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List of coups and coup attempts

A coup d'état, often abbreviated to coup, is the overthrow of a lawful government through illegal means. If force or violence are not involved, such an event is sometimes called a soft or bloodless coup. In another variation known as a self-coup, a ruler who came to power through legal means may try to stay in power through illegal means, thus preventing the next legal ruler from taking power. This is a chronological list of such coups and coup attempts, from ancient times to the present.

BC

1–999

1000–1699

1700–1799

1800–1899

1800

1804

1807

1808

1809

1811

1812

1815

1820

1822

1823

1824

1827

1828

1829

1832

1834

1836

1837

1839

1841

1842

1843

1844

1845

1846

1847

1848

1851

1852

1853

1854

1857

1861

1864

1866

1867

1868

1870

1871

1872

1874

1876

1879

1884

1885

1886

1889

1891

1893

1895

1896

1898

1899

1900–1919

1900

1901

1902

1903

1904

1905

  • 1905 Dominican self-coup attempt: On 24 December, Carlos Morales Languasco plans a self-coup, but only a fraction of Dominican forces had arrived following his order. The plot is discovered by the President's opponents, which leads to Languasco's resignation.

1906

1907

1908

1909

1910

1911

1912

1913

1914

1915

1916

  • Ethiopia: While touring the city of Harar, Lij Iyasu was deposed by a cabal of aristocrats in favor of his aunt Zewditu. Forces loyal to him were defeated at Segale, and Lij Iyasu wandered northwestern Ethiopia with a small band of loyal followers until captured five years later.

1917

1918

1919

1920–1929

1920

1921

1922

1923

  • Spain: Miguel Primo de Rivera installed a dictatorship in Spain without overthrowing King Alfonso XIII.
  • 1923 Bulgarian coup d'état: The military, under the control of General Ivan Valkov, overthrew the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union government of Aleksandar Stamboliyski and installed one headed by Aleksandar Tsankov.
  • September uprising (14–29 September 1923). The September Uprising (Bulgarian: ÃÂ¡ÃÂµÃÂ¿Ã‘‚емврийско въстание, Septemvriysko vastanie) was an armed insurgency staged in September 1923 by the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) under Comintern pressure and attempted to overthrow Alexander Tsankov's new government of Bulgaria that had come to power with the coup d'état of 9 June. Besides its communist base, the uprising was also supported by agrarians and anarchists. The uprising's goal was the "establishment of a government of workers and peasants" in Bulgaria.
  • Beer Hall Putsch in Germany: A failed coup was attempted by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler in Germany against the leaders of the Weimar Republic. The Nazis were repelled by police, and Hitler was later charged with treason.
  • Leonardopoulos–Gargalidis coup attempt in Greece: Pro-royalist military officers attempted to stage a coup, and successfully took control of much of the Greek mainland. However, the government rallied its forces, and leaders Georgios Leonardopoulos and Panagiotis Gargalidis were ultimately surrounded and forced to surrender.

1924

1925

1926

1928

1929

1930–1939

1930

1931

1932

1933

1934

1935

1936

1937

  • France: A Cagoulard plot to install a pro-Nazi government was foiled by French police.
  • Bolivia: Dissatisfied with the speed of new reforms, Germán Busch led a popular movement which secured the resignation of David Toro.
  • 1937 Brazilian coup d'état: President Getúlio Vargas, governing democratically since 1934, launched a self-coup and became the Dictator of the Brazilian Estado Novo ("New State").

1938

1939

1940–1949

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

1946

1947

1948

1949

1950–1959

1950

1951

1952

1953

1954

1955

1956

1957

1958

1959

1960–1969

1960

1961

1962

1963

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970–1979

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980–1989

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990–1999

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000–2009

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

  • Coup in Madagascar: the army seized one of the presidential palaces on 16 March 2009, at which president Marc Ravalomanana was not present. The proposal offered by the president for a referendum to solve the crisis was rejected. On 17 March 2009, Marc Ravalomanana resigned under pressure from the military.
  • 2009 Georgian mutiny: An alleged abortive mutiny by a Georgian Army tank battalion based in Mukhrovani village with a goal of removing President Mikheil Saakashvili from power.
  • In Honduras, the army seized one of the presidential palaces on 28 June 2009, kidnapped president Manuel Zelaya Rosales due to his endeavor for an unconstitutional reelection and extradited him from the country. The 23-nation Rio Group & the United Nations General Assembly condemned the coup d'état.
  • On 24 April 2009, the Ethiopian government claimed, through the Ethiopian News Agency, that it had foiled a coup attempt led by members of Ginbot 7 to overthrow the government. Ginbot 7 described the allegation that it had attempted a coup as a "baseless accusation" that fitted a pattern of distraction and scapegoating by the government.

2010–2019

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

  • 2016–2017 Gambian constitutional crisis
  • A coup d'état plot was foiled in Austria in April. The leader Monika Unger and others were arrested after they tried to organise an army-led coup.
  • On 21 June 2017, Prince Mohammed bin Salman ousted and succeeded Saudi Crown Prince and de facto leader Muhammad bin Nayef in what was described as a "palace coup".
  • 2017 Luhansk coup
  • 2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état: Harare, Zimbabwe. In the early hours of 15 November 2017, an army spokesman announced the military takeover of government. This was after the army had seized control of the state run television broadcasting station. During the night before they had stormed the president's private residence and placed the head of state, President Robert Mugabe under house arrest. The military police also captured and detained some cabinet ministers whom they labelled criminals around the president. It would succeed with the resignation of Mugabe on 21 November 2017.
  • In December an attempted coup against the government in Equatorial Guinea.

2018

2019

  • On September 20, 2019, 3 people were arrested for taking part in a coup plot in Ghana.

2020–present

2020

2020-2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026

See also

Notes

References

External links

Scholarly databases and lists of coups include the following: