putsch

noun

ˈpu̇ch

: a secretly plotted and suddenly executed attempt to overthrow a government

Did you know?

In its native Swiss German, putsch originally meant "knock" or "thrust," but these days both German and English speakers use it to refer to the kind of government overthrow also known as a coup d'état or coup. Putsch debuted in English shortly before the tumultuous Kapp Putsch of 1920, in which Wolfgang Kapp and his right-wing supporters attempted to overthrow the German Weimar government. Putsch attempts were common in Weimar Germany, so the word appeared often in the stories of the English journalists who described the insurrections. Adolf Hitler also attempted a putsch (known as the Beer Hall Putsch), but he ultimately gained control of the German government via other means.

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web The double resignation was the start of a twenty-four-hour putsch in which more than three dozen ministers and aides deserted Johnson—his moral authority had evaporated some time ago—and left the nation with gaping holes in its government.

Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 6 July 2022 In a human rights report released on March 15, the United Nations accused the military junta of unleashing mass war crimes on its own people in the aftermath of the putsch.

New York Times, 30 Mar. 2022 The freedom to hold elections without worrying about an authoritarian putsch.

John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2022 The implicit message was that some Trump loyalists—those with a remaining shred of honor—drew a line in the sand over the violence and the Proud Boys’ putsch on January 6.

Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 28 June 2022 Going suddenly from Chernenko to Gorbachev, and then the putsch, the tanks in Moscow, the first nightclubs in Moscow, the first trips abroad.

Emmanuel Carrère, Harper’s Magazine , 25 May 2022 The move was agreed at an emergency summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Accra to respond to last week's putsch in Guinea and perceived slow progress towards constitutional rule in Mali following a coup last year.

Reuters, CNN, 17 Sep. 2021 Since the putsch, the new junta, led by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has banned social media, destroyed the economy and again bunkered an entire nation.

New York Times, 30 Mar. 2022 His intent was apparently to round up some pressure on moderate Republican senators to vote for the congressional commission to investigate the Jan. 6 putsch, because GOP obstruction is enabling the left's argument that bipartisanship is impossible.

Ryan Cooper, The Week, 16 June 2021 See More

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from German Putsch, borrowed from Swiss German Putsch, Butsch "resounding noise, violent shove, rush against an obstacle or toward an undertaking, popular disturbance," of imitative origin

Note: In Switzerland the word Putsch became associated in the first half of the nineteenth century with civil disturbances that arose from the lack of rural representation in the government of the Swiss cantons—as in the canton of Aargau, where a rural revolt (the Freiämtersturm) forced changes in the cantonal constitution in 1830, and particularly in Zürich, where a march into the city by rural conservatives on September 6, 1839, resulted in bloodshed and an overthrow of the liberal city administration (the Züriputsch). The word may have been popularized in Germany by the Swiss author Gottfried Keller, who used it in an oft-quoted passage in his novel Der grüne Heinrich ("Green Henry," 1855): "Das Wort Putsch stammt aus der guten Stadt Zürich, wo man einen plötzlichen vorübergehenden Regenguss einen Putsch nennt und demgemäss die eifersüchtigen Nachbarstädte jede närrische Gemütsbewegung, Begeisterung, Zornigkeit, Laune oder Mode der Züricher einen Zürichputsch nennen." ("The word Putsch originates in the good city of Zürich, where people call a sudden passing downpour a Putsch, and accordingly the jealous neighboring cities give the name 'Zürich Putsch' [Swiss German Züriputsch] to every foolish emotional display, inspiration, burst of anger, mood or fashion of the Zürich natives.") Keller's usage has no connection to politics, however, and in any case, as the Schweizerisches Idiotikon notes, he appears to have confused Putsch with Gutsch (also Gutz, Gütsch) "torrent, overflow of a liquid."

First Known Use

1919, in the meaning defined above

单词	putsch
释义	putsch noun ˈpu̇ch : a secretly plotted and suddenly executed attempt to overthrow a government Did you know? In its native Swiss German, putsch originally meant "knock" or "thrust," but these days both German and English speakers use it to refer to the kind of government overthrow also known as a coup d'état or coup. Putsch debuted in English shortly before the tumultuous Kapp Putsch of 1920, in which Wolfgang Kapp and his right-wing supporters attempted to overthrow the German Weimar government. Putsch attempts were common in Weimar Germany, so the word appeared often in the stories of the English journalists who described the insurrections. Adolf Hitler also attempted a putsch (known as the Beer Hall Putsch), but he ultimately gained control of the German government via other means. Example Sentences Recent Examples on the Web The double resignation was the start of a twenty-four-hour putsch in which more than three dozen ministers and aides deserted Johnson—his moral authority had evaporated some time ago—and left the nation with gaping holes in its government. Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 6 July 2022 In a human rights report released on March 15, the United Nations accused the military junta of unleashing mass war crimes on its own people in the aftermath of the putsch. New York Times, 30 Mar. 2022 The freedom to hold elections without worrying about an authoritarian putsch. John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2022 The implicit message was that some Trump loyalists—those with a remaining shred of honor—drew a line in the sand over the violence and the Proud Boys’ putsch on January 6. Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 28 June 2022 Going suddenly from Chernenko to Gorbachev, and then the putsch, the tanks in Moscow, the first nightclubs in Moscow, the first trips abroad. Emmanuel Carrère, Harper’s Magazine , 25 May 2022 The move was agreed at an emergency summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Accra to respond to last week's putsch in Guinea and perceived slow progress towards constitutional rule in Mali following a coup last year. Reuters, CNN, 17 Sep. 2021 Since the putsch, the new junta, led by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has banned social media, destroyed the economy and again bunkered an entire nation. New York Times, 30 Mar. 2022 His intent was apparently to round up some pressure on moderate Republican senators to vote for the congressional commission to investigate the Jan. 6 putsch, because GOP obstruction is enabling the left's argument that bipartisanship is impossible. Ryan Cooper, The Week, 16 June 2021 See More Word History Etymology borrowed from German Putsch, borrowed from Swiss German Putsch, Butsch "resounding noise, violent shove, rush against an obstacle or toward an undertaking, popular disturbance," of imitative origin Note: In Switzerland the word Putsch became associated in the first half of the nineteenth century with civil disturbances that arose from the lack of rural representation in the government of the Swiss cantons—as in the canton of Aargau, where a rural revolt (the Freiämtersturm) forced changes in the cantonal constitution in 1830, and particularly in Zürich, where a march into the city by rural conservatives on September 6, 1839, resulted in bloodshed and an overthrow of the liberal city administration (the Züriputsch). The word may have been popularized in Germany by the Swiss author Gottfried Keller, who used it in an oft-quoted passage in his novel Der grüne Heinrich ("Green Henry," 1855): "Das Wort Putsch stammt aus der guten Stadt Zürich, wo man einen plötzlichen vorübergehenden Regenguss einen Putsch nennt und demgemäss die eifersüchtigen Nachbarstädte jede närrische Gemütsbewegung, Begeisterung, Zornigkeit, Laune oder Mode der Züricher einen Zürichputsch nennen." ("The word Putsch originates in the good city of Zürich, where people call a sudden passing downpour a Putsch, and accordingly the jealous neighboring cities give the name 'Zürich Putsch' [Swiss German Züriputsch] to every foolish emotional display, inspiration, burst of anger, mood or fashion of the Zürich natives.") Keller's usage has no connection to politics, however, and in any case, as the Schweizerisches Idiotikon notes, he appears to have confused Putsch with Gutsch (also Gutz, Gütsch) "torrent, overflow of a liquid." First Known Use 1919, in the meaning defined above
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