1977-1986)	Muammar al Gaddafi	African nationalism Anti-Zionism Antisemitism Arab nationalism Gaddafism Islamic socialism Pan-Africanism Third International Theory	Unitary Islamic socialist Jamahiriya under a military dictatorship	United States of Africa Arab Union	1977	2011

Nationalist totalitarian states

Country	Leader	Ideologies	Government	Date of establishment
Republic of Equatorial Guinea^[23]	Teodoro Obiang	African nationalism Militarism Obiang’s cult of personality	Unitary dominant-party presidential republic (1991–present) Unitary one-party republic (1987-1991) Unitary presidential republic (1982-1987) Unitary presidential republic under a military dictatorship (1979-1982)	1979
State of Eritrea^[24]^[25]	Isaias Afewerki	Eritrean nationalism Left-wing nationalism Secularism	Unitary one-party presidential republic	1993
Republic of South Sudan^[26]	Salva Kiir Mayardit	South Sudanese nationalism Left-wing nationalism Secularism	Federal presidential republic	2011

Former nationalist totalitarian states

Country	Leader	Ideologies	Government	End goals	Date of establishment	Date of dissolution
Republic of Zaire^[27]	Mobutu Sese Seko^[27]	Mobutism^[28]^[29] African nationalism Anti-communism Zairian nationalism Mobutu's cult of personality	One-party presidential republic under a military dictatorship	Authenticité Africanization	1971	1997
Republic of Uganda^[30]	Idi Amin Dada^[30]	Social conservatism Anti-communism African nationalism Economic nationalism Militarism Isolationism Xenophobia Anti-zionism(from 1976)	Military dictatorship		1971	1979

Former fascist totalitarian states

Country	Leader	Ideologies	Government	End goals	Date of establishment	Date of dissolution
German Reich^[11]	Adolf Hitler^[11]	Fascism German nationalism Hitlerism Nazism Pan-Germanicism Pan-Germanism Extreme anti-semitism	Unitary one-party republic^[31]	Axis victory in World War II Final Solution to the Jewish Question^[32] Greater Germany^[32] Lebensraum Thousand Year Reich^[32]	1933^[11]	1945^[11]
Kingdom of Italy^{[note 1]}^[33]	Victor Emmanuel III (as King of Italy) Benito Mussolini (as Prime Minister of Italy)^[11]	Italian Imperialism Italian Fascism Italian nationalism Mussolinism Pan-Latinism Ultranationalism	Unitary one-party monarchy (1928-1943) Unitary dominant-party parliamentary constitutional monarchy (1925-1928)	Axis victory in World War II Greater Italy New Roman Empire Spazio vitale	1925	1943
Greater Japanese Empire^{[note 2]}^[34]	Hirohito (as Emperor of Japan) Hideki Tojo (as Prime Minister of Japan)	Japanese fascism Para-fascism Japanese imperialism Japanese militarism Japanese nationalism Ultra-nationalism Shōwa Statism Pan-Asianism State Shinto National conservatism Social conservatism	Unitary one-party military dictatorship under an absolute monarchy (1940-1945) Unitary constitutional monarchy under a military dictatorship (1937-1940)	Axis victory in World War II Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere Greater Japan	1937	1945

Notes

^ Hannah Arendt in The Origins of Totalitarianism disputes that Italy was a totalitarian state.
^ Robert Paxton in The Anatomy of Fascism disputes that Japan was a totalitarian state.

