1697 Sanaman attempted military coup d'état
The 1697 Sanaman attempted military coup d'état was a reactionary attempted coup d'état perpetrated by several officers in the highest echelons of the Sanaman Armed Forces in response to the 1697 government crisis, the Rice Riots of 1697 and the growing influence of the Peoples' Front. Led by the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Council Shenerel Tanilo Lamifo Woodfield, joined by the Commanding General of the Army Shenerel Moshe Kasha Tolito and the Chief of Staff of the Chiefs of Staff Council Shenerel Lutenen Piter Akoni Wilamu and supported by the Military Intelligence and Security Directorate and MP 11 based in Semisa City, the coup was initiated on 15.XV.1697 when military police units attempted to gain entry to the Llusan and MISD officers forced their way into the residence of the Chancellor of Sanama Keysa Nur Pinito Caprici.
Background
The major economic downturn after 1694, with plummeting oil prices, unemployment and inflation, the Sanaman Armed Forces were forced to undergo massive cuts to balance the national budget. These cuts were not popular within the top echelons of the Sanaman military, and also led to many competent personnel going into unemployment or emigrating. The general hardship, which disproportionately affected the already poor and disadvantaged, and the inability of the center-right government to tackle the downturn, led to growing protests stoked and organised by the Peoples' Front. These protests culminated in the Rice Riots of 1697 which in turn served as one of the triggers for the attempted coup d'état.
Events
On 15.XV.1697 the Llusan building was beseiged by military police units, with tanks and other armoured vehicles moving through Semisa City. A short firefight with units from the Kalisa Rrumëli responsible for security saw the coup supporters gain access to the area surrounding the building itself. Officers manning the metal detectors just inside the main doors acted swiftly, locking the doors and barracading them. Due to experiences from the 1678 Sanaman coup d'état by Adalwolf Hiedler, all windows of the Llusan building were of hardened glass with thick metal bars, to prevent forced entry. Tanks from MP 11 fired on the upper floor of the building, causing limited damage, in an effort to force the KRr units inside to surrender and open the doors.
Meanwhile, MISD agents entered the residence of Chancellor Nur Pinito Caprici, but finding it empty. Nur Pinito Caprici was at the time in Tosha City visiting relatives, unknown to the MISD and coup organisers. The building was seized and the organisers attempted to install Shenerel Lamifo Woodfield as chairman of a national reconstruction committee. The effort ultimately failed when units from the KRr and Kalisa Sivile, still loyal to the elected leadership, reclaimed the building and arrested the coup organisers. At this point, the vast majority of the military personnel supporting the coup had defected, not wanting to be associated with shelling a government building or a failed coup. The three top organisers were extracted by MISD agents to a location unknown, but believed to be UGB-controlled Florencia.
Aftermath
The attempted coup rocked the Sanaman political establishment, which had been lulled into a false sense of security after the relative political calm after the 1678 coup d'état. The events proved that the powerful Sanaman military could not be automatically counted on to protect democracy. Combined with the extraction of the top organisers to a location widely speculated to be Florencia also fueled speculation, especially within the political left, about possible collaboration between MISD and Benacia Command. The coup was blatant proof that the well-funded Sanaman intelligence and state security agencies, such as the Defence Intelligence Directorate, Kalisa Nasyonal Halimpanli and the National Intelligence Directorate were ineffective and failed to detect and prevent the coup attempt. The conclusion for the the Peoples' Front was the necessity for armed action.
Jasmina Hosseini, leader of the Democratic Humanist Party in Sanama joined the Congress of Chryse on 5.I.1698 AN, in the aftermath of the Rice Riots of 1697, and failed coup attempt. She briefed the delegates on the deteriorating situation in the country and the risks facing the ruling coalition of which she was a part. She subsequently chose to remain at the Congress throughout 1698. The fact that Hosseini left Sanama shortly after the coup attempt, and information leaked from the Chancellery, implicated the Democratic Humanist Party in the coup attempt. The release of the information and the effective defection of the Secretary for Justice and Vice Chancellor rocked the government and the United Nationalist Alliance. Caretaker Chancellor Nur Pinito Caprici received intense criticism, both in the Llusan and in national media, for aligning with a treacherous party. In the Llusan the leftist parties passed a motion of censure in Nur Pinito Caprici, but still failed to unite behind a leftist candidate for Chancellor, leaving an all but powerless Nur Pinito Caprici in office.
The failed coup in turn triggered the 1698 Sanaman Revolution, leading to the Sanaman Civil War.
