How To Successfully Pull Off A Military Coup | Secret Wars | War Stories

over the course of time armies have changed beyond recognition as has the conduct and methods of combat their weapons have become more sophisticated and Powerful their fighting skills broader and more adaptable to different circumstances and Terrain but what remains unchanged is their innate ability when required to assume power over a country if and when the politicians fail what happens when the political process in a country fails and the streets are overwhelmed by popular protest the military is often the only organization with the structure the resources and the appetite to assume control s usually occur when there is a lot of political uncertainty in the country a lack of long-term stability within the political system recipe for a successful coup d'etat in this episode we examine three modern military takeovers how in 1969 Colonel Gaddafi tricked his way into power in Libya and kept the world guessing his next move for the next four decades President Ronald Reagan called Gaddafi the Mad Dog of the Middle East but the relationship was far more complicated we revealed the Cold War schemes behind the fall of the Chilean government and the rise of General Augusto Pinochet CIA had a very prominent role in undermining the Chilean economy and Chilean public opinions so much that the military decided to organize a coup and to take power and we look at Thailand the battle of the world poor have prompted military takeover after military takeover [Music] when the Libyan government fell in 1969 it was not unexpected rumors of a military takeover had circulated for months the only surprise when it happened was the man in charge Gaddafi did not come from wealth or power just 27 he was a junior officer in the Libyan Army how did this nobody born in a Bedouin tent overthrow the government frailties did he exploit and how did he turn those weaknesses into a regime that lasted more than 40 years after centuries of foreign domination Libya was independent at last but its new king Idris the first ruled over a divided and impoverished state there were three powerful provinces tripolitania in the Northwest Syria niacca in the East and forzan in the south the central government was weak the discovery of oil in 1959 offered libyans hope but as the years passed little of that oil wealth reached the people far more went into the pockets of the king and sanusi Royal Family King Idris was a calm mild-mannered soft-spoken man but he ruled the country with an iron fist he also had close links to the British and the Americans and that made him a unpopular leader in Libya moama Gaddafi had long opposed King Idris growing up he had idolized Egyptian president and Arab nationalist Colonel Gamal Abdul Nasser NASA had overthrown a monarchy and remade his country as a thriving Republic Gaddafi dreamed of doing the same as a young Soldier he built up a network of army officers who shared his ideals when King Idris left Libya for medical treatment in 1969. the conspirators made their move [Music] other Army units assume the generals were behind it and quickly came out in support [Music] in fact just 70 Junior officers were responsible the coup took less than two hours to complete and the country was swiftly taken into the hands of the Libyan Army the people of Libya wanted change and there were celebrations in the streets when Gaddafi came up and he appointed himself as the prime minister of Libya so early on it seemed like a very positive move however it very soon emerged as the leading figure and very quickly phased out other member of the Junta to become pretty much the man in charge Gaddafi would rule Libya for four decades the unpredictable cunning he had shown to seize power would help him maintain it policy veered from one extreme to another he embraced direct democracy one year tribal leadership the next he was a socialist and then a liberal he was an enemy of the West and then an ally as we've seen over time we know that Gaddafi became a very shrewd and pricky leader to deal with from the sponsoring of terrorism whether that be the lockerby bombings in the 80s or back to the supplying of the IRA with guns for years Gaddafi's International meddling and backing of terrorist groups infuriated the West but as always he seized an opportunity to confound their expectations and get back in favor after 9 11 Gaddafi reached out himself he saw the threat and how it could turn and he made a pledge to remove his weapons of mass destruction to draw back and dismantle his Ambitions for nuclear weapons and so it's at this point that once again in history Gaddafi in the west start to work together again the dictator's years in power may have impressed his enemies abroad but over time they made him few friends at home Mass protest against the Libyan government grew into armed Rebellion full divisions in the country remained between the different regions the different classes between the ruled and their ruler as the arrow spring starts to spread across the region from 2011. Gaddafi sees a challenge to his power and he starts to make threats against his own people infamously saying that he will Slaughter the people of Benghazi in their beds and it's at this point that the International Community believes that they have to act NATO airstrikes save the rebels and allowed them to push out from their strongholds in the east in August 2011 Tripoli fell the following month Gaddafi was run to ground where is he we're looking for you Gaddafi's demise ends in a rather ironic scene where his own people that he championed against him find him hiding in the sewers with his Golden Gun and drag him out and kill him [Music] Gaddafi had exploited Libya's weaknesses to mount his coup but his rule did little to resolve them his cunning had helped him take power yet his divisive schemes and his Reckless extravagance with the country's wealth left him exposed when NATO finally intervened [Music] if Gaddafi had foreign powers to blame for his downfall another military dictator had them to thank for their long reign the coup that brought Colonel Gaddafi to power stemmed from the failures of the Libyan monarchy and state