174-668: Cyrille Adoula (13 September 1921 – 24 May 1978) was a Congolese trade unionist and politician. He was the prime minister of the Republic of the Congo , from 2 August 1961 until 30 June 1964. Cyrille Adoula was born to middle-class Bangala parents on 13 September 1921 in Léopoldville , Belgian Congo . He attended a Catholic primary school in his youth and received secondary education at St. Joseph's Institute, graduating after five years of studies in 1941. That year he began working as
348-402: A Belgian colony . Congo achieved independence from Belgium on 30 June 1960 and was immediately confronted by a series of secessionist movements , the assassination of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba , and the seizure of power by Mobutu Sese Seko in a 1965 coup d'état . Mobutu renamed the country Zaire in 1971 and imposed a harsh personalist dictatorship until his overthrow in 1997 by
522-1005: A League of Nations mandate over the previously German colony of Ruanda-Urundi . During World War II , the Belgian Congo provided a crucial source of income for the Belgian government in exile in London, and the Force Publique again participated in Allied campaigns in Africa . Belgian Congolese forces under the command of Belgian officers notably fought against the Italian colonial army in Ethiopia in Asosa , Bortaï and Saïo under Major-General Auguste-Eduard Gilliaert . In May 1960,
696-678: A communist and, hoping to fragment the nationalist movement, supported rival, ethnic-based parties like CONAKAT. Many Belgians hoped that an independent Congo would form part of a federation, like the French Community or Britain's Commonwealth of Nations , and that close economic and political association with Belgium would continue. As independence approached, the Belgian government organised Congolese elections in May 1960 . These resulted in an MNC relative majority . The proclamation of
870-410: A kleptocracy as Mobutu and his associates embezzled government funds. In a campaign to identify himself with African nationalism, starting on 1 June 1966, Mobutu renamed the nation's cities: Léopoldville became Kinshasa (the country was known as Congo-Kinshasa), Stanleyville became Kisangani , Elisabethville became Lubumbashi , and Coquilhatville became Mbandaka . In 1971, Mobutu renamed the country
1044-696: A Belgian parliamentary working group on the future of the Congo was published. It noted a strong demand for "internal autonomy". August de Schryver , the Minister of the Colonies, launched a high-profile Round Table Conference in Brussels in January 1960, with the leaders of all the major Congolese parties in attendance. Lumumba, who had been arrested following riots in Stanleyville, was released in
1218-550: A College of Commissionaires-General ( Collège des Commissaires-généraux ) consisting of a panel of university graduates, led by Justin Bomboko . Soviet military advisors were ordered to leave. Allegedly, the coup was intended to force the politicians to take a cooling-off period before they could resume control. In practice, however, Mobutu sided with Kasa-Vubu against Lumumba, who was placed under house arrest, guarded by Ghanaian UN troops and an outer ring of ANC soldiers. Kasa-Vubu
1392-523: A base in the Congo near the southern border. This was in part attributed to his longstanding personal friendship with FNLA President Holden Roberto ; the two had previously been teammates for the Congolese football side Daring Club Motema Pembe . Adoula also had an interest in winning the support of Angolan refugees in Léopoldville, which grew in number after 1961. Furthermore, he hoped to undermine
1566-621: A campaign against Congolese ethnic Tutsis in eastern Zaire. A coalition of Rwandan and Ugandan armies invaded Zaire to overthrow the government of Mobutu, launching the First Congo War. The coalition allied with some opposition figures, led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila , becoming the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo . In 1997 Mobutu fled and Kabila marched into Kinshasa, naming himself as president and reverting
1740-543: A ceasefire failed, UN troops launched Operation Grandslam and occupied Élisabethville, prompting Tshombe to leave the country. A ceasefire was agreed upon soon thereafter. Indian UN troops, exceeding their orders, then occupied Jadotville, preventing Katangese loyalists from regrouping. Gradually, the UN overran the rest of the Katanga and, on 17 January 1963, Tshombe surrendered his final stronghold of Kolwezi , effectively ending
1914-727: A ceasefire, a plane crash near Ndola resulted in the death of Dag Hammarskjöld , the Secretary-General of the United Nations , along with all 15 passengers, setting off a succession crisis. Amidst widespread confusion and chaos, a temporary government was led by technicians (the Collège des commissaires généraux ). Katangan secession ended in January 1963 with the assistance of UN forces . Several short-lived governments of Joseph Ileo , Cyrille Adoula , and Moise Kapenda Tshombe took over in quick succession. Meanwhile, in
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#17327870711572088-652: A clerk for various commercial firms. He did this until 1952 when he accepted a senior position at the Belgian Congo Central Bank , becoming the first African to hold a significant post there. In 1948 he became a member of the Conseil pour le Travail et la Prevoyance Sociale Indigene. In 1954, Adoula joined the Belgian Socialist Party and subsequently became the representative for Action Socialiste in Léopoldville. He also enrolled in
2262-541: A consequence of exploitation and disease. In some areas the population declined dramatically – it has been estimated that sleeping sickness and smallpox killed nearly half the population in the areas surrounding the lower Congo River. News of the abuses began to circulate. In 1904, the British consul at Boma in the Congo, Roger Casement , was instructed by the British government to investigate. His report, called
2436-404: A coordinated MNC-L reaction to the news. Both chambers of Parliament, however, supported Lumumba and denounced Kasa-Vubu's action. Lumumba attempted to dismiss Kasa-Vubu from his position, but could not get support for this, precipitating a constitutional crisis. Ostensibly in order to resolve the deadlock, Joseph-Désiré Mobutu launched a bloodless coup and replaced both Kasa-Vubu and Lumumba with
2610-538: A growing amount of opposition from the nationalist elements of MNC-Lumumba and Gizenga's faction of the Parti Solidaire Africain . He also never garnered much popular support across the country. As 1961 drew to a close, several Lumumba sympathisers withdrew from Adoula's government and Gizenga retired to Stanleyville . Gizenga's persisting counter-government in the east represented the first major challenge to Adoula's authority. In January 1962, Adoula
2784-610: A growing nationalist movement, the Mouvement National Congolais led by Patrice Lumumba , won the parliamentary elections . Lumumba became the first Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, on 24 June 1960. The parliament elected Joseph Kasa-Vubu as president , of the Alliance des Bakongo ( ABAKO ) party. Other parties that emerged included the Parti Solidaire Africain led by Antoine Gizenga , and
2958-414: A heart attack and went to Lausanne , Switzerland for treatment. He succumbed to an illness and died there on 24 May 1978. Adoula was an anti-clerical and a socialist. He was well known publicly for his belief in socialism, but it was non- Marxist in nature; he was an anti-communist . In December 1957 he explained his beliefs to Présence Africaine : "Being a Socialist, I am for the transformation of
3132-579: A joint Anglo-Belgian-Portuguese invasion of German colonial territory in 1916 and 1917 during the East African campaign . The Force Publique gained a notable victory when it marched into Tabora in September 1916 under the command of General Charles Tombeur after heavy fighting. After 1918, Belgium was rewarded for the participation of the Force Publique in the East African campaign with
3306-460: A lack of infrastructure, corruption, and centuries of both commercial and colonial extraction and exploitation, followed by more than 60 years of independence, with little widespread development. Besides the capital Kinshasa, the two next largest cities, Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi , are both mining communities. The DRC's largest export is raw minerals, with China accepting over 50% of its exports in 2019. In 2021, DR Congo's level of human development
3480-799: A lackey of the United States government. Democratic Republic of the Congo DR Congo , officially the Democratic Republic of the Congo , also known as the DRC , Congo-Kinshasa or simply Congo , is a country in Central Africa . By land area, DR Congo is the second-largest country in Africa and the 11th-largest in the world . With a population of around 109 million, the Democratic Republic of
3654-497: A localist party led by Moïse Tshombe , was the third major organisation; it advocated federalism and primarily represented the southern province of Katanga . These were joined by a number of smaller parties which emerged as the nationalist movement developed, including the radical Parti Solidaire Africain (PSA), and factions representing the interests of minor ethnic groups like the Alliance des Bayanzi (ABAZI). Although it
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#17327870711573828-509: A major offensive against South Kasai. The attack was extremely successful, but during the course of the offensive, the ANC became involved in infighting between the Baluba and Bena Lulua ethnic groups. and perpetrated a number of large massacres of Luba civilians. Around 3,000 were killed. The violence of the advance caused an exodus of thousands of Baluba civilians who fled their homes to escape
4002-511: A mandate to arrest foreign mercenaries wherever they encountered them. In September 1961, an attempt to detain a group of Katangese mercenaries without violence during Operation Morthor went wrong and turned into a fire-fight. ONUC's claim to impartiality was undermined in mid-September when a company of Irish UN troops were captured by numerically superior Katangese forces following a six-day siege in Jadotville . Katanga proceeded to hold
4176-577: A moderate policy in the Congo, his successor U Thant supported a more radical policy of direct involvement in the conflict. Katanga released the captured Irish soldiers in mid-October as part of a cease-fire deal in which ONUC agreed to pull its troops back—a propaganda coup for Tshombe. Restated American support for the UN mission, and the murder of ten Italian UN pilots in Port-Empain in November 1961, strengthened international demands to resolve
4350-648: A monopoly over violence and resource extraction. The most violent of these concession regions, were surrounding rubber plantations. Concession regions would align with villages, employing local chiefs to aid in enforce strict quotas. Failure to comply or to meet quotas would result in kidnaping of family, held ransom until quotas could be met or physical violence. Violence was carried out by "village sentries," European militias employed to ensure collection. These sentries were granted full impunity for violence, without proper oversight were known to kill and eat underperforming workers. During 1885–1908, millions of Congolese died as
4524-635: A new government upon Kasa-Vubu. Adoula began attracting interest from the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a liberal, anti-communist alternative to Lumumba. In early 1961, the United States began to push for an Adoula-led government. United States Secretary of State Dean Rusk directed CIA agents to ensure that Adoula would become the next Congolese prime minister. The CIA acted in concert with other Western intelligence agencies in bribing Congolese parliamentarians to support Adoula. On 1 August Adoula
4698-399: A possible military government to restore order while others petitioned the colonial government for crackdowns. As law and order began to break down, white civilians formed militia groups known as Corps de Voluntaires Européens ("European Volunteer Corps") to police their neighborhoods, but these militias were outlawed on March 25. In the fallout from the Léopoldville riots, the report of
4872-529: A rebel government in November 1960 in opposition to the central government in Léopoldville. The Gizenga government was recognised by some states, including the Soviet Union and China, as the official government of the Congo and could call on an approximate 5,500 troops compared to the central government's 7,000. Faced with UN pressure, the Gizenga government however collapsed in January 1962 after Gizenga
5046-543: A set "native policy" ( politique indigène )—in contrast to the British and the French, who generally favoured the system of indirect rule whereby traditional leaders were retained in positions of authority under colonial oversight. There was also a high degree of racial segregation . Large numbers of white immigrants who moved to the Congo after the end of World War II came from across the social spectrum, but were nonetheless always treated as superior to black people. During
5220-509: A significant amount of territory and proclaimed a communist "People's Republic of the Congo" in Stanleyville. Government forces gradually retook territory and, in November 1964, Belgium and the United States intervened militarily in Stanleyville to recover hostages from Simba captivity. The Simbas were defeated and collapsed soon after. Following the elections in March 1965, a new political stalemate developed between Tshombe and Kasa-Vubu, forcing
5394-757: A team of over 100 advisors led by Che Guevara to advise the Simbas on tactics and doctrine. The Simba rebellion coincided with a wide escalation of the Cold War amid the Gulf of Tonkin incident and it has been speculated that, had the rebellion not been rapidly defeated, a full-scale American military intervention could have occurred as in Vietnam . After its early string of successes, the Simba rebellion began to encounter local resistance as it encroached on areas outside of
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5568-578: A third even further east and south around the Upemba Depression . By the 13th century there were three main confederations of states in the western Congo Basin around Pool Malebo. In the east were the Seven Kingdoms of Kongo dia Nlaza , considered to be the oldest and most powerful, which likely included Nsundi , Mbata , Mpangu , and possibly Kundi and Okanga . South of these was Mpemba which stretched from modern-day Angola to
5742-613: Is a member of the United Nations , Non-Aligned Movement , African Union , COMESA , Southern African Development Community , Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie , and Economic Community of Central African States . The Democratic Republic of the Congo is named after the Congo River , which flows through the country. The Congo River is the world's deepest river and the world's third-largest river by discharge . The Comité d'études du haut Congo ("Committee for
5916-585: The Mouvement National Congolais (MNC), was a united front organisation dedicated to achieving independence "within a reasonable" time. It was created around a charter which was signed by, among others, Patrice Lumumba , Cyrille Adoula and Joseph Iléo , but others accused the party of being too moderate. Lumumba became a leading figure within the MNC, and by the end of 1959, the party claimed to have 58,000 members. The MNC's main rival
6090-436: The 2018 general election , in the country's first peaceful transition of power since independence, Kabila was succeeded as president in a highly contentious election won by Félix Tshisekedi , who has served as president since. Since 2015, eastern Congo has been the site of an ongoing military conflict . The Democratic Republic of the Congo is extremely rich in natural resources but has suffered from political instability,
6264-572: The Belgian Congo demanded the end of colonial rule: this led to the country's independence on 30 June 1960. Minimal preparations had been made and many issues, such as federalism , tribalism , and ethnic nationalism , remained unresolved. In the first week of July, a mutiny broke out in the army and violence erupted between black and white civilians. Belgium sent troops to protect fleeing white citizens. Katanga and South Kasai seceded with Belgian support. Amid continuing unrest and violence,
6438-469: The Casement Report , confirmed the accusations of humanitarian abuses. The Belgian Parliament forced Leopold II to set up an independent commission of inquiry. Its findings confirmed Casement's report of abuses, concluding that the population of the Congo had been "reduced by half" during this period. Determining precisely how many people died is impossible, as no accurate records exist. In 1908,
6612-592: The Conference of Berlin in 1885 and made the land his private property. He named it the Congo Free State . Leopold's regime began various infrastructure projects, such as the construction of the railway that ran from the coast to the capital of Leopoldville (now Kinshasa), which took eight years to complete. In the Free State, colonists coerced the local population into producing rubber, for which
6786-590: The Congo Basin , the territory of the Congo was first inhabited by Central African foragers around 90,000 years ago and was settled in the Bantu expansion about 3000 to 2000 years ago. In the west, the Kingdom of Kongo ruled around the mouth of the Congo River from the 14th to 19th centuries. In the center and east, the empires of Mwene Muji , Luba , and Lunda ruled from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries to
6960-476: The Congo Free State , Belgian Congo , the Republic of the Congo-Léopoldville , the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Zaire , before returning to its current name the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the time of independence, the country was named the Republic of the Congo-Léopoldville to distinguish it from its neighbour Congo , officially the Republic of the Congo . With
7134-572: The Congo Free State , in 1885. By the turn of the century, however, the violence of Free State officials against indigenous Congolese and the ruthless system of economic extraction had led to intense diplomatic pressure on Belgium to take official control of the country, which it did in 1908, creating the Belgian Congo . Belgian rule in the Congo was based around the "colonial trinity" ( trinité coloniale ) of state , missionary and private company interests. The privileging of Belgian commercial interests meant that capital sometimes flowed back into
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7308-567: The Congo River . It included various kingdoms such as Mpemba Kasi and Vunda . To its west across the Congo River was a confederation of three small states; Vungu (its leader), Kakongo , and Ngoyo . The Kingdom of Kongo was founded in the 14th century and dominated the western region. The empire of Mwene Muji was founded around Lake Mai-Ndombe. From the Upemba Depression the Luba Empire and Lunda Empire emerged in
7482-696: The Copperbelt of neighbouring Northern Rhodesia (then part of the Central African Federation ) than with the rest of the Congo, and because of its economic importance it had been administered separately from the rest of the country under the Belgians. CONAKAT furthermore contended that Katangese people were ethnically distinct from other Congolese. The secession was partly motivated by the Katangese separatists' desire to keep more of
