Military coups, from Napoleon to Mugabe

Robert Mugabe?s 30-year-old rule came to an abrupt end in Zimbabwe when the military took control of the government this week.

Despite many news reports claiming it?s a coup, the military has denied it.

The 1969 Libyan coup d'etat is also known as the al-Fateh Revolution.

It was carried out by the Free Officers Movement, a group of rebel military officers led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who overthrew King Idris.

Ruthlessly stifling dissent and constantly clashing with the United States, Gaddafi ruled in Libya for 42 years. He was killed during the 2011 ?Arab Spring? uprising.

In 1999, Pakistan's then Chief of Army Staff and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Pervez Musharraf, seized power in a coup.

Musharraf sentenced Nawaz Sharif to life imprisonment on hijacking and terrorism charges for his actions to prevent the 1999 coup.

In 1958, martial law was declared by General Ayyub Khan in Pakistan. He claimed that Pakistan's ruling political party, the Pakistan Muslim League, was unable to implement policies.

It was Pakistan's first military coup, and caused political instability in the country for a very long time.

Bangladesh has undergone several military coups since its independence from Pakistan in 1971.

The coup of 15 August 1975 was organised by junior officers of the Bangladesh Army. They were led by Major Syed Faruqe Rahman and Major Rashid.

It resulted in the assassination of the country's President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of the Awami League.

Augusto Pinochet assumed power in Chile by overthrowing the democratically-elected government of President Salvador Allende.

Pinochet launched his coup on 11 September 1973; it was backed by the US.

Turkey witnessed the bloodiest coup attempt in its political history on July 15, 2016, when a faction of the Turkish Armed Forces launched a coordinated operation in several major cities to topple the government and overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Soldiers and tanks took to the streets; a number of explosions were heard in Ankara and Istanbul.

During the coup, over 300 people were killed and more than 2,100 injured.

A military coup was executed by the Ugandan military, led by General Idi Amin, against the government of President Milton Obote on January 25, 1971.

The seizure of power took place while Obote was abroad attending the Commonwealth Heads of State conference in Singapore.

Amin was afraid that Obote might dismiss him.

During his reign, Amin slaughtered approximately 300,000 political opponents.

Napoleon Bonaparte began conspiring to overthrow the Directory that ruled France.

He led a coup d'etat and overthrew the Directory, replacing it with a new government headed by him.

Napoleon's bloodless military coup occurred on 9 November 1799.

On July 18, 1936, Francisco Franco overthrew the democratically-elected government of Spain.

The coup attempt precipitated the Spanish Civil War which lasted three years.

Franco implemented policies that were responsible for the repression and deaths of as many as 400,000 political opponents and dissenters through the use of forced labour and executions.

On 22 May 2014, the Royal Thai Armed Forces, led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Commander of the Royal Thai Army (RTA), launched a coup d'etat, the 12th since the country's first coup in 1932, against the caretaker government of Thailand.

The military established a faction called the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to govern the nation.