On 8 July 1966, a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

took place in the

Kingdom of Burundi The Kingdom of Burundi (french: Royaume du Burundi) or Kingdom of Urundi (''Royaume d'Urundi'') was a Bantu kingdom in the modern-day Republic of Burundi. The Ganwa monarchs (with the title of ''mwami'') ruled over both Hutus and Tutsis. Created ...

. The second in Burundi's post-independence history, the coup ousted the government loyal to the king (''mwami'') of Burundi, Mwambutsa IV, who had gone into exile in October 1965 after the failure of an earlier coup d'état.

Background

The first coup attempt had been led by members of the Hutu ethnic group and was provoked by rising ethnic tensions between the Hutu and Burundi's Tutsi ruling class. The July 1966 coup was an extreme Tutsi counter-reaction against what they saw as Mwambutsa's dangerous moderate tendencies in trying to balance Hutu and Tutsi demands in government.

Events

On 24 March 1966, shortly after going into exile, Mwambutsa had delegated his royal powers to his son, the 18-year-old Crown Prince Charles Ndizeye. On 8 July 1966, forces loyal to Ndizeye overthrew the pro-Mwambutsa government of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Léopold Biha Léopold Bihumugani or Biha (1919–2003) was a Burundian politician who served as Prime Minister of Burundi from 13 September 1965 until 8 July 1966. A Ganwa born to a chief in Ruanda-Urundi, he became a close confidant of Mwami Mwambutsa IV in ...

. Ndizeye announced that he was assuming the role of head of state of Burundi. He suspended the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

, dismissed Biha, and asked the 26-year-old Captain

Michel Micombero Michel Micombero (26 August 194016 July 1983) was a Burundian politician and army officer who ruled the country as ''de facto'' military dictator for the decade between 1966 and 1976. He was the last Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Burundi from ...

, a Tutsi army officer who had played a major role in the coup, to form a new government. On 12 July, Micombero's government was installed with himself as prime minister. On 1 September, Ndizeye had himself crowned as ''Mwami'' Ntare V. Ntare promised to Burundi strong leadership, anti-corruption measures, and a new constitution. However, tension developed between Ntare, who wanted to actively rule as a monarch, and Micombero's government, which had aligned itself to reform and saw little need for an involved king.

Aftermath

Less than five months later, Micombero led a third coup d'etat on 28 November which ousted Ntare. Micombero abolished Burundi's monarchy and declared the nation a republic. This allowed Micombero to establish a

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

with

UPRONA The Union for National Progress (french: Union pour le Progrès national, UPRONA) is a nationalist political party in Burundi. It initially emerged as a nationalist united front in opposition to Belgian colonial rule but subsequently became an i ...

as the only legal party, which would last until his own overthrow in a military coup in 1976. Ntare V fled into exile but returned to the country from

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

in 1972, at which time he was assassinated under circumstances that have yet to be fully explained.

References

Works cited

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:1966 07 Burundian coup d'etat July coup

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

Military coups in Burundi 1960s coups d'état and coup attempts July 1966 events in Africa