Self-coup

Cavalry in the streets of Paris during the French coup of 1851, whereby the democratically elected President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte seized dictatorial power. A year later he was crowned Emperor of the French.

A self-coup (or autocoup, from the Spanish autogolpe) is a form of putsch or coup d'état in which a nation's leader, despite having come to power through legal means, dissolves or renders powerless the national legislature and unlawfully assumes extraordinary powers not granted under normal circumstances. Other measures taken may include annulling the nation's constitution, suspending civil courts and having the head of government assume dictatorial powers.^[1]

List of self-coups

Rome: Dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla (ca. 81 BC)
Rome: Governor Julius Caesar (50 – 48 BC)
England: King Charles I (January 4, 1642; failed)
Denmark: King Frederick III (1660)
France: King Louis XIV (March 9, 1661)
Russia: Tsar Peter I (October 22, 1721)
Sweden: King Gustav III (August 19, 1772)
France: French Directory (September 4, 1797)
France: First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte (May 10, 1802)
France: First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte (November 1804)
Mexico: Emperor Agustín (October 31, 1822)
France: President Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (December 2, 1851)
Mexico: President Ignacio Comonfort (December 17, 1857)
France: President Patrice de MacMahon (May 16, 1877)
Brazil: President Deodoro da Fonseca (November 3, 1891)
Mexico: President Gen. Victoriano Huerta (October 7, 1913)
China: President Yuan Shikai (November 20, 1915)
Italy: Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (January 3, 1925)
Albania: President Ahmet Zogu (January 31, 1928)
Yugoslavia: King Alexander I (January 6, 1929)
Germany: Chancellor Adolf Hitler (March 23, 1933)
Austria: Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss (March 1933 – 1 May 1934)
Uruguay: President Gabriel Terra (March 31, 1933)
Estonia: Prime Minister Konstantin Päts (March 12, 1934)
Latvia: Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis (May 15, 1934)
Bulgaria: Tsar Boris III (January 22, 1935)
Chile: President Arturo Alessandri Palma (February 1936)
Greece: Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas (August 4, 1936)
Brazil: President Getúlio Vargas (November 10, 1937)
Romania: King Carol II (February 10, 1938)
Bolivia: President Maj. Germán Busch (April 24, 1939)
Paraguay: President Gen. José Félix Estigarribia (February 18, 1940)
Yugoslavia: King Peter II (March 27, 1941)
Uruguay: President Alfredo Baldomir (February 21, 1942)
Romania: King Michael I (August 23, 1944)
Yugoslavia: Prime Minister Josip Broz Tito (November 29, 1945)
Ecuador: President José María Velasco Ibarra (March 30, 1946)
Bulgaria: Prime Minister Kimon Georgiev (September 8, 1946)
Paraguay: President Higinio Morínigo (January 13, 1947)
Romania: Prime Minister Petru Groza (December 30, 1947)
South Korea: President Syngman Rhee (May – July 1952)
Pakistan: Governor-General Malik Ghulam Muhammad (April 1953)
Iran: Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh (3 – 10 August 1953)
Iran: Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (August 15, 1953)
Pakistan: Governor-General Malik Ghulam Muhammad (September 1954)
Indonesia: President Sukarno (July 5, 1959)
Morocco: King Muhammad V (May 20, 1960)
Nepal: King Mahendra (December 15, 1960)
Brunei: Sultan Sir Omar Ali Saifuddien III (December 12, 1962)
Morocco: King Hassan II (June 7, 1965)
Uganda: Prime Minister Milton Obote (February 22 – 23, 1966)
Lesotho: Prime Minister Chief Leabua Jonathan (January 30, 1970)
Ecuador: President José María Velasco Ibarra (June 22, 1970)
Thailand: Prime Minister Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn (November 17, 1971)
Philippines: President Ferdinand Marcos (September 23, 1972)^[2]
South Korea: President Park Chung-hee (October 1972)
Swaziland: King Sobhuza II (April 12, 1973)
Uruguay: President Juan Maria Bordaberry (June 27, 1973)
Upper Volta: President Gen. Sangoulé Lamizana (February 8, 1974)
Bolivia: President Hugo Banzer (November 7, 1974)
India: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (June 25, 1975)
Bahrain: Emir Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa (August 26, 1975)
Poland: Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski (December 13, 1981)
Soviet Union: Vice President Gennady Yanayev (August 19–21, 1991; failed)
Peru: President Alberto Fujimori (April 5, 1992)
Guatemala: President Jorge Serrano Elías (May 25, 1993; failed)
Russia: President Boris Yeltsin (September 21 – October 4, 1993)
Lesotho: King Letsie III (August 17, 1994)
Nepal: King Gyanendra (October 4, 2002)
Nepal: King Gyanendra (February 1, 2005)
Pakistan: President Gen. Pervez Musharraf (November 3, 2007)
Niger: President Mamadou Tandja (June 29, 2009)
Turkey: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (July 15, 2016; alleged)^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]
Gambia: President Yahya Jammeh (December 1, 2016–January 20, 2017; failed)