References

^ Toameh, Khaled Abu. "Who Is Destroying the Palestinian Dream?".
^ Bandow, Doug. "Iran Is Dangerous, But Saudi Arabia Is Worse".
^ ^a ^b "Sudan Islamic Totalitarianism - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan". www.sudantribune.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "The Totalitarian Present - The American Interest". 1 September 2009.
^ ^a ^b "Mullah Muhammad Omar, Enigmatic Leader of Afghan Taliban, Is Dead". 30 July 2015 – via NYTimes.com.
^ ^a ^b "Did you know that there are two different Taliban groups?". 1 April 2013.
^ ^a ^b "NCTC Home". www.nctc.gov.
^ http://www.ihrr.org/ihrr_article/religion-en_the-third-form-of-totalitarianism-the-islamic-republic-of-iran/
^ "North Korea country profile". 9 April 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
^ "Kim Jong Un's North Korea: Life inside the totalitarian state". Washington Post.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m "Totalitarianism". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2018.
^ ^a ^b "What Is The Juche Ideology Of North Korea?".
^ ^a ^b ^c "Syria: Between oppression and freedom - Ifimes". www.ifimes.org.
^ Rutland, Peter (1993). The Politics of Economic Stagnation in the Soviet Union: The Role of Local Party Organs in Economic Management. Cambridge University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-521-39241-9. after 1953 ...This was still an oppressive regime, but not a totalitarian one.
^ Krupnik, Igor (1995). "4. Soviet Cultural and Ethnic Policies Towards Jews: A Legacy Reassessed". In Ro'i, Yaacov (ed.). Jews and Jewish Life in Russia and the Soviet Union. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-714-64619-0. The era of 'social engineering' in the Soviet Union ended with the death of Stalin in 1953 or soon after; and that was the close of the totalitarian regime itself.
^ von Beyme, Klaus (2014). On Political Culture, Cultural Policy, Art and Politics. Springer. p. 65. ISBN 978-3-319-01559-0. The Soviet Union after the death of Stalin moved from totalitarianism to authoritarian rule.
^ https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/01/opinion/the-war-we-could-have-won.html
^ Rummel, R.J. (1994). "Democide in totalitarian states: Mortacracies and megamurderers.". In Charney, Israel W. (ed.). Widening circle of genocide. Transaction Publishers. p. 5. There is much confusion about what is meant by totalitarian in the literature, including the denial that such systems even exist. I define a totalitarian state as one with a system of government that is unlimited constitutionally or by countervailing powers in society (such as by a church, rural gentry, labor unions, or regional powers); is not held responsible to the public by periodic secret and competitive elections; and employs its unlimited power to control all aspects of society, including the family, religion, education, business, private property, and social relationships. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was thus totalitarian, as was Mao's China, Pol Pot's Cambodia, Hitler's Germany, and U Ne Win's Burma
^ O'Kane, Rosemary H T (1993). "Cambodia in the zero years: rudimentary totalitarianism". Third World Quarterly. 14 (4): 735–748. JSTOR 3992949.
^ "Iraq: A Population Silenced". 2001-2009.state.gov.
^ Kafala, Tarik (20 October 2011). "Gaddafi's quixotic and brutal rule" – via www.bbc.com.
^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-gaddafi-was-the-quintessential-20th-century-dictator/2011/10/21/gIQANkTb4L_story.html
^ Birrell, Ian (22 October 2011). "The strange and evil world of Equatorial Guinea". the Guardian.
^ Taylor, Adam (12 June 2015). "The brutal dictatorship the world keeps ignoring" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
^ https://www.nation.co.ke/news/africa/1066-2744120-uyqx0jz/index.html
^ "South Sudan country profile, Political Rights and Civil Liberties". Freedom House. 2018-01-10.
^ ^a ^b Smith, David (10 February 2015). "Where Concorde once flew: the story of President Mobutu's 'African Versailles'". the Guardian.
^ books.google.com.br/books?id=HeWRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=zaire+totalitarianism&source=bl&ots=6B_2gzU-FT&sig=nc32QJIJ2qMu01qUqj5NXph6G-U&hl=pt-BR&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjO5Jfui-PaAhXFI5AKHUOHCKsQ6AEwAXoECAgQAQ
^ Gouahinga, Francois (8 January 2007). "Congo-Kinshasa: Review of Mobutu's Totalitarian Political System - An Afrocentric Analysis" – via AllAfrica.
^ ^a ^b Smith, Asher (4 September 2012). "The "Evolution" of Totalitarian Regimes Is Really a Throwback".
^ "Foundations of the Nazi State". www.ushmm.org.
^ ^a ^b ^c gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/nazibeliefsrev_print.shtml
^ "Fascism and the Italian Road to Totalitarianism". www.libraryofsocialscience.com.
^ "Heil Hirohito: Was Imperial Japan a Fascist Totalitarian State?". 23 January 2017.

[33] Hannah Arendt in The Origins of Totalitarianism disputes that Italy was a totalitarian state.

[35] Robert Paxton in The Anatomy of Fascism disputes that Japan was a totalitarian state.

[1] Toameh, Khaled Abu. "Who Is Destroying the Palestinian Dream?".

[2] Bandow, Doug. "Iran Is Dangerous, But Saudi Arabia Is Worse".

[auto-3] "Sudan Islamic Totalitarianism - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan". www.sudantribune.com.

[auto1-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "The Totalitarian Present - The American Interest". 1 September 2009.

[nytimes.com-5] "Mullah Muhammad Omar, Enigmatic Leader of Afghan Taliban, Is Dead". 30 July 2015 – via NYTimes.com.

