What's the oldest democracy to fall into authoritarianism due to internal reasons?

I think it's fair to call the Second World War an external factor.

Well, I was looking at the other French republics and how they fell, primarily. The First to the Thermidorean Reaction and then Napoleon, and the second to Napoleon III.

But yes. A valid point for sure.
 
Well, I was looking at the other French republics and how they fell, primarily. The First to the Thermidorean Reaction and then Napoleon, and the second to Napoleon III.

But yes. A valid point for sure.

Neither of those republics actually lasted that long.

The first lasted 12 years and can hardly be considered democratic over the whole period and the second barely lasted four.
 
The most recent example I can think of is Zimbabwe.
Rhodesia/Zimbabwe had consistent elections and a democratic tradition for almost 60 years until it became a dictatorship in the early 80s.

Again the problem is does an extremely unrepresentative democracy still count as a democracy?
 
Again the problem is does an extremely unrepresentative democracy still count as a democracy?

According to the Google defintion: no.

"a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives."

Though I guess it depends on who was eligible.
 
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