Historical Political Regimes

The German Empire (1871–1918) was a federation of 25 states under the Prussian crown, with a Kaiser who chose the chancellor and a Reichstag elected by men. It is rated for that constitution and for the protective tariffs, naval build-up and Germanisation policies of its time.

The Weimar Republic (1919–1933) was a federal parliamentary democracy with universal suffrage and a broad bill of rights. It is rated for that constitution, its mixed economy and its open culture, while emergency decrees and extremist parties weakened it.

Nazi Germany (1933–1945) was a one-party dictatorship under Adolf Hitler that abolished the federal states and all opposition. It is rated for this centralised terror state, its race laws and rearmament, and its state-directed war economy.

The Soviet Union under Stalin (1929–1953) was a one-party state that collectivised farms, ran the economy by Five-Year Plans and ruled through the secret police and the Gulag. It is rated for that command system and for its forced, state-led push to industrialise.

The Soviet Union under Brezhnev (1964–1982) was a one-party state with a planned economy, but the mass terror of the Stalin years had ended. It is rated for that stable, cautious system of party control, state ownership and a large military.

Tsarist Russia (1881–1917) was an autocratic empire where the tsar held supreme power and, after 1906, shared a little of it with an elected Duma. It is rated for its police state, state church and Russification, and for state-led industrialisation by the standards of its day.

Austria-Hungary (1867–1918) was a dual monarchy in which Austria and Hungary shared a ruler, a foreign policy and an army, but kept separate parliaments. It is rated for that loose federal structure and its many languages, set against a strong dynasty and a Catholic-led social order.

Revolutionary France in 1793–1794 was a republic at war, ruled by the Convention and the Committee of Public Safety during the Terror. It is rated for that emergency government: centralised, militarised, hostile to the church and bound by price controls.

Napoleonic France (1804–1814) was an authoritarian empire that kept the Revolution's legal equality while ending its democracy. It is rated for its centralised prefect system, near-constant war, press censorship and the property-friendly Civil Code.

Vichy France (1940–1944) was the authoritarian French state set up after the 1940 defeat, led by Marshal Pétain and working with the German occupier. It is rated for its end of elections, its anti-Jewish laws, its alliance with the church and its traditionalist "National Revolution".

Victorian Britain (1837–1901) was a constitutional monarchy under a gradually widening franchise, with free trade, a free press and the largest empire in the world. It is rated for its laissez-faire economy and its strong industrial technology by the standards of its day, set against imperial hierarchy and strict morals.

Fascist Italy (1922–1943) was a one-party dictatorship under Benito Mussolini that kept the king but banned other parties and ran the economy through corporations and state holding firms. It is rated for its police state, imperial wars, autarky drive and the 1929 deal with the church.

The Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939) was a democratic republic with women's suffrage, regional autonomy statutes and a secular constitution. It is rated for those reforms, which split Spain until the 1936 coup began the Civil War.

The Estado Novo (1933–1974) was the authoritarian corporatist regime built by António de Oliveira Salazar and continued by Marcelo Caetano. It is rated for its single party, secret police, colonial wars, church ties and a conservative, rural economy.

East Germany (1949–1990) was the Soviet-aligned German state, ruled by the SED with a planned economy and the Stasi police. It is rated for that one-party control, state ownership, the closed border and a secular state with strong childcare and women's employment.

Tito's Yugoslavia (1945–1980) was a federation of six republics ruled by the League of Communists, with worker self-management instead of Soviet-style planning. It is rated for its one-party rule, its non-aligned foreign policy and open borders compared with the Eastern bloc.

The Paris Commune (March to May 1871) was a radical municipal government that held Paris for 72 days after the Franco-Prussian War. It is rated from its few decrees: a federation of communes, recallable delegates, separation of church and state and workers' cooperatives.

Revolutionary Catalonia (1936–1937) was the part of Spain where anarchist and socialist unions collectivised industry and farms after the army coup failed. It is rated for those collectives, the attack on the church and the committee rule that ended with the May 1937 fighting.

The early United States (1789–1829) was a new federal republic with a written constitution and a Bill of Rights, but only white men voted and slavery was legal. It is rated for its limited federal government, its wide states' powers and its small army, set against slavery and restrictive citizenship.