7656-673: The First Congo War . The country then had its name changed back and was confronted by the Second Congo War from 1998 to 2003, which resulted in the deaths of 5.4 million people and the assassination of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila . The war ended under President Joseph Kabila , who governed the country from 2001 to 2019 and under whom human rights in the country remained poor and included frequent abuses such as forced disappearances , torture, arbitrary imprisonment and restrictions on civil liberties. Following
7830-680: The Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique . Once he became one of the top Congolese delegates in the association he resigned from his bank post and devoted his time to politics. In 1957 he attended the International Labour Conference in Geneva as an adviser to the Belgian delegation. At a Fédération Générale conference in 1959 he successfully lobbied for the Congolese branch of the association to become independent, subsequently becoming secretary-general of
8004-507: The Garamba National Park . The war in the Congo has been described as the bloodiest war since World War II. In 2009, The New York Times reported that people in the Congo continued to die at a rate of an estimated 45,000 per month – estimates of the number who have died from the long conflict range from 900,000 to 5,400,000. The death toll is caused by widespread disease and famine; reports indicate that almost half of
8178-508: The Kiswahili word for " lion "), had a populist but vague ideology, loosely based on communism, which prioritised equality and aimed to increase overall wealth. Most of the active revolutionaries were young men who hoped that the rebellion would provide them with opportunities which the government had not. The Simbas used magic to initiate members and believed that, by following a moral code, they could become invulnerable to bullets. Magic
8352-527: The Kongo language (also called Kikongo ). According to American writer Samuel Henry Nelson: "It is probable that the word 'Kongo' itself implies a public gathering and that it is based on the root konga , 'to gather' (trans[itive])." The modern name of the Kongo people, Bakongo , was introduced in the early 20th century. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been known in the past as, in chronological order,
8526-458: The Luba ethnic group , and its president, Albert Kalonji , claimed that the secession was largely sparked by persecution of the Baluba in the rest of the Congo. The South Kasai government was supported by Forminière , another Belgian mining company, which received concessions from the new state in return for financial support. Without control over Katanga and South Kasai, the central government
8700-484: The Luluabourg Constitution , after the city in which it was written, to create a compromise balance of power. The new constitution increased the power of the presidency , ending the system of joint consultation between president and prime minister, and appeased federalists by increasing the number of provinces from six to 21 while increasing their autonomy. The constitution also changed the name of
8874-421: The Mouvement National Congolais (MNC). Diverse in membership, the party sought to peacefully achieve Congolese independence, promote the political education of the populace, and eliminate regionalism. Adoula became party vice president. While Lumumba became increasingly strident and nationalistic, Adoula remained relatively moderate. In 1959, he and Albert Kalonji made an unsuccessful attempt to oust Lumumba from
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#17327870711579048-629: The National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), which began an armed rebellion against the government. In March 2009, after a deal between the DRC and Rwanda, Rwandan troops entered the DRC and arrested Nkunda and were allowed to pursue FDLR militants. The CNDP signed a peace treaty with the government in which it agreed to become a political party and to have its soldiers integrated into
9222-443: The Norwegian Refugee Council , the situation in the DRC became much worse in 2016 and 2017 and is a major moral and humanitarian challenge comparable to the wars in Syria and Yemen, which receive much more attention. Women and children are abused sexually and "abused in all possible manners". Besides the conflict in North Kivu , violence increased in the Kasai region . The armed groups were after gold, diamonds, oil, and cobalt to line
9396-407: The Republic of Zaire , its fourth name change in eleven years and its sixth overall. The Congo River was renamed the Zaire River. During the 1970s and 1980s, Mobutu was invited to visit the United States on several occasions, meeting with U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon , Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush . Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union U.S. relations with Mobutu cooled, as he
9570-403: The UN Security Council was called on 7 December 1960 to consider Soviet demands that the UN seek Lumumba's immediate release, his restoration to the head of the Congolese government and the disarming of Mobutu's forces. The pro-Lumumba resolution was defeated on 14 December 1960 by a vote of 8–2. Still in captivity, Lumumba was tortured and transported to Thysville and later to Katanga, where he
9744-419: The United Nations deployed peacekeepers , but UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld refused to use these troops to help the central government in Léopoldville fight the secessionists. Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba , the charismatic leader of the largest nationalist faction, reacted by calling for assistance from the Soviet Union, which promptly sent military advisers and other support. The involvement of
9918-435: The United Nations Operation in the Congo use force to put down the rebellion in the proclaimed State of Katanga . President Joseph Kasa-Vubu dismissed Lumumba in September 1960 and appointed Iléo to be his replacement, though Parliament refused to confirm him. Adoula briefly served as Iléo's minister of interior. Lumumba was definitively removed from power and eventually killed in a coup by Colonel Joseph Mobutu , who forced
10092-424: The " Free Republic of the Congo " was founded in the eastern city of Stanleyville by Lumumba supporters led by Antoine Gizenga . It gained Soviet support but was crushed in early 1962. Meanwhile, the UN took a more aggressive stance towards the secessionists after Hammarskjöld was killed in a plane crash in late 1961. Supported by UN troops, Léopoldville defeated secessionist movements in Katanga and South Kasai by
10266-453: The "Democratic Republic of the Congo". In 1971 Mobutu changed the name again, this time to "Republic of Zaire". Mobutu had the staunch support of the United States because of his opposition to communism ; the U.S. believed that his administration would serve as an effective counter to communist movements in Africa. A single-party system was established, and Mobutu declared himself head of state . He periodically held elections in which he
10440-400: The "House of African Nationalists" to be opened in Léopoldville for their use. Despite this, the funds never proved forthcoming and the liberation movements struggled with logistics and organisation. Following the defeat of Katanga, Adoula organised a new "Government of Reconciliation" in April 1963. From Gizenga's arrest in early 1962 until Parliament's adjournment in September 1963, most of
10614-459: The 100,000 Europeans who had remained behind after independence fled the country. After the United Nations rejected Lumumba's call for help to put down the secessionist movements, Lumumba asked for assistance from the Soviet Union, who accepted and sent military supplies and advisers. On 23 August, the Congolese armed forces invaded South Kasai . Lumumba was dismissed from office on 5 September 1960 by Kasa-Vubu who publicly blamed him for massacres by
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#173278707115710788-432: The 15th and 17th centuries respectfully dominated the eastern region. Belgian exploration and administration took place from the 1870s until the 1920s. It was first led by Henry Morton Stanley , who undertook his explorations under the sponsorship of King Leopold II of Belgium . The eastern regions of the precolonial Congo were heavily disrupted by constant slave raiding , mainly from Arab–Swahili slave traders such as
10962-505: The 1940s and 1950s, the Congo experienced an unprecedented level of urbanisation and the colonial administration began various development programmes aimed at making the territory into a "model colony". One of the results of the measures was the development of a new middle class of Europeanised African " évolués " in the cities. By the 1950s, the Congo had a wage labour force twice as large as that in any other African colony. The Congo's rich natural resources, including uranium— much of
11136-415: The 1988 discovery of the Semliki harpoon at Katanda , one of the oldest barbed harpoons ever found, believed to have been used to catch giant river catfish . Bantu peoples reached Central Africa at some point during the first millennium BC, then gradually started to expand southward. Their propagation was accelerated by the adoption of pastoralism and of Iron Age techniques. The people living in
11310-536: The Belgian Congo and the majority of Leopold II's administration with him. Opening up the Congo and its natural and mineral riches to the Belgian economy remained the main motive for colonial expansion – however, other priorities, such as healthcare and basic education, slowly gained in importance. Colonial administrators ruled the territory and a dual legal system existed (a system of European courts and another one of indigenous courts, tribunaux indigènes ). Indigenous courts had only limited powers and remained under
