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A.Word.A.Day--putsch

This week's theme: words borrowed from German.

putsch (pooch)

noun: A secretly plotted, sudden attempt to overthrow a government.

[From Swiss German Putsch (thrust, blow).]

An infamous example was the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923. Hitler and his cohorts stormed a beer hall in Munich where a meeting of the Bavarian government was taking place. The putsch failed and they were sentenced to prison. This attempt gave Hitler national attention and he decided to gain power by legal means. It was during this imprisonment that he wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle).

"Another mini-coup, 2003's shopping mall putsch aimed by young officers at Arroyo was yet another reminder of the restive military."
Where Has the Hope Gone?; The Standard (Hong Kong); Feb 18, 2006.

See more usage examples of putsch in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

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