1958 Reykani coup d'état
| 1958 Reykani coup d'état | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Parliament of Reykanes deciding on democracy | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
Reykani Government Reykani Defence |
Reykani Government Reykani Defence | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Kári Jónsson | Bjarni Herjólfsson | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 2250 |
995 soldiers 7297 Protesters | ||||||
The 1958 Reykani coup d'état (Reykani:1958 valdarán í Reykjani), (Salisfordian:1958 colpo di Stato di Reykani) was a military coup d'état that deposed the the Jónssonist-Socialist government and overthrown general secretary Kári Jónsson. It occured from a student protest that lead to the coup itself.
The proloque
On 9:24 27 July 1958 a anti government group hosted a protest near the Parliament which many students joined,which quickly overwhelmed the police when they wanted to stop the gathering.They demanded general elections, A new economic views, reopening the borders for economic and other porpuses and complete recognition of freedom of opinion and of expression, of freedom of the press and of radio.
The Protest
At 10:12 the military started to blockade the street around the protesters to deter them from getting to the parliament. Soldiers loyal to Bjarni disobeyed and they joined the protesters side. Soon the government became two sides. At about 11:02 the Battle of Búland street started between the protesters&mililtary and the Military still loyal To Brynjólfur.The Protesters broke through the blockade
The coup
At 1:00 the protesters and Bjarni broke in to the parliament. Other members of the party helped him and sabotaged the military. Bjarni's military went in to the parliament to arrest Kári Jónsson but the socialist military came to his aid and surrounded the building and try to get him out but they failed to do so since many military divisions surrendered and joined the other side. The protesters didn't make the situation easier for them which also distracted many other socialist military divisions from coming to help them and they also stopped any messages coming to them. Many didn't even knew they were at the parliament. At 3:56 Bjarni and his followers arrested Kári Jónsson and Bjarni made himself as the new Prime Minister.
Establishment of a democracy
After the arrest a Martial law was declared. After 3 days a meeting was called in the parliament, where all the demands of the protesters were enacted. The Constitution of Reykanes was revised and Bjarni Herjólfsson became acting prime minister till the 1959 election. Originally a term was to be 4 years but was changed to 6 year after the 1963 election.
