Stratocracy

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"Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." (枪杆子里面出政权。)

Stratocracy is an authoritarian ideology based on the idea that the military is the only government that can ensure stability within a given country or nation. He doesn't fall anywhere on the cultural or economic axis, as many regimes under him have differed in these respects. However, many stratocratic governments have been heavily influenced by other authoritarian ideologies such as Authoritarian Capitalism, Marxism–Leninism, and even less authoritarian ideologies such as Neoliberalism, and Neoconservatism. Stratocracies do not have to have a de jure military official at its head to be a stratocracy, but rather a de facto military leader have strong influence over or leadership over a nation's government.


History

Europe

The first known major example of a Stratocracy in Europe would be the Diarchy of Sparta. In Sparta, life was rigid and focused on a military hierarchy. The de jure heads of the Spartan state were kings of the Agiad and Europontid dynasties. They were de facto military dictators who led Spartan armies in battle during war times.

The Roman Empire at its height in 117

Another notable example of stratocratic rule was the late Roman Republic and Roman Empire. The Marian Reforms of the 1st Century B.C.E laid the groundwork for stratocratic rule as soldiers became more loyal to their generals rather than to the Republic. This then culminated in Caesar's Roman Civil War in which 2 generals, Gaius Julius Caesar, and Pompey the Great, had de facto military control over each side of the war. By the rule of Augustus, Roman Emperors were cemented as military generals. This is especially seen in 69 AD, or the year of four emperors, where numerous military generals successfully seized control of the Empire from one another before a winner came out on top. This is also seen in the Crisis of the 3rd Century and the Tetrarchy Civil Wars, where military rulers gained control over large swaths of the Empire.

Stratocratic control would also be cemented under the successor of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire (or Eastern Roman Empire). By the middle of the Empire's lifespan, a system of governance called a Theme was established where military generals were given local plots of land from which they could raise armies to defend the Empire. Beyond this, Byzantine Emperors were also military leaders. The most notable example of this was the 1071 Battle of Manzikert, where Romanos IV was captured by the Seljuk Turks. Another notable example of this would be the 1453 Siege of Constantinople, where Konstantinos XI supposedly charged with his soldiers at the Ottoman forces, never to be seen again.

The Kingdom of Prussia in 1815

In the remnants of the Western Roman Empire, Feudalism would overtake Stratocratic Imperialism as the dominant ideology. Despite this, there are a few examples of Stratocratic governance in Western-influenced regions: the Teutonic Order in Prussia was a militaristic society aimed at driving heathens out of Prussia; The Knights of Rhodes and Malta were a similar order aimed at driving heathens out of the Jerusalem area; the Kingdom of Prussia was famously regarded as, "an army with a state," by Voltaire; and the Nationalist Regime of Francisco Franco saw a somewhat ideological Stratocratic state come into power.

England

  • Oliver Cromwell - Oliver Cromwell was Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, former Member of Parliament for Cambridge and Huntingdon and former military commander, in which he was an extremely controversial figure in history. He was also undersigned on the death of Charles I and participated in the Second English Civil War. He is a strongly religious Puritan Christian and tolerated several Protestant sects at the time.

He led the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, in which he invaded and conquered Ireland, ending the Irish Confederate Wars, totaling 200-600,000 deaths. In Ireland, he imposed laws against Irish Catholics, such as confiscating all Irish land and giving it to the British, banning marriage between Irish Catholics and British Puritans, banning Catholics from entering the Irish parliament and visiting the city, and estimates put 15-50% would have lost their lives, further aggravated by the bubonic plague. He was accused of numerous atrocities in Ireland and is still hotly debated about the atrocities committed.

As Lord Protector, he tried to restore political order in the Protectorate, as well as being against a monarchist revolt and when Parliament turned against him, Cromwell dissolved him in 1655. He defeated the Dutch in the First Anglo-Dutch War and invaded Spanish colonies in the Caribbean and ended up colonizing Jamaica. He encouraged Jews to return to England after being banished by Edward I, in hopes of an economic recovery.

He died in 1658 of natural causes, even after death, his corpse was dug up, hung in chains, and then beheaded.

