1973 Chilean coup d'état

The 1973 Chilean coup d'état was a critical moment in both the history of Chile and the Cold War.

1973 Chilean coup d'état
Part of the history of Chile, Operation Condor, and the Cold War
The bombing of La Moneda on 11 September 1973 by the Chilean Armed Forces
Date 11 September 1973 Location Chile Action Armed forces put the country under military control. Little and unorganised civil resistance. Result Popular Unity government overthrown Suicide of Salvador Allende Military Junta Government led by General Augusto Pinochet assumed power
Belligerents
Chilean Government Revolutionary Left Movement "Group of Personal Friends" Other working-class militants[1]	Chilean Armed Forces Chilean Army Chilean Navy Chilean Air Force Carabineros de Chile
	Supported by: United States[2][3] Brazil[4]
Commanders and leaders
Salvador Allende † Max Marambio Miguel Enríquez	Augusto Pinochet José Toribio Merino Gustavo Leigh César Mendoza
Casualties and losses
46 GAP
60 in total during the coup

Following many years of social unrest and political tension between the opposition-controlled Congress of Chile and the socialist President Salvador Allende, as well as economic warfare ordered by US President Richard Nixon.^[5]

Allende was overthrown by the armed forces and national police.^[6][7]

The presidential palace was bombed. During the air raids and ground attacks that preceded the coup, Allende gave his final speech, in which he vowed to stay in the presidential palace.^[8] Direct witness accounts of Allende's death agree that he killed himself in the palace.^[9][10]

This marked the beginning of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.