When you think of power grabs gone wrong, the phrase 10 failed 20th immediately brings to mind a parade of daring but disastrous coups. The 20th century was a theater of ambition, where leaders and conspirators tried to seize control, only to watch their plans crumble. Below, we dive into ten of the most infamous failed coups, each with its own twist of drama, betrayal, and outright catastrophe.
10 Coup Attempt Against Haile Selassie Ethiopia, 1960
Ras Tafari, who later became the namesake of the Rastafarian movement, was crowned Emperor Haile Selassie I in 1930. Even before his coronation, he pushed Ethiopia toward modernity, introducing the printing press, automobiles, telephones, and a revamped legal framework. While his reign saw advances in education, healthcare, and diplomacy, he never dismantled the entrenched class system governing agriculture, and he kept a tight grip on the judiciary, merely polishing the constitution in 1955 without real reform. Discontent simmered, culminating in a December 1960 coup attempt.
A cadre of military officers, led by brothers Germame and Mengistu Neway—Mengistu commanded the Imperial Guard—planned to seize Addis Ababa while Selassie was abroad. Mengistu falsely claimed a citywide uprising to rally his troops. The rebels captured the crown prince and several officials, holding them hostage for days; fifteen of those hostages were later killed. The plot was poorly orchestrated, lacking popular support and backing from key ministers, sealing its fate.
Selassie, having returned upon hearing of the turmoil, outmaneuvered the insurgents and reclaimed the capital. The rebels fled to the outskirts, where many were hunted down and killed, including Germame. Mengistu faced a court‑martial.
9 Attempted Coup Against Saddam Hussein Iraq, 1996
Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s brutal president from 1979, ruled with an iron fist, swiftly eliminating any dissent. In early 1996, a $100‑million operation, allegedly commissioned by U.S. President Bill Clinton, aimed to topple him. The CIA, British intelligence, and a network of Kurdish and Iraqi operatives formed the “Iraqi National Accord” (INA) as a front, headquartered in Amman, Jordan, and led by Dr. Iyad Mohammed Alawi, a former Baath Party member.
Code‑named the “Silver Bullet coup,” the plan intended to strike while Baghdad was vulnerable due to internal fractures and strained Jordanian ties. However, Alawi publicly declared his intent to overthrow Saddam, double agents infiltrated the CIA ranks, INA satellite feeds were hijacked, and Saddam learned of the plot, causing it to collapse instantly.
In the aftermath, Hussein arrested 160 military officers and conspirators, many of whom were executed.
8 The July Putsch Austria, 1934
Before Adolf Hitler rose to global infamy, he served as Germany’s Reich Chancellor from January 1933. His relationship with Austria was fraught: Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss resisted German pressure for annexation. In response, Austrian Nazis bombed government sites, leading to the party’s ban. Hitler’s economic boycott and visa restrictions crippled Austria’s trade and tourism, prompting a more aggressive stance.
After Dollfuss suppressed a three‑day revolt in February 1934, the Nazis escalated. On July 25, 1934, 150 members of SS Regiment 89 stormed the chancellor’s office, killing Dollfuss. The assassination ignited further Nazi uprisings, which the Austrian army swiftly crushed.
Although Hitler publicly denied involvement, Joseph Goebbels’ diary entry dated July 22, 1934, reveals skepticism about the coup’s success, which proved correct.
7 The Kyujo Incident Japan, 1945
By mid‑1945, Japan faced devastating losses in World War II. The nation initially refused the Potsdam Declaration, demanding unconditional surrender. After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Suzuki moved toward signing the surrender, alarming the Imperial Guard, which feared the abolition of the imperial system.
Major Kenji Hatanaka led a coup on August 14, mere hours before Hirohito’s public address. Hatanaka’s officers seized the Imperial Palace and cut external communications, aiming to prevent the surrender broadcast and preserve the monarchy under a new military‑led government.
However, Hirohito’s recorded address remained hidden. As the scheduled broadcast approached, Hatanaka took his own life at 11 a.m., and many conspirators followed suit, ending the abortive coup.
6 Coup Attempt Against Corazon Aquino Philippines, 1989
Corazon Aquino made history in February 1986 as the Philippines’ first female president. Yet her administration suffered from perceived inexperience, policy missteps, and economic challenges, including a 25 percent gas price hike and restrictions on divorce and abortion.
Former dictator Ferdinand Marcos had left the nation in ruins, siphoning an estimated $800 million and looting billions. Aquino’s husband, a rising politician, was exiled by Marcos and later assassinated in 1983, prompting Aquino’s return and eventual rise to power.
