History Main / MilitaryCoup

* The Business Plot was an alleged conspiracy in 1933 in which retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler stated that wealthy bankers wanted to overthrow UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt and [[OneNationUnderCopyright establish a quasi-fascist corporatocracy]], fearing that FDR would turn the United States into a socialist country. Under the ploy of Roosevelt being in ill health, they wanted 500,000 veterans to storm the US Capitol[[note]]which would not be breached until 2021, when far-right supporters of then-president UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump tried to stop the Electoral College proceedings under the belief that the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump. Before this, Trump unsuccessfully bullied election officials and filed {{Frivolous Lawsuit}}s right up to the Supreme Court in an attempt to flip the results. Trump's effort to remain in power even after losing to UsefulNotes/JoeBiden has been seen as an attempted self-coup.[[/note]] with Butler at the helm, being that he was an advocate of veteran rights. But being dead-set on the oath he swore to protect the country, Butler instead blew the whistle as soon as he felt he had enough evidence to take it before Congress. Had the coup worked out, Butler was to assume emergency powers as the "Secretary of General Affairs" with FDR being reduced to a figurehead role.

* The South American rebels in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' were strongly implied to be waging on of these against the new regime.

* The Newburgh Conspiracy of 1783 was an attempted coup led by rogue officers in the Continental Army with the backing of members in the Continental Congress at the end of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution. The conspirators were disgruntled at not being paid for some time and urged UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington to overthrow the Continental Congress and install himself as dictator. The coup fizzled out when Washington denounced the coup attempt and Congress offered a compromise regarding military pay.
** In the previous year, there was an attempt by Colonel Lewis Nicola to install Washington as a possible king of the United States, but Washington felt it would provoke public anger and rattle the country, which had just won its independence from Britain. Anti-monarchial sentiments also played a factor.
* The Business Plot was an alleged conspiracy in 1933 in which retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler stated that wealthy bankers planned to overthrow UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt and [[OneNationUnderCopyright establish a quasi-fascist corporatocracy]], fearing that FDR would turn the United States into a socialist country. Under the pretext of Roosevelt being in ill health, they wanted 500,000 veterans to storm the US Capitol[[note]]which would not be breached until 2021, when far-right supporters of then-president UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump tried to stop the Electoral College proceedings under the belief that the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump. Before this, Trump unsuccessfully bullied election officials and filed 65 {{Frivolous Lawsuit}}s right up to the Supreme Court in an attempt to flip the results. Trump's efforts to remain in power even after losing to UsefulNotes/JoeBiden have been viewed as an attempted self-coup.[[/note]] with Butler at the helm, being that he was an advocate of veteran rights. But being dead-set on the oath he swore to protect the country, Butler instead blew the whistle as soon as he felt he had enough evidence to take it before Congress. Had the coup worked out, Butler was to assume emergency powers as the "Secretary of General Affairs" with FDR being reduced to a figurehead role.

* The Newburgh Conspiracy of 1783 was an attempted coup led by rogue officers in the Continental Army with the backing of members in the Continental Congress at the end of the American Revolution. The conspirators were disgruntled at not being paid for some time and urged UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington to overthrow the Continental Congress and install himself as dictator. The coup fizzled out when Washington denounced the coup attempt and Congress offered a compromise regarding military pay.
** In the previous year, there was an attempt by Colonel Lewis Nicola to install Washington as a possible king of the United States, but Washington felt it would provoke public anger and rattle the country, which had just won its independence from Britain. Public sentiment against monarchy also played a factor.

* The Business Plot was an alleged conspiracy in 1933 in which retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler stated that wealthy bankers planned to overthrow UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt and [[OneNationUnderCopyright establish a quasi-fascist corporatocracy]], fearing that FDR would turn the United States into a socialist country. Under the pretext of Roosevelt being in ill health, they wanted 500,000 veterans to storm the US Capitol[[note]]which would not be breached until 2021 when far-right supporters of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump tried to stop the Electoral College proceedings under the belief that the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump. Before this, Trump unsuccessfully bullied election officials and filed 65 {{Frivolous Lawsuit}}s right up to the Supreme Court in an attempt to flip the results. Trump's efforts to remain in power even after losing to UsefulNotes/JoeBiden have been viewed as an attempted self-coup.[[/note]] with Butler at the helm, being that he was an advocate of veteran rights. But being the staunch nationalist he was and dead-set on the oath he had sworn to protect the country, Butler instead blew the whistle as soon as he felt he had enough evidence to take it before Congress. Had the coup worked out, Butler was to assume emergency powers as the "Secretary of General Affairs" with FDR reduced to a figurehead role.

