Coup d’etat is a coup aimed at replacing one government with another, usually by means of military force. It is also known as a “regime change” or a “military dictatorship”. Coups (successful or unsuccessful) have occurred at some point on every continent, although they were most numerous between 1960 and 1990, and have become rarer since the mid-1990s.
Some examples of coups include:
1908 Peruvian coup d’etat: Oscar R. Benavides overthrew Guillermo Billinghurst.
1917 Somalia coup d’etat: General Mohamed Farah Aideed, leader of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front and the United Somali Congress, overthrew Siad Barre’s government, but was killed by forces loyal to his aunt Zewditu shortly afterwards. He later wandered northwestern Ethiopia with a small band of loyal followers until captured five years later.
1944 Libyan coup d’etat: Colonel Gaddafi seized power from the British-installed monarchy, and established a repressive regime.
1949 Cuban revolution: Fulgencio Batista led a bloodless military coup to overthrow the pro-British government of Prime Minister Carlos Manuel de la Cruz.
1973 Chilean coup d’etat: Augusto Pinochet, with the help of the CIA, overthrew Salvador Allende and imposed a repressive military dictatorship.
1975 Nigerian coup d’etat: A faction of junior army officers overthrew Yakubu Gowon and appointed Brigadier Murtala Muhammed to head of state.
1976 Ghanaian coup d’etat: Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings staged a successful coup d’etat, known as Operation Guitar Boy, which toppled Hilla Limann and brought him to power as President of Ghana.