to satisfy the demands of its people but to explain a coup sometimes we must look outside of a country as well the cold war between the United States of America and the Soviet Union lasted almost half a century direct conflict was avoided but there were countless proxy battles as the two superpowers tussled for Domination in key strategic spheres of influence coup d'etat became a weapon in this war the Soviet Union backed military takeovers in Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria they funded revolutionary groups across the world the United States toppled the Nationalist government of Iran in 1953 in favor of the Shah Raza par La Vie they helped to pose the left-wing president of Guatemala Paco arbenz and in the 1960s their attention turned to Chile discover the past with exclusive military history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians all on History hit watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device download the app now to watch everything from the gripping story of the Band of Brothers to Operation Barbarossa and D-Day immerse yourself in the dramatic stories of this remarkable era by signing up via the link in the description Chile had been an ally of the United States for years it seemed as stable and secure democracy the United States pumped a lot of funds and a lot of money into Chile and into Chilean economy and into the development of Chilean Society the United States had big economic interests in Chile Chile was the largest copper producer in the world and copper is a strategic material and two U.S companies Kennecott and Anaconda controlled 80 percent of Chile's copper production so they had a massive stake in Chile but the United States also saw a threat growing in the country from a new socialist political Powerhouse he was a doctor he loved fine wine and expensive suits and he was also a Marxist was born into quite a wealthy but radical family in balcatta he saw a port town at school Allende was a very good scholar he was very gifted academically he was very confident person he told his school friends at the age of 16 that he wanted to be president alende was charming and persuasive his expensive tastes left him open to mockery but they also reassured the Chilean middle class that he was not so different from them alende first stood for president in Chile in 1952 he won just over five percent of the vote but that did not deter him in 1958 he stood again this time he won nearly 30 percent in 1964 he won almost 39 percent although it wasn't enough to win the presidency it was enough to cause Jitters in Washington the United States had already witnessed Marxist revolutionary Fidel Castro seize power in Cuba the island just 90 miles from the coast of Florida had been transformed into a communist state allied with the Soviets the revolution there taught the United States a bitter lesson communism could not be allowed to spread any further into the United States backyard even before the Cold War the United States had typically aligned with right-wing often authoritarian governments and regarded uh even the most moderate reformers as a threat to their interests Latin America became an arena of Cold War confrontation starting in the 1960s the Kennedy administration and following administrations in the later years became concerned that the Castro revolution could spread in the region and so they started devising campaigns both internationally and in countries individually to stop any potential castro-like revolution in their countries of course across Latin America at that time many radicals and students and progressives were inspired by the Cuban Revolution the idea that a small group of people could lead a revolution a small group of guerrillas and could overthrow a hated dictator so you saw lots of small Guerrilla groups being set up across Latin America particularly in countries where like El Salvador where they had military governments and there was no peaceful Democratic route for change the charismatic Cuban leader Fidel Castro was calling for revolution throughout Central and South America and backing fighters in Bolivia Peru and Argentina maoism from China was making inroads on the continent as well and the Agents of Moscow were always busy fermenting discontent and revolution in response the American government put all the traditional tools of Diplomacy aid and commerce to work where necessary they got their hands dirty as well when the next elections in Chile came in 1970 they bankrolled the opponents of Salvador Allende and spread propaganda blackening his name this entailed for example news stories published mostly through the newspaper Elmer curio which was to a large extent the bank ruled by the United States and the CIA and published patriotic stories against alienda falsehoods against Oleander and this had the effect of strongly polarizing Chilean Civil Society of course there was a lot of propaganda against day you know he was a red he was a verse and we wanted to invite the Soviet Union the Russians to Chile and alende however had foreign backing of his own the KGB was funneling money into his presidential campaign enough perhaps to make the difference because this time Allende won in the 1970 presidential election Salvador Alexander was elected with the plurality of the vote around 36 percent contrary to about 35 of the second candidate the right-wing and conservative Jorge alessandri well Chile was always a polarized country typically in elections you'd have a third voting for the right wing a third voting for the left and a third in the center it was called a country of thirds the Chilean constitutions suggested that in this situation it was the role of parliament of the Chilean Congress to confirm the election of the president Washington the result was greeted with Fury and disbelief while serving as vice president under President Dwight Eisenhower president Richard Nixon had witnessed Cuba turn communist now Chile was in danger on his watch something had to be done there was a flurry of secret meetings in Washington between Nixon and his powerful National Security adviser Henry Kissinger was clearly seen within Chile as the legitimate leader that