Coup d'etat Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jerry Rawlings

He first took power in a bloodless coup 1979, and, having returned power to a civilian government, staged another coup 1981. He then remained in power until 1992, when he was elected president under the new multiparty constitution. He was re-elected for a second term December 1996.

Answer: Frederick Akuffo

Frederick Akuffo was deposed in a bloodless coup led by Flight-Lt Jerry Rawlings. Coincidentally, Akuffo also seized power in a coup after deposing Ignatius Acheampong in 1978 and even Acheampong came to power after replacing President Edward Akufo-Addo in a coup in 1972.

Answer: Liberia

Sgt Samuel Doe seized power after assassinating President William Tolbert in 1980 and was head of state till September 1990 when he was deposed and killed by rebel forces.

Answer: Park Chung Hee

After President Syngman Rhee's resignation in 1960, a coup d'etat placed General Park Chung Hee in power in 1961. He was president of South Korea from 1963-79. Under his rule South Korea had one of the world's fastest-growing economies, but recession and his increasing authoritarianism led to his assassination 1979.

Answer: Moktar Ould Daddah

It was Daddah under whom Mauritania achieved independence. He was the leader of the Mauritanian People's Party (PPM). As President from 1960-78, he carried out several administrative reforms in Mauritania and built the new capital at Nouakchott.

Answer: Antonio de Fragoso Carmona

He was the Portuguese president from 1926-51.

Answer: Walter Lopez Reyes

In 1984 Alvarez was ousted in coup led by junior officers under General Walter Lopez Reyes, resulting in policy review towards USA and Nicaragua.

Answer: Jozef Pilsudski

In 1926 Pilsudski seized full power in a coup and established an autocratic regime. On Pilsudski's death in 1935, a military regime held power under Marshal Smigly-Rydz.

Answer: Zia ul-Haq

He became the Pakistani president in 1978. Zia introduced a fundamentalist Islamic regime and restricted political activity. He was in power till 1988, when he was probably assassinated in an aircraft explosion. His refusal to commute the death sentence imposed on Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was widely condemned. He lifted martial law 1985. Zulfiqar was the father of Benazir Bhutto.

Answer: Qaboos bin Said

He was the Sultan of Oman, the 14th descendant of the Albusaid family.Opposed to the conservative views of his father, he overthrew him in 1970 in a bloodless coup and assumed the sultanship.

Answer: Sheik Khalifa ibn Hamad al-Thani

Emir Sheik Ahmad was replaced in bloodless coup by his cousin, the Crown Prince and prime minister Sheik Khalifa in 1972.

Answer: Alfredo Stroessner

Stroessner was the president of Paraguay from 1954-89. As head of the armed forces from 1951, he seized power in a coup in 1954 sponsored by the right-wing ruling Colorado Party. Accused by his opponents of harsh repression, his regime spent heavily on the military to preserve his authority.

Despite criticisms of his government's civil-rights record, he was re-elected seven times and remained in office until ousted in an army-led coup in 1989, after which he gained asylum in Brazil.

Answer: Sitiveni Rabuka

He is the Fijian prime minister from 1992. When the 1987 elections in Fiji produced an Indian-dominated government, Rabuka staged two successive coups (the first short-lived). In September in the same year he staged a second coup and proclaimed Fiji a republic, withdrawing from the Commonwealth.

He gave way to a civilian government in December 1987 and served as home-affairs minister, but resigned the post in 1990. He was nominated premier in May 1992, and was re-elected to the post 1994. Recently Fiji was in news again in 2000 when George Spight staged a coup against the Fijian President of Indian origin.

Answer: Reynaldo Bignone

Bignone replaced Galtieri in a bloodless coup in 1982. Juan Peron was the most successful President of Argentina from 1946-55. He introduced various reform measures in Argentina and industrialized the country. His wife was Eva Peron 'Evita' (remember, don't cry for me Argentina).

Answer: iii, ii, iv, i

In 1954 Col Carlos Castillo Armas became president in US-backed coup. In 1963 Castillo was assassinated and military coup made Col Enrique Peralta president. In 1982 Right-wing army coup installed General Rios Montt as head of junta and then as president. In 1983 Montt was removed in coup led by General Mejia Victores, who declared amnesty for the guerrillas.

Answer: Aleksandr Bessmertnykh

He was the foreign minister from Jan-Aug 1991.He succeeded Eduard Shevardnadze as foreign minister in January 1991, but was dismissed in August of the same year for exhibiting 'passivity' during the abortive anti-Gorbachev coup attempt.

Answer: Ne Win

He was prime minister from 1958-60. General Ne Win re-assumed power in a left-wing army coup, and proceeded to abolish the federal system and follow a 'Burmese Way to Socialism', involving sweeping nationalization and international isolation, which crippled the economy. He was ruler from 1962-74 and president from 1974-81.

Answer: Jean Marie Boulanger

He became minister of war in 1886, and his anti-German speeches nearly provoked war with Germany in 1887. In 1889 he fled into exile and committed suicide on the grave of his mistress.

Answer: Augusto Pinochet

He was military ruler of Chile from 1973 and killed President Allende in a coup backed by the US CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). Pinochet took over the presidency and governed ruthlessly, crushing all opposition. He was voted out of power when general elections were held in December 1989 but remained head of the armed forces.

Answer: Qalawun

Baraka was forced to abdicate in favour of his brother Salamish. Qalawun was the leader of the coup, soon afterwards he assumed the Sultanate. He died in 1290 and was succeeded by his son, al-Ashraf Khalil in 1293.

Answer: Catiline

He failed twice from being elected to the consulship in 64 and 63 BC and was disqualified from becoming consul in 66 BC after being convicted of bribery. To avenge this failure he planned a military coup, but Cicero exposed his conspiracy. He died at the head of the insurgents in 62 BC near Pistoia

Answer: Engelbert Dollfuss

He was appointed chancellor in 1932, and in 1933 suppressed parliament and ruled by decree. The Nazis attempted a coup d'etat on 25 July 1934. The Chancellery was seized and Dollfuss was murdered.

Answer: Milton Obote

Obote led the independence movement from 1961. He became prime minister in 1962 and was president from 1966-71 and 1980-85. He was first overthrown by Idi Amin and then by Lt-Gen Tito Okello.

Answer: Morales Bermudez

Answer: Stroke of state

Coup is forcible takeover of the government of a country by elements from within that country, generally carried out by violent or illegal means. It differs from a revolution in typically being carried out by a small group (for example, of army officers or opposition politicians) to install its leader as head of government, rather than being a mass uprising by the people. Early examples include the coup of 1799, in which Napoleon overthrew the Revolutionary Directory and declared himself first consul of France, and the coup of 1851 in which Louis Napoleon (then president) dissolved the French national assembly and a year later declared himself emperor. Coups in more recent times include the overthrow of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista by Fidel Castro in 1959, the military seizure of power in Pakistan by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999 after deposing Nawaz Sharif and the most recent coup in 2000 by George Spight in Fiji after overthrowing the president Mahendra.