11484-463: The Belgian Congo. The railway first commenced in the Congo in 1910, reaching a 800-km network of track. In 1923 the colonial capital moved from Boma to Léopoldville, some 300 kilometres (190 mi) further upstream into the interior. The transition from the Congo Free State to the Belgian Congo was a break, but it also featured a large degree of continuity. The last governor-general of the Congo Free State, Baron Théophile Wahis , remained in office in
11658-404: The Belgian government to support colonial expansion around the then-largely unexplored Congo Basin . The Belgian government's ambivalence about the idea led Leopold to eventually create the colony on his own account. With support from a number of Western countries, who viewed Leopold as a useful buffer between rival colonial powers, Leopold achieved international recognition for a personal colony,
11832-600: The Belgian operation, Lumumba denounced it and called for "all Congolese to defend our republic against those who menace it." At Lumumba's request, white civilians from the port city of Matadi were evacuated by the Belgian Navy on 11 July. Belgian ships then bombarded the city; at least 19 civilians were killed. This action prompted renewed attacks on whites across the country, while Belgian forces entered other towns and cities, including Léopoldville, and clashed with Congolese troops. The Belgian government subsequently announced that it would provide for Belgian bureaucrats back in
12006-486: The Belgian parliament, in spite of initial reluctance, bowed to international pressure (especially from the United Kingdom ) and took over the Free State from King Leopold II. On 18 October 1908, the Belgian parliament voted in favour of annexing the Congo as a Belgian colony. Executive power went to the Belgian minister of colonial affairs , assisted by a Colonial Council (Conseil Colonial) (both located in Brussels). The Belgian parliament exercised legislative authority over
12180-430: The Central African Republic on behalf of its former president, Ange-Félix Patassé . Talks led to a peace accord under which Kabila would share power with former rebels. By June 2003 all foreign armies except those of Rwanda had pulled out of Congo. A transitional government was set up until after the election. A constitution was approved by voters, and on 30 July 2006 DRC held its first multi-party elections . These were
12354-504: The Congo , led by Congolese warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba . The two rebel movements, along with Rwandan and Ugandan troops, started the Second Congo War by attacking the DRC army in 1998. Angolan, Zimbabwean, and Namibian militaries entered the hostilities on the side of the government. Kabila was assassinated in 2001. His son Joseph Kabila succeeded him and called for multilateral peace talks. UN peacekeepers, MONUC, now known as MONUSCO , arrived in April 2001. In 2002–03 Bemba intervened in
12528-407: The Congo and that individual regions became specialised . On many occasions, the interests of the government and private enterprise became closely tied and the state helped companies with strikebreaking and countering other efforts by the indigenous population to better their lot. The country was split into nesting, hierarchically organised administrative subdivisions, and run uniformly according to
12702-656: The Congo became independent from Belgium and ended, unofficially, with the entire country under the rule of Joseph-Désiré Mobutu . Constituting a series of civil wars , the Congo Crisis was also a proxy conflict in the Cold War , in which the Soviet Union and the United States supported opposing factions. Around 100,000 people are believed to have been killed during the crisis. A nationalist movement in
12876-547: The Congo is the most populous Francophone country in the world. The national capital and largest city is Kinshasa , which is also the economic center. The country is bordered by the Republic of the Congo , Central African Republic , South Sudan , Uganda , Rwanda , Burundi , Tanzania (across Lake Tanganyika ), Zambia , Angola , the Cabinda exclave of Angola , and the South Atlantic Ocean . Centered on
13050-418: The Congo might follow the same path as Cuba . Lumumba's appeal for Soviet support split the government and led to mounting pressure from Western countries to remove him from power. In addition, both Tshombe and Kalonji appealed to Kasa-Vubu, whom they believed to be both a moderate and federalist, to move against Lumumba's centralism and resolve the secession issue. Meanwhile, Mobutu took effective control of
13224-418: The Congolese capital, on 4 January 1959 after a political demonstration turned violent. The Force Publique , the colonial gendarmerie , used force against the rioters—at least 49 people were killed, and total casualties may have been as high as 500. The nationalist parties' influence expanded outside the major cities for the first time, and nationalist demonstrations and riots became a regular occurrence over
13398-567: The DROC , and RDC (in French). Before Bantu expansion , the territory comprising the Democratic Republic of the Congo was home to Central Africa's oldest settled groups, the Mbuti peoples . Most of the remnants of their hunter-gatherer culture remain in the present time. The geographical area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was populated as early as 90,000 years ago, as shown by
13572-555: The Irishmen as prisoners of war, a development that deeply embarrassed the UN mission and its proponents. On 18 September 1961, Hammarskjöld flew to Ndola , just across the border in Northern Rhodesia , to attempt to broker a cease-fire between UN and Katangese forces. His aircraft crashed before landing at Ndola Airport , killing him and everybody else on board. In stark contrast to Hammarskjöld's attempts to pursue
13746-494: The Katangese secession. Following the end of the Katanga secession, political negotiations began to reconcile the disparate political factions. The negotiations coincided with the formation of an émigré political group, the Conseil National de Libération (CNL), by dissident Lumumbists and others in neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville . The negotiations culminated in the creation of a new, revised constitution, known as
13920-444: The Katangese secession. Under Tshombe's interim government, fresh elections were scheduled for 30 March and the rebellion broke out in the central and eastern parts of the Congo. The period of political crisis had led to widespread disenchantment with the central government brought in by independence. Demands for a "second independence" from kleptocracy and political infighting in the capital grew. The "second independence" slogan
14094-558: The Kitona Declaration in December 1961 in which he agreed in principle to accept the authority of the central government and state constitution and to abandon any claim to Katangese independence. Following the declaration, however, talks between Tshombe and Adoula reached a deadlock, while Katangese forces continued to harass UN troops. Diminishing support and Belgium's increasing reluctance to support Katanga demonstrated that
14268-634: The MNC-Kalonji (MNC-K), while the majority group became the MNC-Lumumba (MNC-L). The split divided the party's support base into those who remained with Lumumba, chiefly in the Stanleyville region in the north-east, and those who backed the MNC-K, which became most popular around the southern city of Élisabethville and among the Luba ethnic group . Major riots broke out in Léopoldville ,
14442-480: The MNC-L's old domain. The People's Republic also suffered from a lack of coherent social and economic policy, contributing to an inability to administer its own territory. From the end of August 1964 the rebels began to lose ground to the ANC. Albertville and Lisala were recaptured in late August and early September. Tshombe, backed by Mobutu, recalled many of his former mercenaries from the Katangese secession to oppose
14616-533: The Parti National du Peuple led by Albert Delvaux and Laurent Mbariko . The Belgian Congo achieved independence on 30 June 1960 under the name "République du Congo" ("Republic of Congo" or "Republic of the Congo" in English). Shortly after, on 15 August 1960, the neighboring French colony of Middle Congo also gained independence and adopted the same name, ' Republic of Congo .' To avoid confusion between
14790-814: The Portuguese colonial authorities, which were rumored to be supporting Tshombe's efforts in mid-1963 to dislodge his administration. In November of that year his government forced one of the FNLA's chief rivals, the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola , to close its Léopoldville offices and drove its leadership out of the city. Under Adoula, the Congo joined the Pan-African Freedom Movement for East and Central Africa . He agreed to supply funds to various liberation movements in southern Africa and arranged for an office building dubbed
14964-554: The Senate's first session on 17 June 1960, Adoula proposed a resolution which was unanimously adopted, calling for representatives of the Union of South Africa to be barred from attending the Congo's independence celebrations due to the country's Apartheid policy. Patrice Lumumba became Prime Minister and offered Adoula a ministerial position in his government but the latter refused to accept it. Adoula expressed his dissatisfaction with
15138-410: The Simba rebels by November 1965. Lumumba had previously appointed Mobutu chief of staff of the new Congo army, Armée Nationale Congolaise . Taking advantage of the leadership crisis between Kasavubu and Tshombe, Mobutu garnered enough support within the army to launch a coup. A constitutional referendum the year before Mobutu's coup of 1965 resulted in the country's official name being changed to
