Coup d'État: The Technique of Revolution

Coup d'État: The Technique of Revolution

Tecnica del colpo di stato, 1948 Italian translation
Author	Curzio Malaparte
Original title	Technique du coup d'état
Translator	Sylvia Saunders
Language	French
Subject	Coup d'état
Publisher	Éditions Grasset
Publication date	1931
Publication place	France
Published in English	1932
Pages	297

Coup d'État: The Technique of Revolution (French: Technique du coup d'état; Italian: Tecnica del colpo di stato) is a 1931 book by the Italian writer Curzio Malaparte.

Summary

Coup d'État: The Technique of Revolution consists of Curzio Malaparte's reflections on modern coups d'état. It devotes chapters to the Bolshevik Revolution with a focus on Leon Trotsky's and Vladimir Lenin's roles, the 1920 Battle of Warsaw, the Kapp Putsch in Germany, Napoleon Bonaparte as the inventor of the modern coup d'état, Miguel Primo de Rivera's rise to power in Spain, Benito Mussolini and the March on Rome, and the possibility that Adolf Hitler will come to power in Germany.^[1]

Publication

The book was written in Paris after Malaparte had fallen out with the Italian Fascist Party, with which he had a turbulent relationship.^[1] It was first published in French in 1931 and in English translation by Sylvia Saunders in 1932.^[1][2] The book created controversy and Malaparte was accused of cynicism and hypocrisy. Because of its negative assessment of Hitler, Malaparte was persecuted and imprisoned in Italy for spreading "antifascist propaganda abroad".^[1]

References

1. Favrod, Charles-Henri (22 September 2000). "Les grands livres du XXe siècle. «Technique du coup d'Etat»de Curzio Malaparte". Le Temps (in French). Retrieved 1 July 2023.
2. Shaplen, Joseph (3 July 1932). "Modern Revolutionary Technique as a Fascist Sees It; Signor Malaparte Thinks the Overthrow of Governments Is a Matter of Paralyzing the "Nerve Centres" COUP D'ETAT: The Technique of Revolution. By Curzio Malaparte. 251 pp. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. $2.50". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 July 2023.