July 1966 Burundian coup d'état

Location of Burundi in Central Africa
Date	8 July 1966
Location	Bujumbura, Kingdom of Burundi
Type	Military coup
Cause	Ethnic tensions between Hutu and Tutsi Perceived moderate tendencies of Mwambutsa IV in balancing Hutu and Tutsi demands in government
Motive	Regime change
Target	Royal Palace, Bujumbura
Organised by	Crown Prince Charles Ndizeye Michel Micombero
Outcome	Coup succeeds Mwambutsa IV is ousted by his son, Crown Prince Charles Ndizeye, who acceded to the throne as Ntare V Michel Micombero is promoted to the post of Prime Minister by Ntare V, replacing ousted Léopold Biha

History of Burundi
Urewe civilisation Hutu, Tutsi and Twa origins
Kingdom of Burundi German East Africa 1891–1919 Ruanda-Urundi 1922–1962 Ruzagayura famine 1943–1944
Road to independence Parliamentary election 1961 Prince Rwagasore assassination 1961 Independence 1962
Burundi 1962–present Army coup attempt 1965 Ndizeye coup Jul 1966 Micombero coup Nov 1966 Ikiza 1972 Bagaza coup 1976 Buyoya coup, 1st 1987
Burundian Civil War Army coup attempt 1993 Genocidal killings of Tutsis 1993 Buyoya coup, 2nd 1996 Titanic Express massacre 2000 Army coup attempt 2001 Itaba massacre 2002
Current Second Congo War 1998–2003 Burundian unrest 2015–2018 Army coup attempt 2015 COVID-19 pandemic 2020–present
Category Commons Portal Timeline
v t e

On 8 July 1966, a coup d'état took place in the Kingdom of Burundi. The second in Burundi's post-independence history, the coup ousted the government loyal to the king (mwami) of Burundi, Mwambutsa IV, who had gone into exile in October 1965 after the failure of an earlier coup d'état.^[1][2]

The first coup attempt had been led by members of the Hutu ethnic group and was provoked by rising ethnic tensions between the Hutu and Burundi's Tutsi ruling class. The July 1966 coup was an extreme Tutsi counter-reaction against what they saw as Mwambutsa's dangerous moderate tendencies in trying to balance Hutu and Tutsi demands in government.^[3]

On 24 March 1966, shortly after going into exile, Mwambutsa had delegated his royal powers to his son, the 18-year-old Crown Prince Charles Ndizeye.^[4][5] On 8 July 1966, forces loyal to Ndizeye overthrew the pro-Mwambutsa government of Prime Minister Léopold Biha. Ndizeye announced that he was assuming the role of head of state of Burundi. He suspended the constitution, dismissed Biha, and asked the 26-year-old Captain Michel Micombero, a Tutsi army officer who had played a major role in the coup, to form a new government. On 12 July, Micombero's government was installed with himself as prime minister. On 1 September, Ndizeye had himself crowned as Mwami Ntare V.^[6] Ntare promised to Burundi strong leadership, anti-corruption measures, and a new constitution.^[2]

However, tension developed between Ntare, who wanted to actively rule as a monarch, and Micombero's government, which had aligned itself to reform and saw little need for an involved king.^[7]

Less than five months later, Micombero led a third coup d'etat on 28 November which ousted Ntare.^[8][9] Micombero abolished Burundi's monarchy and declared the nation a republic. This allowed Micombero to establish a military dictatorship with UPRONA as the only legal party, which would last until his own overthrow in a military coup in 1976.^[2] Ntare V fled into exile but returned to the country from Uganda in 1972, at which time he was assassinated under circumstances that have yet to be fully explained.^[10][9]

• Lemarchand, René (1970). Rwanda and Burundi. New York: Praeger Publishers. OCLC 254366212.
• Lemarchand, René (1995). Burundi: Ethnic Conflict and Genocide. New York: Woodrow Wilson Center Press. ISBN 0-521-45176-0. OCLC 502218720.
• Melady, Thomas (1974). Burundi: The Tragic Years. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books. ISBN 0-88344-045-8. OCLC 2680717.