European interwar dictatorships

Short description: List of dictatorships in Europe between World War I and World War II

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20th century European dictatorships by duration

This is a list of dictatorial regimes operational in European states in the interwar period, the period between World War I and World War II.

## Contents

* 1 Table summary
* 2 See also
* 3 Footnotes
* 4 Further reading
* 5 External links

## Table summary

Country  | Leader[1] | Start  | End  | Head of state[2] | Head of government[3] | Head of state party[4] | Parliament[5] | Parties[6] | Elections

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Albania | Ahmed Zogu | 1925-02-01 | 1939-04-07 | yes[7] | until 1928 | no | redesigned |  |  |
Template:Country data Federal State of Austria | Engelbert Dolfuss, Kurt Schuschnigg | 1933-03-07 | 1938-03-13 | no | yes[8] | yes | redesigned | OP | no
Template:Country data Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia | Emil Hácha | 1939-03-16 | 1945-05-05 | no | yes | yes | none | OP | no
Bulgaria | Alexander Tsankov | 1923-06-09 | 1926-01-04 | no | yes | yes[9] | coerced | MP | yes
Bulgaria | Boris III | 1935-01-22 | 1943-08-28 | yes | no | no | redesigned | NPO[10] | yes
Template:Country data Free City of Danzig | collective[11] | 1933-06-24 | 1939-09-01 | n/a | n/a | n/a | coerced | MP | yes
Estonia | Konstantin Päts | 1934-03-12 | 1940-06-17 | no[12] | yes | no[13] | redesigned[14] | NPO[15] | yes
Germany | Adolf Hitler | 1933-01-30 | 1945-04-30 | after 1934[16] | yes | yes | coerced[17] | OP | yes
Template:Country data Second Hellenic Republic | Theodoros Pangalos | 1925-06-24 | 1926-08-26 | since 1926[18] | until 1926 | no | coerced | MP | yes
Greece | Ioannis Metaxas | 1936-08-04 | 1941-04-25 | no | yes | no[19] | none | NP | no
Template:Country data Hungarian Soviet Republic | Béla Kun | 1919-03-21 | 1919-08-01 | no[20] | no | yes | none | MP | no
Hungary (W) | collective[21] | 1919 | 1920 | n/a | n/a | n/a | none | MP | no
Hungary (W) | Miklós Horthy | 1920-03-01 | 1944-10-15 | yes | no | no[22] | coerced | MP | yes
Template:Country data Fascist Italy (1922–1943) | Benito Mussolini | 1922-10-31 | 1943-07-23[23] | no[24] | yes | yes | redesigned[25] | MP (until 1926)
OP (after 1926)[26] | yes
Latvia | Kārlis Ulmanis | 1934-05-15 | 1940-06-15 | since 1936[27] | yes | no[28] | none[29] | NP[30] | no
Lithuania | Antanas Smetona | 1926-12-19 | 1940-06-15 | yes | no | until 1926[31] | redesigned[32] | MP (until 1936)
