In late October 1964 Sudan's October Revolution broke the military regime of General Ibrahim Abboud, in power since the 1958 coup. Student debates at Khartoum University over the southern war turned into open criticism of the regime; police broke up a meeting on October 21, killing student Ahmad al-Qurayshi, and within days the civil service and transport workers were on strike, with demonstrations spreading to Omdurman, Juba, and Port Sudan. Professional associations, the doctors, lawyers, and university teachers, joined the outlawed parties in a United National Front and declared a general political strike from October 26, while junior officers formed protective rings around demonstrators and refused to fire, and a group of officers delivered a memorandum demanding the government's dissolution.
Rather than attempt bloody suppression, Abboud announced the dissolution of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and the Council of Ministers, the governing junta itself, on October 26; negotiations between the Front and army representatives began October 27, and on October 30 a transitional civilian government under Sirr al-Khatim al-Khalifa was formed, with Abboud briefly staying on as head of state. It was the first popular overthrow of a military regime in postcolonial Africa and the Arab world.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: The governing military junta, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and its Council of Ministers, dissolved under popular and intra military pressure; its members were not physically harmed, and transitional guarantees later shielded them from trial for acts in office. Abboud himself remained head of state until his forced resignation weeks later, carried as the separate 1964-11-16 record.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Ibrahim Abboud (head of the junta, dissolved his own regime under pressure)
The United National Front (professionals' and parties' coalition leading the strike)
Khartoum University students (whose protests began the uprising; Ahmad al-Qurayshi its first martyr)
Dissident junior and mid-ranking officers (who protected demonstrators and demanded dissolution)
Sirr al-Khatim al-Khalifa (transitional prime minister from October 30)
Sources
When the regime banned public debates on the southern question, Khartoum University students initiated debates that became a forum for open criticism; a student was killed as demonstrations were broken up, within two days the civil service and transport workers were on strike with demonstrations in the provinces, and rather than suppress the opposition by armed force and bloodshed, Abboud dissolved his government on 26 October 1964 and allowed the formation of a provisional cabinet under Sirr al-Khatim al-Khalifa to replace the Supreme Council.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, Ibrahim Abboudopen source ↗
The National Front of Professionals and the National Front of Political Parties joined the campaign on 25 October, forming the United Front and declaring a general political strike from 26 October; junior officers took part, forming a protective ring around demonstrators and refusing to shoot, Abboud declared the dissolution of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and the Council of Ministers, negotiations between the Front and armed forces representatives began on 27 October, and after Abboud's attempt to reconstitute a new Supreme Council prompted renewed strikes, the campaign ended on 30 October with the establishment of the transitional government.
In 1964 the Doctors' Union, Bar Association, and Khartoum University Teachers' Union together led a general strike that dissolved General Abboud's regime two days after it began; on 21 October 1964 Khartoum University Student Union members clashed with police, yielding the revolution its first martyr, Ahmad al-Qurayshi, and a cadre of senior and middle ranking officers acted as caretakers, delivering a memorandum to Abboud demanding he dissolve the government and managing the talks, while securing transitional clauses preventing trial of regime members for acts in power.
SOURCE REVIEWEDAfrican Arguments, 50 years on: Remembering Sudan's October Revolution (W. J. Berridge)open source ↗
The opposition succeeded in overthrowing the military regime through a popular uprising in October 1964: General Abboud resigned and dissolved the Higher Council of the Armed Forces, an interim government was formed under the provisional constitution of 1956, and political parties returned and competed in the elections of April and May 1965.
SOURCE REVIEWEDFanack, Sudan: Democracy and Military Coups (1958-1983)open source ↗
Editorial Note
Two stage arc: this record, coded as a dissident coup, covers the destruction of the junta as a governing institution, accomplished by the combination of mass strikes and the army's refusal to repress, with the dataset's October 27 date falling between the October 26 dissolution announcement and the October 30 transitional government; the companion record 1964-11-16 covers Abboud's own forced resignation as residual head of state and should be read with this one. Coding note: the deposed party here is the Supreme Council regime, dissolved by its own chief under duress, structurally similar to the Iraq 1963-11-18 pattern. Arc note: the October Revolution became the template invoked in Sudan's 1985 intifada against Nimeiri and the 2019 revolution.
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:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: The governing military junta, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and its Council of Ministers, dissolved under popular and intra military pressure; its members were not physically harmed, and transitional guarantees later shielded them from trial for acts in office. Abboud himself remained head of state until his forced resignation weeks later, carried as the separate 1964-11-16 record..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; 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 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 →