In political science, direct rule is when an imperial or central power takes direct control over the legislature, executive and civil administration of an otherwise largely self-governing territory.
Examples
Chechnya
In 1991, Chechen separatists declared independence of unrecognised Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Russian military forces invaded in 1994 and again in 1999 in response to the Invasion of Militants in Dagestan. By early 2000, Russia almost completely destroyed Grozny and put Chechnya under direct control of Moscow. The Russian government declared that the conflict ended in 2002 but operations continued until 2009.
India
Under the British Raj, India was a founding member of the League of Nations, a participating nation in the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932, and 1936, and a founding member of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945.
This system of governance was instituted on 28 June 1858, when, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the rule of the British East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria (who, in 1876, was proclaimed Empress of India). It lasted until 1947, when Britain′s Indian Empire was partitioned into two sovereign dominion states: the Dominion of India (later the Republic of India) and the Dominion of Pakistan (later the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the eastern part of which, still later, became the People's Republic of Bangladesh). At the inception of the Raj in 1858, Lower Burma was already a part of British India; Upper Burma was added in 1886, and the resulting union, Burma, was administered as an autonomous province until 1937, when it became a separate British colony, gaining its own independence in 1948.
President's rule
In the Republic of India, "President's rule" refers to the imposition of Article 356 of the Constitution of India on a state whose constitutional body has failed. In the event that a state government is unable to function, the Constitution provides for the state to come under the direct control of the central government. In other words, it is "under the President's rule". Subsequently, executive authority is exercised through the centrally appointed governor, who has the authority to appoint retired civil servants or other administrators to assist him.
When a state government is functioning correctly, it is run by an elected Council of Ministers responsible to the state's legislative assembly (Vidhan Sabha). The council is led by the Chief Minister, who is the de facto chief executive of the state; the Governor is only a de jure constitutional head. However, during President's rule, the Council of Ministers is dissolved, vacating the office of Chief Minister. Furthermore, the Vidhan Sabha is either prorogued or dissolved, necessitating a fresh election.
Similarly, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, failure of governmental function results in "Governor's rule", imposed by invoking Section 92 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir. The state’s governor issues the proclamation, after obtaining the consent of the President of India. If it is not possible to revoke Governor's rule within six months of imposition, the President's Rule under Article 356 of the Indian Constitution is imposed. There is little practical difference between the two provisions.
Following its landmark judgment in the 1994 Bommai case, the Supreme Court of India has restricted arbitrary impositions of President's rule.
Chhattisgarh and Telangana are the only states where President's rule has yet to be imposed. However, while Telangana was part of Andhra Pradesh, it was under President's rule.
Indochina
French administration in Indochina began on June 5, 1862. Following the defeat of Vietnamese, the Treaty of Saigon ceded Cochinchina's three eastern provinces. Later, the French forced Emperor Tự Đức to place Cambodia under French protection. On June 18, 1867, the French seized the rest of Cochinchina and conquered the Mekong Delta and later Hanoi. By 1897, France controlled all of Indochina.