OP (after 1936)[33] | yes
Poland | Józef Piłsudski | 1926-05-14 | 1935-05-12 | no | 1926–1930[34] | no[35] | coerced | MP | yes
Poland | collective[36] | 1935-05-12 | 1939-09-17 | n/a | n/a | n/a | coerced | MP | yes
Template:Country data First Portuguese Republic | Sidónio Pais[37] | 1917-12-17 | 1918-12-14 | since 1917[38] | yes[39] | no | coerced | MP | yes
Portugal | collective[40] | 1926-05-28 | 1933-03-19 | n/a | n/a | n/a | coerced | NP | yes
Template:Country data Estado Novo (Portugal) | António Salazar | 1933-03-19 | 1974-04-25 | no | yes | yes[41] | redesigned | OP | yes
Romania | Carol II | 1938-02-11 | 1940-09-05 | yes | no | no[42] | none[43] | OP | yes
San Marino | Giuliano Gozi[44] | 1923-04-01 | 1943-07-28[45] | intermittently | n/a | yes | coerced | MP (until 1925)
OP | yes
Template:Country data Slovak Republic (1939-1945) | Jozef Tiso | 1939-03-14 | 1945-04-01 | yes[46] | until 1939 | yes | redesigned | MP[47] | no
Template:Country data Soviet Russia /  Soviet Union | collective[48] | spring 1918[49] | between 1927 and 1929[50] | n/a | n/a | n/a | coerced | MP (until 1922)
NPO[51] | yes
Russia (W) | collective[52] | 1918-23-09 | 1918-11-18 | n/a | n/a | n/a | none | MP | no
Russia (W) | Alexander Kolchak[53] | 1918-11-18 | after 1920-02-07[54] | yes | no | yes[55] | none | MP | no
Soviet Union | Joseph Stalin | between 1927 and 1929[50] | 1953-03-05 | no | since 1941 | yes | redesigned[56] | OP | yes
Template:Country data Restoration (Spain) | Miguel Primo de Rivera | 1923-09-23 | 1930-01-28 | no | yes | yes | redesigned[57] | OP | no
Template:Country data Restoration (Spain) | collective[58] | 1930-01-28 | 1931-04-14 | n/a | n/a | n/a | redesigned | MP | yes
Template:Country data Francoist Spain[59] | collective[60] | 1936-07-18 | 1936-10-01 | n/a | n/a | n/a | none | MP[61] | no
Template:Country data Francoist Spain | Francisco Franco | 1936-10-01 | 1975-11-20 | yes | until 1973 | yes | redesigned | OP[62] | no
Spain (R) | collective[63] | 1936-07-18 | 1939-03-31 | n/a | n/a | n/a | coerced[64] | MP | no
Turkey | Mustafa Kemal Atatürk | 1920-05-03 | 1938-11-10 | since 1923[65] | until 1921 | yes | redesigned | NPO | yes
Turkey | collective[66] | 1938-11-10 | 1950-05-22 | n/a | n/a | n/a | redesigned | NPO | yes
Yugoslavia | Alexander I | 1929-01-06 | 1934-04-09 | yes | no | no | redesigned[67] | OP[68] | yes
Yugoslavia | collective[69] | 1934-04-09 | 1941-03-27 | n/a | n/a | n/a | redesigned | MP[70] | yes

