Mozambique, 1975 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an attempted military coup in Mozambique on 17 December 1975, during the first months of independence under President Samora Machel and the ruling FRELIMO liberation movement, which had taken power in June 1975 after the collapse of Portuguese colonial rule following the Carnation Revolution. The new Marxist Leninist state faced immediate instability, including tensions within the army between veteran FRELIMO guerrillas and former colonial era soldiers, unrest among disaffected groups, and the flight of the Portuguese settler population whose departure gutted the economy. In this fraught early period there were reported plots and disturbances against the young government.
Any coup attempt in December 1975 came within that context and did not unseat Machel, who consolidated FRELIMO's one-party rule. Mozambique would soon be plunged into a long and devastating civil war against the RENAMO insurgency backed by white ruled Rhodesia and South Africa, a conflict that dominated the country until a peace settlement in 1992.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
54112171975- Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-541-1975-12-17
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Samora Machel survived the December 1975 disturbances and consolidated FRELIMO's one-party state.
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
Luttwak
Powell and Thyne
LA Times
Newsday
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 →