Coup d'état



A coup d'état (derived from French; pronounced /ˌku deɪˈtɑ/ also known as a coup, putsch, or pronunciamiento) is a sudden seizure of government power in a state, by a group seeking to depose the current ruling body and replace it with a new one.

A coup d'état often results in a significant disruption of the social order in the state in which it occurs, often resulting in civil war or the establishment of a military dictatorship. A coup which immediately follows another coup is known as playing king of the hill a counter-coup.

Although the term "coup d'état" has been around for centuries, their frequency has increased dramatically in the 20th century due to the rise of the modern state with its professional bureaucracy and standing armed forces, which makes it significantly easier for groups to divorce the ruling apparatuses of the state (like the bureaucracy or army) from the individual leadership of the person or group that the people staging the coup wish to oust.

Egypt, Myanmar/Burma, Thailand, and Turkey are just a few of the modern nations in which notable coups have occurred. Business Insider called Iran's meddling in Lebanon a bloodless coup.

Due to their power to alarm and confuse (despite their vagueness), all variants of "coup" terminology are notorious favorites of the conspiracy theorist fringe, and particularly of the "alternative news" outlets that feed their paranoia.

Features of a coup
But a failed coup is practice for a successful coup. Coups are distinct from revolutions in that coups usually do not involve large scale popular movements like revolutions do, i.e. coups are typically directed by small, elite groups with an agenda without involving the larger populace, most often involving sections of the military, police, or other security force rather than the populace at large. Coups are most effective in countries with poor economic conditions and low levels of development, because these countries tend to have populations that are both too far removed from political activity (usually due to illiteracy, poor education, or an actual distance exacerbated by poor infrastructure) and too concerned with their material conditions (hunger, poverty, poor living conditions) to care about the politicking occurring among various elite factions in the capital. This allows one elite group to oust another elite group without worrying about popular reactions against the coup. Impoverished African and Latin American countries, for this reason, seem to be particularly susceptible to frequent coups and counter-coups.

There is a classic pattern to a traditional military coup, particularly in the developing world. Things normally run something like: If done decisively and effectively, a leader can seize control with minimal resistance, and swiftly establish control. If done less successfully, the new leader will face either widespread internal opposition, protests, and possible counter-coups, or else external pressure such as sanctions or diplomatic activity, up to and including invasion by other states who may claim to be "peace-keeping".
 * 1) A military strongman or group of soldiers decide they would like to have more power, often taking advantage of moments of crisis: the death/resignation of a leader, war, or another coup (successful or failed).
 * 2) Armed forces loyal to the coup leaders storm key locations, such as the TV station, post office HQ, government buildings, communications infrastructure.
 * 3) The new leader goes on television and announces that he is now in control due to the failings of the previous government.
 * 4) The new leader is hopefully legitimized by some authoritative figures, e.g. royalty, ministers, other military leaders, prominent judges or jurists, neighbouring regimes.
 * 5) This is followed by a campaign of repression (which should be careful not to antagonise the military, although you can do what you like to people without guns), but if there is wider resistance, the regime may face popular protests or even civil war.
 * 6) Coups can lead to lasting dictatorship or military rule, either by an autocrat or military junta, but they can also see the new leader seeking to legitimise themselves with a (possibly fraudulent) election, or even handing over power to some trusted figure.

Although the term coup refers to a takeover by elements within a country, coup plotters can have considerable external support such as Iran in 1953 and Guatemala in 1954, both of which relied on US government support via the CIA.

Bloodless coup
A bloodless coup refers to a a coup that does not involve an assassination or use of military force. A bloodless coup involves unconstitutional or illegal activities in order to seize power from a democratically-elected government. Examples include widespread election fraud, an unjust impeachment, bribing people to leave office, or ignoring or overriding the lawful orders of the president, prime minister, or legislative body.

Often it involves a military leadership taking power with the threat of military force, but no actual shooting (usually because the government surrendered before shots could be fired). An example is Phoumi Nosavan in Laos, who was sacked as minister for national defense in 1959 and promptly staged a coup, sending in paratroopers to occupy government infrastructure. With the support of King Sisavang Vatthana he took over as leader of the government. Another example was in Libya in 1969 where a group of army officers staged a coup but met with no resistance and indeed significant support from both the army and wider population; this led to the rule of Muammar al-Gaddafi.