15312-467: The Soviet Union, which agreed to provide weapons, logistical and material support. Around 1,000 Soviet military advisors soon landed in the Congo. Lumumba's actions distanced him from the rest of the government, especially Kasa-Vubu, who feared the implications of Soviet intervention. The Americans also feared that a Soviet-aligned Congo could form the basis of a major expansion of communism into central Africa. With Soviet support, 2,000 ANC troops launched
15486-537: The Soviets split the Congolese government and led to an impasse between Lumumba and President Joseph Kasa-Vubu . Mobutu, at that time Lumumba's chief military aide and a lieutenant-colonel in the army, broke this deadlock with a coup d'état , expelled the Soviet advisors and established a new government effectively under his own control. Lumumba was taken captive and subsequently executed in 1961. A rival government of
15660-596: The Study of the Upper Congo"), established by King Leopold II of Belgium in 1876, and the International Association of the Congo , established by him in 1879, were also named after the river. The Congo River was named by early European sailors after the Kingdom of Kongo and its Bantu inhabitants, the Kongo people , when they encountered them in the 16th century. The word Kongo comes from
15834-601: The apparent sudden collapse of order in the Congo, as the world view of the Congolese situation prior to independence—due largely to Belgian propaganda—was one of peace, stability, and strong control by the authorities. Lumumba's stance appeared to many Belgians to justify their prior concerns about his radicalism. On 9 July, Belgium deployed paratroopers, without the Congolese state's permission, in Kabalo and elsewhere to protect fleeing white civilians. The Belgian intervention divided Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu; while Kasa-Vubu accepted
16008-594: The armed forces in South Kasai and for involving Soviets in the country. On 7 September, Lumumba made a speech to the Congolese House of Representatives, arguing his dismissal was illegal under the nation's laws. Congolese law gave parliament, not the president, the authority to dismiss a government minister. The House and Senate both rejected the dismissal of Lumumba, but the removal proceeded unconstitutionally. On 14 September, Colonel Joseph Mobutu , with
16182-503: The army, routing foreign aid and promotions to specific units and officers to secure their allegiance. On 5 September 1960, Kasa-Vubu announced on national radio that he had unilaterally dismissed Lumumba , using the massacres in South Kasai as a pretext and with the promise of American backing. Andrew Cordier , the American UN representative in the Congo, used his position to block communications by Lumumba's faction and to prevent
16356-460: The backing of the US and Belgium, removed Lumumba from office. On 17 January 1961, Lumumba was handed over to Katangan authorities and executed by Belgian-led Katangan troops. A 2001 investigation by Belgium's Parliament found Belgium "morally responsible" for the murder of Lumumba, and the country has since officially apologised for its role in his death. On 18 September 1961, in ongoing negotiations of
16530-461: The broad absence of suitably qualified black Congolese replacements. Many Congolese people had assumed that independence would produce tangible and immediate social change, so the retention of whites in positions of importance was widely resented. "Independence brings changes to politicians and to civilians. But for you, nothing will be changed ... none of your new masters can change the structure of an army which, throughout its history, has been
16704-615: The central and eastern Congo. The Kwilu Rebellion broke out on 16 January 1964 in the cities of Idiofa and Gungu in Kwilu Province . Further disruption and uprisings then spread to Kivu in the east and later to Albertville , sparking further insurrection elsewhere in the Congo and the outbreak of the larger Simba Rebellion . The rebels began to expand their territory and rapidly advance northwards, capturing Port-Émpain, Stanleyville, Paulis and Lisala between July and August. The rebels, who called themselves "Simbas" (from
16878-483: The chief advocate of a unified state. Less than a month after the Katangese secession, on 8 August, a section of Kasai Province situated slightly to the north of Katanga also declared its autonomy from the central government as the Mining State of South Kasai ( Sud-Kasaï ) based around the city of Bakwanga . South Kasai was much smaller than Katanga, but was also a mining region. It was largely populated by
17052-412: The conflict was estimated to escalate starvation in about two million children. Congo Crisis Other major events Congolese: Other major events The Congo Crisis (French: Crise congolaise ) was a period of political upheaval and conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo ). The crisis began almost immediately after
17226-416: The country to the "Democratic Republic of the Congo", but the change was not made. The country's name was later restored by President Laurent-Désiré Kabila when he overthrew Mobutu in 1997. To distinguish it from the neighboring Republic of the Congo, it is sometimes referred to as Congo (Kinshasa) , Congo-Kinshasa , or Big Congo . Its name is sometimes also abbreviated as Congo DR , DR Congo , DRC ,
17400-635: The country. Rather than deploying Belgian troops against the mutineers as Janssens had wished, Lumumba dismissed him and renamed the Force Publique the Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC). All black soldiers were promoted by at least one rank. Victor Lundula was promoted directly from sergeant-major to major-general and head of the army, replacing Janssens. At the same time, Joseph-Désiré Mobutu , an ex-sergeant-major and close personal aide of Lumumba, became Lundula's deputy as army chief of staff . The government attempted to stop
17574-512: The crowning success of the nationalist movement . Although Lumumba's address was acclaimed by figures such as Malcolm X , it nearly provoked a diplomatic incident with Belgium; even some Congolese politicians perceived it as unnecessarily provocative. Nevertheless, independence was celebrated across the Congo. Politically, the new state had a semi-presidential constitution , known as the Loi Fondamentale , in which executive power
17748-609: The deteriorating human rights situation and prevent the outbreak of full-scale civil war. The resolution "completely rejected" Katanga's claim to statehood and authorised ONUC troops to use all necessary force to "assist the Central Government of the Congo in the restoration and maintenance of law and order". The Katangese made further provocations and, in response, ONUC launched Operation Unokat to dismantle Katangese roadblocks and seize strategic positions around Élisabethville. Faced with international pressure, Tshombe signed
17922-487: The dissent Adoula faced from the left came in the form of obstructionist activities in the legislative process. In October the radical Comité National de Libération (CNL) formed in Brazzaville with the goal of overthrowing Adoula's government. By December a CNL-instigated revolt had emerged in Kwilu Province . The larger Simba rebellion of 1964 saw much of the eastern Congo overrun by leftist guerrilla forces. During
18096-485: The east of the country, Soviet and Cuban-backed rebels called the Simbas rose up, taking a significant amount of territory and proclaiming a communist "People's Republic of the Congo" in Stanleyville. The Simbas were pushed out of Stanleyville in November 1964 during Operation Dragon Rouge , a military operation conducted by Belgian and American forces to rescue hundreds of hostages. Congolese government forces fully defeated
18270-627: The end of the Katangese secession, he in earnest attempted to develop the Congo's foreign relations, particularly with other African states in a Pan-African image. As part of this, he supported decolonisation in southern Africa. Adoula denounced Portuguese rule in neighboring Angola , which won him favour from the Afro-Asian bloc of non-aligned states. He actively supported the Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola (FNLA) resistance group throughout his tenure and allowed it to maintain
18444-478: The fighting. The involvement of the Soviet Union alarmed the United States. The American government under Eisenhower, in line with Belgian criticism, had long believed that Lumumba was a communist and that the Congo could be on track to become a strategically placed Soviet client state . In August 1960, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents in the region reported to their agency that "Congo [is] experiencing [a] classic communist ... takeover" and warned that
18618-544: The firm control of the colonial administration. The Belgian authorities permitted no political activity in the Congo whatsoever, and the Force Publique put down any attempts at rebellion. The Belgian Congo was directly involved in the two world wars. During World War I (1914–1918), an initial stand-off between the Force Publique and the German colonial army in German East Africa turned into open warfare with
18792-586: The first President of Orientale Province , Jean-Pierre Finant , were executed in South Kasai for "crimes against the Baluba nation". Gizenga's soldiers then shot 15 political prisoners in retaliation, including Lumumba's dissident Minister of Communications, Alphonse Songolo . Since its initial resolution of July 1960, the UN had issued further resolutions calling for the total withdrawal of Belgian and mercenary forces from Katanga in progressively stronger terms. By 1961, ONUC comprised nearly 20,000 men. Although their mandate prevented them from taking sides, ONUC had
