1966 Upper Voltan Coup D'état
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The 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état was an event which took place on 3 January 1966 in the Republic of Upper Volta (today
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
), when following large-scale popular unrest, the
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
intervened against the government. This forced President Maurice Yaméogo to resign, and was replaced Lieutenant Colonel Sangoulé Lamizana. Lamizana would go on to rule until 1980, when yet another military ''
coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
'' overthrew him. The 1966 coup would prove to be the first in a long line of Upper Voltan and later Burkinabé coups, which marked the beginning of half a century of military rule.


History


Background

French Upper Volta, a small, landlocked and largely impoverished colony of
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
had been decolonized in 1960. Maurice Yaméogo, a close ally of the Ivorian President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, created a single-party dictatorship, making his own Voltaic Democratic Union the sole legal political party in the country. Opposition parties, like the African Regroupment Party, were either merged with it or dissolved. Yaméogo's government would come to face charges of
neocolonialism Neocolonialism is the control by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony) through indirect means. The term ''neocolonialism'' was first used after World War II to refer to ...
, as it aligned closely with the French government. Originally favouring a pan-Africanist policy, in favour of a
West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
n federation, he eventually dropped these policies in favour of the anti-federalism of France and his friend Houphouët-Boigny. He joined the ''
Conseil de l'Entente The Conseil de l'Entente ("Council of Accord" or "Council of Understanding") is a West African regional co-operation forum established in May 1959 by Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Republic of Upper Volta, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and Republic of Da ...
'' together with some other pro-French leaders. Additionally, Yaméogo closely supported
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, becoming the first African leader to visit the country, strongly opposing the Arab Republic of Egypt and
Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...
. The President's harsh policies, and deeply
corrupt Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
state of his administration, made him hugely impopular. In 1964, the government strongly restricted the right of workers to organize and outlawed labour strikes, making the strong
trade unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
its enemies. In the presidential election the following year Yaméogo was re-elected, with a supposed 100% support and 98.4% turnout. Remarrying a 22-year-old former beauty queen a few weeks after the October election, he received a cool welcome in
Ouagadougou Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...
returning from their honeymoon on 6 November. The parliamentary election the following day officially saw a 100% support and 97.4% turnout in favour of the Voltaic Democratic Union, but in fact mass abstention in protest against the President and his party took place. Another large boycott occurred during the following 5 December municipal elections.


Coup

On 30 December, following increased economic troubles, the government announced a new austerity budget, massively cutting the salaries of public sector employees and raising taxes. The following day, Denis Yaméogo – Minister of the Interior and Security, and the President's half-brother – used heavy-handed force to break up a meeting of the national labour leadership. As a result, a general strike was called. On 1 January 1966 President Yaméogo declared a state of emergency in the country. On 2 January he deployed troops to all public buildings, and warned government employees against participating in the general strike. Finally, on 3 January, the general strike began. Large groups of protesting workers stormed the ruling party headquarters and the National Assembly. The state of emergency and troop deployments backfired on the government – the rank and file soldiers refused to shoot protesters. Within short, the military leadership stepped in. Lieutenant Colonel Sangoulé Lamizana, the Chief of Staff, seized power. President Maurice Yaméogo was forced to resign, and was later imprisoned. The following day a new military government was organized, which received the support of the trade unions which ended the general strike. The constitution was suspended and the National Assembly dissolved. A new cabinet was formed with seven military officials and four civilians, the Superior Council of the Armed Forces, with Lamizana at the helm. A Consultative Committee was also formed, with 46 members representing the military, political parties, trade unions, religious leaders, and traditional authorities.


Aftermath

In the weeks and months following the coup, the new military regime largely continued the policies of the previous civilian one. While the country would move diplomatically towards the Arab states such as Egypt,
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
and
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, and away from Israel, this did not indicate a break in relations with the West, or that the government had a sectarian character. While Yaméogo was
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and Lamizana
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
, many of the military co-conspirators were also Catholic. A month after the coup, on 1 February, Lamizana visited President Houphouët-Boigny in
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, and on 17 February the junta announced an austerity budget very similar to that of the previous government. Half a year later on 21 September all political activities were banned in the country. Former President Maurice Yaméogo remained imprisoned following the coup. His son Hermann Yaméogo unsuccessfully tried to free him and restore him to the presidency, for which he got seven years in prison. On May 8, 1969, Yaméogo was condemned to five years of forced work and to a lifetime banishment. However, he was freed on August 5, 1970. While in prison, he attempted to take his own life unsuccessfully. The new military government set 1970 as a deadline for the return to civilian governance. Lieutenant Colonel Sangoulé Lamizana – later made Major General – would instead remain President for fourteen years, until his overthrow by Colonel Saye Zerbo on 25 November 1980.


See also

* History of Burkina Faso


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1966 Upper Voltan coup d'etat 1966 in Upper Volta Upper Volta Upper Volta Military coups in Burkina Faso January 1966 in Africa Labor disputes in Burkina Faso