Coup d'état
A
coup d'état (pronounced ), or simply a
coup, is the sudden overthrow of a
government through unconstitutional means by a part of the state establishment, that mostly replaces just the top power figures. It is also an example of
political engineering. It may or may not be violent in nature. It is different from a
revolution, which is staged by a larger group and radically changes the political system. The term is
French for "a (sudden) blow (or strike) to a state" (literally,
coup, hit, and
État,
state, always written with a capital
É in this meaning). The term
coup can also be used in a casual sense to mean a gain in advantage of one nation or entity over another; e.g. an
intelligence coup. By analogy, the term is also applied to corporations, etc; e.g. a
boardroom coup.
Since the unsuccessful coup attempts of
Wolfgang Kapp in
1920, and of
Adolf Hitler in
1923, the
Swiss German word "
putsch" (originally coined with the
Züriputsch of
1839) is often used also, even in
French (such as the putsch of
November 8,
1942 and the putsch of
April 21,
1961, both in
Algiers), while the direct German translation is
Staatsstreich.
Tactically, a coup usually involves control of some active portion of the
military while neutralizing the remainder of a country's armed services. This active group captures or expels leaders, seizes physical control of important government offices, means of communication, and the physical
infrastructure, such as streets and power plants. The coup succeeds if its opponents fail to dislodge the plotters, allowing them to consolidate their position, obtain the surrender or acquiescence of the populace and surviving armed forces, and claim
legitimacy.
Coups typically use the power of the existing government for its own takeover. As
Edward Luttwak remarks in his
Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook: "A coup consists of the infiltration of a small but critical segment of the state apparatus, which is then used to displace the government from its control of the remainder." In this sense, use of military or other organized force is not the defining feature of a coup d'état.
Coups have long been part of political tradition. Indeed,
Julius Caesar orchestrated a coup and was subsequently the victim of another coup. Many Roman emperors, such as
Claudius, came to power in coups, as did King
Jehu of
Israel.
Shi'a muslims insist that the seventh century
Succession to Muhammad was a coup. In November of 1799,
Napoleon Bonaparte staged a coup and seized power in France. Coups were more common in the ancient city states of India and later Greece.
In the late
20th century coups occurred all over the world whilst most commonly in
developing countries, in
Latin America (e.g.
Brazil,
Chile,
Bolivia, and
Argentina),
Africa and
Asia (
Pakistan), but also in the Asia Pacific (
Fiji and the
Philippines) and in Europe (e.g.
Greece,
Portugal,
Spain, and the
Soviet Union). Since the
1980s, the coup has been seen somewhat less frequently. A significant reason is the general inability to resolve the economic and political problems of developing nations, which has made armed forces, particularly in Latin America, much more reluctant to intervene in politics. Hence, in contrast to past crises, the armed forces have sat on the sidelines through economic crises such as the
Asian financial crisis in
Thailand in
1998 or the
Argentine crisis of
2002 and have tended to act only when the military perceives itself as institutionally threatened by the civilian government, as occurred in Pakistan in
1999.
Coups d'état have often been seen as a means for powerful nations to assure favorable outcomes in smaller foreign states. In particular, the American
CIA and Soviet
KGB developed a reputation for supporting coups in states such as Chile and
Afghanistan, respectively. Such actions are substitutes for direct aggression which might cause great discontent in the aggressor state's population. The governments of France and
Great Britain have, among others, engineered coups as well.
In recent years, the traditional military coup has declined. The more usual form of military intervention, which some regard as coups d'état, uses the
threat of military force to remove a vulnerable or unpopular leader. In contrast to straight coups d'état, the military does not directly assume power, but rather installs civilian leaders it finds more palatable. One advantage of this tactic is the appearance of greater legitmacy.
A classic example is the destruction of the
French Fourth Republic. This has also occurred twice in the Philippines. In
Mauritania a bloodless coup d'état happened on
August 3,
2005 when the president was in
Saudi Arabia.
It is also possible for mass street
protests to convince the military to withdraw its support from leaders, sometimes leading the opposition to take power in coup-like fashion. In situations of this sort, such as in
Pakistan (
1999),
Serbia (
2000),
Argentina (
2001),
Bolivia (
2003),
Ukraine (
2004–
2005),
Lebanon,
Ecuador and
Bolivia (
2005), popular uprisings forced the sitting political leader to resign their office, causing someone new to assume the role. This often results in a period of stability and calm, in which an unknown and uncontroversial interim leader can rule the nation until new elections can be held.