In popular culture

Emperor Palpatine, a fictional example from Star Wars

References

^ An early reference to the term autogolpe may be found in Kaufman, Edy: Uruguay in Transition: From Civilian to Military Rule, Transaction, New Brunswick, 1979. It includes a definition of autogolpe and mentions that the word was "popularly" used in reference to events in Uruguay in 1972-1973. See Google Books https://books.google.de/books?id=vMHNkmwKPuQC
^ "Declaration of Martial Law". Official Gazette. Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
^ "Turkey coup attempt: State of emergency announced". BBC News. BBC News. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^ "Turkey coup attempt: Who's the target of Erdogan's purge?". BBC News. BBC News. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^ "Turkey coup attempt: Risk of Nato suspension as Erdogan's purge intensifies". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^ "Merkel ally urges EU to suspend Turkey accession talks over purge". Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^ "Turkey coup attempt: UN warns Erdogan government purges could violate international law after 40,000 detained". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^ "Majority of European Parliament votes to freeze EU membership talks with Turkey". dw.com. 24 November 2016.

[1] An early reference to the term autogolpe may be found in Kaufman, Edy: Uruguay in Transition: From Civilian to Military Rule, Transaction, New Brunswick, 1979. It includes a definition of autogolpe and mentions that the word was "popularly" used in reference to events in Uruguay in 1972-1973. See Google Books https://books.google.de/books?id=vMHNkmwKPuQC

[martiallaw-2] "Declaration of Martial Law". Official Gazette. Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved June 18, 2016.

[stateofemergency-3] "Turkey coup attempt: State of emergency announced". BBC News. BBC News. Retrieved September 12, 2016.

[purgetarget-4] "Turkey coup attempt: Who's the target of Erdogan's purge?". BBC News. BBC News. Retrieved September 12, 2016.

[purgeintensifies-5] "Turkey coup attempt: Risk of Nato suspension as Erdogan's purge intensifies". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved September 12, 2016.

[suspendtalks-6] "Merkel ally urges EU to suspend Turkey accession talks over purge". Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved September 12, 2016.

[internationallaw-7] "Turkey coup attempt: UN warns Erdogan government purges could violate international law after 40,000 detained". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved September 12, 2016.

[EUFreeze-8] "Majority of European Parliament votes to freeze EU membership talks with Turkey". dw.com. 24 November 2016.

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v t e Coups, self-coups, and attempted coups since 1991

List of coups d'état and coup attempts by country since 2010

1990s	Mali (1991)^c Lesotho (1991)^c Soviet Union (1991) Haiti (1991)^c Georgia (1991–1992)^c Thailand (1992) Venezuela (1992) Peru (1992)^‡ Sierra Leone (1992)^c Algeria (1992) Guatemala (1993)^‡ Azerbaijan (1993)^c Russia (1993)^‡ Burundi (1993) Nigeria (1993)^c Gambia (1994)^c Lesotho (1994)^‡ Azerbaijan (1995) Qatar (1995)^c Burundi (1996)^c Niger (1996)^c Turkey (1997)^c Zambia (1997) Lesotho (1998) Republic of the Congo (1998) Niger (1999)^c Pakistan (1999)^c Côte d'Ivoire (1999)^c

2000s	Fiji (2000)^c Ecuador (2000)^c Burundi (2001) Central African Republic (2001) Venezuela (2002) Central African Republic (2003) Philippines (2003) São Tomé and Príncipe (2003) Chad (2004) Haiti (2004)^c Equatorial Guinea (2004) Mauritania (2005)^c Philippines (2006) Chad (2006) Thailand (2006)^c Madagascar (2006) Fiji (2006)^c Laos (2007) Philippines (2007) Turkey (2007) East Timor (2008) Mauritania (2008)^c Guinea (2008)^c Madagascar (2009)^c Honduras (2009)^c

2010s	Niger (2010)^c Guinea-Bissau (2010)^c Ecuador (2010) Democratic Republic of the Congo (2011) Guinea-Bissau (2011) Mali (2012)^c Guinea-Bissau (2012)^c Central African Republic (2012–13) Libya (2013) Egypt (2013)^c South Sudan (2013) Libya (2014) Thailand (2014)^c Lesotho (2014) Yemen (2014–15)^c Burundi (2015) Burkina Faso (2015) Turkey (2016) Libya (2016)