had won the election that had been confirmed by Congress the White House and the Nixon Administration did not accept this after the election of Allende as president the CIA had approximately one month to prevent him from being confirmed by Congress as the Chilean Constitution suggested under orders from the White House the CIA and National Security Council Drew up a twin track plan track one was to persuade the Chilean Congress to block the appointment of Allende and choose the conservative runner-up as president instead track two of the CIA plan was a military takeover Chilean army officers were recruited to carry out a coup but the plotters botched it the commander-in-chief of the army Renee Schneider was killed the coup fell apart before it had even begun contrary to the expectations of the U.S government the removal of radiation either actually damaged the position of the Chilean mitrian of the U.S contacts within the Chilean military because Chilean public opinion very much rallied around alienda and the military also rallied around Oleander on the 24th of October 1970 the Chilean Congress finally came to a decision they confirmed Salvador Allende would be president the CIA had failed alende would have his chance wasn't a communist he was a reformer a socialist who wanted a mixed economy but during this period of the Cold War Washington regarded even moderate reformers as communists the new president called his program the Chilean path to socialism industries were to be nationalized as were the banks there would be tax cuts for the poorest and the middle class it promised a total transformation of the Chilean economy azalende got to work America watched and waited for its chance to strike back on November the 3rd 1970 Salvador Allende became President of Chile the efforts of the American government to prevent him taking office had failed a Marxist was in power in Chile question for Nixon his National Security adviser Henry Kissinger and the CIA was how to get rid of him by fair means or foul a direct military intervention was off the table but there were other ways to turn the screw the U.S government prevented multilateral and bilateral organizations from giving loans and financial support to again this Chile for example the World Bank or the American import export bank they were all prevented from supporting Chile and Chilean request for low Pepsi Cola Chase Manhattan Bank the executives from those companies met with Kissinger after Allende was elected to discuss what they could do to undermine him this was a very broad effort by the U.S government and the CIA which included psychological warfare political Warfare and economic Warfare with the aim of strangling the Chilean economy while alende remained popular in Chile however there was a limit on what could be done by 1972 however that was beginning to change growth had stalled inflation was spiking basic goods were disappearing from the shells and a black market was flourishing both in Santiago and further afield internally the CIA was able to rely on contacts in either American companies such as ITP or other businesses to bring the country to almost a complete paralysis through a series of General strikes one of the most important strikes was that of the truck drivers he led geographically relied very much on the use of trucks for the transport of goods and so when the truck drivers stopped this really fostered a cool climate by the summer of 1973 Chile was in the grip of an economic and political crisis as the economy suffered the politicians bickered alende and the Congress each accused the other of breaching the Constitution the Congress called on the Armed Forces to intervene alende appealed to the workers to show their support and the sense of Chaos in the country soon deepened in August the commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army General Carlos pratts resigned General pratts believed he had lost the confidence of the army and could no longer serve as its commanding officer the president moved quickly to replace him with another loyalist officer a man alende believed could keep the Army in line a man he believed he could trust General Augusto Pinochet was 57 years old he was a courier soldier who had risen steadily up the ranks of the Chilean Army actually appointed Pinochet as the head of the Armed Forces because they thought he was a loyalist and Pinscher actually told Allende I'll lay down my life to defend your constitutionally elected government but Pinochet was lying he would take his chance to seize power the coup began in the early morning of September 11th 1973. the Chilean Navy seized the port city of Valparaiso in the capital Santiago Army units took control of television and radio stations telephone lines were cut the airports closed alende took cover in the presidential Palace he tried to reach his commander-in-chief but Pinochet was not responding the truth soon became clear the supposedly loyal reliable Pinochet was one of the plotters on the day of the coup the Army went up into the shanty towns into the working class areas and began to shoot and kill and arrest a known Trade union activists people who they thought might organize opposition to the coup about noon the Chilean Air Force in British made Hawker Hunter Jets bombed the presidential Palace an unprecedented event wars in the presidential Palace and the presidential Palace was bombed by the military and by the crew plotters and to this day it remains somewhat controversial how alienda died he gave a final speech defending Chile defending his political program and defending his Ambitions as soldiers closed in alende sat down on the sofa in his office he took up an AK-47 rifle a gift from Fidel Castro and shot himself in the head a council of military leaders took power in Chile but it was General Pinochet in charge the new regime moved quickly to consolidate its power when Pinochet came to power there were many who welcomed the stability the law and order that he brought in part of this process was the creation of the dinner the National Intelligence directorate this was a sort of CIA type organization also ironically the US government and the CIA defined it as a