Central African Republic, 1976 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an attempted military coup in the Central African Republic on 5 February 1976, during the increasingly deranged rule of President Jean-Bedel Bokassa, who had held power since his 1966 coup and was moving toward the notorious step of proclaiming himself emperor. In early February 1976 Bokassa survived an assassination attempt, reportedly a grenade attack at the Bangui airport as he returned from a trip, which he blamed on plotters within his entourage and used to justify further arrests and repression. Bokassa's rule was marked by paranoia, cruelty, and the elimination of any perceived rival, in the pattern established with the execution of his former ally Banza in 1969.
He survived this and other plots, and in December 1976 he transformed the republic into the Central African Empire, crowning himself Emperor Bokassa I in a lavishly wasteful ceremony. His tyranny continued until France engineered his overthrow in 1979, restoring the man he had originally deposed, David Dacko.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
48202051976- Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-482-1976-02-05
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Jean-Bedel Bokassa survived the February 1976 attempt and went on to crown himself emperor.
Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
Powell and Thyne
New York Times
Tampa Bay Times
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →