During his absence, Amin took the offensive and staged a coup on January 25, , seizing control of the government and forcing Obote into exile. Once in power, Amin began mass executions upon the Acholi and Lango, Christian tribes that had been loyal to Obote and therefore perceived as a threat. He also began terrorizing the general public through the various internal security forces he organized, such as the State Research Bureau SRB and Public Safety Unity PSU , whose main purpose was to eliminate those who opposed his regime.
When the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine PFLP hijacked an Air France flight from Israel to Paris on June 27, , Idi Amin welcomed the terrorists and supplied them with troops and weapons, but was humiliated when Israeli commandos subsequently rescued the hostages in a surprise raid on the Entebbe airport.
In the aftermath, Amin ordered the execution of several airport personnel, hundreds of Kenyans whom were believed to have conspired with Israel and an elderly British hostage who had previously been escorted to a nearby hospital. Throughout his oppressive rule, Amin was estimated to have been responsible for the deaths of roughly , civilians.
When some fled across the border into Tanzania, Amin accused Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere of instigating the unrest and retaliated by annexing the Kagera Salient, a strip of territory north of the Kagera River, in November Two weeks later, Nyerere mobilized a counter-offensive to recapture the land, and drove the Ugandan Army out with the help of Ugandan exiles. The battle raged into Uganda, and on April 11, , Amin was forced to flee when Kampala was captured. Although he originally sought refuge in Libya, he later moved to Saudi Arabia, where he lived comfortably until his death of multiple organ failure in But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!
In Amin, angered over foreign residents' control of Ugandan commerce, ordered the expulsion of 55, Asian workers and businessmen and seized their businesses and assets for himself and his supporters.
In he declared himself president for life and embarked on a campaign to humiliate British nationals, climaxing in the summer of that year when he forced four Englishmen to carry him around in an Organization of African Unity rally in a sedan chair. Amin received some international attention in June-July of when he allowed Palestinian and East German terrorists to use Entebbe airport as a base to hold a group of hostages from a hijacked Air France airliner from Israel.
In a daring midnight raid on July 4, , Israeli commandos freed the hostages. Although Amin claimed he was trying to negotiate the hostages' release, there was irrefutable evidence that he was indeed cooperating with and supporting the hijackers. Although he converted to Islam, Amin was oppressive in his new religion and was a noted polygamist with at least five wives and 23 children. By Uganda's economy was in shambles with a failing infrastructure, and Amin began losing support almost everywhere.
In an attempt to rally the Ugandan people for his support, Amin in the spring of ordered his army to invade neighboring Tanzania, occupying square miles of the country, supposedly the beginning of his plan to conquer all of Africa for himself.
After a slow start, a force of 6, Ugandan rebels-in-exile, aided by a slowly mobilized 50,strong Tanzanian army, launched a counter-offensive against Amin's 70,strong army in December Amin's forces, demoralized and unwilling to fight any longer for their leader, rapidly collapsed.
Although Col. Muammar Gaddafi of Libya sent troops and equipment to aid Amin's army, and the Palestine Liberation Organization sent some of its fighters, they were not sufficient to quell the popular uprising that ensued throughout Uganda and the approaching Tanzanian troops and Ugandan rebels.
Amin's oppressive rule was brought to an end on April 11, when Tanzanian soldiers captured the Ugandan capital of Kampala, forcing Amin to flee into exile, taking most of his ill-gotten wealth and supporters with him. Amin first went to Libya and then to Saudi Arabia where he lived until his death in Sign In. Amin seizes control By the relationship between Obote and Amin had gone sour. Trying to stay in power Amin used violence and terror to eliminate his real and imaginary enemies.
For More Information Grahame, Iain. User Contributions: 1. Uganda was a troubled nation in the s. Its African neighbors were plagued with starvation and genocide, but the Ugandan nation fell victim to an extreme totalitarian government. Idi Amin used milliary power to seize and hold political office; this led to corrupt and unstable rule and a helpless population. In this case, it was a powerless situation in which not even citizens themselves, outlaying African powers nor International powers could aid.
Uganda was at the capricious whim of Idi Amin for eight years. Captain Idi Amin rose to power through the military. He was awarded high honors as a chief general. His success merited the attention of Ugandan president Milton Obote in Although Amin was uneducated and illiterate, he was offered a role as the Deputy Commander of the Ugandan Army.
Amin was initially welcomed into office by the people of Uganda because he promised suffrage and an instillation of civil rights. Ugandan people were probably attracted to this new idea because they had been previously ruled as a British colony and Milton Obote was accused of being a sort of dictator for abolishing a previous governmental constitution.
The population was easily influenced by Idi Amin due to his sense of charisma. Popular opinion soon changed when Amin began a regime of murder for all those who opposed him. Amin built up a body of well-trained spies to detect opposition while simultaneously tripling the size of the Ugandan armed forces.
It was when Amin began his totalarian regime that everyone began to realize the trouble that they were in. With the abolishment of civil rights and the establishment of a secret police force, citizens of Uganda were helpless. There were many attempts to put down the utalitarian rule. But, as substandard of a political leader Amin was, he was a fantasic commander and used his connections and influence to maintain a loyal and strong army.
This band of secret police, a group of spies comprised of hand-picked soldiers , lived undercover as common citizens in order to detect any opposition to the Amin regime.
It is crucial to look at the populance in this situation; any attempts to freedom that they hoped for were met with death or exilation. They knew that secret police were armed and ubiquitous. Amin continued his dictorial rule by suspending civil rights and dissolving the national assembly.
He created the Public Safety Unit as a group Amin was quickly running out of money due to his lavish spending on weapons and bonuses in commander salary. Maury Balkman. The economy collapsed, not least as the result of the expulsion in of the Asian business community. His eventual fall resulted from an ill-advised invasion of neighbouring Tanzania in Despite armed Libyan assistance, his army collapsed in the face of a Tanzanian counter-attack, aided by Ugandan exiles; in April he fled, first to Libya and then to Saudi Arabia, leaving Uganda in complete shambles.
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