arti Progressiste Dahomeen,' but this unity was short-lived." The principal leaders of this political group each represented the aspirations of a distinct region: Hubert Maga represented the North, Justin Ahomadegbe represented the South-West, and Sourou Migan Apithy represented the South-East.
In the 1960s and early 1970s, leadership in Dahomey swung between the North and the South, though neither region could dominate the government for long periods of time. Dossou-Yovo (1999) states that after the attainment of independence on August 1, 1960, Hubert Maga became the country's first president, with Sourou Migan Apithy became vice-president. In October 1963, following riots by workers and the intelligentsia in the south, Maga was deposed in a military coup led by Colonel Christophe Soglo, the army chief of staff.
Soglo served as interim Head of State under a government headed by Apithy until an election in January 1964. However, this government faced resentment in the north of the country where rioting occurred and the threat of a no
...