Germany

Freikorps

The Freikorps were a paramilitary organization utilized by the SPD to put down the Spartacist uprising. This eventually led to the summary executions of the communists Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht. This action had two consequences: firstly, it eliminated the anti-reformist Spartacist left from its position of influence on the German working class, and secondly, it paved the way for the rise of Hitler. This is largely the reason why MLs hate social democracy so much.

China

Arguably, some of the earliest examples of Stratocracies in Asia existed in the numerous warlord states of inter-dynasty China. During these times, local military authorities rose up to attempt to take over the entirety of China, before moving on to bureaucratic Confucian monarchies after their victory. These types of warlord eras would continue in China up until the Republic of China under the Kuomintang unified the country in 1928.

Pakistan

Japan

Imperial Japan at its height

Within China's cultural sphere of influence, Japan has also experienced numerous Stratocracies over its history, starting with the Kamakura Shogunate, which was briefly deposed by the Emperor in a process known as the Kenmu Restoration, but the emperor himself was deposed in a counterrevoltion three years later, creating the Ashikaga Shogunate. However, the Sengoku Period would end this single Stratocratic government in favor of numerous, competing governments (similar to the warring states periods in China). The Sengoku Period would end with the Tokugawa Shogunate taking control. The type of Stratocracy in Japan was different than other parts of the world in that it had a decentralized, Feudal hierarchy. After the fall of the Shogunate following the Meiji Restoration, Stratocratic control would return with the introduction of the Toseiha faction of the army into politics. The Toseiha would rule Japan until its capitulation in 1945, ending Stratocratic governance.

North Korea

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea officially employs the doctrine of Songun, which serves as a secondary doctrine to the official state ideology of Juche. Songun is generally translated into English as 'Military first' or 'Army first', the doctrine puts the interests of the Korean People's Army as being of upmost priority above other parts of society. Songun as an official and explicit policy instead of an unofficial and implicit policy was first put in place by Kim Jong-Il.

Myanmar

On February 1st, 2021 the army of Myanmar couped the democratic government after allegations of election fraud declaring a state of emergency for 1 year.

  • Min Aung Hlaing - Min Aung Hlaing is the current president, commander-in-chief of defense services and prime minister of Myanmar, assumed in 2021 after the coup. He also supported the military crackdown against the Saffron Revolution in 2008 and led a military offensive against the MNDAA in 2009, he also participated in several elections but lost.

Before the coup, he made statements questioning the 2020 elections, claiming it was a fraud. In 2021, he led a coup d'état overthrowing Aung San Suu Kyi, (known for the video of a woman dancing and the coup taking place behind her), in which Aung San Suu Kyi was accused of abusing COVID-19 containment laws. He arrested several politicians, including Aung San and was accused of killing 1,719 civilians (including children), ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya people and corruption, prompting several countries to apply sanctions against Myanmar.

Thailand

Main Articles: Network Monarchism and Thai Fascism

  • Sarit Thanarat - After consolidating power following the 1957 coup against Phibun, General Sarit Thanarat initiated a row of paternalistic policies such as lower food and electricity prices, universal healthcare. However, due to corruption many of Sarit's welfare programs weren't properly implemented or did not last long. Sarit was also extremely conservative and ordered the arrest of so-called "hooligans" (anthaphan) and "troublemakers" such as those with long hair, flashy clothing, and tight pants. Opium and drug trade were also heavily suppressed.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej came to be seen as an almost God-like figure in Thai society. Sarit Thanarat died unexpectedly from liver failure in 1963.

  • Prem Tinsulanonda - was a Thai military officer, politician, and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Thailand from 1980 to 1988, during which time he was credited with ending the communist insurgency that had plagued the country for 20 years and presiding over accelerating economic growth. Prem, as the President of the Privy Council, was one of King Bhumibol's most persistent loyalists (a.k.a Salims) and promoted the King's ideologies and royal projects, and founded several welfare projects related to education, drug suppression, poverty, and national unity. It is said that Prem was one of the masterminds behind the 2006 coup against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during the Thai Political Crisis of the mid-2000s. Following the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on 13th October 2016, Prem briefly served as regent of Thailand until the 1 December 2016 proclamation of Vajiralongkorn as King.
  • Prayut Chan-o-cha - Prayut Chan-o-cha is the current Prime Minister of Thailand. He served as the Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Army from 2010 to 2014, after having joined the military in 1976, and came to power in a 2014 coup (led by Prayut) which installed a military junta called the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) led by Prayut as the nation's new Prime minister. The new regime then declared martial law, suspending the constitution and imprisoning members of the former Thai cabinet, and initiating a crackdown on dissent against the new government. Prayut then created a list of twelve national core values which he had promoted in schools across the country. In 2019, along with his title as Prime Minister, Prayut also became the Minister of Defense and was reelected in the first general election since the 2014 coup. 2019 was also the year the NCPO was officially dissolved, and a new cabinet was formed. The Thai constitutional court ruled that Prayut did not exceed the term limit of 8 years, which his term begins in 2017, the year when the 2017 Thai Constitution was enacted.