## See also

* Interwar period
* Dictatorship

## Footnotes

1. ↑ if clear. Otherwise brief information provided against specific cases
2. ↑ flag whether the dictator was formally a head of state, either as a monarch (king, tsar), regent, president, leader, state elder, chairman of a collegial body or any other formally recognised title. "N/a" stands for collective dictatorships, where there was no person identified as a dictator
3. ↑ flag whether the dictator was heading the country executive, typically a government, with the role of a prime minister
4. ↑ includes monopolistic parties such as NSDAP, and organisations posing as non-party citizen associations, e.g. Unión Patriótica in Spain or Vaterländische Front in Austria. In few cases such organisation existed, but the dictator was neither its leader nor even member, see e.g. the case of BBWR in Poland or Frontul Renașterii Naționale in Romania. "N/a" stands for collective dictatorships with no clear personal leader
5. ↑ "corced" stands for a parliament formally elected and operating according to pre-dictatorial rules, but controlled by means of electoral process and subservient majority; "redesigned" stands for a parliament composed and functioning according to new rules, defined by the dictatorship; "none" stands for no parliament at all
6. ↑ "MP" (multi-party) refers to regimes where multiple political parties were formally legal; "NPO" (non-partisan opposition) refers to one-party and non-partisan states which dissolved the party system but allowed the opposition candidates to run on an independent platform; "OP" (one-party) and "NP" (non-partisan) refer to one-party and non-partisan states where opposition and non-governmental organizations were not allowed
7. ↑ until 1928 as president, afterwards as king
8. ↑ following the assassination of Dolfuss, leadership of Vaterländische Front was assumed by Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg. Schuschnigg replaced him in 1936
9. ↑ the regime created Демократически сговор, a heterogeneous political entity intended as a platform of popular mobilisation; leadership in the party was heavily contested between Tsankov and Andrey Lyapchev
10. ↑ Although all political parties were banned following the 1934 coup, candidates representing parties participated in elections as independent candidates (see 1939 Bulgarian parliamentary election)
11. ↑ at different stages key personalities were Hermann Rauschning, Arthur Greiser and Albert Forster, though all were party subordinates of Adolf Hitler
12. ↑ Päts was Prime Minister in duties of the State Elder, and after the new constitution came to force, served as temporary caretaker head of state until the presidential elections of 1938
13. ↑ Päts had previously led a party, Asunikkude ning väikemaapidajate Koondis, which was dissolved in 1935. Päts' government was effectively supported by a newly-formed Patriotic League (Isamaaliit), the only legal political movement while the activities of all political parties remained suspended in the country
14. ↑ The unicameral parliament (Riigikogu) was adjourned in October 1934 and never resumed session. A new bicameral parliament was elected in 1938.
15. ↑ since March 20, 1935 the activities of all political parties were suspended, however individual pro-government and opposition candidates were able to run freely in the 1936 Estonian National Assembly elections and 1938 parliamentary elections.
16. ↑ in 1933-1934 the head of state was president Hindenburg; following his death Hitler abolished the role altogether and merged presidential rights into a new role, "der Führer und Reichskanzler"
17. ↑ formally the regime did not introduce major institutional changes to electoral and parliamentarian regime. However, in practice elections staged in 1933, 1936 and 1938 were fully manipulated by the Nazis and held on non-alternative basis (with the Nazi Party as the only candidate). Between 1933 and 1942 Reichstag convened 20 times, mostly as an audience to Hitler's harrangues; it exercised no political power
18. ↑ until 1926 the head of state was president Pavlos Kountouriotis; Pangalos deposed him following rigged presidential elections
19. ↑ Metaxas headed own party, Κόμμα των Ελευθεροφρόνων, which he dissolved upon seizing power
20. ↑ as First Hungarian Republic has never achieved legal stability, the role of head of state has not been clearly specified. The closest position was this of head of the Hungarian Central Executive Council, the role held by Sándor Garbai
21. ↑ The governments established in Szeged in 1919 during the period of revolution and counter-revolution; Gyula Károlyi, the first head of the Szeged government, Gyula Gömbös, István Bethlen, Horthy, and István Friedrich are mentioned as leaders of the counter-revolutionaries (East Central Europe Between the Two World Wars, Joseph Rothschild, 2016
22. ↑ due to rigged political system, the party victorious in all elections organized was Egységes Párt / Nemzeti Egység Pártja / Magyar Élet Pártja; though customarily referred to as "the government party" it has formed an autonomous part of the Horthy regime, independent of the regent himself
