Coup D'état

We explain what a coup d'état is, its causes, consequences and other characteristics. Also, historical examples in Argentina and Chile.

What is a coup d'état?

A coup d'état (also called simply a “coup”) is the sudden and unconstitutional seizure of political power by a military or political group which forcibly removes the government. This usually involves a disruption of the constitutional order and the laws that regulate how power should be transmitted (for example, through free elections in a democracy), although coups can also be directed against authoritarian or dictatorial governments.

It is considered a violent political act but It is distinguished from other actions, such as riots, riots and revolutions. A typical example of a coup d'état is when a democratically elected government is deposed by the armed forces, or by an alliance between civilians and the military, who establish a military government junta or impose a president at their convenience.

There is also often talk of a coup d'état when some of the actors who exercise government take actions that dismantle certain institutions that are part of the constitutional order of the State, such as Parliament, or when fundamental instances such as elections are suspended, the separation of powers is violated or laws are suppressed without going through the necessary legal process. This is sometimes called a self-coup, since it is the ruler who carries out a coup to consolidate his power.

Some researchers consider that coups d'état are as old as the State itself. However, The concept emerged in the Modern Age when republican and democratic values ​​began to spread in the West and the method of the coup d'état became increasingly recognizable.

Since then, many nations experienced coups d'état, especially in the Third World during the Cold War when the economic and political powers (the United States and the Soviet Union) financed or supported insurgencies, counterinsurgency and coups d'état according to the degree of affinity of the ruling or insurgent sectors.

• See also: Authoritarianism

Origin of the term “coup d’état”

The term “coup d'état”coup d'état in French) emerged in France in the 17th century to refer to certain measures of a violent and sudden nature taken by kings to get rid of their political enemies without giving them time to react.

Subsequently, As constitutionalism spread, it began to be used to describe sudden or violent changes in government that were executed without respect for the legislation or the rules of succession.

Two characteristic examples were the coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte against the Directory of France in 1799, which led to the establishment of the Consulate and subsequently the French Empire, and the coup carried out in 1851 by the president of the French Republic, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (nephew of Napoleon), who, unable to stand for re-election, dissolved the Legislative Assembly and, in 1852, proclaimed himself emperor.

Since then, the term also began to be used in other languages ​​(although in many cases the French form is still used coup d'état), and in 1931 it was treated in the book Coup d'état technique (Technique du coup d'état) by the Italian writer Curzio Malaparte, in which various historical examples are analyzed, such as the October Revolution of Russian Bolshevism and the March on Rome of Italian fascism.

In this book, Malaparte explained that the fall of a legitimate government through illegal actions was possible both by armed or military forces and through the conspiracy of civil forces. Furthermore, he reached some conclusions, such as that, To achieve a successful coup d'état, it was necessary to take control of telecommunications, power plants and roads.

The coups d'état They were particularly common during the 20th century, especially in Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s. where they frequently gave rise to military dictatorships. Throughout the 21st century, various coups and attempted coups d'état took place, especially in Africa.

Characteristics of a coup d'état

Coups d'état are characterized by being:

• Violent and sudden, they often cause death and material loss.
• Illegal and unconstitutional, since they do not respect the legal regulations and the succession provisions of the Constitution, but act by force.
• Generally carried out by sectors that are part of the State: the armed forces, some sector of the political leadership or even the government (in a self-coup).
• Sometimes supported by other powerful groups in society, such as business sectors, union leaders or religious institutions.
• Used as a common mechanism for the establishment of de facto governments, such as dictatorships or autocracies.

Causes of coups d'état

The causes of a coup d'état can be very diverse and are framed in specific historical and political contexts. Some of them are:

• Economic, social or political crises that cause unrest with the current government and encourage some political or military sectors to seize power.
• Periods of social turbulence, civil conflicts and insurgent activities or activities considered subversive, which drive the armed forces to take power and impose a martial or repressive order.
• Delegitimization of authorities in the exercise of power, either due to general discontent with their political and economic measures or because they have committed actions considered unacceptable or immoral (such as acts of corruption or an authoritarian concentration of power).
• Political or economic threats to the interests or privileges of certain sectors of society, which respond by instigating or supporting an attempted overthrow of the government.
• Confluence of interests between local sectors and foreign governments, which in contexts of geopolitical rivalries can coordinate actions to impose a political and economic agenda different from that of the overthrown government.

Consequences of coups d'état

The consequences of coups d'état vary from case to case. For example, they can initiate a political transition that leads to the establishment or restoration of democracy or they can establish a dictatorship.

Indeed, Most dictatorships of the 20th century were established through coups d'état given that once the constitutional guarantees and the laws that regulated the exercise of power were suspended, those who occupied the government by force controlled the State from the executive branch for an often indeterminate period of time.

In any case, the direct consequences of a coup d'état tend to be:

• The overthrow of the established government and the suspension of the rule of law through the establishment of a police or martial order, sometimes protected by a state of siege or emergency.
• The suspension of the rule of law and the violation of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined in the Constitution.
• The reorganization of the political forces of the State, which may involve political persecution, the imprisonment of opponents or officials of the overthrown government and other forceful measures.
• The change of political leadership through access to the government of political, technical or military personnel who exercise power as a de facto government, that is, who do not conform to the constitutional norms of political succession.

Coups d'état in Argentina

In Latin American nations, coups d'état were a frequent phenomenon in the 20th century. In Argentina, there were six successful coups that established military dictatorships in 1930, 1943, 1955, 1962, 1966 and 1976.