Latin America

In Post-Columbian America, Stratocratic governments would appear as the institutions the Spanish set up crumbled.

Viceroyalty of New Spain

In Mexico, military juntas led by Santa Anna would rule Mexico until the 1860s, when the French would invade and set up the Second Mexican Empire. After the French were ousted, general Porfirio Diaz would stage a coup in 1876 and take power, ruling until the Mexican Revolution in 1911.

Central America

Guatemala had a troubled history after gain independence from Spain, Mexico, and the Central American Federation, yet no military dictatorship would arise until Rafael Carrera declared himself "President for life" in 1854. His successor would continue such a trend until 1871, although military leaders would continue to have an active role in politics until 1920. In 1954, the United Fruit Company, with the aid of the US government, overthrew the Guatemalan government and established a military dictatorship. This led to a period of massive instability, followed by an eventual return to democracy in 1986.

In Honduras, the first notable military government to came to power was in 1963, and lasted until 1979. During this time, the infamous "Football War occurred between Honduras and El Salvador. After the transition to democracy in 1979, Honduras would have no military dictatorships.

El Salvador would be under military dictatorship or a military-"guided" democracy from 1898 until 1992. During this time, numerous coups, juntas, and even a civil war occurred.

Nicaragua had quite a few military dictatorships throughout its existence, which even includes a full-fledged military occupation by the US Marines. After this, military dictators, the largest of whom was the Somoza Family, would rule over Nicaragua. A civil war between a group known as the Contras and the Nicaraguan government terrorized the country from the 1960s to 1990.

Costa Rica has been Central America's most stable country. It only had one military junta from 1919 to 1917 led by General Federico Tinoco Granados, and one 44 day civil war, with democracy in the country dating back to 1948.

Viceroyalty of New Granada

Gran Colombia

In the region formerly known of New Granada, military dictatorships led by Simón Bolívar would be established in the new states of Gran Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. While this control was short-lived, it would set a precedent of military control over these countries.

Within what would eventually become the modern nation of Colombia, no national military dictatorship would emerge. While no strongman was able to successfully take over the country, it had gone through numerous civil wars to avoid this fate.

In the modern nation of Venezuela, immediately after the fall of Gran Colombia, an oligarchic military state led by General Jose Antonio Páez ruled the nation. An oligarchic republic would rule the nation until Julián Castro couped the government. This led to a civil war in which Páez took back the country. It then became a federal, democratic state. There would be numerous military dictatorships after the transition to federalism, eventually culminating in the ascendency of Hugo Chávez in 1999.

Ecuador suffered the worst period of instability out of the 4 Gran Colombian nations after independence. Following Ecuadoran independence, Ecuador had numerous military dictators starting with General Juan José Flores. This ended following the Liberal Revolution of 1895. After this, various unstable governments rules Ecuador until a coup in 1972 under General Guillermo Rodríguez. Ecuador would reinstate democracy in 1979.

Viceroyalty of Peru

Peru was also mainly stable after their war for independence, with the first military coup occurring in 1948, by Manuel A. Odría. His successor was overthrown in 1968, when General Juan Velasco Alvarado took control of the country. He was deposed in 1975, after which the new government underwent a transition to democracy.

Bolivia, after securing independence, a revolving door of pseudo-stratocratic presidencies would culminate in the War of the Pacific, in which Bolivia lost its coastline. No Stratocratic governments would cement themselves until 1964, where another revolving door of military dictators would rule the country until 1993.

