A coup d'état (English: /ˌkuːdeɪˈtɑː/, French: [ku deta]; plural: coups d'état), or coup, putsch or overthrow, is the sudden unconstitutional deposition of a government A government is the organization, or agency through which a political unit exercises its authority, controls and administers public policy, and directs and controls the actions of its members or subjects, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military A military is an organization authorized to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. As an adjective the term "military" is also used to refer to any property or aspect of a military. Militaries often function as societies within societies, by having their own—to replace the deposed government with another body; either civil or military. A coup d'état succeeds when the usurpers establish their legitimacy The word legitimacy is often interpreted in a normative or a positive way. In a normative sense, legitimacy gets greater attention as a part of moral philosophy. It is a status conferred by the people on the government's officials, acts, and institution through their belief that the government's actions are an appropriate use of power by a legally if the attacked government fails to thwart them, by allowing their (strategic, tactical, political) consolidation and then receiving the deposed government's surrender; or the acquiescence of the populace and the non-participant military forces.

Typically, a coup d'état uses the extant government's power to assume political control of the country. In Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook, military historian Edward Luttwak Edward Nicolae Luttwak is an American military strategist and historian who has published works on military strategy, history and international relations says: “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”, thus, armed force (either military or paramilitary) is not a defining feature of a coup d'état.

Contents

Etymology

Warfare War is a behaviour pattern exhibited by many primate species including humans, and also found in many ant species. The primary feature of this behaviour pattern is a certain state of organized violent conflict that is engaged in between two or more separate social entities. Such a conflict is always an attempt at altering either the psychological

