An authoritarian (from lat. auctoritas - power) regime can be seen as a kind of "compromise" between totalitarian and democratic political regimes. On the one hand, it is softer, more liberal than totalitarianism, and on the other hand, it is much tougher, more anti-people than democratic.

Authoritarian regime- state-political structure of society, in which political power carried out by a specific person (class, party, elite group, etc.) with a minimum fate and people. Main characteristic of this regime is authoritarianism as a method of ruling and governing, as a kind of social relations (for example, Spain during the reign of Franco, Chile during the reign of Pinochet).

• o in the center and in the localities there is a concentration of power in the hands of one or several closely interconnected state bodies (or one strong leader) while alienating the people from the real levers of state power;
• o the principle of separation of powers is ignored, limited (often the president, executive and administrative structures subjugate all other bodies, are endowed with legislative and judicial powers);
• o the role of representative authorities is limited, although they may exist;
• o the court is essentially an auxiliary institution, along with it, extrajudicial bodies can also be used;
• o narrowed or nullified the scope of the principles of election of state bodies and officials, accountability and accountability to their population;
• o command, administrative methods dominate as methods of state administration, at the same time there is no mass terror;
• o censorship, "semi-publicity" remains;
• o partial pluralism is allowed;
• o the rights and freedoms of man and citizen are proclaimed, but not really ensured;
• o "power" structures are practically beyond the control of society and are sometimes used for purely political purposes, etc.

Despotic regime is absolutely arbitrary unlimited power based on self-management.

Tyrannical regime based on one-man rule, the usurpation of power by a tyrant and the cruel methods of its implementation. However, in contrast to despotism, the power of a tyrant is sometimes established by violent, predatory means, often by the displacement of legitimate power with the help of a coup d'état.

Clerical regime based on the actual dominance of religious leaders in society and the state. The head of state is at the same time the religious leader of the nation, concentrating in his hands not only secular, but also spiritual power (Iran).

Military (military-dictatorial) regime is based on the power of the military elite, which is established as a result of a coup carried out against the legitimate rule of civilians. Military regimes rule either collectively (as a junta), or one of the military ranks, most often a general or senior officer, is at the head of the state. The army turns into a dominant socio-political force, implements both internal and external functions of the state. Under the conditions of such an anti-democratic regime, an extensive military-police apparatus is being created, which, in addition to the army and special services, includes a large number of other bodies, including those of an extra-constitutional nature, for political control over the population, public associations, indoctrination of citizens, combating anti-government movements and etc. The constitution and many legislative acts are cancelled, which are replaced by acts of the military authorities. A typical example is military rule in Myanmar (formerly Burma), Iraq under Saddam Hussein, and in a number of states in Tropical Africa.

• 1) if under totalitarianism universal control is established, then authoritarianism implies the existence of areas of social life that are not covered by state control;
• 2) under totalitarian rule, mass systematic terror is carried out against opponents, while in an authoritarian society, tactics of selective repression are carried out aimed at preventing the emergence of opposition. At the same time, the concept that considers classical German and Italian fascism (totalitarianism) as an extreme form of authoritarianism has the right to exist in the literature.

Tyrannical regime

Tyrannical regime - also based on one-man rule. However, in contrast to despotism, the power of a tyrant is sometimes established by force, by conquest, often by the displacement of legitimate authority, with the help of a coup d'état. It is also devoid of legal and moral principles, built on arbitrariness, sometimes terror and genocide. In tyranny as a political regime, it is precisely the assessment of those harsh methods that is used: it carries out executions not only for expressed disobedience, but often for detected intent to this effect; the invaders also make extensive use of coercion in order to sow fear among the population. Tyrannical regimes can be observed in policies Ancient Greece, in some medieval city-states. Tyranny, like despotism, is based on arbitrariness. However, if in despotism arbitrariness and autocracy fall, first of all, on the heads of senior officials, then in tyranny every person is subject to them. Laws do not work, because the tyrannical power in the majority does not seek to create them.