23. ↑ Italian Social Republic between 23 September 1943 and 25 April 1945.
24. ↑ until 1943 the head of state was king Victor Emmanuel III. The Italian Social Republic has never adopted a constitution or other legal act which formally defined head of state, even though Mussolini de facto acted as such
25. ↑ the Italian parliament underwent a few major changes throughout the fascist era; the Acerbo Law of 1923 re-defined electoral regime, in 1938 the chamber was replaced with entirely new corporative Camera dei Fasci e delle Corporazioni, and in 1943 an Assemblea Costituente was declared for the RSI
26. ↑ until 1926 political parties were formally allowed to operate
27. ↑ until 1936 the president was Alberts Kviesis. Upon expiration of his term, Ulmanis by decree assumed presidential duties
28. ↑ Ulmanis led his own party, Latvijas Zemnieku savienība, which he dissolved upon seizing power. There were other organizations he supported or created as vehicles of popular mobilization, like the paramilitary Aizsargi or self-development Mazpulki, but none amounted either to a state party or general patriotic front
29. ↑ numerous professional chambers have been created, with sort of their joint representation, but they never assumed political duties
30. ↑ Tyler Kuck 2014, p. 241
31. ↑ in 1926 Smetona handed the leadership of Lietuvių Tautininkų Sąjunga to Liudas Noreika; other party leaders followed later
32. ↑ the original Seimas was not convened until 1936; afterwards elections were organized according to new rules set up by the regime
33. ↑ European Dictatorships: A Comparative History of the Twentieth Century. Cambridge Scholars. 3 January 2014. ISBN 978-1-4438-5521-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=wmMxBwAAQBAJ.
34. ↑ Piłsudski was prime minister during two strings of 634 days (1926–1928) and 101 days (1930). Usually he preferred to rule from the back seat with his appointees in the front row.
35. ↑ The regime formed its own organisation which claimed not to have been a party, BBWR; its head was Walery Sławek and Piłsudski did not bother to join.
36. ↑ following the death of Piłsudski there was no obvious leader among his successors, with individuals like his personal friend Walery Sławek, president Ignacy Mościcki or army head Edward Rydz-Śmigły competing for power
37. ↑ leader of the 1917 coup, Sidónio Pais held the post of Portugal's president; the system is noted as "plebiscitary effort at a presidential regime", though some think it fell short of a personal dictatorship, Payne 1983, p. 140
38. ↑ the president Bernardino Machado went on exile on Dec 15, 1917. Pais became acting president following his decree of Dec 27, 1917; following rigged presidential elections of April 1918 he was formally confirmed as president in May 1918
39. ↑ Officially as prime minister until May 1918; afterwards premiership role was formally merged with this of the president.
40. ↑ initially the key though not dominating person behind the regime was its president, Oscar Carmona. He shared power with other military and prime ministers, like José Vicente de Freitas, Artur Ivens Ferraz and Domingos Oliveira; over time the finance minister António Salazar exercised more and more power, Payne 1983, p. 157
41. ↑ in an array of support mobilisation platforms, like Mocidade Portuguesa or Fundação Nacional para a Alegria no Trabalho, União Nacional was secondary to formation of Salazar regime, with phases of lethargy and re-animation interchanging, António Costa Pinto, ''Salazar’s ‘New State’: The Paradoxes of Hybridization in the Fascist Era, [in:] António Costa Pinto, Aristotle Kallis (eds.), Rethinking Fascism, London 2014, ISBN 9781349480883, p. 165
42. ↑ the royal regime set up Frontul Renașterii Naționale as the only legal political organization; it was headed by individuals other than the king, Armand Călinescu, Gheorghe Argeșanu and Constantin Argetoianu
43. ↑ initially Carol II intended to build a royal coalition, but eventually gave up, suspended the constitution and ruled as a royal dictator, Patrick G. Zander, Fascism through History: Culture, Ideology, and Daily Life, London 2020, ISBN 9781440861949, p. 424
44. ↑ The term limits of the Captains Regents were maintained during the dictatorship. He hold four terms between 1923 and 1941.
45. ↑ The fascist government was reinstalled between 23 September 1943 and 20 September 1944.
46. ↑ until late 1939 the role of head of state was formally with the government; it was headed by Tiso. Later he assumed the newly created presidential role
47. ↑ parties of German and Hungarian minorities were allowed to operate
48. ↑ heads of state changed in line with changing formal position (Lev Kamenev, Yakov Sverdlov, Mikhail Kalinin); prime ministers were Lenin and Alexei Rykov; there were also successive leaders of the communist party, РСДРП, РКП(б) and ВКП(б) like Nikolay Krestinsky, Vyacheslav Molotov and Stalin, Communist International head Grigory Zinoviev, plus persons like Leon Trotsky, who did not go above the rank of a minister
