List of military dictators by rank

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The following is a compilation of military dictators by rank indicating the highest military rank which was held while in office. Some military dictators actively wear the uniform and insignia of such rank, while others are simply listed on military rolls as continuing to hold the rank while in office.

[edit] Dictators by name and rank

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Dictator	Nation	Title	Rank	Notes
Muammar al-Gaddafi	Libya	Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution	Colonel	Presently claims to hold no title or position, but is still listed as a Colonel on the Libyan Army rolls.
Idi Amin	Uganda	President of Uganda and Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.	Field Marshal	Served in the British Army prior to his rise in the Ugandan armed forces
Ion Antonescu	Romania	Prime Minister of Romania	General	Military dictator of Romania during World War II
Fidel Castro	Cuba	President of Cuba	Comandante en Jefe	As leader of the Cuban Revolution, holds the title and rank of "Comandante"
Francisco Franco	Spain	Prime Minister of Spain	General	Held military dictatorship over Spain for nearly forty years
Juan Vicente Gómez	Venezuela	President of Venezuela	General	Held the Presidency three times through a 30+ year period
Saddam Hussein	Iraq	President of Iraq	Mushir	Held the honorary equivalent of a Field Marshal in the Iraqi Army. Never actually served in the military.
Adolf Hitler	Nazi Germany	Führer	Gefreiter	During Hitler's dictatorship he never appointed himself a full military rank, referring to himself only as "Der Führer". During World War II, Hitler wore a grey jacket, with no insignia, declaring himself "the first soldier of the Reich"
Kim Il-sung	North Korea	Eternal President of the Republic	Dae Wonsu	Holds by default the Grand Marshal rank of "Dae Wonsu" as the Beloved Leader of North Korea
Kim Jong-il	North Korea	Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea	Wonsu	As supreme dictator of North Korea, holds a General of the Army type rank of "Wonsu"
Manuel Noriega	Panama	Defacto ruler of Panama	General	Never officially was President of Panama but ruled the country as a defacto military dictator
George Papadopoulos	Greece	President of Greece	Colonel	Head of a regime of co-dictators, so named "The Colonels"
Augusto Pinochet	Chile	President of Chile	General	Seized power through a military junta
Jerry Rawlings	Ghana	President of Ghana	Flight Lieutenant	Although dictator of a country, never officially held a rank higher than that of Flight Lieutenant
Anwar Al Sadat	Egypt	President of Egypt	Colonel	Typically wore an elaborate uniform as President, but never appointed himself above the rank of Colonel
Joseph Stalin	Soviet Union	General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union	Generalisimo	Declared himself the supreme rank of the Soviet state in the 1940s
Omar Torrijos	Panama	Maximum Leader of the Panamanian Revolution	General	The first of four Panamanian dictators, of which Manuel Noriega was the last