What is a coup d`état?

A coup d’état is when the current power is removed in an undemocratic way or through a revolution. This means that a group of people takes over power in an illegal way.

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

A coup d’état can happen in a number of different ways. In history, we have mostly seen a variety of military coups. A military coup is when a leader takes political power with the help of an army through violence and threat.

A coup d’état often happens when there are big changes in a country, for example after elections or major economic reforms. A coup d’état often results in dictatorship.

Forrige avsnitt

1 / 3

Neste avsnitt
Opptøyer under franske revolusjonen
Opptøyer under franske revolusjonen

Dictatorship

Dictatorship means that the control of power belongs to one person or a small group. A dictatorship is the opposite of a democracy. In a dictatorship, citizens have little freedom, and everything is controlled by the leader who is known as the dictator. In countries such as Iran, which has an Islamic clerical government, you can be killed or put in jail if you criticise the regime.

📷 US President Donald Trump is the first US President to cross the border into North Korea to meet Kim Jong-un, the Supreme Leader of the totalitarian one-party state.

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 the 11th September in 1973  there was a military coup d’état in Chile. The democratically elected president Salvador Allende was killed during what was a very violent and bloody coup d’état. The coup was led by Chile’s army chief Augusto Pinochet and his «military junta», with support from the US. One of the reasons for the coup was that they disagreed with Allende’s policies.

Pinochet stayed in power until 1990. Pinochet is a typical example of a dictator. During his regime, murder, abuse, and torture become part of Chilean everyday life.

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

Forrige avsnitt

1 / 2

Neste avsnitt
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

In history, we have seen many coups d’état, for example when Adolf Hitler took power in Germany in 1933. He did this by winning democratic elections, but once in government, he skipped all other political parties, and took control of the army and all state institutions. In other words, a country can quickly go 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

On 6 January 2021, several hundred Trump supporters gathered around the Congress building in the capital city Washington DC. They were protesting the official approval of Joe Biden as the next President of the United States. President Trump and some of his supporters believed that the November 2020 elections had been rigged. Trump had expressed his opinion on how the election was false on social media and asked people to protest.

The protests turned violent and several people stormed into the Congress building. The Congress in the US is the same as the Houses of Parliament in the UK. The protesters did this to force a postponement of the approval. Trump eventually asked people to go home, but he still repeated the accusations of electoral fraud on social media, without having any sources or proof of this. This is a frightening example of distrust in democracy.

President Trump got a lot of attention for not admitting electoral defeat, which is considered to be an important part of the democratic switch of power. He finally admitted election defeat on 7 January 2021, the day after the storming of the Congress building, and a coup d’état was avoided. Before this, several of his own team and party colleagues had turned against him. Several had also urged Vice President Mike Pence to impeach Trump just a couple of weeks before his Presidency ended.

Forrige avsnitt

1 / 3

Neste avsnitt

January 6, 2021: The Day As It Happened

How can a coup d’état be prevented?

To avoid a coup d’état, democracy must be stronger. It’s important to have correct information about people’s rights and how democracy works. Amongst other things, we can get this through freedom of the press and through children learning about democracy at school.

International cooperation and the strengthening of human rights are also important when it comes to a stable democracy. Allowing the UN to observe elections helps ensure that elections are carried out in a fair way.

Forrige avsnitt

1 / 2

Neste avsnitt

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