1973 Rwandan coup d'état

Juvénal Habyarimana, who took power in the coup, pictured in 1980

The 1973 Rwandan coup d'état, also known as the Coup d'état of 5 July (French: Coup d'état du 5 Juillet), was a military coup staged by Juvénal Habyarimana against incumbent president Grégoire Kayibanda in the Republic of Rwanda.[1] The coup took place on 5 July 1973 and was bloodless.[1]

In the months prior to Habyarimana's coup, President Kayibanda had intensified persecution of ethnic Tutsi through the formation of Hutu vigilante committees to ensure enforcement of the required ethnic quotas.[2] This policy had isolated Rwanda economically and diplomatically, especially from neighbouring Uganda which housed large numbers of Tutsi. Consequently the 1973 coup was largely supported by the urban population and met with indifference amongst the rural communities.[3] Prior to the coup Habyarimana had been a General in the Rwandan army. Immediately after seizing power Habyarimana outlawed all political parties but in 1974 created his own, the Mouvement Révolutionnaire National pour le Développement (MRND).[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Prunier 1998, p. 61.
  2. ↑ Prunier 1998, p. 75; 60.
  3. ↑ Prunier 1998, p. 75.
  4. ↑ Prunier 1998, p. 76.

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