Okuzeka
History vocabulary · Revolutions and Political Change

Coup

Meaning in history, with examples

/kuː/nounCommon term

In history, coup means: A sudden and usually illegal seizure of power by a small group, often army officers, who remove the existing government by force or the threat of force.

In Turkish: darbe, hükümet darbesi

How it is used

Short for French coup d'état. Coups are planned, staged, attempted or carried out, and they may fail. A military coup is led by the armed forces; a palace coup replaces a ruler from inside the court. Unlike a revolution, a coup usually involves few people.

Example sentences

  1. Napoleon came to power in a coup in November 1799.

  2. The palace coup replaced one ruler with another but left the system unchanged.

Common collocations

  • military coup
  • stage a coup
  • a failed coup
  • palace coup
  • coup d'état
  • revolutionThe sudden, often violent overthrow of a government or political system by its people, or any deep and rapid change in society, the economy or ideas.
  • uprisingAn act of resistance in which a group of people rise up against those in power, usually in a particular region or city and often with few weapons.
  • regimeA system of government, or the group of people in power in a country for a certain period, often used for governments that are not democratic.
  • abdicateTo give up the throne or another position of supreme power formally, either by choice or under pressure.

More terms: Revolutions and Political Change

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