Egypt, 2011 — military coup

Event Summary

On 11 February 2011 President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt stepped down after eighteen days of mass protests centered on Cairo's Tahrir Square, handing power to the military's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Inspired by Tunisia's uprising, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians had taken to the streets from 25 January demanding an end to Mubarak's thirty year rule, police brutality, corruption, and economic hardship, in a largely leaderless popular revolti. Mubarak offered concessions, dissolving the government, promising not to seek reelection, and delegating powers to his vice president, but the protesters, enraged by a 10 February speech in which he refused to resign, were not satisfied.

On 11 February Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak had relinquished the presidency and that the SCAF would take charge. The military suspended the constitution, dissolved parliament, and pledged a transition to civilian rule. More than 800 people were killed during the protests.

The character of the event is layered: it was a genuine popular uprising that toppled the president, but power passed to the armed forces, and the SCAF's subsequent seventeen months of rule drew heavy criticism. Mubarak was later arrested, tried for the killing of protesters and for corruption, and convicted, though some verdicts were overturned.