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The 1968 Malian coup d'état was a bloodless
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
coup in
Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
staged on 19 November 1968 against the government of President
Modibo Keïta Modibo Keïta (4 June 1915 – 16 May 1977) was the first President of Mali (1960–1968) and the Prime Minister of the Mali Federation. He espoused a form of African socialism. Youth Keïta was born in Bamako-Coura, a neighborhood of Bama ...
. The coup was led by Lieutenant (later Major General)
Moussa Traoré Moussa Traoré (25 September 1936 – 15 September 2020) was a Malian soldier, politician, and dictator who was President of Mali from 1968 to 1991. As a Lieutenant, he led the military ousting of President Modibo Keïta in 1968. Thereafter he ...
, who then became the head of state.


Background

File:Keita, 1966 (cropped).jpg, President Modibo Keïta in 1966 File:Moussa Traoré (1989) (cropped).jpg, The leader of the putschists, Moussa Traoré, in 1989. File:Tiécoro Bagayoko.jpg, Another putschist, Tiécoro Bagayoko, in the 1970s. President Keïta, father of Malian independence, had ruled a
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
government since 1960, supported by his party, the
Sudanese Union – African Democratic Rally The Sudanese Union – African Democratic Rally (US-RDA) (french: Union Soudanaise-Rassemblement Démocratique Africain) was a political party in Mali. History The party was formed in 1945 by Mamadou Konaté and Modibo Keita under the name Sudanes ...
(US-RDA). However, his politics faced economic difficulties. In 1966, he suspended the constitution and the parliament, replaced by a ''Comité National de Défense de la Révolution'' with full powers. The population was increasingly dissatisfied by the government. A coup was plotted by Malian junior officers, in particular
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
s Moussa Traoré, Tiécoro Bagayoko, Kissima Doukara, Youssouf Traoré and Filifing Sissoko, and
non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...
s such as ''adjudant-chef'' Soungalo Samaké. The Malian senior officers had little or no control on their subordinates. Unlike many putsches in French former colonies, this one was not supported by foreign actors. The two prominent organizers of pro-Western coups in Africa, Houphouët-Boigny,
President of Ivory Coast This article lists the heads of state of Ivory Coast, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, since the country gained independence from France in 1960. Alassane Ouattara has been serving as President of Ivory Coast since 4 December 2010. L ...
, and
Jacques Foccart Jacques Foccart (31 August 1913 – 19 March 1997) was a French businessman and politician, best known as a chief adviser to President of France, French presidents on African affairs. He was also a co-founder of the Gaullist Party, Gaullist Servi ...
, adviser for African affairs of
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
,
President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...
, were surprised by the coup.


The coup

During the night of November 18–19, at midnight, the putschists gathered the
Kati KATI (94.3 FM), branded as 94.3 KAT Country, is a radio station which broadcasts country music and St. Louis Cardinals baseball. Licensed to California, Missouri, the station serves the Jefferson City area and is owned by the Zimmer Radio Group ...
garrison and announced them their intentions. The telephone network was cut off at 2 am and cadres of the US-RDA were arrested before dawn. The soldiers stopped President Keïta's convoy as he was going back to
Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on t ...
from
Mopti Mopti ( Bambara: ߡߏߕߌ tr. Moti) is a town and an urban commune in the Inner Niger Delta region of Mali. The town is the capital of the Mopti Cercle and the Mopti Region. Situated 630 km northeast of Bamako, the town lies at the conflue ...
. They wanted him to be arrested at
Koulikoro Koulikoro ( Bambara: ߞߎߟߌߞߏߙߏ tr. Kulikoro) is a town and urban commune in Mali. The capital of the Koulikoro Region, Koulikoro is located on banks of the Niger River, downstream from Mali's capital Bamako. Koulikoro is the terminus of ...
when landing from his riverboat, the ''Général Abdoulaye Soumaré'', but Keïta was ahead of schedule and his
Citroën DS The Citroën DS () is a Front-mid-engine, front-wheel-drive layout, front mid-engined, front-wheel drive executive car manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1955 to 1975, in fastback/sedan, wagon/estate, and convertible body configurations ...
was blocked at 10 am at Kayo, a few kilometers from Bamako. Lieutenant Bagayoko asked "''Monsieur le président, voulez-vous vous mettre à la disposition de l’armée ?'' r. President, would you like to make yourself available to the army? and the officers forced him into a
BTR-152 The BTR-152 is a six-wheeled Soviet armored personnel carrier (БТР, from Бронетранспортер/'' Bronetransporter'', literally "armored transporter"), built on the chassis and drive train of a ZIS-151 utility truck. It entered servi ...
armored personnel carrier. He was brought to the center of the capital by 11:30. They demand him to stop his socialist policy and to replace his collaborators but Modibo Keïta refused, arguing he was democratically elected as a socialist. However, according to Captain Abdoulaye Ouologuem, driver of the presidential car, the mutineers only demanded new elections but the president refused. The military faction then broadcast a radio message announcing "the dictatorial regime ..has fallen".


Consequences

Due to the poor economic record of president Keïta, the coup was well received by the population. However, the immediate causes for the coup were overwhelming financial and economic problems, made worse by an especially poor harvest in 1968. Modibo Keïta and other cadres of the previous regime were imprisoned in
Kidal Kidal ( Tuareg Berber: ⴾⴸⵍ, KDL, Kidal) is a town and commune in the desert region of northern Mali. The town lies northeast of Gao and is the capital of the Kidal Cercle and the Kidal Region. The commune has an area of about and includes ...
and
Taoudenni ar, تودني , nickname = , settlement_type = , total_type = , motto = , translit_lang1= , translit_lang1_type= , translit_lang1_info= , translit_lang1_type1= , translit_lang1_info1= , transli ...
. Modibo Keïta died in captivity in Bamako in 1977. Ten lieutenants (Moussa Traoré, Baba Diarra, Youssouf Traoré, Filifing Sissoko, Tiécoro Bagayoko, Joseph Marat, Mamadou Sanogho, Cissema Toukara, Moussa Kone and Karim Dembele) and four captains (
Yoro Diakité Yoro Diakité (17 October 1932 – 13 June 1973) was a Malian politician and military figure. Diakite was the Prime Minister of Mali and Head of the Provisional Government from 19 November 1968 to 18 September 1969, and then Vice President of the r ...
, Malik Diallo, Charles Cissoko and Mamadou Cissoko) formed the Military Committee for National Liberation. Moussa Traoré became its Chairman and promised democracy and free elections, that never came. He was proclaimed President in 1969 and ruled the country until he was deposed in the 1991 coup d'état.


See also

*
1991 Malian coup d'état The 26 March 1991 Malian coup d'état resulted in the overthrow of President Moussa Traoré after over two decades of dictatorship and eventually led to multi-party elections. Background In 1968, Traoré had himself led a military coup d'état, ...
*
2012 Malian coup d'état The 2012 Malian coup d'état began on 21 March that year, when mutinying Malian soldiers, displeased with the management of the Tuareg rebellion, attacked several locations in the capital Bamako, including the presidential palace, state telev ...
*
2020 Malian coup d'état On 18 August 2020, elements of the Malian Armed Forces began a mutiny. Soldiers on pick-up trucks stormed the Soundiata military base in the town of Kati, where gunfire was exchanged before weapons were distributed from the armory and senior of ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1968 Malian coup d'etat 1968 in Mali Conflicts in 1968 Military coups in Mali 1960s coups d'état and coup attempts November 1968 events in Africa