Uganda, 1972 — rebel coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an event coded as an attempted rebel coup in Uganda on 17 September 1972, corresponding to the invasion launched by Ugandan exiles loyal to the ousted former president Milton Obote, with limited Tanzanian support, to overthrow the regime of Idi Amin. Amin had seized power from Obote in January 1971, and exiles who fled his purges plotted his removal from bases in Tanzania. On 15 to 17 September 1972 a rebel force of around 1,300 ex-soldiers, the People's Army, joined by a guerrilla group under Yoweri Museveni, crossed into southern Uganda hoping to spark a popular uprising.
But the invasion was plagued from the start, Amin had been warned, a planned commando raid was aborted, and the poorly armed rebels were outnumbered. They seized a few southern towns but no mass uprising erupted, and Amin's loyalists defeated them within hours. The failure deepened divisions among the anti-Amin opposition, though many of the same figures would return to topple Amin in the 1979 war.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
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
50009171972
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Idi Amin defeated the September 1972 exile invasion and remained in power until 1979.
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
New York Times
Wikipedia
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 →