The Confederate States of America (1861–1865) was the breakaway Southern republic formed to defend slavery, with a constitution that barred any law against it. It is rated for its states' rights charter, its plantation economy and its war government, which centralised power despite that charter.

The New Deal United States (1933–1941) was Franklin Roosevelt's federal republic that answered the Depression with Social Security, labour law, bank regulation and large public works. It is rated for that expanded federal role, set against Jim Crow and conservative social norms of the period.

The Empire of Brazil (1822–1889) was a unitary constitutional monarchy under Pedro I and Pedro II, with an income-based vote and slavery until 1888. It is rated for its centralised provinces, Catholic state, plantation economy and the emperor's moderating power.

Vargas's Estado Novo (1937–1945) was the dictatorship Getúlio Vargas declared in 1937, closing Congress and replacing governors with appointed interventors. It is rated for that centralised rule, press censorship, the labour code and state-led industrialisation.

Brazil's military regime (1964–1985) was a series of general-presidents who ruled by institutional acts, censored the press and used torture against opponents. It is rated for that national-security state, its state-led "economic miracle" and its import-substitution industry.

Peronist Argentina (1946–1955) was the elected, populist government of Juan Perón, with strong unions, nationalised utilities and a state grip on trade. It is rated for that economic nationalism, its pressure on opposition media and its Catholic alliance that broke down in 1954.

Allende's Chile (1970–1973) was an elected Marxist government that nationalised copper and banks and expanded land reform while keeping Congress, courts and a free press. It is rated for its planned, collectivised economy within a democracy, which ended in the September 1973 military coup.

Pinochet's Chile (1973–1990) was a military dictatorship that banned parties, used a secret police against opponents and then carried out a sweeping free-market programme. It is rated for the contrast between its centralised repression and its privatised, open economy.

Revolutionary Cuba (1959–1970) was the first decade of Fidel Castro's rule, when the state nationalised industry and farms and set up one-party control. It is rated for its planned economy, state atheism, military mobilisation and the Soviet-aligned trade that followed the US embargo.

Late Qing China (1840–1912) was the Manchu empire in its last decades, ruled by an emperor and court while regional viceroys held growing power. It is rated for its Confucian state, imperial hierarchy and forced opening to trade, with slow reforms by the standards of its day.

The Republic of China in its Nanjing era (1928–1949) was a one-party Nationalist government under Chiang Kai-shek that never fully controlled the country. It is rated for party tutelage, Han-centred nationalism, a mixed economy with state banks and the long wars with Japan and the Communists.

Maoist China (1949–1976) was the People's Republic under Mao Zedong, with one-party rule, collectivised land and industry and mass campaigns such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. It is rated for that command economy, the ban on religion and the limited trade of a self-reliant state.

Meiji Japan (1868–1912) was the modernising empire that replaced the shogunate, centralised the country and adopted a constitution in 1889 while real power stayed with a small group of oligarchs. It is rated for its drive to industrialise and arm quickly, its state Shinto and its assimilation of Ainu and Ryukyuans.

Imperial Japan (1931–1945) was the militarist empire that invaded Manchuria and China and fought the Pacific War, with the military dominating cabinets and the political parties dissolved in 1940. It is rated for its police controls, State Shinto, forced assimilation of colonial subjects and wartime planned economy.

The Ottoman Empire in the Tanzimat era (1839–1908) was a multi-religious Islamic empire whose sultans reformed the army, law and schools on European lines while keeping the caliphate. It is rated for its centralising reforms, the limits on an elected parliament, its Islamic legal base and free-trade treaties.

Pahlavi Iran (1941–1979) was the monarchy of Mohammad Reza Shah, who pushed secular modernisation, land reform and women's suffrage while relying on the SAVAK secret police. It is rated for his personal rule, a state religion kept under control and a US-aligned oil economy.

Ba'athist Iraq (1968–2003) was a one-party dictatorship that Saddam Hussein came to dominate from 1979, fighting wars with Iran and Kuwait. It is rated for its secret-police terror, nationalised oil economy, Arab nationalism and campaigns against the Kurds.