18966-610: The first free national elections since 1960, which many believed would mark the end to violence in the region. However, an election-result dispute between Kabila and Bemba turned into a skirmish between their supporters in Kinshasa. MONUC took control of the city. A new election took place in October 2006, which Kabila won, and in December 2006 he was sworn in as president. Laurent Nkunda , a member of Rally for Congolese Democracy–Goma , defected along with troops loyal to him and formed
19140-687: The goal immediately began, but faced strong opposition from the Lumumbist bloc, which felt that the Katanga problem should be resolved before any discussion concerning the division of the provinces. On the international level, Adoula pursued a policy of neutrality. On 4 September 1961 he attended the 1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade that resulted in the foundation of the Non-Aligned Movement . Following
19314-454: The government into near-paralysis. Mobutu mounted a second coup d'état in November 1965, taking personal control of the country. Under Mobutu's rule, the Congo (renamed Zaire in 1971) was transformed into a dictatorship which would endure until his deposition in 1997 . Colonial rule in the Congo began in the late 19th century. King Leopold II of Belgium , frustrated by Belgium's lack of international power and prestige, attempted to persuade
19488-642: The highest levels of sexual violence in the world. According to the Human Rights Watch and the New York University-based Congo Research Group, armed troops in DRC's eastern Kivu region have killed over 1,900 civilians and kidnapped at least 3,300 people since June 2017 to June 2019. On 10 May 2018, Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his effort to end
19662-576: The independent Republic of the Congo , and the end of colonial rule, occurred as planned on 30 June 1960. In a ceremony at the Palais de la Nation in Léopoldville, King Baudouin gave a speech in which he presented the end of colonial rule in the Congo as the culmination of the Belgian " civilising mission " begun by Leopold II. After the King's address, Lumumba gave an unscheduled speech in which he angrily attacked colonialism and described independence as
19836-462: The individuals who have died are children under five years of age. There have been frequent reports of weapon bearers killing civilians, of the destruction of property, of widespread sexual violence, causing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes, and of other breaches of humanitarian and human rights law. One study found that more than 400,000 women are raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo every year. In 2018 and 2019, Congo reported
20010-419: The infamous Tippu Tip , who was well known to Stanley. Leopold had designs on what was to become the Congo as a colony. In a succession of negotiations, Leopold, professing humanitarian objectives in his capacity as chairman of the front organization Association Internationale Africaine , actually played one European rival against another. King Leopold formally acquired rights to the Congo territory at
20184-521: The late 1960s, Mobutu continued to shuffle his governments and cycle officials in and out of the office to maintain control. Joseph Kasa-Vubu's death in April 1969 ensured that no person with First Republic credentials could challenge his rule. By the early 1970s, Mobutu was attempting to assert Zaire as a leading African nation. He traveled frequently across the continent while the government became more vocal about African issues, particularly those relating to
20358-426: The late 19th and early 20th centuries. King Leopold II of Belgium formally acquired rights to the Congo territory from the colonial nations of Europe in 1885 and declared the land his private property, naming it the Congo Free State . From 1885 to 1908, his colonial military forced the local population to produce rubber and committed widespread atrocities . In 1908, Leopold ceded the territory, which thus became
20532-572: The latter days of Belgian rule amid worries that the MNC might seek to nationalise the company's assets after independence. UMHK was largely owned by the Société Générale de Belgique , a prominent holding company based in Brussels that had close ties to the Belgian government. Encouraged by the UMHK, the Belgian government provided military support to Katanga and ordered its civil servants in
20706-598: The metropole, triggering an exodus of most of the Congo's 10,000 European civil servants and leaving the administration in disarray. Engulfed by the disorder spreading throughout the country, most of the government ministries were unable to function. On 11 July 1960, Moïse Tshombe , the leader of CONAKAT, declared the Congo's southern province of Katanga independent as the State of Katanga, with Élisabethville as its capital and himself as president. The mineral-rich Katanga region had traditionally shared closer economic ties with
20880-518: The most organized, the most victorious in Africa. The politicians have lied to you." Extract from Émile Janssens ' speech to the Force Publique on 5 July 1960 Lieutenant-General Émile Janssens , the Belgian commander of the Force Publique , refused to see Congolese independence as marking a change in the nature of command. The day after the independence festivities, he gathered the black non-commissioned officers of his Léopoldville garrison and told them that things under his command would stay
21054-542: The name of the country to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kabila later requested that foreign military forces return to their own countries. Rwandan troops retreated to Goma and launched a new Tutsi-led rebel military movement called the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie to fight Kabila, while Uganda instigated the creation of a rebel movement called the Movement for the Liberation of
21228-553: The national army in exchange for the release of its imprisoned members. In 2012 Bosco Ntaganda , the leader of the CNDP, and troops loyal to him, mutinied and formed the rebel military March 23 Movement (M23), claiming the government had violated the treaty. In the resulting M23 rebellion , M23 briefly captured the provincial capital of Goma in November 2012. Neighboring countries, particularly Rwanda, have been accused of arming rebel groups and using them as proxies to gain control of
21402-520: The new federation's western chapter. In this capacity he traveled to West Germany and Israel to meet with other trade unionists and became a deputy committee member of the International Congress of Federated Trade Unions. He also cultivated a relationship with AFL–CIO unionist Irving Brown . In October 1958 a group of Léopoldville évolués including Adoula, Patrice Lumumba , Gaston Diomi Ndongala and Joseph Iléo established
21576-497: The next year, bringing large numbers of black people from outside the évolué class into the independence movement. Many blacks began to test the boundaries of the colonial system by refusing to pay taxes or abide by minor colonial regulations. The bulk of the ABAKO leadership was arrested, leaving the MNC in an advantageous position. These developments led to the white community also becoming increasingly alarmed. Some whites looked to
21750-657: The party and formed their own faction, MNC-Kalonji. With the independence of the Republic of the Congo in the summer of 1960, Adoula became a senator in Parliament , representing the city of Coquilhatville . Though elected by the Équateur provincial assembly with the support of Parti de l'Unité Nationale, he identified himself as an independent. He requested that his membership of the International Congress of Federated Trade Unions be suspended so that he could devote his time to his new position. Nevertheless he remained well connected with trade unions and labour organisations. In
21924-459: The planned 2016 elections, which he is constitutionally barred from participating in). This bill passed; however, it was gutted of the provision that would keep Kabila in power until a census took place. A census is supposed to take place, but it is no longer tied to when the elections take place. In 2015, elections were scheduled for late 2016 and a tenuous peace held in the Congo. On 27 November 2016 Congolese foreign minister Raymond Tshibanda told
22098-464: The pockets of rich men both in the region and internationally. There were also ethnic and cultural rivalries at play, as well as religious motives and the political crisis with postponed elections. Egeland says people believe the situation in the DRC is "stably bad" but in fact, it has become much, much worse. "The big wars of the Congo that were really on top of the agenda 15 years ago are back and worsening". Disruption in planting and harvesting caused by
22272-414: The present society into one benefiting the entire collectivity. And for this, I conceive the collectivization of the means of production and the lower echelon workers of the latter. In order to attain this goal, I only see one means: the struggle of the classes, the permanent class struggle until this result is obtained." In most written histories Adoula is portrayed as a weak, ineffective prime minister and
22446-411: The press no elections would be held in 2016: "it has been decided that the voter registration operation will end on July 31, 2017, and that election will take place in April 2018." Protests broke out in the country on 20 December when Kabila's term in office ended. Across the country, dozens of protesters were killed and hundreds were arrested. According to Jan Egeland , presently Secretary-General of
22620-480: The proclamation of independence, neither the Belgian nor the Congolese government intended the colonial social order to end immediately. The Belgian government hoped that whites might keep their position indefinitely. The Republic of the Congo was still reliant on colonial institutions like the Force Publique to function from day to day, and white technical experts, installed by the Belgians, were retained in
