1963 Dahomeyan coup d'état 1963 Dahomeyan coup d'état The 1963 Dahomey coup d'état was staged on October 28, 1963, by Christophe Soglo, who took control of the Republic of Dahomey to prevent a civil war. He overthrew Hubert Maga, whose presidency faced extreme economic stagnation and a host of other problems. The West African colony of French Dahomey, the present-day nation of Benin, was largely ignored by the French during its colonial era in French West Africa. Dahomey had a weak economy, propelled by the lack of known natural resources. The last time the colony had a favorable trade balance was in 1924. Its
Dahomey to the Oyo Empire. The Kingdom of Dahomey was an important regional power that had an organized domestic economy built on conquest and slave labor, significant international trade with Europeans, a centralized administration, taxation systems, and an organized military. Notable in the kingdom were significant artwork, an all-female military unit called the Dahomey Amazons by European observers, and the elaborate religious practices of Vodun with the large festival of the Annual Customs of Dahomey. They traded prisoners, which they captured during wars and raids, and exchanged them with Europeans for goods such as knives, bayonets, firearms, fabrics, and spirits. The