[digitaljournal.com-6] "Did you know that there are two different Taliban groups?". 1 April 2013.

[nctc.gov-7] "NCTC Home". www.nctc.gov.

[8] ttp://www.ihrr.org/ihrr_article/religion-en_the-third-form-of-totalitarianism-the-islamic-republic-of-iran/

[9] "North Korea country profile". 9 April 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.

[10] "Kim Jong Un's North Korea: Life inside the totalitarian state". Washington Post.

[britannica-11] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m "Totalitarianism". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2018.

[worldatlas.com-12] "What Is The Juche Ideology Of North Korea?".

[ifimes.org-13] "Syria: Between oppression and freedom - Ifimes". www.ifimes.org.

[14] Rutland, Peter (1993). The Politics of Economic Stagnation in the Soviet Union: The Role of Local Party Organs in Economic Management. Cambridge University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-521-39241-9. after 1953 ...This was still an oppressive regime, but not a totalitarian one.

[15] Krupnik, Igor (1995). "4. Soviet Cultural and Ethnic Policies Towards Jews: A Legacy Reassessed". In Ro'i, Yaacov (ed.). Jews and Jewish Life in Russia and the Soviet Union. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-714-64619-0. The era of 'social engineering' in the Soviet Union ended with the death of Stalin in 1953 or soon after; and that was the close of the totalitarian regime itself.

[16] von Beyme, Klaus (2014). On Political Culture, Cultural Policy, Art and Politics. Springer. p. 65. ISBN 978-3-319-01559-0. The Soviet Union after the death of Stalin moved from totalitarianism to authoritarian rule.

[17] ttps://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/01/opinion/the-war-we-could-have-won.html

[Rummel-18] Rummel, R.J. (1994). "Democide in totalitarian states: Mortacracies and megamurderers.". In Charney, Israel W. (ed.). Widening circle of genocide. Transaction Publishers. p. 5. There is much confusion about what is meant by totalitarian in the literature, including the denial that such systems even exist. I define a totalitarian state as one with a system of government that is unlimited constitutionally or by countervailing powers in society (such as by a church, rural gentry, labor unions, or regional powers); is not held responsible to the public by periodic secret and competitive elections; and employs its unlimited power to control all aspects of society, including the family, religion, education, business, private property, and social relationships. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was thus totalitarian, as was Mao's China, Pol Pot's Cambodia, Hitler's Germany, and U Ne Win's Burma

[OKane93-19] O'Kane, Rosemary H T (1993). "Cambodia in the zero years: rudimentary totalitarianism". Third World Quarterly. 14 (4): 735–748. JSTOR 3992949.

[20] "Iraq: A Population Silenced". 2001-2009.state.gov.

[21] Kafala, Tarik (20 October 2011). "Gaddafi's quixotic and brutal rule" – via www.bbc.com.

[22] ttp://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-gaddafi-was-the-quintessential-20th-century-dictator/2011/10/21/gIQANkTb4L_story.html

[23] Birrell, Ian (22 October 2011). "The strange and evil world of Equatorial Guinea". the Guardian.

[24] Taylor, Adam (12 June 2015). "The brutal dictatorship the world keeps ignoring" – via www.washingtonpost.com.

[25] ttps://www.nation.co.ke/news/africa/1066-2744120-uyqx0jz/index.html

[26] "South Sudan country profile, Political Rights and Civil Liberties". Freedom House. 2018-01-10.

[auto2-27] Smith, David (10 February 2015). "Where Concorde once flew: the story of President Mobutu's 'African Versailles'". the Guardian.

[28] s.google.com.br/books?id=HeWRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=zaire+totalitarianism&source=bl&ots=6B_2gzU-FT&sig=nc32QJIJ2qMu01qUqj5NXph6G-U&hl=pt-BR&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjO5Jfui-PaAhXFI5AKHUOHCKsQ6AEwAXoECAgQAQ

[29] Gouahinga, Francois (8 January 2007). "Congo-Kinshasa: Review of Mobutu's Totalitarian Political System - An Afrocentric Analysis" – via AllAfrica.

[auto3-30] Smith, Asher (4 September 2012). "The "Evolution" of Totalitarian Regimes Is Really a Throwback".

[31] "Foundations of the Nazi State". www.ushmm.org.

[auto4-32] sebitesize/history/mwh/germany/nazibeliefsrev_print.shtml

[34] "Fascism and the Italian Road to Totalitarianism". www.libraryofsocialscience.com.

[36] "Heil Hirohito: Was Imperial Japan a Fascist Totalitarian State?". 23 January 2017.

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