stratocrat

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek στρατός (stratós, “army”) +‎ -crat, in some cases influenced by modern Greek στρατοκράτης (stratokrátis, “militarist”).

Noun

stratocrat (plural stratocrats)

1. (uncommon) One who governs or leads others through military force, or on account of their position as a military officer.
   • 1852 March 13, Charles C. Hazewell, Report on Intervention; republished as Kossuth in New England […], 1852, page 301:

     This alone would, in the opinion of the committee, be sufficient reason for the interference of the United States to prevent an attack on England by the autocrats and stratocrats of the continent.

   • 1969, Cecil D. Eby, Between the Bullet and the Lie: American Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, page 243:

     This meant that all the stratocrats responsible for leading their men to safety were inexplicably bunched together in a small group far in the lead, with but two exceptions—John Gates and George Watt.

   • 2022, Christina Welsch, The Company’s Sword: The East India Company and the Politics of Militarism, 1644–1858, →ISBN, page 203:

     Munro’s role as a stratocrat is visible less through his sparse writings than in his own career. He had earned his reputation through warfare, principally the seizure of Dharwar during the Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–18).

Related terms

• stratocracy