page_title: 1963 Togolese coup d'état
section_title: Togolese military relations
hierarchical_section_title: 1963 Togolese coup d'état / Immediate preceding conditions / Togolese military relations
caption_attribution_description: Title: München, Präsident von Togo&#160; Extra information: Der Staatspräsident von Togo, Sylvanus Olympio, zu Besuch in Bayern; Empfang im Hotel Continental München&#160; People in the image: Olympio, Sylvanus: Präsident, Togo (GND 124746020) For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Factual corrections and alternative descriptions are encouraged separately from the original description. Additionally errors can be reported at this page to inform the Bundesarchiv. Alemannisch&#160;| Boarisch&#160;| беларуская&#160;| беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎‎&#160;| català&#160;| čeština&#160;| Deutsch&#160;| English&#160;| Esperanto&#160;| español&#160;| français&#160;| हिन्दी&#160;| hrvatski&#160;| italiano&#160;| 한국어&#160;| magyar&#160;| македонски&#160;| Plattdüütsch&#160;| polski&#160;| português&#160;| română&#160;| русский&#160;| slovenčina&#160;| slovenščina&#160;| suomi&#160;| svenska&#160;| українська&#160;| 中文（简体）‎&#160;| 中文（繁體）‎&#160;| +/− Original historic description:&#160; Staatspräsident von Togo, Olympio, Empfang im Hotel "Continental" in München
context_page_description: The 1963 Togolese coup d'état was a military coup that occurred in the West African country of Togo on 13 January 1963. The coup leaders — notably Emmanuel Bodjollé, Étienne Eyadéma and Kléber Dadjo — took over government buildings, arrested most of the cabinet, and assassinated Togo's first president, Sylvanus Olympio outside the American embassy in Lomé. The coup leaders quickly brought Nicolas Grunitzky and Antoine Meatchi, both of whom were exiled political opponents of Olympio, together to form a new government. While the government of Ghana and its president Kwame Nkrumah were implicated in the coup and assassination of Olympio, full investigation was never completed and the international outcry eventually died down. The event was important as the first coup d'état in the French and British colonies of Africa that achieved independence in the 1950s and 1960s, and Olympio is remembered as one of the first heads of state to be assassinated during a military coup in Africa.
context_section_description: Olympio had considered the military to be unnecessary in his efforts to develop and modernize the country and kept the military force small (only about 250 soldiers). However, as a result, troops who had left the French Army to return to their home in Togo were not provided with enlistment in the limited Togolese Armed Forces. Emmanuel Bodjollé and Kléber Dadjo, the leaders in the Togo military, repeatedly tried to get Olympio to increase funding and enlist more of the ex-French Army troops returning to the country, but were unsuccessful. On 24 September 1962, Olympio rejected the personal plea by Étienne Eyadéma, a sergeant in the French military, to join the Togolese military. On 7 January 1963, Dadjo again presented a request for enlisting ex-French troops and Olympio reportedly tore up the request.
caption: Sylvanus Olympio, the first president of Togo, was assassinated by military officers in the 1963 coup.
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