Stanleyville District ( French : District de Stanleyville , Dutch : District Stanleystad ) was a district of the Belgian Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo . It went through various changes in extent. Between 1933 and 1963 it had roughly the same extent as the current Tshopo province.
139-606: An 1897 map of the Congo Free State showed the huge Stanley Falls District where the later Stanleyville and Katanga districts would be created. A 1910 map of the Belgian Congo shows the Stanleyville District along the northeastern border of the colony, with Uele District to the north, Aruwimi District and Kasai District to the west and Katanga District to the south. It covers the region of
278-942: 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,
417-410: 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
556-621: 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
695-782: 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
834-536: A colony belonging to Belgium after international pressure. Leopold's reign in the Congo eventually earned infamy on account of the atrocities perpetrated on the locals . Ostensibly, the Congo Free State aimed to bring civilization to the local people and to develop the region economically. In reality, Leopold II's administration extracted ivory , rubber , and minerals from the upper Congo basin for sale on
973-563: A colony for himself and inspired by recent reports from central Africa, Leopold began patronizing a number of leading explorers, including Henry Morton Stanley . Leopold established the International African Association , a charitable organization to oversee the exploration and surveying of a territory based around the Congo River , with the stated goal of bringing humanitarian assistance and civilization to
1112-541: 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
1251-664: A district or the rubber concession, for example. The other zone—almost two-thirds of the Congo—became the Domaine Privé , the exclusive private property of the state. In 1893, Leopold excised the most readily accessible 259,000 km (100,000 sq mi) portion of the Free Trade Zone and declared it to be the Domaine de la Couronne , literally, "fief of the crown". Rubber revenue went directly to Leopold who paid
1390-542: A domainal system that privatized extraction rights over rubber for the state in certain private domains, allowing Leopold to grant vast concessions to private companies. In other areas, private companies could continue to trade but were highly restricted and taxed. The domainal system enforced an in-kind tax on the Free State's Congolese subjects. As essential intermediaries, local rulers forced their men, women and children to collect rubber, ivory and foodstuffs. Depending on
1529-686: 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
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#17327808604791668-579: 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
1807-460: 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
1946-648: 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
2085-560: A new umbrella organization. This organization sought to combine the numerous small territories acquired into one sovereign state and asked for recognition from the European powers. On 22 April 1884, thanks to the successful lobbying of businessman Henry Shelton Sanford at Leopold's request, President Chester A. Arthur of the United States decided that the cessions claimed by Leopold from the local leaders were lawful and recognized
2224-459: A secretary-general ( secrétaire-général ), who was obligated to enact the policies of the sovereign or else resign. Below the secretaries-general were a series of bureaucrats of decreasing rank: directors general ( directeurs généraux ), directors ( directeurs ), chefs de divisions (division chiefs) and chefs de bureaux (bureau chiefs). The departments were headquartered in Brussels . Finance
2363-602: A strip of land on the Free State's eastern border in exchange for the Lado Enclave , which provided access to the navigable Nile and extended the Free State's sphere of influence northward into Sudan . After rubber profits soared in 1895, Leopold ordered the organization of an expedition into the Lado Enclave, which had been overrun by Mahdist rebels since the outbreak of the Mahdist War in 1881. The expedition
2502-578: 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
2641-421: A word, and to which they sign a cross in order to have peace and to receive gifts, are really only serious matters for the European powers, in the event of disputes over the territories. They do not concern the black sovereign who signs them for a moment." Leopold began to create a plan to convince other European powers of the legitimacy of his claim to the region, all the while maintaining the guise that his work
2780-554: 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
2919-436: 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,
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#17327808604793058-493: The Brussels Anti-Slavery Conference (1889–1890), Leopold issued a new decree mandating that Africans in a large part of the Free State could sell their harvested products (mostly ivory and rubber) only to the state. This law extended an earlier decree declaring that all "unoccupied" land belonged to the state. Any ivory or rubber collected from the state-owned land, the reasoning went, must belong to
3197-488: The Brussels Geographic Conference , inviting famous explorers, philanthropists, and members of geographic societies to stir up interest in a "humanitarian" endeavour for Europeans in central Africa to "improve" and " civilize " the lives of the indigenous peoples. At the conference, Leopold organized the International African Association with the cooperation of European and American explorers and
