divide and rule

To gain or maintain power by fomenting discord among people so that they do not unite in opposition. The ascendancy of the faction occurred because they were able to divide and rule—they fooled the other parties into fighting while they rose to power. He's a dictator, so of course he wants to divide and rule ordinary folks like us. The despot knew that, to stay in power, he had to divide and rule by keeping any would-be opponents fractured and powerless through effective disinformation campaigns.

divide and rule (or conquer)

the policy of maintaining supremacy over your opponents by encouraging dissent between them, thereby preventing them from uniting against you.

This is a maxim associated with a number of rulers, and is found in Latin as divide et impera and in German as entzwei und gebiete . Since the early 17th century, English writers have often wrongly attributed it to the Italian political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli ( 1469–1527 ).

diˌvide and ˈrule

keep control over people by making them disagree with and fight each other, therefore not giving them the chance to unite and oppose you together: a policy of divide and rule

divide and conquer/rule/govern, to

To win by getting one’s opponents to fight among themselves. This strategy not only was discovered to be effective in wartime by the most ancient of adversaries, but was also applied to less concrete affairs by Jesus: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand” (Matthew 12:25). The exact term is a translation of a Roman maxim, divide et impera (divide and rule).

See also: and, conquer, divide, rule, to

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