** A MilitaryCoup was also part of the plotline of the arc "Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison," as several graduates of the Imperial Academy, led by Headmaster Gentis, attempted to overthrow Palpatine and Vader, although they were somewhat successful in poisoning Palpatine with the biological weapon Aorth-6. Ironically, one of the people involved in putting down the coup was Grand Moff Trachta, who was the instigator of the (chronologically later) military coup listed above. Gentis' MilitaryCoup, however, was intended to end Palpatine's rule so that no more Imperial officers will be sent to their deaths by him, as Palpatine evidentially did not live up to his promise of there being Peace after the Clone Wars, so Gentis was [[WellIntentionedExtremist completely]] [[AFatherToHisMen justified]] in committing it.

* The Business Plot was an alleged conspiracy in 1933 in which retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler stated that wealthy bankers planned to overthrow UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt and [[OneNationUnderCopyright establish a quasi-fascist corporatocracy]], fearing that FDR would turn the United States into a socialist country. Under the pretext of Roosevelt being in ill health, they wanted 500,000 veterans to storm the US Capitol[[note]]which would not be breached until 2021 when far-right supporters of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump tried to stop the Electoral College proceedings under the belief that the 2020 election was somehow "stolen" from Trump. Before this, Trump's efforts to flip the results via the courts failed miserably as the 65 or so lawsuits he filed right up to the Supreme Court were considered [[FrivolousLawsuit frivolous]] and lacking in standing. Trump's efforts to remain in power even after losing to UsefulNotes/JoeBiden have been viewed as an attempted self-coup.[[/note]] with Butler at the helm, being that he was an advocate of veteran rights. But being the staunch nationalist he was and dead-set on the oath he had sworn to protect the country, Butler instead blew the whistle as soon as he felt he had enough evidence to take it before Congress. Had the coup worked out, Butler was to assume emergency powers as the "Secretary of General Affairs" with FDR reduced to a figurehead role.

* [[BananaRepublic San Theodoros]] from the ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'' series is in a perpetual state of two different military coups struggling for control of the country, with one side being led by General Tapioca, and the other by Tintin's [[WithFriendsLikeThese "friend"]] General Alcazar. The two sides [[RevolvingDoorRevolution constantly switch between ruling the country]], the RunningGag being that there is absolutely no difference between either side, other than their names and the color of their uniforms, and the misery and poverty of the common man remains unchanged.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: After the military dictatorship of Neptunia is overthrown when they try to fight and enslave humanity they were replaced by a more democratic government,... which only lasted about a year and a half before being taken out in a military coup by the military "masters" of the old government.
* In the volume 19 of Malaysian comic book ''Profession'' ('''Chinese:''' 职业人气王 ''Zhíyè rénqì wáng),'' General Damon was this. When the ruler of the W-country were fallen ill, he take control of the country and trying to eradicating those who were oppose him, and he was the cause of the disappearances of a few officers, and teamed up with terrorist to cause the country in the midst of civil unrest, destroying (almost) any communications stations in the country, and blaming the innocent peoples of W-country for the terrorist attacks. (Look at [[https://imgur.com/nHWAhvc this]] double-page if you're interested) When the main character Ivan (the reporter) and his friends travel to the country to aid the residents of the W-country, [[spoiler:they get Attap (known as Yata in the original Chinese version), the leader of an neighborhooding country, to overthrow Damon and stopped the terrorist attack in the final chapter.]]

* ''Film/{{Valkyrie}}'' is about an attempted coup against Hitler by Wermacht officers with some help from minor German politicans. See the Real Life section for more details.

