The 1972 Dahomeyan coup d'état was a

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 staged on 26 October 1972 by Major (later General)

Mathieu Kérékou Mathieu Kérékou (; 2 September 1933 – 14 October 2015) was a Beninese politician who served as President of Benin from 1972 to 1991 and again from 1996 to 2006. After seizing power in a military coup, he ruled the country for 19 years, for ...

, who took control of the

Republic of Dahomey The Republic of Dahomey (french: République du Dahomey; ), simply known as Dahomey, was established on 4 December 1958, as a self-governing colony within the French Community. Prior to attaining autonomy, it had been French Dahomey, part of ...

"Après 29 ans de pouvoir, le Président Kérékou tire sa révérence"
IRIN, 6 April 2006 . and ended a system of government established following the annulled 1970 presidential election, in which three members of the Presidential Council (

Hubert Maga Coutoucou Hubert Maga (August 10, 1916 – May 8, 2000) was a politician from Dahomey (now known as Benin).Dahomey was renamed Benin in 1975. Se''New York Times'' obituary He arose on a political scene where one's power was dictated by what regi ...

Justin Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin Justin Ahomadegbé-Tomêtin (January 16, 1917 – March 8, 2002) was a Beninese politician most active when his country was known as Dahomey. He arose on a political scene where one's power was regionalism (politics), dictated by what region ...

and

Sourou-Migan Apithy Sourou-Migan Marcellin Joseph Apithy (April 8, 1913 – December 3, 1989) was a Beninese political figure most active when his country was known as Dahomey. He arose on a political scene where one's power was dictated by what region in Dahomey o ...

) were to rotate in power. Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin served as the Chairman at the time of the coup.Samuel Decalo, "Benin: First of the New Democracies", in ''Political Reform in Francophone Africa'' (1997), ed. Clark and Gardinier. .

The coup

The coup was launched by soldiers of the

Ouidah Ouidah () or Whydah (; ''Ouidah'', ''Juida'', and ''Juda'' by the French; ''Ajudá'' by the Portuguese; and ''Fida'' by the Dutch) and known locally as Glexwe, formerly the chief port of the Kingdom of Whydah, is a city on the coast of the Repub ...

garrison. and occurred during a Presidential Council meeting between Maga and Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin.Apithy was in Paris on a political trip. According to reports at the scene, soldiers abruptly arrived in the Cabinet room of the Presidential Palace in the capital

Porto-Novo Porto-Novo (Portuguese: "New Port", , ; yo, Àjàṣẹ́, ), also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe, is the capital of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. Situated on an inlet of the Gulf of Gu ...

and started firing bullets, but no one was injured.. Kérékou led the first armed company of soldiers to break into the meeting, where he declared the end of the Presidential Council. Kérékou announced the coup on national radio (which later become ORTB) by saying that the "three headed figure astruly a monster" beset by "congenital deficiency...notorious inefficiency and...unpardonable incompetence." Similarly to the 1963 coup d'état led by

Christophe Soglo Christophe Soglo (28 June 1909 – 7 October 1983) was a Beninese military officer and political leader. Early life Christophe Soglo was born on 28 June 1909 in Abomey, French Dahomey to a chiefly Fon family. Military career In 1931 Soglo vol ...

, the coup was viewed favorably by much of the population of the country. Kerekou named himself the new head of state, appointing military officers to the various ministerial posts.

Aftermath

The members of the Presidential Council and other prominent political figures were arrested and imprisoned or placed under house arrest until 1981. After they were released from house arrest in 1981, Maga, Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin, and Apithy all moved to Paris.

Ideological changes

Kérékou proclaimed the formal accession of his government to

Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and various co ...

on 30 November 1974, in a speech before an assembly of stunned notables in the city of

Abomey Abomey is the capital of the Zou Department of Benin. The commune of Abomey covers an area of 142 square kilometres and, as of 2012, had a population of 90,195 people. Abomey houses the Royal Palaces of Abomey, a collection of small traditional ...

. He soon aligned Dahomey with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

. Finally, Kérékou declared the end of the Republic of Dahomey and the establishment of the

People's Republic of Benin The People's Republic of Benin (french: République populaire du Bénin; sometimes translated as Benin Popular Republic or Popular Republic of Benin) was a socialist state located in the Gulf of Guinea on the African continent, which would becom ...

on 30 November 1975, named after the

Kingdom of Benin The Kingdom of Benin, also known as the Edo Kingdom, or the Benin Empire ( Bini: ') was a kingdom within what is now southern Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th c ...

that had once flourished in the south-central part of neighboring

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. The

People's Revolutionary Party of Benin The People's Revolutionary Party of Benin (french: Parti de la Révolution Populaire du Bénin) was a political party in the People's Republic of Benin. It was founded in 1975 by General Mathieu Kérékou. With the new constitution of 30 November ...

(PRPB), designed as a

vanguard party Vanguardism in the context of Leninist revolutionary struggle, relates to a strategy whereby the most class-conscious and politically "advanced" sections of the proletariat or working class, described as the revolutionary vanguard, form organi ...

, was created on the same day as the country's only legal party.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* . * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:1972 Dahomeyan coup d'etat Coup Military coups in Benin Dahomey coup Coup October 1972 events in Africa 1970s coups d'état and coup attempts