Military history Military history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships
Eras Prehistoric Prehistoric warfare is war conducted in the era before writing, and before the establishments of large social entities like states. Historical warfare sets in with the standing armies of Bronze Age Sumer, but prehistoric warfare may be studied in some societies at much later dates Ancient Ancient warfare is war as conducted from the beginnings of recorded history to the end of the ancient period. In Europe and the Near East, the end of antiquity is often equated with the fall of Rome in 476. In China, it can also be seen as ending in the 5th century, with the growing role of mounted warriors needed to counter the ever-growing Medieval Medieval warfare is the warfare of the Middle Ages. In Europe, technological, cultural, and social developments had forced a dramatic transformation in the character of warfare from antiquity, changing military tactics and the role of cavalry and artillery. In terms of fortification, the Middle Ages saw the emergence of the castle in Europe and Gunpowder Early Modern warfare is associated with the start of the widespread use of gunpowder and the development of suitable weapons to use the explosive. Gunpowder was first invented in China and then later spread to the Middle East. It then found its way into Eastern Europe following the invasions of the Mongols, who had employed Chinese gunpowder-based Industrial Industrial warfare is a period in the history of warfare ranging roughly from the early Nineteenth Century and the start of the Industrial Revolution to the beginning of the Atomic Age, which saw the rise of nation-states, capable of creating and equipping large armies and navies through the process of industrialization. The era featured mass- Modern Modern warfare, although present in every historical period of military history, is generally used to refer to the concepts, methods and technologies that have come into use during and after the Second World War and the Korean War. The concepts and methods have assumed more complex forms of the 19th and early-20th century antecedents largely due Battlespace Battlespace is a term used to signify a unified military strategy to integrate and combine armed forces for the military theatre of operations, including air, information, land, sea and space to achieve military goals. It includes the environment, factors and conditions that must be understood to successfully apply combat power, protect the force, Air Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare, including military airlift of cargo to further the national interests as was demonstrated in the Berlin Airlift. Developing from unpowered observation hot air balloons in the 18th century and even older kite, aerial warfare has become a high-technology affair that Information Information warfare is the use and management of information in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent. Information warfare may involve collection of tactical information, assurance that one's own information is valid, spreading of propaganda or disinformation to demoralize the enemy and the public, undermining the quality of opposing Land Land warfare, sometimes also called ground combat, is the term used to describe military operations eventuating in combat that take place predominantly on the land surface of the planet Sea Naval warfare is combat in and on seas, oceans, or any other major bodies of water such as large lakes and wide rivers Space Space warfare is combat that takes place in outer space, i.e. outside the atmosphere. Space warfare therefore includes ground-to-space warfare, such as attacking satellites from the Earth, as well as space-to-space warfare, such as satellites attacking satellites Weapons A weapon is an instrument used for the purpose of causing harm or damage to persons, animals or structures. Weapons are used in hunting, attack, self-defense, or defense in combat and range from simple implements like clubs and spears to complicated modern machines such as intercontinental ballistic missiles. One who possesses or carries a weapon Armor Armoured warfare or tank warfare is the use of armoured fighting vehicles in modern warfare. It is a major component of modern methods of war. The premise of armoured warfare rests on the ability of troops to penetrate conventional defensive lines through use of manoeuvre by armoured units Artillery Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with mechanical projectile weapons,artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons. These engines comprise specialised devices which use some form of stored Biological Biological warfare , also known as germ warfare, is the use of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, other disease-causing biological agents, or the toxins produced by them as biological weapons (or bioweapons) Cavalry Cavalry , were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest (after infantry and chariotry) and the most mobile of the combat arms. A soldier in the cavalry is known by a number of designations such as cavalryman or trooper Chemical Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together are the three tenets of (NBC), the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical. Neither of these fall under the term conventional weapons which are primarily Electronic Electronic warfare refers to any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults via the spectrum. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponent the advantage of, and ensure friendly unimpeded access to, the EM spectrum. EW can be applied Infantry Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies. Infantry units have more physically demanding training than other branches of armies, Nuclear A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter; a modern thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than a thousand kilograms can produce an explosion Psychological Psychological warfare , or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PSYOP), have been known by many other names or terms, including Psy Ops, Political Warfare, “Hearts and Minds,” and Propaganda. Various techniques are used, by any set of groups, and aimed to influence a target audience's value systems, belief systems, emotions, Tactics Military tactics, the art of organizing an army, are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology over time have been reflected in changes to military tactics Attrition warfare Attrition warfare is a military strategy in which a belligerent side attempts to win a war by wearing down its enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and matériel Guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is irregular warfare, conflicts in which a small group of combatants uses military tactics, like ambushes and raids, to harass a larger and less-mobile traditional army Maneuver warfare Maneuver warfare, also spelled manoeuvre warfare, is the term used by military theorists for a concept of warfare that advocates attempting to defeat an adversary by incapacitating their decision-making through shock and disruption brought about by movement. Its concepts are reflected by a number of strategies seen throughout military history Siege A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static defensive position. Consequently, an opportunity Total war Total war is a war of unlimited scope in which a belligerent engages in a mobilization of all available resources at their disposal, whether human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological, or otherwise, in order to entirely destroy or render beyond use their rival's capacity to continue resistance. The practice of total war has Trench warfare Trench warfare is a form of warfare in which both combatants occupied fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops were largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and were substantially sheltered from artillery. It has become a byword for stalemate in conflict, with a slow wearing down of opposing forces. Trench warfare Conventional warfare Conventional warfare is a form of warfare conducted by using conventional military weapons and battlefield tactics between two or more states in open confrontation. The forces on each side are well-defined, and fight using weapons that primarily target the opposing army. It is normally fought using conventional weapons, not chemical, biological, Unconventional warfare Unconventional warfare is the opposite of conventional warfare. Where conventional warfare is used to reduce an opponent's military capability, unconventional warfare is an attempt to achieve military victory through acquiescence, capitulation, or clandestine support for one side of an existing conflict Asymmetric warfare Asymmetric warfare is war between belligerents whose relative military power differs significantly, or whose strategy or tactics differ significantly Counter-insurgency Counter-insurgency is a military term for the armed conflict against an insurgency by forces aligned with the recognized government of the territory in which the conflict takes place. In the main, the insurgents seek to destroy or erase the political authority of the defending authorities in a population they seek to control, and the counter- Network-centric warfare Network-centric warfare, now commonly called network-centric operations, is a new military doctrine or theory of war pioneered by the United States Department of Defense Cold war A cold war or cold warfare is a state of conflict between nations that does not involve direct military action but is pursued primarily through economic and political actions, propaganda, acts of espionage or proxy wars waged by surrogates. The surrogates are typically states that are "satellites" of the conflicting nations, i.e., Proxy war While powers have sometimes used governments as proxies, violent non-state actors, mercenaries, or other third parties are more often employed. It is hoped that these groups can strike an opponent without leading to full-scale war Strategy Military strategy is a policy implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops. Military strategy deals with the planning and Economic Grand Military grand strategy includes calculations of economic resources and man-power. It also includes moral resources, what is sometimes called national will. Issues of grand strategy typically include the choice of primary versus secondary theaters in war, distribution of resources among the various services, the general types of armaments Operational Operational mobility, beginning as a military theory concept during the period of mechanisation of armed forces became a method of managing movement of forces by strategic commanders from the staging area to their Tactical Area of Responsibility Organization Military organization is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer military capability required by the national defence policy. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation's armed forces. Armed forces that are not a part of the military or paramilitary organizations, such as insurgent forces, often mimic Ranks Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms. Ranking systems have been known for most of military history to be advantageous for military operations, in particular with regards Command and control Staff A military staff is a group of officers and enlisted personnel that provides a bi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer and subordinate military units Intelligence Military intelligence, commonly abbreviated as milint, is a military service that uses intelligence gathering disciplines to collect informations which may be of use in the decision making process of commanders Education and training Military education can be voluntary or compulsory duty. Before any person gets authorization to operate technical equipment or be on the battle field, they must take a medical and often a physical test. If passed, they may begin primary training Logistics Technology and equipment Materiel Supply chain management Lists Battles Commanders Operations Sieges Writers Wars War crimes Weapons
Portal

