Triumvirate#Chinese triumvirates

{{Short description|Regime dominated by three individuals}}

{{Other}}

{{redirect|Triarchy}}

{{More citations needed|date=May 2020}}

A triumvirate ({{langx|la|triumvirātus}}) or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs ({{langx|la|triumviri}}). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are notionally equal, the actual distribution of power may vary.

The term can also be used to describe a state with three different military leaders who all claim to be the sole leader.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

Informally, the term "triumvirate" may be used for any association of three.{{Cite web |title=Definition of "triumvirate"|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/triumvirate|access-date=17 July 2022 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}

Under the influence of the Soviet Union{{not in source|date=January 2025}}, the term troika (Russian: for "group of three") may be used for "triumvirate".{{Cite web |title=Definition of TROIKA |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/troika |access-date=17 July 2022 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}

Pre-modern triumvirates

=Biblical=

In the Bible, triumvirates occurred at some notable events in both the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and New Testament. In the Book of Exodus, Moses, his brother Aaron and their nephew or brother-in-law, Hur,{{cite web|url=http://sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/ant-3.htm|title=Antiquities of the Jews - Book III|work=sacred-texts.com}} acted this way during the Battle of Refidim against the Amalekites.{{bibleverse|Exodus|17:10}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wyKaVFZqbdUC&q=triumvirate++Moses++Aaron++Hur&pg=PA2|title=Dictionary of World Biography|isbn=978-1579580407|access-date=18 August 2015|last1=Magill|first1=Frank Northen|date=2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis }} Later in Exodus 24, when Moses was away on Mount Sinai, Aaron and Hur were left in charge of all the Israelites.{{bibleverse|Exodus|24:14}}

In the Gospels, Peter, James, and his brother John were a leading trio among the Twelve Apostles on three specific occasions during the public ministry of Jesus: at the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus,{{bibleverse|Mark|5:37}} the transfiguration of Jesus,{{bibleverse|Matthew|17:1}} and his agony in the Garden in Gethsemane.{{bibleverse|Matthew|26:37}} Later, in the time of the early Church, the triumvirate of the leading apostles changed slightly after the former James's death: it became composed of Peter, John, and James, brother of Jesus, known collectively also as the three Pillars of the Church.{{bibleverse|Galatians|2:9}}{{cite web|url=https://biblehub.com/galatians/2-9.htm|title=Galatians 2:9 And recognizing the grace that I had been given, James, Cephas, and John – those reputed to be pillars – gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the Jews.|website=biblehub.com}}

{{Gallery

|title=Old Testament and New Testament triumvirates

|width=300

|height=200

|align=center

|File:VictoryOLord.JPG|Moses (in the centre) along with Aaron and Hur at the Battle of Rephidim.

|File:Pietro Perugino cat52c.jpg|Peter (sitting in the centre) along with John and his brother James, son of Zebedee (sitting L-R) at the Transfiguration of Jesus.

}}

= Ancient China =

During the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE), statesmen Huo Guang (d. 69 BCE), Jin Midi (d. 86 BCE), and Shangguan Jie 上官桀 (d. 80 BCE) formed a triumvirate following the death of Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141–87 BCE) and the installation of the child emperor Zhao.

Despite the Three Excellencies—including the Grand chancellor, Grand Secretariat, and irregularly, the Grand Commandant—representing the most senior ministerial positions of state, this triumvirate was supported by the economic technocrat and imperial secretary Sang Hongyang (d. 80 BCE), their political lackey. The acting chancellor, Tian Qianqiu, was also easily swayed by the decisions of the triumvirate.Loewe (1986), 178.

The Three Excellencies existed in Western Han (202 BCE – 9 CE) as the Grand Chancellor, Grand Secretariat, and Grand Commandant, but the Grand Chancellor was viewed as senior to the Grand Secretariat while the post of Grand Commandant was vacant for most of the dynasty. After Emperor Guangwu established the Eastern Han (25–220 CE), the Grand Commandant was made a permanent official while the Minister over the Masses replaced the Grand Chancellor and the Minister of Works replaced the Grand Secretariat. Unlike the three high officials in Western Han when the Grand Chancellor was senior to all, these new three senior officials had equal censorial and advisory powers. When a young or weak-minded emperor ascended to the throne, these Three Excellencies could dominate state affairs. There were also other types of triumvirates during the Eastern Han; for example, at the onset of the reign of Emperor Ling of Han (r. 168–189), the General-in-chief Dou Wu (d. 168), the Grand Tutor Chen Fan (d. 168), and another prominent statesman Hu Guang (91–172) formed a triumvirate nominally in charge of the Privy Secretariat, when in fact it was a regent triumvirate that was overseeing the affairs of state and Emperor Ling.Beck (1986), 319.