Khmer Rouge Cambodia (1975–1979) was Democratic Kampuchea, the regime that emptied the cities, abolished money and religion and caused the deaths of an estimated 1.5 to 2 million people. It is rated for those policies; how it fits the progressive-traditional axis is uncertain, so that axis is set at the middle.

Apartheid South Africa (1948–1994) was a state where only white citizens elected parliament and the law sorted people by race into separate areas, schools and jobs. It is rated for that racial classification, its security-state controls, its mining-based market economy and its isolation under sanctions.

Sankara's Burkina Faso (1983–1987) was the military revolutionary government of Thomas Sankara, which renamed Upper Volta, promoted self-reliance, women's roles and tree planting, and refused foreign debt. It is rated for those policies; two axes, minority policy and technology, rest on thin evidence and are set at the middle.

Nasser's Egypt (1954–1970) was the one-party republic of Gamal Abdel Nasser, who nationalised the Suez Canal, banks and industry and led Arab nationalism and the non-aligned movement. It is rated for that state-run economy, the crushing of the Brotherhood and the expulsion of foreign communities.

Classical Athens (508–322 BC) was a city-state where male citizens voted directly in the assembly and many offices were filled by lot, while women, slaves and foreign residents had no vote. It is rated for that direct democracy and its naval empire, by the standards of its own time.

Sparta (650–371 BC) was a militarised city-state ruled by two kings, five ephors and a council of elders, with a class of citizen-soldiers supported by enslaved helots. It is rated for its military upbringing, state-set austerity and closed borders, by the standards of its own time.

The Roman Republic (509–27 BC) was a state governed by annually elected magistrates, a Senate dominated by wealthy families and popular assemblies, which conquered most of the Mediterranean. It is rated for that mixed constitution, its steady wars and its slave-based economy, by the standards of its own time.

The Roman Empire from Augustus to Marcus Aurelius (27 BC–180 AD) was a monarchy in all but name, with provinces ruled by governors answering to the emperor. It is rated for that centralised rule, its legions, slave-based economy and wide trade network, by the standards of its own time.

Francoist Spain in its autarky years (1939–1958) was the dictatorship built on the army, the Falange and the Catholic Church after the Civil War, with a rationed, licence-controlled economy. It is rated for its centralised state, censorship, ban on regional languages and closed trade.

Francoist Spain in its opening years (1959–1975) kept the dictatorship and censorship but swapped autarky for the Stabilisation Plan, tourism and foreign investment. It is rated for that market opening beside one-party rule, a centralised state and a Church that began to distance itself.

The Dutch Republic (1588–1795) was a confederation of seven provinces ruled by merchant regents, with a stadtholder as military leader and no king. It is rated for its decentralised politics, relative tolerance and global trade, set against chartered monopolies and colonial slavery.

The Gilded Age United States (1870–1900) was a federal republic with a small government, large trusts and railways, high tariffs and almost no regulation of business. It is rated for that laissez-faire economy, set against machine politics, the start of Jim Crow and the Chinese Exclusion Act.

British Hong Kong (1961–1997) was a Crown colony run by an appointed governor, famous for low taxes, a free port and the "positive non-interventionism" of its financial secretaries. It is rated for that market economy and open trade, with elected seats arriving only in the 1980s.

The Icelandic Commonwealth (930–1262) was a settler society with no king and no central executive, where free men met at the Althing to make laws and settle disputes. It is rated for its stateless, decentralised order, set against slavery and a hierarchy of chieftains, by the standards of its own time.

The Free Territory of Ukraine (1918–1921) was the region of southern Ukraine where Nestor Makhno's anarchist movement held power, with free communes, regional congresses and a peasant insurgent army. It is rated for its federated, stateless aims and its wartime army rule, which fell to the Red Army in 1921.

Social Democratic Sweden (1932–1976) was a constitutional monarchy led by the Social Democrats, who built the "People's Home" welfare state while keeping most firms private. It is rated for high taxes and public services, armed neutrality and an export economy, with forced sterilisation until 1975 set against its freedoms.

Attlee's Britain (1945–1951) was the Labour government that created the National Health Service, nationalised coal, rail and steel, and kept wartime rationing and planning. It is rated for that mixed, state-led economy within a parliamentary democracy that still held an empire.