Totalitarian regime

The totalitarian regime is, as recognized, a product of the twentieth century, these are fascist states, socialist states of the periods of the “cult of personality”. The term itself appeared in the late 1920s, when some political scientists sought to separate the socialist state and were looking for a clear definition of socialist statehood. A totalitarian regime is an extreme form of an authoritarian regime. totalitarian state acts as an all-encompassing, all-controlling and all-penetrating power. The totalitarian regime is characterized, as a rule, by the presence of one official ideology, which is formed and set by the socio-political movement, the political party, the ruling elite, the political leader, the leader of the people, in most cases charismatic. The totalitarian regime allows only one ruling party, and all others, even pre-existing parties, seek to disperse, ban or destroy. The ruling party is declared the leading force of society, its attitudes are regarded as sacred dogmas. Competing ideas about the social reorganization of society are declared anti-people, aimed at undermining the foundations of society, at inciting social hostility. The ruling party seizes the reins of state administration: there is a merging of the party and state apparatuses. As a result of this, the simultaneous occupation of the party and public office, and where this does not happen, direct instructions from persons holding party posts are carried out by public officials. V public administration the totalitarian regime is characterized by extreme centralism. In practice, management looks like the execution of commands from above, in which the initiative is not encouraged, but severely punished. Local authorities and governments are becoming mere transmitters of commands. The leader is the center of the totalitarian system. His figure becomes sacred to everyone. He is declared the most wise, infallible, just, tirelessly thinking about the welfare of the people. Any critical attitude towards him is suppressed.

Militarization is also one of the main characteristics of a totalitarian regime. The idea of ​​a military danger becomes necessary for the rallying of society, for building it on the principle of a military camp. The totalitarian regime is inherently aggressive and aggression helps to achieve several goals at once: to distract the people from their disastrous economic situation, to enrich the bureaucracy, the ruling elite, to solve geopolitical problems by military means. Totalitarian regimes existed in fascist states, in some African and other countries with presidents for life, under military regimes.

Pieces of iron, according to old Spanish chronicles, were found here as early as the 16th century. The conquistadors used them to make swords and spears. Particularly lucky was a certain Herman de Miraval, who in 1576, in a rather remote area, among marshy lowlands, stumbled upon a huge block of pure iron. The enterprising Spaniard visited her several times and beat off pieces from her for various needs. In 1783, the prefect of one of the provinces, Don Rubin de Celis, organized an expedition to this block and, having discovered it after a long search, estimated its mass at about 15 tons. Detailed Description the object was not preserved, and since then no one has seen it, although attempts to find the block have been made more than once.

In 1803, a meteorite weighing about a ton was discovered near Campo del Cielo. Its largest fragment (635 kg) was delivered to Buenos Aires in 1813. It was later purchased by the Englishman Sir Woodbine Darish and donated British Museum. This block of space iron is still resting on a pedestal in front of the entrance to the museum. Part of its surface is specially polished to show the structure of the metal with the so-called "Widmanstetten figures", which speak of the extraterrestrial origin of the object.

In Campo del Cielo and its environs, iron fragments are still found weighing from a few kilograms of grams to many tons. The largest weighed 33.4 tons. It was found in 1980 near the town of Gancedo American meteorite researcher Robert Hug tried to buy it and take it to the United States, but the Argentine authorities opposed this. To date, this meteorite is considered the second largest among all those discovered on Earth - after the so-called Hoba meteorite, weighing about 60 tons.

An unusually large number of meteorites found in a relatively small area suggests that a "meteorite shower" once poured in this place. Evidence of this, in addition to the finds of the iron objects themselves, is a large number of craters in the Campo del Cielo area. The largest of them is the Laguna Negra crater with a diameter of 115 meters and a depth of more than 5 meters.

Huge meteorite exploded in the atmosphere

In 1961, the professor of Columbia University (USA), the world's largest specialist in meteorite W. Cassidy, became interested in the finds in Campo del Cielo. The expedition organized by him discovered a large number of small metal meteorites - hexaderites, consisting of almost chemically pure iron (96% of it, the rest is nickel, cobalt and phosphorus). The study of other meteorites found at different times in this area gives the same composition. According to the scientist, this proves that they are all fragments of a single celestial body. Cassidy also drew attention to a strange fact: usually during an explosion large meteorite in the atmosphere, its fragments fall to the Earth, scattering in an ellipse with a maximum diameter of about 1600 meters. And on Campo del Cielo, the length of this diameter is 17 kilometers!