gestapo-like organization and they set up prison camps but also secret torture centers in Santiago and across the country and that they carried out the most horrific psychological and physical tortures one of the main efforts of the director was to keep an eye on the other military figures within the regime to guarantee their loyalty towards Pinochet publicly the United States government criticized these human rights abuses behind the scenes however many in Washington regarded pinochet's coup as a Triumph of American policy and were willing to move Heaven and Earth to support him the Chilean economy was stumbling America gave it to shav Ian Society was polarized America fueled that division the Chilean armed forces were unhappy America let them know nothing would be done to stop their Uprising America would support the forces in doing whatever they needed to do to tighten their grip over the country military Junta was the culmination of about three years of CIA and U.S government pressure on the Government of Chile and on Chilean public life and on Sheila's economy British diplomats in Santiago and the foreign office were very suspicious of Salvador Allende and they welcomed pinochet's coup had powerful International allies and a complete domination at home but his regime would not last forever in the late 1980s pressure grew both inside and outside of the country for a transition to democracy in Chile in 1988 Pinochet allowed a referendum on the future of his government if the people voted yes he would stay in power if they voted no elections would be held for the first time in almost 20 years the people chose democracy [Music] in 1989 a new president of Chile was elected but Pinochet remained head of the army and a powerful political force it was only in the year 2000. that the old General was stripped of his legal immunity six years later he died at the age of 91. without ever having to face Justice for his regimes crimes during pinochet's 15-year rule Chile became the most prosperous nation in South America but that economic success came at a heavy price he's often loaded for his economic success and it's through the economy grew but the legacy of that was growing inequality a greater division between rich and poor torture methods were incredibly terrifying and an enormous amount of people were torture killed and then later disappeared it was a really really dark period of Chilean history it's only now really 30 years later that you see the first generation who didn't grow up under the dictatorship who feel safe enough to speak their minds to to speak publicly until today Chile has grappled with the legacy of pinochet's years in power Society remains divided and unequal see so sometimes strain has not yet Fallen victim to another coup other fledgling democracies emerging from military rule have not been so lucky no country in the world has seen more coups than Thailand since 1932 the military there has intervened 18 times to seize control of the government but what is it about Thailand that makes the country so susceptible how do coups become a habit no blood was spilled in the coup tanks were seen on the streets then generals on the television the civilian government was quickly deposed perhaps the most remarkable thing about the military Takeover in Thailand in 2014 was how unremarkable it was [Music] being in the city not a lot seems to have changed are you worried [Music] Thailand is a constitutional monarchy but its democracy has always been fragile cool historically the military establishment in Thailand has been a major influence on the political life of the country this was especially evident in the 1960s and 70s during the Vietnam war many people feared that Thailand would also become communist the military recognized governments and their legitimacy according to the interests of different military cliques beyond the Elites in the capital Bangkok Thailand is far from prosperous a predominantly rural economy the majority of the Thai people have typically been excluded from politics but in the past two decades one family in Northern Thailand in the city of Chiang Mai took advantage of this poor majority to gain power and challenge the dominance of the old Elite the family was led by Thaxton Shinawatra the son of a politician that's in pursued a career in the Thai police force he graduated from the cadet Academy in 1973 after reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1987 he left the force and became a successful businessman in the Telecommunications sector by the 1990s Thailand was in the grip of a financial crisis vaccine taking advantage of his wealthy economic position saw an opportunity to enter politics and take power so when he eventually joined the political system in the late 1990s he was seen to be a breath of fresh air and offering the kind of new commercial Global Leadership that many people in Thailand wanted in 1998 party Thai or ties love Thai just three years later it won the general election sin became prime minister many of the old Elites were worried by the rise of taxon because they Source a new political operator who was manipulating the rural voters to vote for somebody who's only really interested in his own interests kin shinuatra became very pillar among the communities in Northern Thailand his populist message caught the attention of the communities but it historically been excluded in Thailand there's a lot of worry about what was really going on with taxon was he really a responsible accountable prime minister or was he just a sort of a Headstrong individualist when the next elections came in 2004 taxin won by a landslide but as he began his second term as prime minister in 2005. the divisions in Thai Society remained the urban minority was restless and still powerful a backlash was coming only the form only the process only the framework were left toxin was accused of illegally expanding his power of muzzling the press and of corruption in 2006 he sold his telecommunications company the deal netted the Shinawatra family almost two billion dollars but his political opponents cried foul the prime minister they alleged had not paid tax on the deal the political leaders and the business