Coup d'etat

One coup d'etat is a change of being able suddenly, imposed by surprise, a minority using the force.

The term of coup d'etat (coup d'etat of the 18 brumaire) was taken again, just as it is, in , because it does not have there a word of English origin to describe this type of operation. The word putsch of origin German-speaking Switzerland is equivalent and can also be used in French, as in English. It, at the time modern, was popularized by the coups d'etat missed of and in (putsch of Kapp and putsch of Munich). To note, that starting from English, the word coup d'etat passed to (?????, kûdetâ).

As for the Spanish terms golpe and pronunciamiento, they indicate military risings which do not take necessarily the form of coups d'etat. Let us add that the fact that the second of these terms has an article corresponding to him in does not modify of anything its direction of military rising and not of coup d'etat.

Synopsis

Theory

  • The coups d'etat were always regarded as a means of seizing the power, at the same time fast, economic and requiring generally only one minimum of payment of blood.
  • But this process was condemned in the revolutionary mediums like a élitiste means making it possible only to seize the power at purely personal ends and without intention nor possibility of changing the things. One opposed to the coup d'etat, likely only to change the leaders, , by which the masses moving, could transform in-depth the social reports/ratios and carry a final blow to the capacity of the favoured ones. This movement of the masses could, according to this point of view, being started in the form of general strike paralysing not only the government in place, but also all the functions of the countries used by the privileged people to perpetuate their oppression of the dominated classes.
  • Thus when, with , , old rejoined with the fraction Bolshevik Social democrat working party of Russia, proposed to seize by the force the capacity held with a fragile hand by the social democrat Alexandre Fedorovitch Kerensky, old companions of was opposed to it while pleading that the coup d'etat was a technique reactionary, and that the only revolutionary solution to seize the capacity was the general strike. But, Lénine, only of the revolutionists present, supported Trotsky, and it was him which carried the decision.
  • The coup d'etat of October thus took place well, and successfully, in spite of several false man?uvres of entreated, because an awkwardness even larger prevailed in the camp of Kerenski which believed than one could make the revolution with speeches.
  • At the following day of the blow of October however intervened the general strike. But it was against the Bolsheviks. Those broke it and founded the dictatorship, not proletariat, but of their only minority.
  • Thereafter, so that the doctrines are safe, the Communists baptized their coup d'etat revolution and the whole world their writings flooded of on the pseudo onerevolution of October, term which ended up remaining in the language. But actually the revolution had indeed been made, as of before October 1917, by prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov, Milioukov, Kerensky, and especially by the Russian people which had enough the incurie tsarist of it.

Technique

Catch of the central bodies of the capacity

  • The secrecy, not only with respect to outside but also with respect to the other plotters, constitutes the first weapon of the putschists, that without which the best preparations are likely to break down.
    • Thus, one of the reasons of the failure of the putsch of Kapp with in 1920, was the lack of discretion of the General von Luttwitz, chief military of the operation, which went to present the evening of an ultimatum with controlling socialist, and left them 48 hours to be turned over, before starting the putsch miltaire announced, in the night of with 1920.
    • Thus, at the time of the preparation of putsch of November 8, 1942 with (intended to allow the success of the Torch Operation), the young chief of the groups of action of Algiers, Jose Aboulker, refused, although it trusted him, to give to Henri d' Astier of Vigerie, person in charge for the conspiracy for, names of its team leaders before the last two days preceding the action. Thus, when the patriots passed to the action, the surprise was it so total that these 400 civil evil armed, ordered by their reserve officers, succeeded in neutralizing, alone, the army corps of Algiers. Indeed, the Vichyist authorities, released at the end of a few hours, endeavoured, without same reaching that point, to completely reconquer the city instead of tackling the forces allied on the beaches. So that these last could unload without resistance, encircle Algiers and capture this large intact port the evening even of the unloading.
    • By exception, the coup d'etat Bolshevik of October 1917 succeeds, although the conspirators did not cease speaking the previous days about them. In particular Grigory Ievseïevitch Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev in discussed openly in the newspaper of Gorki, while Trotsky, learning that a battalion from cyclists from fortress Pierre and Paul was likely to be refractory, did not hesitate to go to convince them by a speech, it , two days before the operation. The inaction of the duly informed governmental police force, seems to have come from the fact that the indiscretion carried at such tops would have convinced Kerensky that the business could not be serious... and the coup d'etat de Trotsky succeeds all the same.
  • The basic technique of the coup d'etat consists in seizing the central bodies of the State or neutralizing them, by occupying their places of operation which are also the symbolic systems places of the capacity.
  • Thus proceeded , at the time of its coup d'etat of the 18 brumaire. Having the support of the army, it had to control the civil capacity. However, under , had a revolving executive formed of 5 directors who followed one another, in turn, for periods limited to a few weeks. So that it was not enough to control this turning executive, because the reality of the civil capacity lay in a Parliament weakened itself by its division in two rooms. This is why Bonaparte, in agreement with two directors, Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès and Roger Ducos, was especially worried to disperse this Parliament, of which one of the rooms, it The Council of Cinq-Cents, was chaired by his/her brother Lucien Bonaparte. But instead of briefly announcing its catch of being able with the members of Parliament, Bonaparte found the means of being mislaid in a bombastic speech, and was made attack by several elected officials. So that the coup d'etat was saved only by his/her brother, who ordered with pomegranates to restore the order by dispersing the recalcitrant elected officials. Bonaparte then constituted the executive Council of 3 members made up of itself, Siéyès and Ducos, that it The Council of Old the following day transformed into executive consular Commission.
  • But it is not enough to seize the central bodies to the State. It is also necessary to stop controlling them, or else it will be permissible with those to organize a response.
    • It is what occurred in Berlin, in 1920, where the socialist ministers, informed in advance, by the ultimatum of the military chief of the putschists, took the broad one before the arrival of the frank Body Ehrhardt. After which, once taken refuge in province, they called successfully the population with a general strike whose success enabled them to take again the capacity.

