Coup Atlas Research Database
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15004301947AttemptedMilitary coup

Paraguay, 1947 — military coup attempt

Paraguay (PRY)South America, AmericasApril 30, 1947

Event Summary

On 30 April 1947 rebel military elements again attempted to topple President Higinio Morinigo of Paraguay, an episode within the March to August 1947 Paraguayan Civil War in which the armed forces had split against the government. With four of eleven army divisions, most of the navy, and the bulk of the officer corps aligned with the Febrerista, Liberal, and Communist rebel coalition under Rafael Franco, the fighting in the autumn of 1947 pitted rebel held Concepcion and mutinous units against Morinigo's loyalist core of Colorado Party militias, the Campo Grande cavalry, and Asuncion garrison units armed with superior American-supplied weapons. The April attempt failed to dislodge the government.

Morinigo's forces, sustained by Argentine support, ground down the rebellion through mid-year, repelled the final rebel thrust on Asuncion in August, and by 20 August 1947 had won the war, with surviving rebel leaders fleeing to Argentina.

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Higinio Morinigo survived the attempt unharmed and won the civil war by August 1947
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Higinio Morinigo (president of Paraguay, target)
Rafael Franco (rebel coalition leader)
Juan Natalicio Gonzalez (Colorado hardliner in the government camp)

Sources

The armed forces, which had previously remained loyal, split during the 1947 war, with almost all the navy and sections of the army joining the rebels before Morinigo, backed by the Colorados including Alfredo Stroessner, regained nearly complete control by August 1947.
SOURCE REVIEWED Academic dictionary mirror of Wikipedia, Paraguayan Civil War open source ↗
On the government side stood the Colorado militias, three cavalry divisions at Campo Grande, three Asuncion divisions, and Paraguari artillery equipped with American weapons, giving loyalists superior firepower, while Peron's Argentina provided vital support.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Paraguayan Civil War (1947) open source ↗
Government counteroffensives reinforced by Colorado pynandi militia volunteers halted rebel momentum, and the rebels' last attempt to take the capital by river in August ended in unconditional surrender, with leaders fleeing to Argentina and many surrendering officers executed.
SOURCE REVIEWED U.S. Army War College SOIC case study, Paraguay 1947 open source ↗
The war ran from 7 March to 20 August 1947 and ended in government victory, after which the Colorado Party became the country's only legal party.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Paraguayan Civil War (1947) open source ↗

Editorial Note

The dataset codes 30 April 1947 as a distinct attempted military coup against Morinigo within the civil war; accessible sources treat the period as continuous fighting rather than isolating that date, so facts anchor the verified war record. Pairs with the Paraguay 1947-03-07 entry and the 1948 ouster of Morinigo.

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
15004301947

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Higinio Morinigo survived the attempt unharmed and won the civil war by August 1947.

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

Wikipedia

New York Times

“REVOLT IN ASUNCION IS REPORTED QUASHED,” May 3, 1947
“Paraguay deposes Morinigo after an 8 year Dictatorship,” June 4, 1948
“Paraguay Elects one-Party Ticket,” February 16, 1948

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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