countercoup

1 9.9

A sudden action that removes a government that came to power by a coup

noun
/ˈkaʊntərˌku/

: contragolpe

The brutally crushed countercoup against the regime on 11 November 1994 led to the deaths of about 40 soldiers and the alleged summary execution of many more.
coup and countercoup

Examples

After a November 1973 student uprising, the hard-liners staged a countercoup and overthrew Papadopoulos.

Academic text (1990)
This attitude is reinforced by the answer of a former naval officer who was opposed to the junta, retired from the navy when the coup was launched, and was later arrested and imprisoned by the colonels for his involvement in the navy's 1973 countercoup attempt against the military regime: PREFORMATTED TABLE

Academic text (1997)
He was in briefly over lunch, countercoup, he was out, then reinstalled again.

Canadian Bacon (1995)
Since factionalized armed forces have a greater potential for initiating countercoups, leaders use these enterprises to deliver goodies to officers.

Academic text (2003)
Much like junta rule or factionalized militaries that contain many veto players, under a large minimum winning coalition, military rulers must provide sufficient benefits to these many interests to limit the potential for countercoups.

Academic text (2003)
The military quickly responded to the attempt at a countercoup by reinforcing their loyalists in key positions.
Historians often debate the impact of a failed countercoup on the stability of the new government.
Despite the chaos, the citizens rallied to prevent a countercoup that sought to restore the former dictatorship.

Synonyms

takeover

vscountercoup

Literature

53 5.4

A sudden illegal action to seize control of a country's government by force

is aimed at removing governments put in power by an earlier unlawful seizure

overthrow

vscountercoup

26 6.1

The removal of a leader or government from power, often by force

targets governments that previously seized power unlawfully

counterrevolution

vscountercoup

1 8.8

A political movement that tries to undo a recent major change and bring back the old government

focuses on removing governments that rose through an earlier illegal power grab

Antonyms

coup

Literature

189 8.1

A sudden illegal act by a small group to take control of a government

Surface Forms

countercoup singular

countercoups plural

Morphology

countercoup = coup (transparent) = counter + coup

The prefix 'counter-' clearly indicates an action against or in response to a 'coup'.

Etymology

The word countercoup joins counter- ('against') and coup ('a sudden strike' or 'sudden taking of power'), like in coup d'état. So a countercoup is a quick action that goes 'against' a coup to try to take power back, like a political counterattack.