Coups are a common occurrence of the twentieth century. Some of them were successful, but there were those that ended in complete failure. We will tell you about the three most notable failures of the twentieth century.
3. Attempts to overthrow Saddam Hussein, Iraq
In early 1996, US authorities spent $ 120 million( according to Newsweek) to remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power. The operation was planned to be carried out with the help of joint efforts of the CIA, British intelligence, as well as a large number of Kurdish and Iraqi agents.
However, the Iraqi special services knowingly ate their own bread. In July 1996, Saddam Hussein arrested 200 Iraqis, including 80 officers. They were tortured to death, and a representative of the CIA in the Jordanian capital, Amman, received a message saying "Collect your things and get out! We have information about every step of the CIA. "
Two months later, Iraqi troops entered Kurdistan, about which the CIA did not warn its employees. Over 100 of them were killed, and hundreds of Kurds working for the CIA fled the country and were granted asylum in America.
2. Incident in the Imperial Palace, Japan
After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Emperor of Japan Hirohito had to decide on signing the Potsdam Declaration. She demanded unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces to the Allies.
This step was not met with the approval of the Imperial Guard, which feared that the imperial system would be abolished after the signing of the declaration.
On the night of August 14-15, 1945, a group of officers led by Major Kenji Hatanaki seized the palace and cut it off from communication, depriving it of contact with the outside world. Hatanaka and his people hoped to preserve the imperial system and form a new government with the minister of the army at the helm. But due to the fact that the records of the emperor's capitulation speech were reliably hidden, their efforts were in vain.
At 11 am, shortly before the emperor's speech before the people, Hatanaka shot himself a bullet in the head.
1. August putsch, the USSR
The top 3 failed putsches of the 20th century are the turning point in the history of the Soviet Union.
When Mikhail Gorbachev launched reforms leading to the division of the USSR into separate states, they were not warmly accepted by all the country's leadership.
A coup to remove Gorbachev from power, began on August 18, 1991.It was attended by a group of senior state and government officials, known as the State Committee for the Emergency Situation( GKCHP).Gorbachev was placed under house arrest. The country cottage of Boris Yeltsin was surrounded by fighters of the Alpha division, but the commander was ordered not to hinder the departure and arrival of Yeltsin to Moscow.
In Moscow, protesters led by Yeltsin took to the streets to condemn the coup attempt. And the Russian army, which took the key positions on the streets of the capital, did not receive further clear orders from the conspirators. As a result, soldiers were marched in the field and demonstrators. After the turmoil had subsided, the members of the State Emergency Committee were imprisoned.
