Coup Atlas Research Database
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77502012021SuccessfulMilitary coup

Myanmar, 2021 — military coup

Myanmar (MMR)Southeast Asia, AsiaFebruary 1, 2021

Event Summary

On February 1, 2021, Myanmar's military, led by Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, declared a state of emergency, and alleged fraud in the November 2020 election that Aung San Suu Kyi's party had won by a large margin. The military installed a State Administration Council under Min Aung Hlaing. The takeover triggered widespread civil disobedience protests and, in parts of the country, armed resistance that continued for years afterward.

Films & Footage

Soldiers blockade the Mandalay Region Government Office after the military takeover, February 2021.
Soldiers blockade the Mandalay Region Government Office after the military takeover, February 2021. Photo: Kantabon · CC BY-SA 4.0
Protest against the Myanmar coup in Bangkok, February 2021.
Protest against the Myanmar coup in Bangkok, February 2021. Photo: ฮินะจัง เชียงใหม่ · CC BY-SA 4.0
Protesters in Tokyo demand Aung San Suu Kyi's release after the coup, February 3, 2021.
Protesters in Tokyo demand Aung San Suu Kyi's release after the coup, February 3, 2021. Photo: Syced · CC0
Save Myanmar protest in London, March 31, 2021.
Save Myanmar protest in London, March 31, 2021. Photo: Stand News · Copyrighted free use

Archival media is credited to its holding collection and license. Media sourcing policy →

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor of Myanmar (detained, civilian government removed)
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Aung San Suu Kyi (deposed civilian leader, State Counsellor)
Min Aung Hlaing (commander-in-chief who led the takeover and headed the resulting military government)

Sources

On February 1, 2021, Myanmar's military, led by Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and declared a state of emergency.
OWNER NOTE Coup Atlas project research (migrated from the record's original background); see Further reading for this event's citation trail.
The military alleged fraud in the November 2020 election that Aung San Suu Kyi's party had won by a large margin, and installed a State Administration Council under Min Aung Hlaing.
OWNER NOTE Coup Atlas project research (migrated from the record's original background); see Further reading for this event's citation trail.
The takeover triggered widespread civil disobedience protests and, in parts of the country, armed resistance that continued for years afterward.
OWNER NOTE Coup Atlas project research (migrated from the record's original background); see Further reading for this event's citation trail.

Editorial Note

Migrated from this record's original background field so all research lives in one system. Source labels are HUMAN (project's own earlier research); the baseline citation trail for this event is listed under Further reading.

How It Unfolded

Hand-coded by Coup Atlas from the sources on this page, using a fixed list of tactics. Only events we have read through carry this coding, so most records do not have it yet.

Led by
Military
How long it took
Under a day — resolved within 24 hours
  • Detention or expulsion of the incumbent leader
  • Internet or telecom shutdown
  • Seizure of broadcasters / coup declaration on state media
  • Declaration of martial law or curfew
  • Mass arrests of officials, officers, or opponents

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
77502012021
Powell & Thyne id
PT-MMR-2021
Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-775-2021-02-01

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor of Myanmar (detained, civilian government removed).

Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; placed under house arrest. 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
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

CNN Wire

“Myanmar’s military has detained leader aung san suu kyi in a coup. Here’s what you need to know,” February 2, 2021

New York Times

“Biden Imposes Sanctions on Generals Who Engineered Myanmar Coup,” February 10, 2021

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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Related Records

Myanmar — Military coup, 19621962-03-02SuccessfulSoutheast AsiaMyanmar — Military coup, 19581958-09-26SuccessfulSoutheast AsiaMyanmar — Military coup, 19481948-08-09AttemptedSoutheast Asia