Counter-coup
A counter-coup is a coup following another coup, often to overthrow the original coup's leaders. An example is Kong Le's coup by a battalion of paratroopers in Laos on 10 August 1960, following deeply corrupt elections in April that year. This overthrew another military strongman, Phoumi Nosavan, who had come to power in December 1959 in a bloodless coup with the approval of the king. Another example is the where a group of traditionalists and Islamists tried to reverse the  of 1908; they were defeated.

Even more confusing is a coup within a coup, where someone supports a coup, only to overthrow the original coup leaders and take power himself. This is the method Napoleon Bonaparte used to (ultimately) become Emperor in the : Abbé Sieyès and Talleyrand planned a coup against the Directory, and hoped to use Napoleon merely as military muscle, but history shows how that turned out.

Self-coup
A self-coup or autocoup (autogolpe in Spanish) occurs when someone who's already a leader uses unlawful means to give themselves more power by annulling or overthrowing democratic bodies such as the legislature, often relying on the loyalty of the army. It's what you do when you're already in charge but just don't have enough power because parliament or congress keeps voting against your plans or the courts keep annulling them. It allows a president to rule by decree rather than have to rely on members of the legislature to approve budgets and laws.

Examples include:
 * Alberto Fujimori in 1992 — The Peruvian president relied on the support of the military to dissolve Congress and suspend civil liberties and rule by decree. This was motivated by a mixture of his hatred for rival political forces and a desire to clamp down on the Shining Path guerrillas without worrying about civil liberties or casualties. As Peru is a country familiar with coups, he appeared on TV and straightforwardly announced what he was doing, claiming he had no alternative. Polls showed that many Peruvians approved of his decision.
 * Boris Yeltsin in 1993 — With the Russian parliament obstructing his plans for capitalist utopia, Yeltsin unlawfully dissolved both houses of parliament (which were still full of communist-era representatives) and used the excuse of opponents storming of the TV station to get the Russian army to shell the White House, a government building used by the parliament. The west supported Yeltsin, and he got away with it, introducing a new constitution and consolidating his power.
 * Thanom Kittikachorn in 1971 — The Thai prime minister launched a self-coup in 1971, dissolving parliament and appointed himself Chairman of the National Executive Council, claiming this was necessary to combat the communist menace. Protests by students ended his rule 2 years later, though in 1976 he returned from exile to help launch the 1976 coup that put Thanin Kraivichien in power.
 * Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte in 1851 — the elected French leader decided to become emperor (Napoleon III).
 * Donald Trump, President of the United States, attempted a failed self coup on January 6th, 2021. He fomented conspiracy theories that he actually didn't lose reelection and that it was stolen from him by Joe Biden, so Trump personally incited his supporters to storm the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election. His supporters deliberately tried to assassinate as many Congress people as possible, notably House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-Vice President Mike Pence, having built a gallows and carried nooses while chanting "Hang Mike Pence!" Trump refused to send in the National Guard. Capitol Police (filled with Trump supporters) let the mob into the building where they caused at least four deaths and forced Congress to evacuate the building until the National Guard, this time under Pence's orders, arrived and retook the building.
 * Viktor Yanukovych attempted to pass (also known as "dictatorship laws") in January 2014 not long before being overthrown by Euromaidan.

The cranks who cry wolf
The term "soft coup" has often been used among conspiracy theorists (e.g. Globalresearch, Zero Hedge, Natural News ), but has also been used more sparingly in professional journalism.

As noted above, variant terms (e.g. "counter-coup") also see widespread crank use.

A certain crank, the career of which is built on proverbially tickling the Bubba nerve of his listeners with a gigantic cartoon feather, has also found convenience in the term, as "soft coup" it basically a convenient way of saying (and we paraphrase):

You know [silly revolutionary scenario] that I've been saying is right around the corner [since 1995 ]?? Well, IT IS happening, but softly — so even though it's not obvious that it's even happening at all, that just means it's happening slowly RIGHT NOW!!

Similarly, talk of "soft coups" is a great clickbait-generating way to package wild speculation on various imaginary power struggles that are allegedly going on RIGHT NOW but just outside of view — e.g. inside the Pentagon. Certainly a place into which Alex Jones (of all people) is likely to have privileged access.

Examples
The following countries have experienced notable coups or coup attempts. • 2