This article is about the sudden overthrow of a government by military elites. It is a recurring phenomenon in modern times, with coups being a common occurrence in Latin American countries during the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as in Africa after those nations gained independence.
A successful coup requires a leader that inspires loyalty among enough people to command enough soldiers and police officers to carry out the putsch. That’s why coup leaders are generally military. They can use their army and police forces to shut down parliaments, repress protests or prosecute opponents in military courts.
While the majority of coups are executed by military officers, civilians play crucial roles in the lead up to, and consolidation of, a coup. Civilians may take up arms alongside soldiers during a military takeover, organize pro-coup protests or assume important governing tasks. The alleged masterminds of the thwarted coup plot in Benin, for example, were not soldiers but members of the country’s governing bureaucracy and elite civil society. Civilians also work to consolidate a coup after it takes place, as they did in Niger following that nation’s thwarted coup in 2023. The M62 movement, a civilian-led protest group, gathered thousands to the streets in support of the junta that took power and the Volunteers for the Defense of Niger militia they formed to fight against international intervention in the nation.
Coups are largely political events, and the decisions of superpowers, near-superpowers and other major players to support or reject them will be determined by their own political goals and objectives. As a result, even though many observers have tried to develop frameworks for defining and categorizing coups, the exact cause or trigger of any given military coup remains unclear.
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