22794-472: The promulgation of the Luluabourg Constitution on 1 August 1964, the country became the DRC but was renamed Zaire (a past name for the Congo River) on 27 October 1971 by President Mobutu Sese Seko as part of his Authenticité initiative. The word Zaire is from a Portuguese adaptation of a Kikongo word nzadi ("river"), a truncation of nzadi o nzere ("river swallowing rivers"). The river
22968-696: The provincial capital of Lubumbashi in 2013 and 400,000 persons displaced in the province as of 2013 . On and off fighting in the Ituri conflict occurred between the Nationalist and Integrationist Front and the Union of Congolese Patriots who claimed to represent the Lendu and Hema ethnic groups, respectively. In the northeast, Joseph Kony 's Lord's Resistance Army moved from their original bases in Uganda and South Sudan to DR Congo in 2005 and set up camps in
23142-729: The rebellion of Laurent-Desire Kabila that overthrew the Mobutu regime." In September 1997, Mobutu died in exile in Morocco. By 1996, following the Rwandan Civil War and genocide and the ascension of a Tutsi -led government in Rwanda, Rwandan Hutu militia forces ( Interahamwe ) fled to eastern Zaire and used refugee camps as bases for incursions against Rwanda. They allied with the Zairian Armed Forces to launch
23316-457: The region to remain in their posts. Tshombe also recruited mercenaries, mainly whites from South Africa and the Rhodesias, to supplement and command Katangese troops. Although supported by the Belgians, Katanga never received formal diplomatic recognition from any country. The Katangese secession highlighted the "fundamental weakness" of the central government in Léopoldville, which had been
23490-680: The resource-rich country, an accusation they deny. In March 2013, the United Nations Security Council authorized the United Nations Force Intervention Brigade to neutralize armed groups. On 5 November 2013, M23 declared an end to its insurgency. Additionally, in northern Katanga , the Mai-Mai created by Laurent Kabila slipped out of the control of Kinshasa with Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga 's Mai Mai Kata Katanga briefly invading
23664-488: The revolt—Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu intervened personally at Léopoldville and Thysville and persuaded the mutineers to lay down their arms—but in most of the country the mutiny intensified. White officers and civilians were attacked, white-owned properties were looted and white women were raped. The Belgian government became deeply concerned by the situation, particularly when white civilians began entering neighbouring countries as refugees. The international press expressed shock at
23838-464: The run-up to new elections in the summer, three new political coalitions in the country emerged. One of these was the Rassemblement des démocrates congolaise (RADECO), which consisted of 50 small organisations led by Jacques Massa. Centrist in ideology, it failed to amass much popular support. Adoula was elected as its president on 14 June. Still unable to contain the leftist insurrections, Adoula
24012-487: The run-up to the conference and headed the MNC-L delegation. The Belgian government had hoped for a period of at least 30 years before independence, but Congolese pressure at the conference led to 30 June 1960 being set as the date. Delegates failed to reach an agreement concerning the issues of federalism , ethnicity and the future role of Belgium in Congolese affairs. Belgians began campaigning against Lumumba, whom they wanted to marginalise; they accused him of being
24186-440: The same, summarising the point by writing "Before Independence = After Independence" on a blackboard. This message was hugely unpopular among the rank and file—many of the men had expected rapid promotions and increases in pay to accompany independence. On 5 July 1960, several units mutinied against their white officers at Camp Hardy near Thysville . The insurrection spread to Léopoldville the next day and later to garrisons across
24360-528: The secessionist states. ONUC's initial mandate, however, only covered the maintenance of law and order. Viewing the secessions as an internal political matter, Hammarskjöld refused to use UN troops to assist the central Congolese government against them; he argued that doing so would represent a loss of impartiality and breach Congolese sovereignty. Lumumba also sought the assistance of the United States government of Dwight D. Eisenhower , which refused to provide unilateral military support. Frustrated, he turned to
24534-570: The sending of a multinational contingent of peacekeepers to the Congo under UN command. On 14 July, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 143 , calling for total Belgian withdrawal from the Congo and their replacement with a UN-commanded force. The arrival of the United Nations Operation in the Congo (ONUC) was initially welcomed by Lumumba and the central government who believed the UN would help suppress
24708-576: The situation. In April 1962, UN troops occupied South Kasai. On the night of 29/30 September 1962, South Kasai military commanders launched a coup d'état in Bakwanga against the Kalonjist regime. On 5 October 1962, central government troops again arrived in Bakwanga to support the mutineers and help suppress the last Kalonjist loyalists, marking the end of South Kasai's secession. Resolution 169 , issued in November 1961, called for ONUC to respond to
24882-489: The six original provinces into 22 new ones. In November 1965, Adoula returned to the Congo after Mobutu had seized power. He was accommodating of Mobutu's new regime and served as the Congolese Ambassador to the United States and Ambassador to Belgium . In 1969 he became Foreign Minister. He fell ill in May 1970. Mobutu took charge of the portfolio and Adoula retired from politics. In 1978 Adoula suffered
25056-566: The south and southwest were foraging groups, whose technology involved only minimal use of metal technologies. The development of metal tools during this time period revolutionized agriculture. This led to the displacement of the African pygmies . Following the Bantu migrations, a period of state and class formation began circa 700 with three centres in the modern-day territory; one to the west around Pool Malebo , one east around Lake Mai-Ndombe , and
25230-519: The southern region. Zaire established semi-clientelist relationships with several smaller African states, especially Burundi, Chad, and Togo. Corruption became so common the term " le mal Zairois " or "Zairian sickness", meaning gross corruption, theft and mismanagement, was coined, reportedly by Mobutu. International aid, most often in the form of loans, enriched Mobutu while he allowed national infrastructure such as roads to deteriorate to as little as one-quarter of what had existed in 1960. Zaire became
25404-528: The spread of automobiles and development of rubber tires created a growing international market. Rubber sales made a fortune for Leopold, who built several buildings in Brussels and Ostend to honor himself and his country. To enforce the rubber quotas, the Force Publique was called in and made the practice of cutting off the limbs of the natives a matter of policy. Under the Congo Free State concessions were granted to private industry, granting
25578-436: The start of 1963. With Katanga and South Kasai back under the government's control, a reconciliatory compromise constitution was adopted and the exiled Katangese leader, Moïse Tshombe , was recalled to head an interim administration while fresh elections were organised. Before these could be held, however, Maoist -inspired militants calling themselves the " Simbas " rose up in the east of the country. The Simbas took control of
25752-481: The state could not survive indefinitely. On 11 December 1962, Belgian foreign minister Paul-Henri Spaak declared that the Belgian government would support the UN or the central Congolese government should they attempt to end the Katangese secession through force. On 24 December 1962, UN troops and the Katangese Gendarmerie clashed near Élisabethville and fighting broke out. After attempts to reach
25926-538: The state from the Republic of the Congo to Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was ratified in a constitutional referendum in June 1964 and Parliament was dissolved to await new elections. Kasa-Vubu appointed Tshombe, the exiled Katangese leader, as interim prime minister. Although personally capable, and supported as an anti-communist by Western powers, Tshombe was denounced by other African leaders such as King Hassan II of Morocco as an imperialist puppet for his role in
26100-403: The successful recovery of over 100 missionaries. The rebels founded a state, the People's Republic of the Congo ( République populaire du Congo ), with its capital at Stanleyville and Christophe Gbenye as president. The new state was supported by the Soviet Union and China, which supplied it with arms, as did various African states, notably Tanzania . It was also supported by Cuba, which sent
26274-402: The two, the former Belgian Congo became known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DR Congo ), while the former French colony retained the name 'Republic of the Congo' ( Congo ). Shortly after independence the Force Publique mutinied, and on 11 July the province of Katanga (led by Moïse Tshombe ) and South Kasai engaged in secessionist struggles against the new leadership. Most of
26448-558: The ultimate composition of the government and told Lumumba that he had erred in choosing to be Prime Minister of a cabinet, which faced heavy criticism from different circles. The Congo fell into disorder shortly after independence, as the army's mutiny and the secession of the Katanga Province under Moïse Tshombe created the Congo Crisis . Adoula increasingly distanced himself from Lumumba, but continuously lobbied that
