What is a coup d`état?

A coup d’état, or just a coup, is when the leading power in a country is removed. This often happens in an unfair way or through a revolution. The people who take over do it in an illegal way.

📷 A painting of protesters storming the Palais de Tuileries during the French Revolution of 1848.

A coup can happen in different ways. The most common are military coups. A military coup is when a leader takes power in a country through violence.

A coup often happens when there are big changes in a country, for example after elections. A coup often results in dictatorship.

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Opptøyer under franske revolusjonen
Opptøyer under franske revolusjonen

Dictatorship

Dictatorship is the opposite of democracy. In a dictatorship, one person or a small group controls the power of the country. People under dictatorship have little freedom. Iran is one example of a country with a dictatorship. Here you can be killed or put in jail if you criticise the leaders.

📷 US President Donald Trump is the first US President to cross the border into North Korea to meet Kim Jong-un, who is a dictator.

USAs president Donald Trump er første amerikanske presidenten til å krysse grensen til Nord-Korea for å møte øverstkommanderende av den totalitære ettpartistaten, Kim Jong-un.
USAs president Donald Trump er første amerikanske presidenten til å krysse grensen til Nord-Korea for å møte øverstkommanderende av den totalitære ettpartistaten, Kim Jong-un.

Coup d’état in Chile 1973

On September 11th, 1973, there was a coup in Chile. President Salvadore Allende was killed during the bloody coup. The coup was led by Chile’s army chief Augusto Pinochet. They got support from the US.

Pinochet was the leader until 1990. Pinochet is a typical example of a dictator. When he was the leader, many people got killed, abused or tortured in Chile.

📷 Pinochet in a car parade in Santiago on the 9th anniversary of this coup d’état.

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Pinochet i en bilparade i Santiago for å feire 9-årsjubileet for hans statskupp.
Pinochet i en bilparade i Santiago for å feire 9-årsjubileet for hans statskupp.

We must not forget

We have seen many coups in history, for example when Adolf Hitler became the leader in Germany in 1933. He won fairly, but when he got power, he didn’t care about the other political parties. He took control on his own. So a country can go quickly from being democratic to becoming a dictatorship.

📷 30 January 1933: Hitler is hailed as the newly appointed Chancellor of Germany.

Hitler hylles som Rikskansler
Hitler hylles som Rikskansler

Almost a coup d’état in the United States

Many Trump supporters gathered around the Congress building in Washington DC in 2021. They protested that Joe Biden would be the new President of the United States. President Trump and others thought that the election in November 2020 was rigged and that the result was false.

The protest got very violent. Several people stormed the Congress building. The Congress in the US is the same as the Houses of Parliament in the UK. Trump asked people to go home, but he kept saying the election was a fraud and spread his thoughts on social media.

President Trump did not admit defeat in the election and got a lot of attention. He finally admitted election defeat on 7 January 2021, the day after the storming of the Congress building. Many had started to turn against Trump, and some wanted him to be found guilty of serious crimes on the job.

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January 6, 2021: The Day As It Happened

 

How can a coup d’état be prevented?

Democracy must be stronger to avoid coups. It’s important to have correct information about people’s rights and how democracy works. It is important that children learn about this at school.

International cooperation is important. For example, if the UN can observe elections, perhaps we can ensure that they are carried out fairly.

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The Security Council

 

 

Sources:

Media Rights:

    1. Getty Images
    2. Ukjent
    3. Ukjent (CC – SA 3.0)
    4. Getty Images
    5. Deutsches Bundesarchiv (CC – SA 3.0 DE)
    6. Getty Images
    7. MSNBC – YouTube
    8. Getty Images
    9. The Security Council  – YouTube