On December 1, 1989, rebel T‑28 aircraft bombed the presidential palace, seized two radio stations, and locked down the air‑force headquarters. U.S. Air Force F‑4 Phantom jets intervened, delivering a decisive blow to the coup. Despite the turmoil, Aquino retained her presidency, albeit briefly.
5 The Kapp Putsch Germany, 1920
World War I claimed ten million lives, and its aftermath left Germany shackled by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919—reducing its army, ceding territory, and imposing heavy reparations. The fledgling Weimar Republic faced intense public opposition, setting the stage for a coup.
General Walther von Lüttwitz and Wolfgang Kapp, founder of the Fatherland Party, marched 6,000 troops into Berlin on March 13, 1920. Their attempt faltered as many Germans rejected the putsch, and the press went on strike by March 14, crippling communication. The populace continued daily life, resisting the insurgents.
President Friedrich Ebert called for a general strike, halting the coup’s momentum. By March 17, merely four days after its launch, Kapp and his supporters resigned. Lüttwitz fled to Hungary, and Kapp escaped to Sweden.
4 The Algiers Putsch France, 1961
Charles de Gaulle, president of France’s Fifth Republic since 1959, faced the Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN), which had been battling French colonial rule in Algeria for seven years. De Gaulle’s willingness to negotiate Algerian independence angered French generals stationed there.
On the night of April 21, 1961, four generals—Maurice Challe, Edmond Jouhad, André Zeller, and Raoul Salan—led paratroopers into Algiers, seizing government buildings and media outlets with minimal resistance. The coup initially proceeded smoothly, arresting loyalist officers.
De Gaulle appealed to the French populace, urging a one‑hour strike on April 24. Ten million workers complied, undermining the rebels. By April 25, the paratroopers withdrew without firing a shot, averting a potential disaster. Algeria would achieve independence the following year.
3 Kenya’s First Coup Attempt 1982
Daniel Arap Moi, president since 1978, promised to eradicate corruption, tribalism, and other societal ills, earning public trust through swift justice against high‑ranking officials. Behind the scenes, Moi centralized power, creating a one‑party state where opposition was illegal and the police acted as his enforcers.
In the early hours of August 1, 1982, a faction of Kenyan Air Force officers seized the international airport, three airbases, the post office, and the critical radio station. They proclaimed the People’s Redemption Council over the airwaves, encouraging citizens to rise. While some university students supported them, many civilians remained hesitant.
The rebels, many intoxicated and looting, failed to capture President Moi and lacked support from remaining air‑force personnel. Loyalist troops sabotaged fighter jets, and the broadcast station remained out of rebel hands, leading to their downfall. After fierce fighting, the government recaptured the radio station, Moi returned to Nairobi, and the insurrection collapsed, leaving an estimated 600‑1,800 dead and widespread looting and violence.
2 Soviet Coup Attempt Against Mikhail Gorbachev 1991
Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s final president and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1990, presided over a fragile state plagued by economic weakness, ethnic infighting, and growing independence movements in Lithuania and Ukraine. Boris Yeltsin, head of the Russian Republic, also rose in prominence.
When Gorbachev hinted at a treaty that might dissolve the USSR, hard‑line communists formed the State Emergency Committee and placed him under house arrest on August 18, 1991, during a vacation in Crimea. Their goal was to force his resignation and halt the treaty.
In Moscow, protesters, led by Yeltsin, gathered outside the White House. Yeltsin famously stood atop a tank, defying the conspirators. The coup collapsed without bloodshed; the military refrained from firing on crowds. The conspirators were arrested, two committed suicide, and Gorbachev’s authority was irreparably weakened.
Within months, all Soviet republics declared independence, and the USSR dissolved.
1 Coup Attempt Against President Sukarno Indonesia, 1965
In 1945, Indonesia elected Sukarno as its inaugural president, striving to unite the nation’s diverse religions and ethnicities across countless islands. By 1965, the country was mired in economic disaster: inflation peaked at 650 percent, widespread starvation, severe rice shortages, dwindling export revenues, and crumbling infrastructure. Moreover, 75 percent of the national budget was funneled into the military.
The Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) swelled to 3.5 million members, becoming the world’s third‑largest communist party. Fearing a PKI takeover, a group of military conspirators known as the “September 30th Movement,” led by Lieutenant Colonel Untung of the President’s Guard, kidnapped six senior generals on September 30, 1965. The following morning, five were executed. The rebels seized the presidential palace and national radio station, broadcasting their intentions.
General Suharto, commander of the Army Strategic Reserve, swiftly regained control of Jakarta. The coup, blamed on the PKI, failed, triggering a horrific anti‑communist purge: an estimated 500 000 PKI members and sympathizers were killed, and another million were imprisoned or exiled.