[1][2][3] On 26 October 1972, the Armed Forces led by Commander Mathieu Kérékou overthrew the government in a coup d'état, suspended the constitution and dissolved both the National Assembly and the Presidential Council.

The territorial administration was reformed, mayors and deputies replacing traditional structures (village chiefs, convents, animist priests, etc.).

On 30 November 1974, before an assembly of stunned notables in the city of Abomey, he gave a speech proclaiming the formal accession of his government to Marxism–Leninism.

In January 1977, an attempted coup, called Operation Shrimp,[7] led by the mercenary Bob Denard and supported by France, Gabon, and Morocco failed and it helped to harden the regime, which was officially moving toward the way of a government-political party.

The government also pursued a policy of anti-religious inspiration, in order to root out witchcraft, forces of evil, and retrograde beliefs (West African Vodún, a traditional religion well established in the South, was prohibited,[11] which did not prevent President Kérékou, a few years later, from having his personal marabout, during the period in which he identified as Muslim).

Benin received only modest support from other communist states, hosting several teams from cooperating Cuba, East Germany, the Soviet Union, and North Korea.

The National Revolutionary Assembly was nominally the highest source of state power, but in practice did little more than rubber-stamp decisions already made by Kérékou and the PRPB.

[18] Plans for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) imposed in 1987 draconian economic measures: 10% additional levy on wages, hiring freezes, and compulsory retirements.

On 22 June 1989, the country signed a rescheduling agreement first with the Paris Club, for a total of $199 million and Benin was granted a 14.1% reduction of its debt.

On 7 December 1989, Kérékou took the lead and surprised the people by disseminating an official statement announcing the abandonment of Marxism–Leninism, the liquidation of the Political Bureau, and the closure of the party's central committee.

The work of the Conference decided to draft a new constitution and the establishment of a democratic process provided by a provisional government entrusted to a prime minister.