Self-coup
A self-coup is a form of putsch or coup d'état in which a nation's leader, despite having come to power through legal means, dissolves or renders powerless the national legislature and unlawfully assumes extraordinary powers not granted under normal circumstances. Other measures taken may include annulling the nation's constitution, suspending civil courts and having the head of government assume dictatorial powers.
List of self-coups
Pre-World War I
- Sparta: King Cleomenes III
- Rome: Dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla
- Rome: Governor Julius Caesar
- Republic of Venice: Doge Marino Faliero.
- England and Scotland: King Charles I
- Denmark: King Frederick III
- Sweden: King Gustav III
- France: French Directory
- France: First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte
- France: First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte
- Mexico: Emperor Agustín
- France: President Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte
- Mexico: President Ignacio Comonfort
- Brazil: President Deodoro da Fonseca
- Mexico: President Gen. Victoriano Huerta
World Wars
- China: President Yuan Shikai
- Italy: Prime Minister Benito Mussolini
- Albania: President Ahmet Zogu
- Yugoslavia: King Alexander I
- Germany: Chancellor Adolf Hitler
- Austria: Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss
- Uruguay: President Gabriel Terra
- Estonia: Prime Minister in duties of the State Elder Konstantin Päts
- Latvia: Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis
- Bulgaria: Tsar Boris III
- Chile: President Arturo Alessandri Palma
- Greece: Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas
- Brazil: President Getúlio Vargas
- Romania: King Carol II
- Bolivia: President Maj. Germán Busch
- Paraguay: President Gen. José Félix Estigarribia
- Yugoslavia: King Peter II
- Uruguay: President Alfredo Baldomir
- Romania: King Michael I
- Yugoslavia: Prime Minister Josip Broz Tito
- Ecuador: President José María Velasco Ibarra
- Paraguay: President Higinio Morínigo
- Romania: Prime Minister Petru Groza
Cold War
- South Korea: President Syngman Rhee
- Pakistan: Governor-General Malik Ghulam Muhammad
- Iran: Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh
- Iran: Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
- Pakistan: Governor-General Malik Ghulam Muhammad
- Pakistan: General Ayub Khan
- Indonesia: President Sukarno
- Morocco: King Muhammad V
- Nepal: King Mahendra
- Brunei: Sultan Sir Omar Ali Saifuddien III
- Morocco: King Hassan II
- Uganda: Prime Minister Milton Obote
- Lesotho: Prime Minister Chief Leabua Jonathan
- Ecuador: President José María Velasco Ibarra
- Thailand: Prime Minister Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn
- Philippines: President Ferdinand Marcos and First Lady Imelda Marcos
- South Korea: President Park Chung-hee
- Swaziland: King Sobhuza II
- Uruguay: President Juan Maria Bordaberry
- Upper Volta: President Gen. Sangoulé Lamizana
- Bolivia: President Hugo Banzer
- India: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
- Bahrain: Emir Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa
- Iran: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
- Poland: Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski
Post-Cold War
- Peru: President Alberto Fujimori
- Guatemala: President Jorge Serrano Elías
- Russia: President Boris Yeltsin
- Lesotho: King Letsie III
- Nepal: King Gyanendra
- Nepal: King Gyanendra
- Pakistan: President Gen. Pervez Musharraf
- Niger: President Mamadou Tandja
- Gambia: President Yahya Jammeh
- Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro
- Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen
- Sri Lanka: President Maithripala Sirisena
- Moldova: Prime Minister Pavel Filip
- Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro
- El Salvador: President Nayib Bukele
- Hungary: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán
In popular culture
- Emperor Palpatine, from the Star Wars franchise
- The mayors Salvor Hardin and Indbur I from the Foundation series