People's Republic of Benin
| People's Republic of Benin | ||||||||||
| République populaire du Bénin | ||||||||||
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Anthem The Dawn of a New Day |
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| Capital | Porto Novo | |||||||||
| Languages | French | |||||||||
| Government | Marxist-Leninist one-party state | |||||||||
| President | ||||||||||
| • | 1975–1990 | Mathieu Kérékou | ||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | |||||||||
| • | Military coup | 26 October 1972 | ||||||||
| • | Established | 30 November 1975 | ||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 1 March 1990 | ||||||||
| Currency | West African CFA franc (XOF) | |||||||||
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The People's Republic of Benin (French: République populaire du Bénin) was a socialist state located in the Gulf of Guinea on the African continent, which would become present-day Benin. The People's Republic was established on 30 November 1975, after the 1972 coup d'état in the Republic of Dahomey. It effectively lasted until 1 March 1990, with the adoption of a new constitution, and the abolition of Marxism-Leninism in the nation in 1989.
On 26 October 1972, the army led by Commander Mathieu Kérékou overthrew the government, suspended the constitution and dissolved both the National Assembly and the Presidential Council. On 30 November 1972 it released the keynote address of New Politics of National Independence. The territorial administration was reformed, mayors and deputies replacing traditional structures (village chiefs, convents, animist priests, etc.). On 30 November 1974 he declared in the city of Abomey, before an assembly of stunned notables, a speech proclaiming the formal accession of his government to Marxism-Leninism. He soon aligned Dahomey with the Soviet Union. The People's Revolutionary Party of Benin, designed as a vanguard party, was created on the same day as the country's only legal party.
The first year of the Marxist government was marked by purges in the state apparatus. Kérékou condemned, and sometimes executed, various representatives of the former political regime, and some of its own employees: Captain Michel Aipké, Interior minister, was sentenced to death and executed on a charge of adultery with the wife of the head of state. He was shot, and activists invited to file past his body. On 30 November 1975, with the first anniversary of the speech of Abomey, Kérékou changed the country's name to Benin, named after the Benin Empire that had once flourished in neighboring Nigeria. The National Day was set for 30 November referring to three days of 1972, 1974, and 1975, dubbed by the regime the Three Glorious.
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