Chile faced relative stability after achieving independence. However, a coup in 1924 introduced a period of military dictatorships until 1931, when Chile became democratic again. In 1973, Augusto Pinochet deposed sitting president Salvador Allende in a military coup, bringing in one of the most famous Latin American dictatorships, under which Pinochet implemented free market reforms and brutally cracked down on the opposition. Pinochet would willingly give up power in 1990.

Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata

Another confederation of Latin American nations, the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata would take control over the former Viceroyalty and promptly collapse, splitting the region into numerous nations.

Argentina, while not politically stable, did remain without Stratocratic governance until 1930. In that year, José Félix Uriburu seized control of the country. Argentina would then be ruled by pseudo-democracy and military dictatorship led by Arturo Rawson until the rise of Perón

Paraguay before and after the Paraguayan War

While Paraguay was a dictatorship immediately after independence, it was not ruled by the military. In 1840, a military junta would come to power and numerous juntas would rule the nation until 1841, when the Lopez family took control. Paraguay would remain democratic after the Paraguayan War. In 1954, General Alfredo Stroessner couped the government and ruled until 1989. Paraguay would remain democratic to this day.

Uruguay remained largely stable after independence with Brazilian support. In 1973, a "Civillian-Military Regime" led by Juan María Bordaberry would come into power. The regime would transition to democracy in 1984, as it has remained to the present.

Egypt

  • Abdel Fattah El-Sisi - Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is the current president of Egypt, also a former president of the African Union, vice president president, defense minister, chief of the armed forces and director of intelligence, in addition to having participated in the Gulf War. Before the presidency, he was one of the leaders of the 2013 Golde, in which he had ousted Mohamed Morsi, replacing Adly Mansour. He commanded the Rabaa Massacre, in which he pitted the army against pro-Morsi protesters, killing between 904–1,000 civilians. He has also been accused of a personality cult with anti-Morsi protesters.

He came to power after winning the 2014 elections with 96% of the vote. His government has been accused of numerous human rights abuses, torture, disappearances and even the use of torture methods against 12-year-olds. In 2019 there were protests against corruption, in which he blamed the Islam policy and referred to the 2013 uprising. Economically, he hears a 78% increase in fuel prices as a way of introducing the cut of subsidies to basic food and energy, even if spent 96 billion energy subsidies making Egypt's gasoline one of the cheapest in the world. The price of chicken increased by 25%, a 13% increase in the rate of micro-buses and taxis and an increase in taxes on alcohol, cigarettes and property, but the foreign debt fell by 13.5%. He also encouraged the energy sector.

One of his government's focuses was on increasing national projects such as a New Suez Canal, Suez Canal Area Development Project, National Roads Project, building a new capital, trying to eliminate all slums and Project New Delta. USA-Egypt relations deteriorate, while the Russia-Egypt relationship has seen some improvement with Putin being the first president to congratulate him on his victory in 2014, Egypt-Turkey relations have also deteriorated.

Sahel Region

WIP

Iraq

  • Qasimism - Abd al-Karim Qasim was an Iraqi military man and prime minister after the overthrow of the monarchy and King Faisal II during the 14th of July revolution. He had a strong role in the February 14 revolution, in which he led military brigades that took the capital, killing the king, then killing and maiming the crown prince and prime minister, having a parade in the streets with both bodies, surviving only Princess Hiyam. After that, he took power in 1958 with Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i as president.

As prime minister, he instituted nationalism and pan-Arabism, instituted some liberal laws, such as women's rights, marriage and divorce, inheritance (interestingly) among others. He also instituted agrarian reform, ending the feudal structure and bringing about a distribution of land, also increasing spending on education. There was construction of houses for the poorest population, an attempt to balance the communist left and the nationalist right, with secularism and civic nationalism. Even with some improvements, he still used the military to violently suppress rebellions and sentenced those who participated in the Mosul rebellion in 1959 to death, in addition to some more fervent opponents accusing him of corruption. Iraq's relations with Iran and the West deteriorated, it refused to enter Nasser's United Arab Republic and strengthened ties with the Soviet Union. After not granting autonomy to the Kurds, generating the first Kurdish-Iraqi war, in which the Iraqi offensive against it ended up failing, having to make negotiations for Kurdish autonomy. Even though he had good relations with the Communists, he ended up purging them in 1960 after the Kirkuk massacre. He was overthrown after a Baath Party military coup in 1963, then being executed and his body exposed on television.

