Coup Atlas Research Database
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43812111961ConspiracyDissident coup

Guinea, 1961 — dissident coup conspiracy

Guinea (GIN)West Africa, AfricaDecember 11, 1961

Event Summary

In November and December 1961 the teachers' union crisis, known as the teachers' plot, produced a major confrontation in Sekou Toure's Guinea. The Marxist leaning teachers' union, acting in Toure's telling in concert with officials of the Soviet embassy, precipitated a crisis with strikes and student unrest. Toure arrested the strike leaders, accused a Marxist-Leninist group of attempting to engineer a Marxist revolution in contact with an anti-party Guinean group in Dakar, Paris and Moscow, and expelled the Soviet ambassador, who departed on 16 December 1961.

On 13 December 1961 news agencies reported Toure's claim that communists had plotted a coup and linked them to the student riots of the previous month. At the ruling party congress on 25 December Toure denounced the Machiavellian attempt at a Marxist revolution. The affair marked Guinea's break from close alignment with the Soviet bloc and was the second of the nine plots Toure exposed between 1960 and 1976.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Sekou Toure survived, jailed the accused teachers and expelled the Soviet ambassador; he ruled until his death in 1984
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Ahmed Sekou Toure (president, target)
Guinean teachers' union leaders (accused plotters)
Soviet ambassador to Guinea (expelled 16 Dec 1961)

Sources

In November 1961 the Teachers Union, in conjunction with Soviet embassy officials, precipitated a crisis; Toure arrested the strike leaders and expelled the Soviet ambassador and his key aides.
SOURCE REVIEWED Encyclopedia.com: Sekou Toure open source ↗
On 13 December 1961 the press reported Toure's claim that communists had plotted a coup and linked them to student riots of the previous month.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: Ahmed Sekou Toure (citing New York Times, 13 Dec 1961) open source ↗
The Soviet ambassador departed on 16 December 1961, and at the party congress on 25 December Toure denounced a Machiavellian attempt at a Marxist revolution linked to groups in Dakar, Paris and Moscow.
SOURCE REVIEWED Marxists.org: Sedgwick, Ghana Guinea Guiana open source ↗
The teachers' plot of 1961 is listed among the nine major plots Toure exposed between 1960 and 1976.
SOURCE REVIEWED EBSCO Research Starters: Ahmed Sekou Toure open source ↗

Editorial Note

Coded 11 Dec 1961; Toure announced the plot on 13 Dec 1961 and the Soviet ambassador left on 16 Dec, so the coded date sits just inside the announcement window. Near exact match, well documented.

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
43812111961

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Sekou Toure survived, jailed the accused teachers and expelled the Soviet ambassador; he ruled until his death in 1984.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. 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

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

Los Angeles Times

“Reds Plotted His Fall, Says Guinea Leader,” December 13, 1961

New York Times

“Toure Says Reds PLotted a Coup; Links Communists to Riots by Students Last Month,” December 13, 1961

Washington Post, Times Herald

“Toure Tells of Red PLot To Oust Him,” December 13, 1961

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 →

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