Tag: Human Rights Promotion

A general in the Chilean army, Pinochet took power in a military coup in 1973. Under Pinochet, approximately 40,000 critics and suspected communists were imprisoned, tortured or killed. Besides political oppression, Pinochet introduced free-market reforms influenced by Milton Friedman. Facing international pressure and a lost referendum, Pinochet handed over power to his democratically elected successor…

Absolutism asserted that by divine right, all power should be centred in the hands of the reigning monarch. To enable absolutism, monarchs relied on a professional standing army and a large bureaucratic apparatus to execute their will. Often, absolutist monarchs showcased their power in lavish palaces like Louis XIV’s Versailles.