* The Business Plot was an alleged conspiracy in 1933 in which retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler stated that wealthy bankers planned to overthrow UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt and [[OneNationUnderCopyright establish a fascist corporatocracy]], fearing that FDR would turn the United States into a socialist country. Under the pretext of Roosevelt being in ill health, they wanted 500,000 veterans to storm the US Capitol[[note]]which would not be breached until 2021 when far-right supporters of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump tried to stop the Electoral College proceedings under the false belief that the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump. Before this, Trump's efforts to flip the results via the courts failed miserably as the 65 or so lawsuits he filed right up to the Supreme Court were [[FrivolousLawsuit frivolous]] and lacked standing. Trump's efforts to remain in power even after losing to UsefulNotes/JoeBiden have been viewed as an attempted self-coup.[[/note]] with Butler at the helm, being that he was an advocate of veteran rights. But being the staunch nationalist he was and dead-set on the oath he had sworn to protect the country, Butler instead blew the whistle as soon as he felt he had enough evidence to take it before Congress. Had the coup worked out, Butler was to assume emergency powers as the "Secretary of General Affairs" and FDR in a figurehead role.
* General UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte rose to power through a coup on 18 Brumaire Year VIII[[note]]One of the new months of the French Republican calendar; equivalent to 9 November 1799 on the Gregorian calendar[[/note]]. France was at that point ruled by the Directorate, a legislative body that was more stable than the bloodthirsty revolutionary ruling bodies that preceded it, but still prone to indecision and infighting. After secluding the deputies to an estate outside of Paris under the excuse of an impending Jacobin revolt, Napoleon unsuccessfully demanded EmergencyAuthority before convincing the soldiers of General Murat to disperse the violent assembly and have himself declared [[JustTheFirstCitizen First Consul of the French Republic]], paving the way for him to later name himself Emperor of the French.

** Two more coups were attempted during the Cold War. There was the "Sanmu Incident", where at least 13 suspects, some of them JSDF officers, were arrested for trying to stockpile weapons for a coup attempt on December 12, 1961. One of the suspects was Taku Mikami, who was detained for being involved in the May 15 incident back in 1932. The suspects justified their plan to save Japan from being dominated by Communists after they plan to assassinate the Prime Minister and the rest of the cabinet. The other was on November 25, 1970, known as the "Mishima Incident", after Creator/YukioMishima, at that time Japan's most famous author, who was also a right-winger who led a small group of like-minded people that attempted to incite a military revolt among the JSDF. When this failed - Mishima was booed and jeered down by the soldiers summoned to hear his speech urging them to rise up - Mishima committed ''seppuku''. Both of these made some parts of Japanese society very nervous.

* UsefulNotes/IdiAmin took over UsefulNotes/{{Uganda}} with one of these in 1971. While Milton Obote, the country's president, was attending a Commonwealth conference in Singapore, Amin and his forces seized control over the country. Most Ugandans were happy at first, since Obote was increasingly brutal and authoritarian, and his regime was marked by widespread corruption. Unfortunately, Amin did not honor his promise to hold free and fair elections, and turned out to be even worse than Obote.

* On February 1, 2021, the military of Myanmar arrested vast swathes of the civilian government and declared a state of martial law to last for a year, claiming that the pro-democracy faction in power at the time had only won its [[LandslideElection landslide victory]] due to fraud. They first seized power in Myanmar's post-WWII history in 1962 when the Union Revolutionary Council took down Prime Minister U Nu and President Win Maung.

* [[BananaRepublic San Theodoros]] from the ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'' series is in a perpetual state of two different military coups struggling for control of the country, with one side being led by General Tapioca, and the other by Tintins [[WithFriendsLikeThese "friend"]] General Alcazar. The two sides constantly switch between ruling the country, the RunningGag being that there is absolutely no difference between either side, other than their names and the color of their uniforms, and the misery and poverty of the common man remains unchanged.

** The bad guys in ''Literature/TheManFromBarbarossa'' are Russian army officials who plan to overthrow their current government, and start a global war.

* Happened twice in UsefulNotes/{{South Korea}}, both in UsefulNotes/{{Seoul}}, before it was democraticized, firstly in [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_16_coup May 16, 1961]], when general major Park Chung-hee, a highly controversial and polarizing figure in Korea still to this date, ousted the government of the Second Republic of Korea and succeeded. He eventually became a dictator and reigned for 19 years before being assassinated by his intelligence chief in 1979, which lead to the second coup. On [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup_d%27état_of_December_Twelfth December 12, 1979]], general Chun Doo-hwan seized the government in the midst of the political unrest after the president's assassination, effectively shutting all discussions about a democratic government for the time being.