49. ↑ The introduction of war communism and the beginning of a full-scale civil war, after which the Bolsheviks shifted from soviet democracy to authoritarian measures and instituted the Red Terror // Шубин. А. В. 1918 год. Революция, кровью омытая, 2019. ISBN 978-5-8291-2317-8
50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 "Thus, between 1927 and 1929, Stalin isolated and defeated the Rightists to emerge as the individual successor of Lenin." // S. J. Lee, Europe, 1890-1945, p. 267
51. ↑ The USSR had become a one-party state by the 1924 election, but non-communist and opposition candidates were able to run as independents, like during the 1929 election
52. ↑ The Directory was appointed as a "collective dictator" on the territories controlled by the anti-Bolsheviks for the lack of the figure of a leader figure (see Шубин. А. В. 1918 год. Революция, кровью омытая, 2019. ISBN 978-5-8291-2317-8 and О. Будницкий. Золото Колчака. ISBN 9785444820087)
53. ↑ Succeeded by Anton Denikin and later Pyotr Wrangel as commanders-in-chief in South Russia and by heads of other regional White governments
54. ↑ After the Great Siberian Ice March disentegrated into South Russia, Eastern Okraina and Provisional Priamurye Government
55. ↑ As leader of the White movement
56. ↑ following the introduction of the 1936 Constitution, the Congress of Soviets was replaced with the Supreme Soviet which acted as a rubber stamp parliament, and the electoral system allowing independent candidates as an alternative to the Communist Party was replaced with the one on non-alternative basis (with the Communist Party/ Bloc of Communists and Non-Partisans as the only candidate)
57. ↑ Asamblea Nacional Consultiva was created in 1927, met rarely, and held no political power
58. ↑ following resignation of Primo de Rivera there was no clear political leader; power was shared between Alfonso XIII and prime ministers, Dámaso Berenguer and then Juan Aznar
59. ↑ Prior to the formal proclamation of the Spanish State, the territories controlled by the Nationalists were known as the Nationalist Zone (Zona nacional)
60. ↑ see National Defense Junta
61. ↑ Parties which supported the coup operated until being merged into FET-JONS
62. ↑ in line with the Unification Decree, the only political organisation permitted to operate was FET
63. ↑ exact political system in the so-called Republican zone of Spain evades easy categorization (see Revisionism (Spain)). "Traditionalist" scholars implicitly associate the wartime Republic with democracy or openly define it as one (see e.g. Martin Blinkhorn, Democracy and Civil War in Spain 1931-1939, London 2008, ISBN 9781134986347, p. 28, or Julian Casanova, The Spanish Civil War, London 2017, ISBN 9781350127586, p. 186). The "Revisionists" refer rather to a multi-current revolutionary regime with no force assuming a clearly dictatorial role, though many - e.g. the Communists or the Anarchists - willing to introduce their own type of dictatorship, Stanley G. Payne, The Spanish Civil War, Cambridge 2012, ISBN 9780521174701, p. 96. In the late 20th century Juan Negrín was at times referred to as a dictator, but currently this position is not maintained
64. ↑ Known supporters of right-wing and conservative views were subject to Red Terror launched by radical groups (Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Civil War, 2013)
65. ↑ until 1923 there was no formally defined head of state
66. ↑ following death of Kemal Atatürk the head of state was the president, İsmet İnönü; however, the regime was far from his personal dictatorship, with personal influence of prime ministers (Celâl Bayar, Refik Saydam) and some military
67. ↑ Lee 2016, p.343
68. ↑ having staged a self-coup, Alexander initially abolished all political parties. The constitution he imposed in 1931 permitted operations of political parties, Lee 2016, p. 343. Later the Yugoslav National Party became the sole ruling party
69. ↑ following assassination of king Alexander I the role of head of state was assumed by a collegial regency, led by Prince Paul and composed of lesser personalities like Radenko Stanković and Ivo Perović; much power was exercised by the PM, Milan Stojadinović, with other key politicians like Vladko Maček contributing to shaky balance of powers
70. ↑ see 1935 Yugoslavian parliamentary election

## Further reading

* Gerhard Besier, Katarzyna Stokłosa, European Dictatorships: A Comparative History of the Twentieth Century, Cambridge, 2014, ISBN 9781443855211
* Stephen J. Lee, European Dictatorships, 1918–1945, London, 2002, ISBN 9780415230452
* Monty G. Marshall, Ted Gurr, Keith Jaggers, The Polity IV Project: Political Regime Characteristics and Transitions, 1800–2012 – Dataset Users' Manual, s.l. 2017
* Jørgen Møller, Svend-Erik Skaaning, "Mapping Political Regime Developments in Interwar Europe: A Multidimensional Approach", Salamanca, 2014 (paper delivered at ECPR session)

## External links

* European dictatorships at the Encyclopædia Britannica

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