Coup d’état, << `koo` day TAH, >> is a sudden take-over of a country’s government by a group of conspirators. Usually, the conspirators are public officials who infiltrate and then use their country’s armed forces, police, and communications to seize power. A coup d’état may lead to few or many changes in the government. Famous coups in history include those carried out by Napoleon Bonaparte in France in 1799, by the Bolsheviks in Russia in 1917, and by the Communists in Czechoslovakia in 1948. Since 1900, most coups have occurred in politically unstable countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Coup d’etat is a French term meaning stroke of state. See also Junta.