Variants

Military Junta

A military junta is a type of leadership structure in a military dictatorship in which a committee of military officers rules in unison. The junta typically includes the leader of each branch of the military and sometimes the state police. Many juntas present themselves as restorers of peace, adopting titles along the lines of "Committee of National Restoration", or "National Liberation Committee". Juntas often appoint one member as the head, effectively designating that person the dictator. Officers working alongside this dictator wield considerable political power. The military structure provides stability for such a government, as officers have effective control over their subordinates and can bargain on their behalf. Factionalism can threaten the junta structure, as it incentivizes lower-ranked officers to change their loyalties.

Political Strongman

Strongmen are dictators that rule as both military dictators and personalist dictators. They seize power and rule through the military, but they do not meaningfully share their power with the military, ruling unilaterally. These dictatorships become increasingly personalist as the ruler consolidates power and subjugates rivals, eventually culminating in cults of personality. Other military officers may hold positions in the government, but they have no power to restrain the dictator or influence policy decisions. A military dictator becomes a strongman by securing control of state security forces, allowing the dictator to coerce other officers. Military dictators that seek to personalize their rule must bypass the higher-ranked officers that make up the inner circle, negotiating with the lower-ranked officers directly. Achieving direct control over the military also allows the dictator to appoint loyalists to important positions while excluding competitors. Military officers will often demand that the dictator give up their military rank upon taking power for this reason. Leaders that have been classified by political scientists as strongmen include:

Personality and Behaviour

Stratocracy is a dog. Stratocracy operates in 3 phases in order to gain power because of this limitation.

During phase one, Stratocracy will attempt to gain the trust of a victim playmate. If sufficient trust is gained, Stratocracy will attempt to influence its victim playmate's decisions until the victim playmate becomes nothing more than a puppet of Stratocracy, beginning phase 2. If the victim playmate refuses to be coerced by Stratocracy, it will attempt to attain the support of another playmate (mostly Neoliberalism and Neoconservatism in case the victim playmate is Left-wing, especially if their power is not unified enough) in an attempt to "liberate" their victim playmate.

During phase 2, Stratocracy has full control of their victim playmate, and/or support of a preexisting playmate. During this phase, Stratocracy will ensure its victim playmate takes actions that directly benefit it. This includes buying dog food, killing other victim playmates, and buying AR-15s. The sudden change in personality may alert other playmates, however.

If enough suspicion is drawn upon Stratocracy, it will sever its tie to the former victim playmate, and begin at phase 1 with another victim playmate. The only playmate invulnerable to the phases is Kakistocracy, but they generally do what Stratocracy wants of its own accord, anyway.

That, or he could be portrayed as a trained pitbull, ripping apart whoever his Authoritarian Master wants him to.

How to Draw

Flag of Stratocracy
  1. Draw a ball,
  2. Draw the treads, hull, and cannon of a tank in grey,
  3. Fill in the rest of the ball with dark green,
  4. (Optional) Add grey ears and a grey tail,
  5. Add the eyes and you're done!
Color Name HEX RGB
Grey #373737 55, 55, 55
Dark Green #4C8300 76, 131, 0


Relationships

Bork! Bork! (My masters)

Borf? (Strange)

GRRRRR (BAD BOYS)

Further Information

Wikipedia

YouTube

Videos

Gallery

Navigation


  1. ↑ Musharraf: The indispensable ally, The Week
  2. ↑ "Musharraf unveils population policy". Dawn.
  3. ↑ Fundamentalism, narcotics and ISI. Ministry of External Affairs: Government of India.
  4. ↑ The Orange Vests are officially allied to Forza Nuova, a neo-fascist italian party
  5. ↑ Sikorski was a prominent dissident under the Sanationist regime due to his advocacy of democracy.
  6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shermanesque_statement
  7. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tecumseh_Sherman#Slavery_and_emancipation
  8. ↑ Ibid
  9. ↑ Than Shwe was Ne Win's second-in-command.
  10. ↑ Zaluzhny has been photographed with Right Sector members, portraits of Bandera and the OUN-B flag
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