=Hinduism=

In Hinduism, the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva form the theological triumvirate of the Trimurti, representing the balanced forces of creation, preservation, and destruction, respectively.For a definition of the Trimurti, see Matchett, Freda. "The {{IAST|Purāṇas}}", in: Flood (2003), p. 139. Their female counterparts and consorts, the goddesses Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati, make up the parallel Tridevi.

=Pagaruyuang=

Triumvirates during the Pagaruyung era in the Minangkabau Highlands were known as Rajo Tigo Selo, or "the three reigning kings." The Rajo Tigo Selo was descended from the same line in the same dynasty and ruled at the same reigning time. It consisted of three kings, the Rajo Alam who ruled the government and diplomatic affairs, the Rajo Adaik who ruled the customs and the Rajo Ibadaik who acted as a Grand Mufti.{{Cite web|url=https://palantaminang.wordpress.com/pagaruyuang/bab-iii-rajo-tigo-selo/|title = BAB III. Rajo Tigo Selo|date = 11 March 2008}}

=Ancient Rome=

{{Main|Triumvirate (ancient Rome)}}

During the Roman Republic, {{lang|la|triumviri}} (or {{lang|la|tresviri}}) were special commissions of three men appointed for specific administrative tasks apart from the regular duties of Roman magistrates.

The term triumvirate is most commonly used by historians of ancient Rome to refer to two political alliances during the crisis of the Roman Republic:

=Tamil=

Tamil Triumvirate refers to the triumvirate of Chola, Chera, and Pandya who dominated the politics of the ancient Tamil country. Sivaperuman, Murugan, and Agatiyar are considered the triumvirate of the Tamil language and Sangam literature.

= Rum Seljuks =

File:Seljuqs of Rum, The Three Brothers AR Dirham.png struck on behalf of three sultans, citing their names]]

In 1246, Rum Seljuk sultan Kaykaus II was invited to Güyük Khan's coronation. Instead, he sent Kilij Arslan IV, who went to Karakorum with a delegation. Two years later, he was accompanied by a Mongolian military unit of 2000 soldiers and returned to Anatolia with a jarlig given by Guyuk declaring him sultan. He was recognized as sultan in Sivas, Erzincan, Diyarbakır, Malatya, Harput. Later, a meeting was held, resulting in an accord where the three brothers (Kaykaus, Kilij, and Kayqubad) would share the throne. A khutbah was read on their behalf, and coins were struck in their names. However, influenced by some emirs, Kilij Arslan did not accept this and went into conflict with Kaykaus but suffered an unexpected defeat. On 14 June 1249, he was caught and brought to his brother. However, he was well received and returned together to Konya. Both were enthroned alongside Kayqubad II. Thus a period of joint rule began from 1249 until 1254.{{TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi|url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kilicarslan-iv|title=Kilicarslan IV (ö. 664/1266) Anadolu Selçuklu sultanı (1249–1254, 1257–1266).}} Kaykaus controlled the capital, Konya, and everything further west, and the coast at Antalya, up to Ankara. Kilij Arslan was allocated everything to the east of Konya up to Erzurum. Kayqubad was granted minor estates on a scale sufficient for his personal expenses.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3kLBDwAAQBAJ&dq=granted+minor+estates+on+a+scale+sufficient+for+his+personal+expenses.&pg=PT47|title=Eastern Trade and the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages|author=Thomas Sinclair|year=2019|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1000752670 }}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}

Modern triumvirates

The title was revived a few times for (short-lived) three-headed political 'magistratures' in post-feudal times.

=Ottoman Empire=

{{multiple images

| align = right

| direction = horizontal

| image1 = Mehmed Talat Pasha.jpg

| width1 = 103

| image2 = Ismail Enver.jpg

| width2 = 102

| image3 = Djemal Pasha2.png

| width3 = 96

| footer = {{center|The Three Pashas}}


Talaat Pasha (left), Enver Pasha (middle), Djemal Pasha (right)}}

The Three Pashas also known as Ottoman Triumvirate effectively ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I: Mehmed Talaat Pasha (1874–1921), the Grand Vizier (prime minister) and Minister of the Interior; Ismail Enver Pasha (1881–1922), the Minister of War; and Ahmed Djemal Pasha (1872–1922), the Minister of the Navy.

=Modern Bosnia and Herzegovina=

Post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina is ruled by a three-member Presidency.

=Early modern and modern France=

File:Triumvirate Robespierre Couthon Saint Just.jpg

While French Huguenots had derisively bestowed the name Triumvirate on the alliance formed in 1561 between Catholic Francis, Duke of Guise, Anne de Montmorency, and Jacques d'Albon during the French Wars of Religion, in later years the term would be used to describe other arrangements within France.

