Congo, 1968 — dissident coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an event coded as an attempted dissident coup in the Republic of the Congo, or Congo Brazzaville, on 13 May 1968, during the deteriorating final phase of the Marxist government of President Alphonse Massamba-Debat. Since surviving the June 1966 paratrooper revolt with Cuban help, Massamba-Debat had remained locked in a struggle with the northern military faction around Captain Marien Ngouabi and with his own party militia and radical youth. In 1968 this conflict escalated through a series of confrontations over control of the army and the single party.
Any coup attempt in May 1968 came within that mounting crisis and did not immediately remove Massamba-Debat. The struggle came to a head that summer when Massamba-Debat arrested Ngouabi in late July, provoking a military reaction that freed him, and on 4 September 1968 the army overthrew Massamba-Debat, leading within months to Ngouabi assuming the presidency and founding the Marxist Leninist Congolese Party of Labour.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
48405131968
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Alphonse Massamba-Debat weathered the May 1968 turmoil but was overthrown by the military that September.
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
CSP
Chicago Tribune
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 →