Although the coup d'état features in politics since antiquity, the phrase is of relatively recent coinage;[1] the Oxford Dictionary identifies it as a French expression meaning a “stroke of State”. In 1646, James Howell used the phrase in the book Louis XIII;[citation needed] the first English usage dates from 1811, referring to Napoleon Bonaparte's deposing the Revolutionary Directory in 1799.[citation needed] Prof. Thomas Childers, of the University of Pennsylvania, indicates that the English language's lacking a word denoting the sudden, violent change of government derives from England's stable political traditions and institutions. French and German history are coloured with such politico-military actions.

Since the unsuccessful coups d'état of Wolfgang Kapp in 1920 (the Kapp Putsch), the Swiss German word Putsch (pronounced [ˈpʊtʃ]; coined for the Züriputsch of 1839) also denotes the same politico-military actions: in Metropolitan France, putsch denoted the 1942 and 1961 anti-government attacks in Algiers, and the 1991 August Putsch in the USSR; the German equivalent is Staatsstreich (state's blow),[2] yet a putsch is not always a coup d'état, for example, the Beer Hall Putsch was by politicians without military support.

Usage of the phrase

Linguistically, coup d'état denotes a "stroke of state" (French: coup [stroke] d' [of] État [state]).[3] Analogously, the looser, quotidian usage means “gaining advantage on a rival”, (intelligence coup, boardroom coup). Politically, a coup d'état is a usually violent political engineering, which affects who rules in the government, without radical changes in the form of the government, the political system. Tactically, a coup d'état involves control, by an active minority of military usurpers, who block the remaining (non-participant) military's possible defence of the attacked government, by either capturing or expelling the politico-military leaders, and seizing physical control of the country's key government offices, communications media, and infrastructure. It is to be noted that in the latest years there has been a broad use of the phrase in mass media, which may contradict the legal definition of coup d'état.

Pronunciamiento

Main article: Pronunciamiento

The Pronunciamiento (Pronouncement) is the Spanish and Latino analogue of coup d'état; golpe de estado (coup d'état) is the usual in Spain, being more common in South and Central America Pronunciamiento. The Pronunciamiento is the formal explanation for deposing the regnant government, justifying the installation of the new government that was effected with the golpe de estado. Edward Luttwak explains how a coup d'état and a pronunciamiento are different; in the former, a military faction deposes the civilian government and assumes power, in the latter, the military depose the civil government and install another civil government.[4]

History

Coups d'état are common in Africa; between 1952 and 2000, thirty-three countries experienced 85 such depositions. Western Africa had most of them, 42; most were against civil regimes; 27 were against military regimes; and only in five were the deposed incumbents killed.[5] Moreover, as a change-of-government method, the incidence of the coup d'état has declined worldwide, because usually, the threat of one suffices to effect the change of government; the military do not usually assume power, but install a civil leader acceptable to them. The political advantage is the appearance of legitimacy, examples are the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, and the change of government effected in Mauritania, on 3 August 2005, while the president was in Saudi Arabia.

Types of coup d'état

A coup d'état is typed according to the military rank of the lead usurper. The Veto coup d'état and the Guardian coup d'état are effected by the army's commanding officers. The Breakthrough coup d'état is effected by junior officers (colonels or lower rank) or non-commissioned officers (sergeants). When junior officers or enlisted men so seize power, the coup d'état is a mutiny with grave implications for the organizational and professional integrity of the military. In a bloodless coup d'état, the threat of violence suffices to depose the incumbent. In 1889, Brazil became a republic via bloodless coup; in 1999, Pervez Musharraf assumed power in Pakistan via a bloodless coup; and, in 2006, Sonthi Boonyaratglin assumed power in Thailand as the leader of the Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy. See nonviolent revolution.

The self-coup denotes an incumbent government—aided and abetted by the military—assuming extra-constitutional powers. A historical example is President, then Emperor, Louis Napoléon Bonaparte. Modern examples include Alberto Fujimori, in Peru, who, although elected, assumed control of legislature and the judiciary in 1992, becoming an authoritarian ruler, and King Gyanendra's assumption of “emergency powers” in Nepal.

The political scientist Samuel P. Huntington identifies three classes of coup d'état:

Post-military-coup governments

After the coup d'état, the military face the matter of what 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 armed forces. A common form of African post-coup government is the revolutionary assembly, a quasi-legislative body elected by the army. In Pakistan, the military leader typically assumes the title of chief martial law administrator.

According to Huntington, most leaders of a coup d'état act under the concept of right orders: they believe that the best resolution of the country's problems is merely to issue correct orders. This view of government underestimates the difficulty of implementing government policy, and the degree of political resistance to certain correct orders. It presupposes that everyone who matters in the country shares a single, common interest, and that the only question is how to pursue that single, common interest.

Incumbent leaders of current regimes who assumed power via a coup d'état

Title Name Assumed office Country
Leader and Guide of the Revolution Muammar al-Gaddafi 1 September 1969 Libya
Sultan Qaboos of Oman 23 July 1970 Oman
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo 3 August 1979 Equatorial Guinea
President Blaise Compaoré 15 October 1987 Burkina Faso
President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali 7 November 1987 Tunisia
President Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir 30 June 1989 Sudan
Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Than Shwe 23 April 1992 Myanmar
President Yahya Jammeh* 22 July 1994 The Gambia
Emir Hamad bin Khalifa 27 June 1995 Qatar
President François Bozizé* 15 March 2003 Central African Republic
Acting Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama 5 December 2006 Fiji
President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz** 6 August 2008 Mauritania
President of the National Council for Democracy and Development Moussa Dadis Camara 24 December 2008 Guinea
President of the High Transitional Authority Andry Rajoelina 17 March 2009 Madagascar
Chairman of the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy Salou Djibo 18 February 2010 Niger

* Both Jammeh and Bozizé were subsequently confirmed in office by apparently free and fair elections.[6][7] The election confirming Jammeh was marked by repression of the free press and the opposition.[8] An opposition leader described the outcome as a "sham".[8]

** Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was subsequently confirmed by a narrow margin in the Mauritanian presidential election, 2009, which were regarded as "satisfactory" by international observers.

See also

Look up coup d'état in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (August 2008)
  1. ^ Julius Caesar's civil war, 5 Jan 49 BC.
  2. ^ Staats = state. Streich = (noun) 1. prank, 2. caper, 3. frolic, 4. trick, 5. joke, 6. jape, 7. hoax. 8. sweep, 9. slash, 10. stroke, 11. blow. Streich = (verb) 1. stroked.
  3. ^ In French “État” is capitalised, for denoting “sovereign political entity”.
  4. ^ Edward Luttwak, Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook, Harvard University Press, 1969, 1980. ISBN 0-674-17547-6.
  5. ^ George Klay Kieh, Jr. and Pita Ogaba Agbese (eds.), The Military and Politics in Africa, Ashgate Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0 7546 18765, pp. 44–5.
  6. ^ Gambia, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
  7. ^ .
  8. ^ a b .

Bibliography

Categories: Coups | Civil-military relations | French words and phrases

 

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Was There A Thwarted Military Coup In The United States In 1933 Involving USMC General Smedley Butler?
Q. Supposedly there was a coup planned in 1933 involving high ranking military officers and wealthy businessmen.The plan was to arrest President Roosevelt and seize the government.General Butler was brought in because it was thought he could persuade WW1 veterans to support the coup.Instead he turned in the plotters.It is a fact that General Butler testified before Congress in 1933 and his testimony is still secret to this day.
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A. Allegedly, as listed in his bio.
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