At the end of the 1700s, when the French revolutionaries turned to several Roman magistrature names for their newly created institutions, the three-headed collective head of state was named the Consulat (1799–1804), a term in use for two-headed magistratures since Antiquity; furthermore it included an office of First Consul who was not an equal, but the de facto solo head of state and government – a position Napoleon Bonaparte chose to convert openly into the First French Empire in 1804.

Prior to Napoleon and during the Terror from 1793 to 1794 Maximilien Robespierre, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, and Georges Couthon, as members of the governing Committee of Public Safety, were accused by their political opponents of forming an unofficial triumvirate, pointing out the first triumvirate of Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus which led to the end of the Roman Republic. Although officially all members of the committee shared equal power the three men's friendship and close ideological base led their detractors to declaim them as triumvirs which was used against them in the coup of 9 Thermidor (27 July 1794).{{cite book|author=Colin Jones|title=The Fall of Robespierre: 24 Hours in Revolutionary Paris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N4k4EAAAQBAJ&dq=triumvirate++robespierre++couthon&pg=PA223|year=2021|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-871595-5|page=223}}

=Pre-Independent India=

In the early days of the national struggle and before Gandhi, the Indian National Congress was known to be under Lal-Bal-Pal i.e. Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, often dubbed Lokmanya Tilak.

=Czechoslovakia=

File:Masaryk Štefánik Beneš.jpeg

The Czechoslovak National Council, an organization founded in Paris in 1916 by Czech and Slovak émigrés during World War I to liberate their homeland from Austria-Hungary, consisted of the triumvirate{{cite book|author=Rob Humphreys, Susie Lunt|title=Czech and Slovak Republics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kpEc8ltyqnUC&dq=triumvirate++Masaryk++Bene%C5%A1++%C5%A0tef%C3%A1nik++Paris+++Czechoslovakia&pg=PA453|year=2002|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=1-85828-904-1|page=453}} of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk as a chairman, Edvard Beneš, who joined Masaryk in exile in 1915, as the organization's general secretary, and Milan Rastislav Štefánik, a Slovak who was an aviator in the French Army, designating to represent Slovak interests in the national council. During the closing weeks of the war, the Czechoslovak National Council was formally upgraded to a provisional government and its members were designated to hold top offices in the First Czechoslovak Republic.

=Indonesia=

According to the Article 8 paragraph (3) from the Constitution of Indonesia, there are three head of government institutions that can act as a "temporary" triumvirate only if there are vacancies in the position of president and vice president at the same time (e.g. both president and vice president were assassinated, sick, not doing their duties, died, or resigned). They are Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Home Affairs, and Minister of Defense. Those three ministers can act for president and vice president together for maximum 30 days.

After that, during the term of the triumvirate, the People's Consultative Assembly must elect a new president and vice president from the two pairs of candidates nominated by the political party or coalition of political parties whose candidates were the winner and the runner-up in the previous presidential election. The newly elected president and vice president will continue the remaining term of former president and vice president that were elected from previous general election, not five years.

=Modern Israel=

  • 2008–2009: Then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni were sometimes referred to as a triumvirate.[https://web.archive.org/web/20090125215055/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054925.html Ladies and gentlemen, your next government], By Amir Oren, Published: 13 January 2009, Haaretz Daily Newspaper. Archived from [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054925.html the original] 25 January 2009[https://www.jpost.com/Features/Front-Lines/Diplomacy-Endgame-politics Diplomacy: Endgame politics], By Herb Keinon, 8 January 2009, Jerusalem Post[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3642187,00.html Israel launches PR blitz ahead of Gaza operation], Roni Sofer, Published: 21 December 2008, Ynetnews
  • 2012: The leadership of Shas, the ultra-orthodox Sepharadi political party of Israel, was given by its spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and the Council of Torah Sages, to a triumvirate formed by the convicted Aryeh Deri, who decided to return to politics after a thirteen-year hiatus, the former party leader Eli Yishai and Ariel Atias.

=Benin=

{{main|Presidential Council (Benin)}}

  • 13 April 1970 until 26 October 1972: After the contentious 1970 presidential elections, the country of Benin (then known as the Republic of Dahomey) adopted a Presidential Council which included the three main political figures in the country: Hubert Maga, Justin Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin, and Sourou-Migan Apithy. In addition, the formal office of President would rotate between the three of them beginning with Hubert Maga. After one successful change of leadership, military leader Mathieu Kérékou staged a coup and overthrew the Presidential Council becoming the leader of the country until 1991.{{cite journal|last=Decalo|first=Samuel|title=Regionalism, Politics, and the Military in Dahomey|journal=The Journal of Developing Areas|year=1973|volume=7|issue=3|pages=449–478}}

=Soviet Union=

:See also List of Troikas in the Soviet Union

In the context of the Soviet Union, the term troika (Russian: for "group of three") is used for "triumvirate".

