Why do generals attempting to coup always storm the palace? What happens next? Why do ordinary soldiers follow them? Are they in on the plot?
In: Economics
Generals don’t always “storm the palace,” but yes, usually there is a takeover of the physical buildings where the current government officials are. That’s done for a few reasons, the first being that you have to remove the existing officials from being able to contact allies, or use any channels of power. Second, there is a great symbolism to it: a coup general stepping in front of the White House to declare that he has taken over “for the good of our country” reads as much more authoritative than the same announcement from in front of a Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
What happens next varies. If the existing government has military support of its own, you often get a civil war, with fighting between different areas. Who says they control the government doesn’t matter that much at that time. If there is no established resistance, the governing council convenes and tries to put its people in key positions so they can run the various departments of government. Usually they will first focus on eliminating any trace of the previous government to avoid an attempted return. Usually others vying for power will be quashed. After that, it depends on how ruthlessly the unelected want to govern. You could proceed to full totalitarianism if you can and want, or you can transition toward something more benign and stable, or whatever. You’re just in ordinary history now.
Ordinary soldiers usually follow for a mixture of reasons, but the main three are this:
* Power. If you’re a soldier of the governing elite, you get way more perks in the country than a soldier of a government that doesn’t need you.
* Fear. Some soldiers might not want to participate (and many of these are purged before the revolt) but are afraid to leave because they would make themselves targets for being disloyal to the new rulers.
* Esprit de corps. Some soldiers may truly believe that they’re doing the right thing, and even if they aren’t sure, they don’t want to let their comrades down. (Stories from policement used by the Nazis to commit horiffic war crimes in Poland show that many of them didn’t leave because they didn’t want to abandon their colleagues to do horrible things alone.)
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