The Somali Democratic Republic (Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Dimuqraadiga Soomaaliya, Arabic: الجمهورية الديمقراطية الصومالية al-Jumhūrīyah ad-Dīmuqrāṭīyah aṣ-Ṣūmālīyah‎, Italian: Repubblica Democratica Somala) was the name that the Marxist–Leninist regime of former President of Somalia Major General Mohamed Siad Barre gave to Somalia during its reign, after having seized power in a bloodless 1969 coup d'état.