Coup Atlas Research Database
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43208121969AttemptedCoup (actor type unspecified)

Mali, 1969 — coup (actor type unspecified) attempt

Mali (MLI)West Africa, AfricaAugust 12, 1969

Event Summary

The dataset records an event coded as a coup in Mali on 12 August 1969, during the first year of military rule after the November 1968 coup in which a group of young officers led by Lieutenant Moussa Traore had overthrown the socialist government of President Modibo Keita. The new ruling Military Committee of National Liberation, headed by Traore, was consolidating its authority over the country and dealing with rivalries within the officer corps. This early period of the regime saw plots and countermoves among the officers, and any coup attempt in August 1969 came within that context and did not unseat Traore.

He went on to dominate Malian politics for over two decades, surviving further plots, formalizing his rule through a single party in 1979, until he was himself overthrown in a 1991 coup amid pro-democracy protests.

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Lieutenant Moussa Traore's military regime survived the 1969 plotting and ruled Mali until 1991
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Moussa Traore (head of Mali's military regime, target)
Rival officers of the Military Committee (plotters)

Sources

A group of young officers led by Moussa Traore overthrew President Modibo Keita in a coup in November 1968, establishing the Military Committee of National Liberation.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Moussa Traore open source ↗
Traore headed the ruling military committee and consolidated power over Mali in the years following the 1968 coup, facing rivalries within the officer corps.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Moussa Traore open source ↗
Traore survived various plots, formalized his rule through the single Democratic Union of the Malian People party in 1979, and dominated Malian politics for over two decades.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Moussa Traore open source ↗
Traore was overthrown in a coup in March 1991 amid pro-democracy protests.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Moussa Traore open source ↗

Editorial Note

No discrete documentation of a coup attempt precisely on 12 August 1969 in Mali was found in accessible English sources this session; the entry records the dataset's coding and the verified context of the young Traore military regime consolidating power after the 1968 coup, with the specific event and plotters unconfirmed, flagged as context only. First Mali record in the dataset run.

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
43208121969

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Lieutenant Moussa Traore's military regime survived the 1969 plotting and ruled Mali until 1991.

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

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

CSP

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

The Sun

“Coup Is Reported Thwarted In Mali,” August 19, 1969

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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