On 4 August 1983, a coup d'état was launched in the Republic of Upper Volta (today Burkina Faso) in an event sometimes referred to as the August revolution (French: Révolution d'août) or Burkinabé revolution. It was carried out by radical elements of the army led by Thomas Sankara and Blaise Compaoré, against the regime of Major Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo. Ouédraogo had been brought to power in a 1982 coup with the Conseil de Salut du Peuple (CSP), a body composed of military officials of different ideological backgrounds. The CSP chose Sankara as Prime Minister of Upper Volta in January 1983. As his tenure progressed, Ouédraogo found himself unable to reconcile the conservative and radical factions of the CSP, whose disagreements were leading to a political stalemate. On 16 May he purged his government of pro-Libyan and anti-French elements, disbanded the CSP, and had Sankara and several other important officials arrested. This move sparked discontent among Sankara's supporters. Sankara was eventually released while one officer, Compaoré, began to organise military resistance to the government.
Tensions continued to increase until 4 August when Compaoré launched a coup, leading 250 paratroopers in a march on the capital, Ouagadougou. Sankara attempted to broker a political compromise with Ouédraogo, but Compaoré's troops seized the city before this was done and captured Ouédraogo. Sankara became the new President of Upper Volta and created the Conseil National de la Revolution (CNR), a new governing body consisting mostly of populist junior officers.
Background
1982 coup and the CSP
In 1980 Colonel Saye Zerbo took control of the Republic of Upper Volta in a coup. He installed a mixed military-civilian regime which over time marginalised both the older, conservative senior officers and younger, radical left-wing junior officers in the army. On 7 November 1982 the conservative and left-wing factions united under conservative Colonel Gabriel Somé Yorian launched a coup which ousted Zerbo. The soldiers then formed the Conseil de Salut du Peuple (CSP), a 120-strong governing body consisting of officers, noncommissioned officers, and privates. Two days later the council elected Major Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo as president. He was a compromise choice between the left-wing radicals and conservatives on the CSP. According to Ouédraogo, radical Captain Thomas Sankara was supposed to take power but withdrew at the last minute, leading other officers to choose him to assume the presidency due to his senior rank though, in his words, "against my will". Unlike Sankara, he lacked political experience and popular support, and was quickly regarded by the left-wing members of the CSP as conservative and sympathetic to policies of France. Nevertheless, the media viewed Ouédraogo and Sankara as united in goals and dubbed them "Siamese twins".
On 21 November Ouédraogo declared that the CSP would restore a constitutional, civilian regime in two years time. Five days later the CSP installed a formal government. Ouédraogo was the only soldier in the cabinet and, in addition to his role as president, was made Minister of National Defence and Veterans Affairs. On the whole the CSP exercised true control of the government while Ouédraogo served as little more than a figurehead. The freedoms of labour unions and the press, having been restricted under Zerbo's reign, were restored by the new administration. The CSP elected Sankara as Prime Minister in January 1983, in effect instituting a power counterbalance to Ouédraogo.