Uganda, 1974 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an attempted military coup in Uganda on 11 November 1974, during the terror filled rule of Idi Amin, whose army was riven by plots and purges as Amin killed off real and imagined rivals. This period saw repeated conspiracies and attempted risings among officers alienated by Amin's erratic brutality, the domination of the army by his Kakwa and Nubian loyalists and foreign mercenaries, and the endless bloodletting within the security forces. Any coup attempt in November 1974 came within that context and did not unseat Amin, who responded to every challenge with fresh purges and executions.
Amin survived plot after plot through sheer terror and the loyalty of his security agencies until his regime was finally destroyed not from within but by external invasion, when Tanzanian forces and Ugandan exiles overthrew him in the 1979 war, ending one of Africa's most murderous dictatorships.
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
50011111974- Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-500-1974-11-11-2
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Idi Amin crushed the November 1974 plotting and remained in power through terror 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
Powell and Thyne
New York Times
Boston Globe
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 →