* The Business Plot was an alleged conspiracy in 1933 where retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler stated that wealthy bankers planned to overthrow UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt and [[OneNationUnderCopyright establish a fascist corporatocracy]], fearing that FDR would turn the United States into a socialist country. Under the pretext of Roosevelt being in ill health, they wanted 500,000 veterans to storm the US Capitol[[note]]which would not be breached until 2021 when far-right supporters of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump tried to stop the Electoral College proceedings under the false belief that the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump. Before this, Trump's efforts to flip the results via the courts failed miserably as the 65 or so lawsuits he filed right up to the Supreme Court were [[FrivolousLawsuit frivolous]] and lacked standing. Trump's efforts to remain in power even after losing to UsefulNotes/JoeBiden have been viewed as an attempted self-coup.[[/note]] with Butler at the helm, being that he was an advocate of veteran rights. But being the staunch nationalist he was and dead-set on the oath he had sworn to protect the country, Butler instead blew the whistle as soon as he felt he had enough evidence to take it before Congress. Had the coup attempt worked out, the plan was to have him assume dictatorial powers as the "Secretary of General Affairs" with FDR in a figurehead role.

* The Business Plot was an alleged conspiracy in 1933 where retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler stated that wealthy bankers planned to overthrow UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt and [[OneNationUnderCopyright establish a fascist corporatocracy]], fearing that FDR would turn the United States into a socialist country. Under the pretext of Roosevelt being in ill health, they wanted 500,000 veterans to storm the US Capitol[[note]]which would not be breached until 2021 when far-right supporters of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump tried to stop the Electoral College proceedings under the false belief that the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump. Before this, Trump's efforts to flip the results via the courts failed miserably as the 65 or so lawsuits he filed right up to the Supreme Court were [[FrivolousLawsuit frivolous]] and lacked standing. Trump's efforts to remain in power even after losing have been viewed as an attempted self-coup.[[/note]] with Butler at the helm, being that he was an advocate of veteran rights. But being the staunch nationalist he was and dead-set on the oath he had sworn to protect the country, Butler instead blew the whistle as soon as he felt he had enough evidence to take it before Congress. Had the coup attempt worked out, the plan was to have him assume dictatorial powers as the "Secretary of General Affairs" with FDR in a figurehead role.

* Much like the Praetorian Guard in Rome, the Janissary Corps in the Ottoman Empire played the role of kingmaker (or sultan maker) throughout the empire's history. Originally started as an elite fighting force, during its early years it was far more powerful than contemporary military units. As time went by, the Janissaries focused less on fighting and more on establishing and maintaining their power, especially once the sons of Janisaries were allowed to essentially inherit the position without all the intensive training that used to be involved. The Janissary Corps came to expect a bonus and pay raise every time a new Sultan came to the throne, to the point where they would storm the palace and kill the new Sultan. They also rioted if the Sultan attempted to modernize the Ottoman army (while formidable in the 15th century, by the 18th century they were obsolete and outclassed in every way). Eventually they were goaded into a riot in which the entire Empire rose up and destroyed them in what is known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auspicious_Incident The Auspicious Incident]].

* The Business Plot was an alleged conspiracy in 1933 where retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler stated that wealthy bankers planned to overthrow UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt and [[OneNationUnderCopyright establish a fascist corporatocracy]]. As part of the plan, they wanted a large detachment of ex-servicemembers to storm the US Capitol[[note]]which would not be breached until 2021, when far-right supporters of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump tried to stop the Electoral College proceedings under the false belief that the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump. Before this, Trump's efforts to flip the results via the courts failed miserably as the 65 or so lawsuits he filed right up to the Supreme Court were [[FrivolousLawsuit frivolous]] and lacked standing[[/note]] with Butler at the helm, being that he was an advocate of veteran rights. But being the staunch nationalist he was and dead-set on the oath he had sworn to protect the country, Butler instead blew the whistle as soon as he felt he had enough evidence to take it before Congress.

* The Business Plot was an alleged conspiracy in 1933 where retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler stated that wealthy bankers planned to overthrow UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt and [[OneNationUnderCopyright establish a fascist corporatocracy]]. As part of the plan, they wanted a large detachment of ex-servicemembers to storm the US Capitol[[note]]which would not be breached until 2021, when far-right supporters of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump tried to stop the 2020 Electoral College proceedings under the false belief that the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump. Before this, Trump's efforts to flip the results via the courts failed miserably as the 65 or so lawsuits he filed right up to the Supreme Court were [[FrivolousLawsuit frivolous]] and lacked standing[[/note]] with Butler at the helm, being that he was an advocate of veteran rights. But being the staunch nationalist he was and dead-set on the oath he had sworn to protect the country, Butler instead blew the whistle as soon as he felt he had enough evidence to take it before Congress.

