Dictionary

dictatorship of the bourgeoisie en · NOUN

Etymology

Calque of German Diktatur der Bourgeoisie, which is attested earliest in Karl Marx's series The Class Struggles in France, 1848–1850 [1850].

Meanings

1. (Marxism, countable, uncountable) A socio-political power wherein the bourgeoisie collectively holds the most influence over politics and the masses, as opposed to the dictatorship of the proletariat.
   • Bourgeois states are most varied in form, but their essence is the same: all these states, whatever their form, in the final analysis are inevitably the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. The transition from capitalism to communism is certainly bound to yield a tremendous abundance and variety of political forms, but the essence will inevitably be the same: the dictatorship of the proletariat. 1917, Lenin, V. I., “The State and Revolution”, in Lenin Collected Works, volume 25, Moscow: Progress Publishers, translation of original in Russian, published 1964, 1974, 2011, page 418 of 381 - 492:
   • But Cavaignac was not the dictatorship of the sabre over bourgeois society; he was the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie by the sabre. 1978 [1850], Marx, Karl, “The Class Struggles in France, 1848 to 1850”, in Marx/Engels Collected Works, volume 10, translation of original in German, published 2010, page 76:

Forms

Antonyms

dictatorship of the proletariat

Relateds

fascism · liberal democracy · bourgeois democracy

Synonyms

dictatorship of capital

Translations (6)

cmn 資產階級專政 /资产阶级专政 (a socio-political power) · ru диктату́ра буржуази́и (a socio-political power) · el δικτατορία της αστικής τάξης (a socio-political power) · ka ბურჟუაზიის დიქტატურა (a socio-political power) · vi chuyên chính tư sản (a socio-political power) · fr dictature de la bourgeoisie (a socio-political power)

wikipedia: Karl Marx · wikipedia: The Class Struggles in France, 1848–1850