In 2002 the United States allegedly supported a coup in
Venezuela against President
Hugo Chávez, despite Chávez having been elected by popular vote in two consecutive elections. The coup was initially successful, but quickly fell apart. Sizable public protests in support of Chávez dwarfed rallies launched by his opponents, and major elements of the military stayed on President Chávez's side. Chávez was returned to office two days after the coup, the provisional military
junta was dissolved, and the democratic government survived a
referendum on new elections by a large margin. In cases such as these, popular protests have been able to prevent coups and place popular leaders back in office.
Samuel P. Huntington has divided coups into three types (ignoring Luttwak's non-military coups)
*
Breakthrough coups: In which a revolutionary army overthrows a traditional government and creates a new bureaucratic elite. Breakthrough coups are generally led by
non-commissioned officers (NCOs) or junior officers and only happen once. Examples include
China in
1911,
Egypt in
1952,
Greece in
1967,
Bulgaria in
1944 and
Liberia in
1980.
*
Guardian coups: These coups have been described as
musical chairs. The stated aim of this form of coup is to improve public order, efficiency, or to end corruption. There is usually no fundamental shift in the structure of power, and the leaders of these types of coups generally portray their actions as a temporary and unfortunate necessity. One of the early examples of this is the coup by
Sulla in
88 BCE which displaced the elected leadership of
Marius in
Rome. Many nations with guardian coups undergo many shifts between civilian and military governments. Examples include Pakistan,
Turkey, and Thailand.
*
Veto coups: These coups occur when the army vetoes mass participation and social mobilization. In these cases the army must confront and suppress large-scale and broad-based opposition and as a result they tend to be repressive and bloody. Examples include
Chile in 1973 and Argentina in
1976. An abortive and botched veto coup occurred in
Venezuela in
2002.
Coups can also be classified by the level of the military that leads the coup. Veto coups and guardian coups tend to be led by senior officers. Breakthrough coups tend to be led by junior officers or NCOs. In cases where the coup is led by junior officers or enlisted men, the coup is also a
mutiny which can have grave implications for the organizational structure of the military.
There is also a category known as
bloodless coups in which the mere threat of violence is enough to force the current government to step aside. Bloodless coups are so called because they involve no violence and thus no bloodshed.
Napoleon's
18 Brumaire coup is often pointed out as an example of bloodless coup, showing that bloodless coups are not always considered to be "bloodless": on 18 Brumaire, several members of parliament were thrown out the windows of the building where they assembled. More recently,
Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan came to power in a bloodless coup in
1999.
The term
self-coup is used when the current government assumes extraordinary powers not allowed by the legislation. A historical example is the actions of then President and later French Emperor
Louis Napoléon Bonaparte in
1851 against the powerful
National Assembly; while a most modern example is
Alberto Fujimori in
Peru, who was democratically elected, but later took control of the legislative and judicial powers. Some argue that the assumption of "emergency powers" by King
Gyanendra of
Nepal is a self-coup.
After the coup, the military is faced with the issue of the type of government to establish. In Latin America, it was common for the post-coup government to be led by a
junta, a
committee of the chiefs of staff of the various armed forces. A common form of African post-coup government is the revolutionary assembly, a quasi-legislative body made of members elected by the army. In Pakistan, the military leader typically assumes the title of chief
martial law administrator.
According to Huntington, most coup leaders act under the concept of
right orders: they believe that the best way to solve the problems their country is facing is to issue correct orders. This view of government underestimates the difficulty in implementing government policy and the amount of possible political resistance to certain orders. It also presupposes that everyone that matters in the country shares a single common interest, and the only question is how to pursue it.
*
Muammar al-Qaddafi, leader of
Libya (1969–)
*
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of
Equatorial Guinea (1979–)
*
Lansana Conté, President of
Guinea (1984–)
*
Blaise Compaoré, President of
Burkina Faso (1987–)
*
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, President of
Tunisia (1987–)
*
Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, President of
Sudan (1989–)
*
Yahya Jammeh, President of
The Gambia (1994–)
*
Pervez Musharraf, Chief of Army Staff and President of
Pakistan (1999–)
*
François Bozizé, President of the
Central African Republic (2003–)
*
Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, Chairman of the
Military Council for Justice and Democracy in
Mauritania (2005–)
*
List of coups d'état and coups attempts*Contrast with
civilian control of the military*
List of protective service agencies*
List of fictional revolutions and coups*
The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012*
The American coup of 2012*
Perception of the risk of a coup in all the countries*
North American Union: Coup d'état American Style by Diane Alden
*
Edward Luttwak,
Coup d'etat: A practical handbook, Harvard University Press, 1969, 1980. ISBN 06-741-75476.
*
Curzio Malaparte,
Technique du Coup d'Etat (Published in French), Paris, 1931.
* D. J. Goodspeed,
Six Coups d'Etat, Viking Press inc., New-York, 1962.
