Skip to content Skip to a section
Tool·Lifes /Everything About War Search apps and topics…
Apps
Explore Guides
C Chile 1973 coup

History

Dated history of Chile 1973 coup (11 September 1973 (coup day; dictatorship 1973-1990)) in Santiago and Chilean armed services; US political context.

Educational history. Casualty figures are documented ranges. This is not operational advice, a ranking of nations, or a how-to for weapons or coups.

At a glance
Timeline

Milestones in order. This is history, not a weekly activity grid.

1970-09 Allende elected1972-10 Truckers' strike1973-06-29 Tanquetazo1973-08 Prats resigns1973-09-11 The coup1973-09+ Stadium and DINA1980 Constitution1988-10-05 Plebiscite No1990-03 Aylwin inauguration1991 / 2004 Rettig / Valech
  1. Allende elected
  2. Truckers' strike
  3. Tanquetazo
  4. Prats resigns
  5. The coup
  6. Stadium and DINA
  7. Constitution
  8. Plebiscite No
  9. Aylwin inauguration
  10. Rettig / Valech
Score intensity

Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.

Last reviewed Sources & creditsMedia creditsMethodology

Quick answers

Are the scores a ranking of nations or armies?

No. Scores are browsing aids inside an era-bounded atlas — not live league tables of countries.

How many were killed?

Allende on the day; thereafter thousands killed or disappeared (Rettig and later updates) and tens of thousands tortured (Valech). Use commission ranges, not a single slogan integer.

Did the United States run the coup?

The US government opposed Allende and the declassified record shows covert political action and contacts. The operation on 11 September was executed by Chilean services. Historians argue about degrees of involvement; they do not treat it as a US amphibious landing.

How did Allende die?

The consensus of official investigations and most historians is suicide during the attack on La Moneda. Some memory camps still dispute the image. This page follows the mainstream historical account and names the dispute.

What was the Tanquetazo?

A 29 June 1973 failed armoured rising -- a warning rehearsal, not the September coup itself.

When did the dictatorship end?

The 1988 plebiscite rejected Pinochet's continuation; Patricio Aylwin took office in 1990. Pinochet remained army commander until 1998.

Start with this section - History

1970's election and the 1972-73 crisis are the necessary preface. A coup without a crisis story is a cartoon.

The Tanquetazo is the June warning.

Timeline

  1. Allende elected

    A plurality; Congress confirms him.

  2. Truckers' strike

    A long economic-political crisis marker.

  3. Tanquetazo

    Failed armour revolt.

  4. Prats resigns

    Constitutionalist commander out; Pinochet up.

  5. The coup

    La Moneda; Allende dead; junta.

  6. Stadium and DINA

    Mass detention and the secret-police years.

  7. Constitution

    The regime writes its legal afterlife.

  8. Plebiscite No

    Pinochet loses the continuation vote.

  9. Aylwin inauguration

    Civilian transition begins.

  10. Rettig / Valech

    Official counts enter the public record.

Eras

UP government

Reform, crisis, polarisation.

The day

Services move; palace attacked.

Terror and rewrite

DINA; 1980 constitution.

Protest and No

Days of protest; the plebiscite.

Transition memory

Commissions, London arrest (1998), street argument.

Milestones

Elected government broken by force

The constitutional fact of the day.

Commissioned truth

Rettig/Valech as a later state accounting.

1988 No

A peaceful electoral end to a violent beginning.

11 September is a day; 1990 is a transition, not a full stop in memory.

London 1998 showed that the file could reopen in foreign law.

HistoryForcesCampaignsCostIconsLegacyAtlas