• 1930 coup. It happened on September 6, when the president elected in 1928, Hipólito Yrigoyen, of the Radical Civic Union, was overthrown by a group of soldiers commanded by retired lieutenant general José Félix Uriburu and supported by some civilian groups. Uriburu assumed the presidency and was later recognized by the Supreme Court of Justice, which gave rise to the “doctrine of de facto governments,” which would justify future dictatorships. Thus, a nationalist government was installed in Argentina with a corporatist project, which failed to govern and ended up calling for controlled elections. These brought General Agustín P. Justo to the presidency in 1932 and began an era of conservative governments and electoral fraud, called by some historians the “infamous decade.”
• 1943 coup. It broke out on June 4 against the conservative government of Ramón Castillo, in the context of World War II, in which Argentina maintained a position of neutrality until March 1945, when it declared war on Germany and Japan. The protagonists of the coup, also called “Revolution of 43”, were part of the GOU (Group of United Officers), a lodge of nationalist officers dissatisfied with President Castillo for favoring, for the next presidential elections, a candidate sympathetic to the Allies. and, therefore, accused of being pro-British. The dictatorship had a marked anti-communist bias and had two successive de facto presidents: Pedro Ramírez (1943-1944) and Edelmiro Farrell (1944-1946). It ended with the victory in the general elections of February 24, 1946 of Juan Domingo Perón, member of the GOU and former Minister of Labor and War of the dictatorship.
• 1955 coup. It began on September 16 and overthrew President Juan Domingo Perón. He also closed Congress and established a National Advisory Board made up of civilians from various political parties, although the presidency of the country was successively occupied by two soldiers: retired general Eduardo Lonardi (1955) and lieutenant general Pedro Eugenio Aramburu (1955-1958). It called itself the “Liberating Revolution” and was supported by nationalist-Catholic and liberal sectors. The military government outlawed the Peronist Party, persecuted its sympathizers and restored the Constitution of 1853. In 1958, it called elections with the banning of Peronism, which were won by Arturo Frondizi, the representative of the Unión Cívica Radical Intransigente (the radical wing more critical of the dictatorship).
• 1962 coup. Arturo Frondizi was overthrown on March 29 by sectors of the Armed Forces, dissatisfied with the president's decision to allow the participation of Peronist candidates in that year's elections, especially after the triumph of a Peronist candidate for governor of the province of Buenos Aires. Aires. Power was assumed by José María Guido, provisional president of the Senate, who accepted the guidelines imposed by the military for the banning of communism and Peronism, annulment of past elections, dissolution of Congress and intervention of the provinces. Finally, elections were called for 1963 under the slogan “the Armed Forces should not govern.”
• 1966 coup. It occurred on June 28 and involved the overthrow of President Arturo Illia, of the Radical Civic Union of the People, elected in the 1963 elections. This coup began a dictatorship calling itself the “Argentine Revolution,” which instead of announcing itself as a government Provisional, as in previous cases, he attempted to establish a permanent regime. However, it was extremely unstable, as it went through multiple social and political conflicts (such as the Cordobazo or the armed activities of guerrilla organizations, such as Montoneros and the People's Revolutionary Army). In turn, it experienced internal disputes that caused the succession of three de facto presidents in seven years of dictatorship: Juan Carlos Onganía (1966-1970), Roberto Marcelo Levingston (1970-1971) and Alejandro Agustín Lanusse (1971-1973). The latter called elections in 1973.
• 1976 coup. On March 24, the government of María Estela Martínez de Perón, widow and successor of the elected president Juan Domingo Perón, was overthrown. After the coup, a military junta made up of a member from each body of the Armed Forces took over the government. The presidency of the Nation was held successively by Jorge Rafael Videla (1976-1981), Roberto Eduardo Viola (1981), Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri (1981-1982) and Reynaldo Bignone (1982-1983). Under the name “National Reorganization Process”, this dictatorship proposed, among other things, to appease the guerrilla activity of radicalized Peronism (such as Montoneros) and the revolutionary left (such as the People's Revolutionary Army). During its term, constitutional guarantees were suspended, dissent was persecuted, and serious human rights violations were committed, including the forced disappearance of thousands of people. After the Argentine defeat in the Malvinas war against the United Kingdom in 1982, the dictatorship was forced to begin the transition towards the restoration of democracy, with the call for free elections that gave victory to the radical candidate Raúl Alfonsín, who took office. the position on December 10, 1983.

Coup d'état in Chile

The coup d'état that occurred in Chile On September 11, 1973, he overthrew the democratic government of socialist Salvador Allende. It occurred through an armed insurrection that, according to some researchers, had the support of the United States in its intention to stop the advance of socialism in Latin America during the Cold War.

After subduing some strategic points of the country, the insurgent military, commanded by General Augusto Pinochet and with a marked anti-communist character they demanded the resignation of the president, who took refuge in the government palace and, after an intense bombardment, took his own life.

In this way, the military who led the coup formed a government junta that established a dictatorship, headed by Pinochet until 1990.

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References

• Bobbio, N., Matteucci, N. and Pasquino, G. (Dirs.). (2015). Politics Dictionary. 21st century.
• Larraquy, M. (2017). Argentina. A century of political violence. South American.
• Roitman Rosenmann, M. (2019). By reason or force. History and memory of coups d'état, dictatorships and resistance in Latin America. 21st century.
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2024). Coup d'état. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/