^c coup ^‡ self-coup

v t e Coups, self-coups, and attempted coups in Africa since 1960

1960s	Republic of the Congo (1960) Ethiopia (1960) French Algeria (1961) Senegal (1962) Benin (1963) Togo (1963)^c Gabon (1964)^c Zanzibar (1964) Algeria (1965)^c Benin (1965) Burundi (1965) Democratic Republic of the Congo (1965) Central African Republic (1965–1966)^c Burundi (July 1966)^c Burundi (November 1966)^c Ghana (1966)^c Upper Volta (1966)^c Nigeria (January 1966)^c Nigeria (July 1966)^c Republic of the Congo (1966) Benin (1967) Ghana (1967) Togo (1967)^c Mali (1968)^c Republic of the Congo (1968)^c Benin (1969) Sudan (1969)^c Libya (1969)^c Somalia (1969)^c

1970s	Lesotho (1970)^‡ Uganda (1971)^c Morocco (1971) Sudan (1971)^c Benin (1972) Ghana (1972)^c Morocco (1972) Republic of the Congo (1972) Rwanda (1973)^c Niger (1974)^c Comoros (1975)^c Nigeria (1975)^c Chad (1975)^c Burundi (1976)^c Nigeria (1976) Benin (1977) Republic of the Congo (1977)^c Seychelles (1977)^c Sudan (1977) Central African Republic (1979)^c Ghana (1979)^c Equatorial Guinea (1979)^c

1980s	Liberia (1980)^c Guinea-Bissau (1980)^c Upper Volta (1980)^c Central African Republic (1981) Gambia (1981) Ghana (1981)^c Seychelles (1981) Central African Republic (1982) Kenya (1982) Upper Volta (1982)^c Upper Volta (1983) Upper Volta (1983)^c Nigeria (1983)^c Mauritania (1984)^c Cameroon (1984) Guinea (1984)^c Uganda (1985)^c Nigeria (1985)^c Sudan (1985)^c Lesotho (1986)^c Burkina Faso (1987)^c Burundi (1987)^c Republic of the Congo (1987) Tunisia (1987)^c Sudan (1989)^c Burkina Faso (1989) Ethiopia (1989)

1990s	Nigeria (1990) Zambia (1990) Mali (1991)^c Lesotho (1991)^c Sierra Leone (1992)^c Algeria (1992) Burundi (1993) Nigeria (1993)^c Gambia (1994)^c Lesotho (1994)^‡ Comoros (1995) Burundi (1996)^c Niger (1996)^c Zambia (1997) Lesotho (1998) Republic of the Congo (1998) Niger (1999)^c Côte d'Ivoire (1999)^c

2000s	Burundi (2001) Central African Republic (2001) Central African Republic (2003) São Tomé and Príncipe (2003) Burkina Faso (2003) Chad (2004) Equatorial Guinea (2004) Mauritania (2005)^c Chad (2006) Madagascar (2006) Guinea (2008)^c Mauritania (2008)^c Madagascar (2009)^c

2010s	Niger (2010)^c Guinea-Bissau (2010)^c Democratic Republic of the Congo (2011) Niger (2011) Guinea-Bissau (2011) Mali (2012)^c Guinea-Bissau (2012)^c Egypt (2013)^c Libya (2013) Central African Republic (2012–13) South Sudan (2013) Libya (2014) Lesotho (2014) The Gambia (2014) Burundi (2015) Burkina Faso (2015) Libya (2016)

^c coup ^‡ self-coup

v t e Coups, self-coups, and attempted coups in Latin America since 1943

1940s	Argentina (1943) Brazil (1945) Venezuela (1945) Venezuela (1948)

1950s	Argentina (1951)^c Cuba (1952) Bolivia (1952) Colombia (1953) Paraguay (1954) Guatemala (1954) Argentina (1955) Honduras (1956) Colombia (1957) Venezuela (1958) Cuba (1959) Brazil (1959)^c

1960s	Ecuador (1961) Argentina (1962) Guatemala (1963) Ecuador (1963) Honduras (1963) Bolivia (1964) Brazil (1964) Argentina (1966) Panama (1968) Peru (1968) Chile (1969)^c Brazil (1969)

1970s	Bolivia (1970) Honduras (1972) Uruguay (1973)^‡ Chile (June 1973)^c Chile (Sep 1973) Peru (1975) Honduras (1975) Ecuador (1975)^c Argentina (1976) Ecuador (1976) Honduras (1978) El Salvador (1979)

1980s	Bolivia (1980) Haiti (Jun 1988) Haiti (Sep 1988) Panama (1989)^c Paraguay (1989)

1990s	Haiti (1991)^c Venezuela (1992) Peru (1992)^‡ Guatemala (1993)^‡

2000s	Ecuador (2000)^c Venezuela (2002)^c Haiti (2004) Honduras (2009)

2010s	Ecuador (2010)

^c coup ^‡ self-coup

Self-coup

List of self-coups

In popular culture

References

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