  • May 1922 – April 1925: When Vladimir Lenin suffered his first stroke in May 1922, a Troika was established to govern the country in his place, although Lenin briefly returned to the leadership from 2 October 1922 until a severe stroke on 9 March 1923 ended his political career. The Troika consisted of Joseph Stalin, Lev Kamenev, and Grigory Zinoviev. The Troika broke up in April 1925, when Kamenev and Zinoviev found themselves in a minority over their belief that socialism could only be achieved internationally. Zinoviev and Kamenev joined forces with Leon Trotsky's Left Opposition in early 1926.{{cite book | author = Rappaport, Helen | author-link = Helen Rappaport | title = Joseph Stalin: A Biographical Companion | url = https://archive.org/details/josephstalinbiog00rapp| url-access = limited| publisher = ABC-CLIO | year = 1999 | ref = CITEREFRappaport1999 | isbn = 978-1576070840 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/josephstalinbiog00rapp/page/n156 141], 326}} Later, Kamenev, Zinoviev and Trotsky would all be murdered on Stalin's orders.
  • 13 March – 26 June 1953: After the death of Joseph Stalin in March 1953, power was shared between Georgy Malenkov, Lavrenty Beria, and Vyacheslav Molotov.
  • 14 October 1964 – 16 June 1977: After the removal of Nikita Khrushchev in October 1964, the Soviet Union went through a period of collective leadership. Power was initially shared between General Secretary (until 1966 First Secretary) Leonid Brezhnev, Premier Alexei Kosygin, and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (nominal de jure head of state) Anastas Mikoyan. Mikoyan was replaced by Nikolai Podgorny in 1965.

File:Brezhnev - Kosygin - Podgorny.jpeg anniversary celebrations in 1973]]

=Modern Italy=

In the Roman Republic (1849), the title of two sets of three joint chiefs of state in the year 1849:

Almost immediately following the Roman Republic, the Red Triumvirate governed the restored Papal States from 1849 to 1850:{{cite book|last=Coppa|first=Frank J.|year=1990|title=Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli and Papal Politics in European Affairs|place=Albany|publisher=State University of New York|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z28npAhslAsC&pg=PA71|isbn=978-0-791-40185-9|page=71}}{{cite thesis|last=Glueckert|first=Leopold G.|year=1989|title=Between Two Amnesties: Former Political Prisoners and Exiles in the Roman Revolution of 1848|publisher=Loyola University Chicago|type=PhD|url=https://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3638&context=luc_diss|page=128}}

=Modern Greece=

  • After the downfall of the first King of Greece, the Bavarian Otto, on 23 October 1862, and Dimitrios Voulgaris' unsuccessful term (23 October 1862 – 30 January 1863) as president of the Provisional Government, a Triumvirate (30 January – 30 October 1863) was established consisting of the same Dimitrios Voulgaris, the renowned Admiral Konstantinos Kanaris and Benizelos Roufos, which acted as a regency until the arrival of the new monarch, the first "King of the Hellenes", George I.
  • A triumvirate was established to head the Theriso revolt of 1905 in autonomous Crete, consisting of Eleftherios Venizelos (later Prime Minister of Greece) in charge of organisational matters, Konstantinos Foumis in charge of finances and Konstantinos Manos, the former mayor of Chania, in charge of military affairs.

File:155 6 Coundouriotis Venizelos Danglis.jpg

=The Netherlands=

= Argentina =

= Brazil =

File:Juramento da Regência Trina.jpg in the Imperial Chapel, 1831]]

{{multiple image

| footer = The members of the Brazilian military juntas of 1930 and 1969, respectively

| width = 110px

| image1 = Juntagovernativa1930.png

| alt1 =

| image2 = Márcio Melo - Junta militar brasileira de 1969.png

| alt2 =

}}

= The Americas =

Other triumvirates

The word has been used as a term of convenience, though not an official title, for other groups of three in a similar position:

File:Mao Zhou Zhu.jpg, Mao Zedong, and Zhu De during the Long March.]]

See also

Notes

{{Reflist}}

References

  • Beck, Mansvelt. (1986). "The Fall of Han," in The Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220. Edited by Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-24327-0}}.
  • {{cite book |editor-last=Flood |editor-first=Gavin |title=The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism|year=2003 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd.|location=Malden, MA|isbn=1-4051-3251-5 }}
  • Loewe, Michael. (1986). "The Former Han Dynasty," in The Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220, 103–222. Edited by Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-24327-0}}.
  • [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=triumvirate&searchmode=none Etymology on line]
  • [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Greece.html World Statesmen] here Greece – see under each present country