Three exceptions I can think of: the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 which booted out James III in favor of William III (who didn't care about what parliament did domestically as long as it gave him resources to fight Louis XIV), the ouster of Mussolini from office, and one of the Nigerian coups a few years back where the general did indeed shock everybody by yielding power to civilians.
The James III situation is perhaps the closest parallel since it also involved the executive (king) undermining state institutions first. Turks will perhaps cite Ataturk overthrowing the Ottomans as another example.