Tense year with soldier becoming despot (6)
I believe the answer is:
tyrant
'despot' is the definition.
('tyrant' can be a synonym of 'despot')
'tense year with soldier' is the wordplay.
'tense' becomes 't' (abbreviation used in many dictionaries).
'year' becomes 'yr' (abbreviation).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'soldier' becomes 'ant' (I've seen this before).
't'+'yr'+'ant'='TYRANT'
'becoming' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for tyrant that I've seen before include "bully - with 17d" , "Despotic ruler" , "Cruel and oppressive dictator" , "Harsh and absolute ruler" , "Martinet" .)