enemies attacks and joined forces to accuse Texan of being corrupt and acting against the monarchy and when they held public rallies they encouraged people to wear yellow t-shirts as a way to indicate that they were all Unified to support the traditional values of Thailand against this person who wasn't part of the old Elite and was apparently using the position of prime minister for his own personal benefits two opposing movements took to the streets in addition to their messages they were distinguished by the color of their shirts the red shirts supported saxin while the yellow shirts opposed his policies the political tensions running high in September 2006 the military staged a coup vaccine went into exile his political party was dissolved the Bangkok Urban Elite had reasserted their grip on power when taxon was deposed in 2006 he couldn't come back to the country because he would be arrested if that happened but it became clear that he was channeling his own money into new political parties which were led by people very close to him despite being in Exile vaccine's popularity was intact and his influence was still present in other movements that were born to continue his legacy so it's pretty clear that the getting rid of taxon in 2006 didn't really get rid of taxes it was basically replacing the one party led by taxon with other parties led by other people linked to taxon in 2008 tax in shinawatra's brother-in-law briefly became prime minister before he was forced from power on charges of electoral fraud then in 2011 paxson's younger sister became prime minister after a landslide election win the new prime minister promised to bring the country together but another political crisis quickly followed as anti-shinawatra's protesters took to the streets again the prime ministerwat was under extreme pressure from different people the traditional Elites of Thailand were criticizing her for supporting Texans objectives and for preparing an amnesty bill which might have allowed taxing to come back to Power for many in Thailand yingluk's insistence on the issue of amnesty for taxin over other essential demands meant the beginning of the end meanwhile the rice farmers were complaining that they weren't getting paid under the rise subsidy bill and the rest of the country were criticizing in work for introducing the bill in the first place basically her Authority began to decline and it created another occasion when the military could stand up and say this is our time to take over we have to act in the interest of the country and basically the the country accepted it as a solution in May 2014 the courts ordered Yin Gluck to step down days later the military made its move martial law was declared the Senate and government were dissolved a military Council was established to rule in their place the England was deposed by a coup in 2014. just two years later King bhumibon died he had been ruling Thailand for 70 years and I think it's pretty clear that the military were also concerned that uh any political instability in the government at that time might possibly have led to political unrest or some kind of instability in the government of the country like her brother before her yingluk fled the country the military put a new constitution in place in the elections of March 2019 shinawatra's party won the most seats yet again but it was the candidate backed by the military who was installed as prime minister what the military have done is to try and make sure that taxon can't get back into power they did that partly by creating a new Constitution which basically means that the certain proportion of our Upper House is appointed by the military which means that it's very difficult for the parties which compete for votes in the lower house to have an overall majority in the two houses of the Thai Parliament despite this new constitution Thailand is uneasy the divisions between its rural majority and urban minority remain each side is strong enough to take power but neither can keep it crisis has become a political default Street protests common and Military interventions the norm [Applause] one of the impacts of a long period of military rule is that the normal Party politics don't develop in a healthy way so in Thailand there isn't really a clear divide between two parties like you get between Republicans and Democrats or conservatives of Labor or other sorts of system every crisis and every coup makes another more likely a democracy weakened bypass military takeovers is primed for another people accustomed to politician generals are more likely to accept them again Thailand's coup culture seems unlikely to change elsewhere in the world today military takeovers are becoming rarer developments in technology make it harder for an officer to trick his way into power as the young Colonel Gaddafi in Libya had done and the end of the Cold War has weakened the Strategic values of unsavory regimes like General pinochets but ours is still an uncertain age even established democracies are struggling with the rise of fake news with social media fueled partisan division with foreign interference in elections the risk of democratic collapse has by no means disappeared we started to see is a leveling out of the military forces around the world where some non-state actors or those who wish to rise up in coups against leaders around the world are able to take on the power of State militaries danger signs still Flash in countries where the economy struggles and inequality thrives where social divisions Run Deep and the ambitious and unscrupulous hold sway perhaps the age of the coup is not over yet [Music] [Music]

Channel: War Stories

Views: 18,313

Keywords: War Stories, coup aftermath, coup conspiracies, coup masterminds, expert analysis on war, failed coups, military command, military interventions, military maneuvers, military overthrow, military regime, military revolutions, military studies insights, military tactics revealed, military uprisings, regime change, war data analysis, war education, war statistics, warfare history, wartime strategies

Id: d-bMSCTZc6o

Length: 44min 22sec (2662 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 20 2023