26622-483: The uranium used by the U.S. nuclear programme during World War II was Congolese—led to substantial interest in the region from both the Soviet Union and the United States as the Cold War developed. An African nationalist movement developed in the Belgian Congo during the 1950s, primarily among the évolués . The movement was divided into a number of parties and groups which were broadly divided on ethnic and geographical lines and opposed to one another. The largest,
26796-406: The use of European mercenaries, acting to suppress them would only increase the Congo's reliance on external forces. He also accused Tshombe of antagonizing opposition and called for the creation of a transitional government to oversee a settlement without him. Tshombe responded by blaming the conflict on Adoula, accusing him of weakening the central government and Balkanising the country by dividing
26970-470: The use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict . In 2015, major protests broke out across the country and protesters demanded that Kabila step down as president. The protests began after the passage of a law by the Congolese lower house that, if also passed by the Congolese upper house, would keep Kabila in power at least until a national census was conducted (a process which would likely take several years and therefore keep him in power past
27144-493: The wealth generated by the province's mining operations and to avoid sharing it with the rest of the Congo. Another major factor was what CONAKAT held to be the disintegration of law and order in the central and north-eastern Congo. Announcing Katanga's breakaway, Tshombe said "We are seceding from chaos." The major mining company in Katanga, the Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK), had begun supporting CONAKAT during
27318-442: Was able to successfully arrest Gizenga. He subsequently removed the remaining Lumumba supporters from his government, thereby excluding the largest political force in the country from power. During his inaugural address following his investiture , Adoula had declared that his government would "take adequate measures permitting each region to administer itself according to its own profound aspirations". Legislative efforts to achieve
27492-461: Was also very important to the rebels who also made extensive use of witchcraft to protect themselves and also demoralise their ANC opponents. As they advanced, the rebels perpetrated numerous massacres in the territory they captured in order to remove political opposition and terrorise the population. About 1,000 to 2,000 Westernized Congolese were murdered in Stanleyville alone, while the rebels initially left Whites and foreigners mostly alone. ONUC
27666-641: Was appointed formateur of a new government by Kasa-Vubu. The following day he presented his government to Parliament with himself as Prime Minister. Like Lumumba had before him, Adoula also gave himself responsibility over the national defence portfolio. The government was delivered a vote of confidence in the Chamber, 121 votes to none with one abstention, and the Senate voiced its support via acclamation . Adoula managed to balance his cabinet with many former Lumumba supporters. Antoine Gizenga became deputy prime minister. Still, as his tenure progressed, Adoula faced
27840-420: Was arrested. Lumumba escaped house arrest and fled eastwards towards Stanleyville where he believed he could rally support. Pursued by troops loyal to Mobutu, he was captured at Lodi on 1 December 1960 and flown back to Léopoldville with his hands bound. Despite UN appeals to Kasa-Vubu for due legal process , the Soviet Union denounced the UN as responsible for the arrest and demanded his release. A meeting of
28014-415: Was deprived of approximately 40 percent of its revenues. Disquiet about Belgium's support for the secessionist states led to calls within the United Nations (UN) to remove all Belgian troops from the country. The Secretary General of the UN, Dag Hammarskjöld , believed that the crisis would provide the organisation with a chance to demonstrate its potential as a major peacekeeping force and encouraged
28188-501: Was forced by Kasa-Vubu to resign. He then voluntarily left the country. In a New Year's message at the beginning of 1965, Prime Minister Moise Tshombe , Adoula's replacement, rejected conciliation with the rebels and called for their total defeat. Adoula dissented and put forth his own "African Plan" for the Congo in the weekly Jeune Afrique . He insisted that any long term solution for peace and stability required input from rebel leaders, emphasizing that since their defeat would require
28362-400: Was handed over to forces loyal to Tshombe. On 17 January 1961, Lumumba was executed by Katangese troops near Élisabethville. News of the execution, released on 13 February, provoked international outrage. The Belgian Embassy in Yugoslavia was attacked by protesters in Belgrade , and violent demonstrations occurred in London and New York . Shortly thereafter seven Lumumbists, including
28536-491: Was in the process of withdrawing when the rebellions started and had only 5,500 personnel, most whom were deployed in the eastern part of the country and stranded by the conflict. Straggling Western missionaries retreated to their respective embassies, which in turn requested UN assistance. A small force of peacekeepers was assembled and subsequently dispatched to the Kwilu region to retrieve fleeing missionaries. Rescue operations continued throughout March and April and resulted in
28710-409: Was known as Zaire during the 16th and 17th centuries; Congo seems to have replaced Zaire gradually in English usage during the 18th century, and Congo is the preferred English name in 19th-century literature, although references to Zaire as the name used by the natives (i.e., derived from Portuguese usage) remained common. In 1992, the Sovereign National Conference voted to change the name of
28884-511: Was no longer deemed necessary as a Cold War ally. Opponents within Zaire stepped up demands for reform. This atmosphere contributed to Mobutu's declaring the Third Republic in 1990, whose constitution was supposed to pave the way for democratic reform. The reforms turned out to be largely cosmetic. Mobutu continued in power until armed forces forced him to flee in 1997. "From 1990 to 1993, the United States facilitated Mobutu's attempts to hijack political change", one academic wrote, and "also assisted
29058-412: Was ranked 179th out of 191 countries by the Human Development Index and is classed as a least developed country by the UN . As of 2018 , following two decades of various civil wars and continued internal conflicts , around 600,000 Congolese refugees were still living in neighbouring countries. Two million children risk starvation, and the fighting has displaced 4.5 million people. The country
29232-403: Was re-appointed President by Mobutu in February 1961. From the coup onwards, Mobutu was able to exert considerable power in Congolese politics behind the scenes. Following Kasa-Vubu's reinstatement, there was an attempted rapprochement between the Congolese factions. Tshombe began negotiations for the end of the secession and the formation of a confederal Congo. Although a compromise agreement
29406-457: Was reached, it was prevented from taking effect as negotiations broke down amid personal animosity between Kasa-Vubu and Tshombe. An attempted reconciliation in July 1961 led to the formation of a new government, led by Cyrille Adoula , which brought together deputies from both Lumumbist and South Kasai factions but failed to bring a reconciliation with Katanga. Members of the MNC-L fled to Stanleyville where, led by Antoine Gizenga , they formed
29580-401: Was shared between president and prime minister in a system known as bicephalisme . Kasa-Vubu was proclaimed president, and Lumumba prime minister, of the Republic of the Congo. Despite the objections of CONAKAT and others, the constitution was largely centralist, concentrating power in the central government in Léopoldville, and did not devolve significant powers to provincial level. Despite
29754-405: Was taken up by Maoist-inspired Congolese revolutionaries, including Pierre Mulele who had served in the Lumumba government. The political instability of the Congo helped to channel wider discontentment into outright revolt. Disruption in the rural Congo begun with agitation by Lumumbists, led by Mulele, among the Pende and Mbundu peoples . By the end of 1963, there was unrest in regions of
29928-465: Was the Alliance des Bakongo (ABAKO), led by Joseph Kasa-Vubu , who advocated a more radical ideology than the MNC, based around calls for immediate independence and the promotion of regional identity. ABAKO's stance was more ethnic nationalist than the MNC's; it argued that an independent Congo should be run by the Bakongo as inheritors of the pre-colonial Kingdom of the Kongo . The Confédération des Associations Tribales du Katanga (CONAKAT),
30102-420: Was the largest of the African nationalist parties, the MNC had many different factions within it that took differing stances on a number of issues. It was increasingly polarised between moderate évolués and the more radical mass membership. A radical faction headed by Iléo and Albert Kalonji split away in July 1959, but failed to induce mass defections by other MNC members. The dissident faction became known as
30276-422: Was the only candidate. Although relative peace and stability were achieved, Mobutu's government was guilty of severe human rights violations, political repression , a cult of personality and corruption . By late 1967 Mobutu had successfully neutralized his political opponents and rivals, either through co-opting them into his regime, arresting them, or rendering them otherwise politically impotent. Throughout
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