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| 1963, Oct 9 |
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| Uganda became a republic with Mutesa II, the kabaka (king), as nonexecutive president. | 1 |
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| 1966, April |
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| A new constitution made Obote executive president and removed the kabaka as head of state. Obote suppressed a Bugandan rebellion against this constitution and abolished the monarchy in Buganda. | 2 |
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| 1966–71 |
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| Obote instituted increasingly authoritarian rule. The kabaka fled to London. The army became more powerful, and Gen. Idi Amin was promoted to army commander. | 3 |
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| 1971 |
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| Ugandan army commander Gen. Idi Amin seized power from Obote, leading to a kleptocratic, anarchic military regime. | 4 |
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| 1972 |
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| Amin ordered all noncitizen Asians to leave and took actions that resulted in the departure of most of the remaining Asian community in Uganda. He seized their property to enrich himself and his supporters. Amin also nationalized property held by British companies and expelled Israeli advisers, turning to the PLO, Libya, East Germany, and the Soviet Union for military assistance. | 5 |
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| 1976–77 |
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| Student and church groups protested against the Amin regime and were brutally repressed. The university was destroyed, and Anglican archbishop Janine Luwum was assassinated. | 6 |
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| 1979, April 11 |
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| After several attacks by Uganda on Tanzania, Gen. Idi Amin was deposed by a force of Tanzanian and Ugandan soldiers, ending his eight-year reign, which resulted in perhaps 300,000 deaths. The Tanzanians installed Yusufu Lule, but he was deposed by June and replaced by conservative former attorney general Godfrey Binaisa. | 7 |
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| 1980 |
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| A period of anarchy ensued, but general elections held in December led to the victory of Milton Obote's Uganda People's Party. Obote was opposed by Yoweri Museveni, who led the more radical Uganda Patriotic Movement. Museveni denounced the elections as rigged. | 8 |
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| 1981 |
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| Museveni launched a guerrilla war against the Obote government. | 9 |
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| 1985, July 27 |
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| Milton Obote was overthrown in a Ugandan military coup brought about by the National Resistance Movement's (NRM) guerrilla campaign, led by Museveni. | 10 |
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| 1986, Jan |
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| Yoweri Museveni became president of Uganda after the NRM won its guerrilla struggle. The NRM was composed mainly of Bantu-speaking southwesterners; it ended the domination of government and army by the northern Nilotic-speakers. The NRM, however, promised an end to ethnic conflict and government abuse but faced several rebel movements in its first two years in power. | 11 |
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| 1988 |
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| An amnesty program failed to end ongoing armed rebellions in the country. However, Museveni's government achieved a degree of stability and order, while reducing corruption. | 12 |
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