cannonarchyn.
/ˈkanənɑːki/, U.S. /ˈkænənˌɑrki/ Now historical and rare.
Government, or the seizing of power, by the use of cannon; an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > a or the system of government > other systems > [noun] > by force
chirocracy1677
command1693
coercion1798
cannonarchy1841
buckshot-rule1881
1841 C. G. F. Gore Cecil I. iv. 164 The greatest despotism of modern times, the cannonarchy of Napoleon.
1864 Atlantic Monthly May 633 Our constitutional polity would give way to a cannonarchy.
1995 C. Muller Colombo i. xiii. 161 They had, in the 1500s used a ‘cannonarchy’ to reduce the Arab maritime power to matchwood. Cannons and gunpowder changed the course of history.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1841