The published preliminary findings of Cassidy's research have generated worldwide interest. Hundreds of volunteers joined the scientist, and as a result, new fragments of meteoric iron were discovered even at a considerable distance from Campo del Cielo, up to the Pacific coast.

Satellite "two"

But it turned out that the territory of the finds is even more extensive. An unexpected light on the history of the Campo del Cielo meteorite was shed by a discovery in Australia. Here back in 1937, 300 kilometers from the town of Hanbury. in an ancient crater with a diameter of 175 meters and a depth of about 8 meters, an iron meteorite weighing 82 kilograms and several fragments of a smaller weight were found. In 1969, they conducted a study of their composition and found that all these fragments are almost identical to the iron meteorites from Campo del Cielo.

Craters in the Hanbury area have been known since the 1920s. There are several dozen of them, the largest of them reaches 200 meters, but most are relatively small - from 9 to 18 meters. During the excavations carried out here since the 1930s, over 800 fragments of meteoric iron were found in the craters, including four parts of one piece with a total weight of about 200 kilograms.

The final conclusion that Cassidy came to was this: a huge meteorite fell to Earth, but not suddenly. For some time before its fall, this celestial body revolved around the Earth in an elliptical orbit, gradually approaching the planet.

Being in orbit could last quite a long time - a thousand years or more. However, under the influence of Earth's gravity, this second Moon eventually approached the Earth so much that it crossed the so-called Rocher boundary, after which it entered the atmosphere and broke up into fragments of various sizes, which fell to the surface of the planet.

The approximate date of the disaster was determined by radiocarbon analysis - it turned out about 5800 years ago. Thus, the catastrophe occurred already in the memory of mankind, in the 4th millennium BC. e., when the civilizations of antiquity began to emerge, leaving behind monuments of writing. In them we find mythologized references to the second natural satellite planet and the catastrophe caused by its fall.

For example, Sumerian clay tablets describe the goddess Innana crossing the sky and emitting a frightening radiance. An echo of the same events is, apparently, the ancient Greek myth of Phaethon.

About luminous celestial body mention Babylonian, Egyptian, Old Norse sources, myths of the peoples of Oceania. The English ethnologist J. Fraser notes that out of 130 Indian tribes of Central and South America there is not one in whose myths this theme would not be reflected.

“There is nothing surprising in all this,” writes the American astronomer M. Papper, “after all, metal meteorites are very clearly visible in flight. Reflecting sunlight, they sparkle much brighter than stone meteorites; as for a large fireball made of pure iron, its luminosity in the night sky should have exceeded the luminosity of the Moon in its brightness.

The elliptical orbit, along which the fireball moved, assumed that at certain periods the passage of this object was close to the Earth. At the same time, the fireball came into contact with the upper layers of the atmosphere and became so hot that its brilliance should have been visible even in daylight. As the object approached our planet, its luminosity increased, causing panic among the population. According to M. Papper, the orbit, which made the fireball either heat up when it came into contact with the earth's atmosphere, then, moving away from it, freeze again in the icy cold of space, and led to its destruction to pieces. Judging by the rather large area on which the fragments scattered - from South America to Australia - the fireball broke up while still in orbit and entered the Earth's atmosphere in the form of a string of separate fragments.

The fireball could have caused the Flood

The largest pieces, according to experts, fell into Pacific Ocean, causing waves of unprecedented size that could bypass the Earth. In the legends of the Indians of the Amazon basin, it is said that stars fell from heaven, a terrible roar and roar was heard, and everything plunged into darkness, and then a downpour fell on the earth, which flooded the whole world. “The water rose to a great height,” says one of the Brazilian legends, “and the whole earth was submerged in water. The darkness and the rain didn't stop. People fled, not knowing where to hide; climbed the highest trees and mountains." The Brazilian legend is echoed by the fifth book of the Mayan code “Chilam Balam”: “The stars fell from heaven, crossed the firmament with a fiery plume, the earth was covered with ashes, rumbled, trembled and cracked, shaking with tremors. The world was falling apart."

All these legends are about a catastrophe accompanied by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and floods. Its epicenter was clearly in the Southern Hemisphere, since the nature of myths changes as you move north. Traditions tell only about a strong flood. It was this event that apparently remained in the memory of the Sumerians and Babylonians and found its most vivid embodiment in the well-known biblical myth of the Flood.

edited news Core - 25-03-2011, 06:53