Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1975 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an attempted military coup in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then called Zaire, on 18 June 1975, during the entrenched personal dictatorship of President Mobutu Sese Seko, who had ruled since seizing power in 1965 and had built an elaborate cult of authority around himself and his sole party, the Popular Movement of the Revolution. In mid-1975 Mobutu announced that he had uncovered a coup plot against him, arresting a number of senior military officers and accusing them of conspiring, in some accounts with foreign backing, to overthrow the regime. The alleged plotters were tried, and Mobutu used the affair to purge the army and reinforce his grip.
Whether a genuine coup was afoot or the plot was fabricated or exaggerated to justify a purge, in the pattern Mobutu had used since the 1966 Pentecost affair, remains uncertain. Mobutu survived and continued his kleptocratic rule over Zaire until he was finally overthrown by Laurent Kabila's rebellion in 1997.
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
49006181975
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Mobutu Sese Seko crushed the alleged June 1975 plot and purged the army, remaining in power until 1997.
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
New York 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 →