Regularization of the catches of being able

  • In addition, the capacity resulting from the coup d'etat is subjected generally thereafter to a formal process of regularization. Thus the executive consular Commission chaired by Bonaparte presented, the 22 , its project of consular constitution to the two Councils of Old and Cinq-Cents which ratified it, thus making return the new mode in legality.
  • Nowadays it is by one votes by plebiscite, like those of , or by elections, that the putschists make ratify their coups d'etat.

New targets of the modern coups d'etat

  • To the catch of the public buildings, seats of the bodies of the capacity, was added the catch of , whose detention can make it possible to give to the population information suitable to discourage any attempt at response to the coup d'etat.
  • Moreover during the modern time, the authors of coups d'etat took the practice to cut or monopolize the means of communication (, ), arsenals, them stations, etc. It is what the Bolsheviks did, under the direction of Trotsky, at the time of their coup d'etat of October 1917 against the Russian socialist government of Kerensky.
  • But the control of the telephone calls played especially an essential part, at the time of the putsch from November 8, 1942 in Algiers, by which 400 resistant civil evil armed succeeded in stopping the holders of the Vichyist capacity in North Africa (Alphonse Juin and François Darlan) and to neutralize to them XIXE army corps, thus allowing success of the Torch operation. At this point in time having cut the normal telephone network of Algiers, the rebellious staff, which had settled with the central Police station, took the control of the official network, only maintained in service. Thus could it follow from there occupation of the strategic points by the resistant ones between 0 a.m. 30 and 1 hour of the morning, and kept it then the contact with their team leaders during all the operation. But especially, it is by this official network, made only usable, that the chiefs of resistance accepted the alarmed calls of the Vichyist personalities, awaked by the duel ofartillery port which has occurred around 3 hours of the morning. The resistant ones then convened them with the central Police station in their making believe that were awaited they there to organize resistance to the allies. Thus, for the first time in, the hostile personalities with a coup d'etat came from themselves to be made stop by the putschists: It was thus, in particular, of the assistant of the governor-General of Ettori, which, the day before arrogant and keen partisan of collaboration, was spread suddenly in supplications and sobs.

Who are the authors of the coups d'etat?

  • The coups d'etat are usually carried out by soldiers against controlling civil.
  • The putsches carried out by the civil ones generally failed, like the blow tried by with in 1923. It there has at least exception, that of putsch of Algiers of 1942, already quoted, where they are 400 civil inhabitants of Algiers, ordered by student of 22 years, Jose Aboulker, and by their reserve officers, of which most notable was lieutenant Henri d' Astier of Vigerie who succeeded, alone, with the assistance of some rare officers of active, like colonels Jousse and Baril, to neutralize during 15 hours the Vichyist army corps of Algiers until its surrounding by the allies and with its rendering the very same day.
  • To note, in addition, that the authors of the coups d'etat generally belong, themselves, with the apparatus of State, as it was the case of Siéyès, Paul Barred and Bonaparte.

Reception reserved for the coups d'etat

So that the results of the coup d'etat are acquired, it is preferable that they correspond to the v?ux of the majority of the public opinion and that they are compatible with the international context.

Reception of the public opinion

  • The coup d'etat de Bonaparte it 18 brumaire answered the will of the majority of the French, who, wearied revolutionary agitations in all kinds, wished a durable re-establishment of the order, and auprès of which Bonaparte enjoyed a strong popularity.
  • In the same way the coup d'etat of the Bolsheviks with Petrograd it could succeed, although those were unpopular near the majority of the Russians (as the elections were about to show it), because they recommended the immediate peace to which the Russian agricultural work force of the face aspired, mobilized under deplorable conditions. But especially, the Bolsheviks could count on the rallying of the garrison of Petrograd, mainly made up of bureaucrats funkers resulting from the privileged classes, which did not make fun badly of the socialism but which, not very concerned to be found with the face, aspired above all to a rapid demobilization.
  • of April , perpetrated by four known Generals, also profited him from the support of a part of the opinion but of the local opinion only, because the French, consulted previously by on the self-determination of Algeria, had decided massively in favour of its policy. Moreover, in the forces of North Africa themselves, the soldiers of the metropolitan quota who had many portable radios, directly accepted the call pronounced by Gaulle against the Generals and refused to follow their superiors in the rebellion.
  • In opposite direction, the putsch of 1942, in Algiers also, was accomplished certainly in agreement with the majority of the French of metropolis remained not collaborationnists, but also partly against the local opinion, as a majority if not collaborationnist. The blow did not succeed less about it thanks to the international context, as it hereafter will be exposed.

International context

The success of the coup d'etat also depends on the international context: the close countries can be favorable or not to their company and react to it or not militarily.

  • This is why one of the first acts of the modern authors of coup d'etat is to affirm that all the international agreements will be respected.
  • In the case of the putsch of 8 November 1942, started against the aspirations of the local medium succeeded only thanks to the international context, i.e. that ofTorch operation, about to occur, that whose plotters had been informed for a few days. On the other hand the international context was resolutely ignored by the Vichyist leaders, like showed it the reactions of Darlan, which, désinformé by its own service of information of the marine, estimated impossible that them The United States of America have, before one year, the vessels necessary to such an intervention. In the same way, with Folds back
     

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