* The Business Plot was an alleged conspiracy in 1933 where retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler stated that wealthy bankers planned to overthrow UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt and [[OneNationUnderCopyright establish a fascist corporatocracy]]. As part of the plan, they wanted a large detachment of ex-servicemembers to storm the US Capitol[[note]]which would not be breached until 2021, when far-right supporters of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump tried to stop the 2020 Electoral College proceedings under the false belief that the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump. Before this, Trump's efforts to flip the results via the courts failed miserably as the 65 or so lawsuits he filed right up to the Supreme Court were [[FrivolousLawsuit frivolous]] and lacked standing[[/note]]with Butler at the helm, being that he was an advocate of veteran rights. But being the staunch nationalist he was and dead-set on the oath he had sworn to protect the country, Butler instead blew the whistle as soon as he felt he had enough evidence to take it before Congress.

* The Business Plot was an alleged conspiracy in 1933 where retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler stated that wealthy bankers planned to overthrow UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt and [[OneNationUnderCopyright establish a fascist corporatocracy]]. As part of the plan, they wanted a large detachment of military veterans to storm the US Capitol with Butler at the helm, being that he was an advocate of veteran rights. Being the staunch nationalist he was and dead-set on the oath he had sworn to protect democracy, Butler instead blew the whistle on the conspiracy as soon as he felt he had enough evidence to take it before Congress.

* The Kingdom of Libya under its only King Idris was overthrown in 1969 by a cadre of the Free Officers Movement led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

* The Newburgh Conspiracy of 1783 was an attempted coup led by rogue officers in the Continental Army, with the backing of members in the Continental Congress, at the end of the American Revolution. The conspirators were disgruntled at not being paid for some time and urged UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington to overthrow the Continental Congress and install himself as dictator. The coup fizzled out when Washington called the conspirators out and Congress offered a compromise regarding military pay.
** In the previous year, there was an attempt by Colonel Lewis Nicola to install Washington as a possible king of the United States, but Washington felt it would provoke public anger and rattle the country, which had just won its independence from Britain. The republican sentiment that he held was also why Washington rejected it.

* The Newburgh Conspiracy of 1783 was an attempted coup led by rogue officers in the Continental Army, with the backing of members in the Continental Congress, at the end of the American Revolution. The conspirators were disgruntled at not being paid for some time and their pensions being unfunded, and sent a note urging the of overthrow the Continental Congress and installing UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington as dictator. The coup fizzled out when Washington called the conspirators out and Congress offered a compromise regarding military pay.
** In the previous year, there was an attempt by Colonel Lewis Nicola to install Washington as a hypothetical king of the United States, but the latter kiboshed the idea as he feared it would provoke public anger and rattle the country, which had just won its independence from another monarchy. The anti-monarchial sentiment that was prevalent at the time was also why Washington rejected it.

** In the previous year, there was an attempt by Colonel Lewis Nicola to establish a monarchy in the United States with Washington as king, but the latter kiboshed the idea as he feared it could arouse public anger and rattle the fledgling country, which had just won its independence from another monarchy.

* The Newburgh Conspiracy of 1783 was an attempted coup led by rogue officers in the Continental Army, with the backing of members in the Continental Congress, at the end of the American Revolution. The conspirators were disgruntled at not being paid for some time and their pensions being unfunded, and circulated a note stating that they should overthrow the Continental Congress and install George Washington as dictator. The coup fizzled out when Washington called the conspirators out and Congress offered a compromise regarding military pay.

* ''Series/BabylonFive'' has a heroic example, with General Hague leading an attempted coup against the increasingly oppressive [[PresidentEvil President Clark]]. [[spoiler:General Hague [[DroppedABridgeOnHim catches a bridge]] a few episode later, and Captain Sheridan eventually takes charge of the rebelling forces.]] It is mentioned by several officers who refused to support the coup later on that it wasn't because they thought Clark was a good guy or anything, but rather because they felt it was [[MyCountryRightOrWrong wrong for the military to oppose the government, nothing less than treason.]] These officers at least made a point to try and avoid situations where they'd have to fire on civilians or do any of the nastier things that Clark ordered. This didn't mean that many of them were unwilling to fight the rebel forces, however. At the end Clark's own Vice President is about to remove him with the help of the military, but he [[DrivenToSuicide shoots himself]] before they arrive.

* Mali has been unfortunate enough to have ''four'' of these since achieving independence in 1960:

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