COUP D'ETAT, a French phrase denoting a sudden and violent action by which power is seized by a member or section of a dominant class or party, in defiance of the constitution of the country. The coup d'etat of Nov. 9, 1799 (18 Brumaire), when Napoleon (q.v.) overthrew the Directory and became First Consul, and that of Dec. 2, 1851, when Louis Napoleon (see NAPOLEON III.) dissolved the Assembly of the Second Republic, are famous instances in French history. Cromwell's forcible dissolution of the Long Parliament (April 20, 1653) is a comparable example in English history.