3336-469: 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,
3475-467: 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
3614-602: 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
3753-549: The Congo Free State propaganda war , European and US reformers exposed atrocities in the Congo Free State to the public through the Congo Reform Association , founded by Casement and the journalist, author, and politician E. D. Morel . Also active in exposing the activities of the Congo Free State was the author Arthur Conan Doyle , whose book The Crime of the Congo was widely read in the early 1900s. By 1908, public pressure and diplomatic manoeuvres led to
3892-567: 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
4031-425: The Domaine Privé . Eventually, the Congo Free State was recognized as a neutral independent sovereignty by various European and North American states. Leopold used the title 'Sovereign of the Congo Free State' as ruler of the Congo Free State. He appointed the heads of the three departments of state: interior, foreign affairs and finances. Each was headed by an administrator-general ( administrateur-général ), later
4170-507: 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
4309-600: The Independent State of the Congo ( French : État indépendant du Congo ), was a large state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by King Leopold II , the constitutional monarch of the Kingdom of Belgium . In legal terms, the two separate countries were in a personal union . The Congo Free State was not a part of, nor did it belong to Belgium. Leopold
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4448-527: 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,
4587-629: 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
4726-682: 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
4865-591: 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
5004-520: 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
5143-495: The US Navy Congo River Expedition of 1885 , which gave a detailed description of travel along the river. Leopold was able to attract scientific and humanitarian backing for the International African Association ( French : Association internationale africaine , or AIA), which he formed during a Brussels Geographic Conference of geographic societies, explorers, and dignitaries he hosted in 1876. At
5282-411: The association , and replaced it with an appointed cabinet of Belgians who would do his bidding. To the temporary new capital of Boma , he sent a governor-general and a chief of police. The vast Congo Basin was split up into 14 administrative districts , each district into zones, each zone into sectors, and each sector into posts. From the district commissioners down to post level, every appointed head
5421-453: 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
5560-516: 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
5699-432: 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
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5838-469: 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
5977-560: The Association would administer the Congo for the good of all, handing over power to the natives as soon as they were ready for that responsibility. Leopold wanted to have the United States support his plans for the Congo in order to gain support from the European nations. He had help from American businessman Henry Shelton Sanford , who had recruited Stanley for Leopold. Henry Sanford swayed President Arthur by inviting him to stay as his guest at Sanford House hotel on Lake Monroe while he
6116-591: 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
6255-463: 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
6394-605: 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
6533-507: 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
6672-581: 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 the Congo is the most populous Francophone country in
6811-623: 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
6950-580: The Congo Basin were awarded with the État Indépendant du Congo (CFS, Congo Free State). By a resolution passed in the Belgian Parliament, Leopold became roi souverain , sovereign king, of the newly formed CFS, over which he enjoyed nearly absolute control. The CFS (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo), a country of over two million square kilometres, became Leopold's personal property,
7089-608: The Congo River basin upstream from Stanleyville down to the northern border of Katanga, as well as most of the course of the Aruwimi River . A 1914 map shows the district had been broken into a much smaller Stanleyville District and new Lowa , Maniema , Kivu and Ituri districts. These districts as well as Bas Uele , Haut Uele and Aruwimi constituted the Orientale Province , created in 1914. A map of
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#17327808604797228-512: The Congo region). "Belgium does not need a colony. Belgians are not drawn towards overseas enterprises: they prefer to spend their energy and capital in countries which have already been explored or on less risky schemes ... Still, you can assure His Majesty of my whole-hearted sympathy for the generous plan he had conceived, as long as the Congo does not make any international difficulties for us." Walthère Frère-Orban , Liberal Prime Minister of Belgium , 1878–84. Determined to look for
7367-416: 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 a Belgian colony . Congo achieved independence from Belgium on 30 June 1960 and
7506-413: The Congo via Lieutenant Cameron 's 1873 expedition from Zanzibar to bring home Livingstone 's body, but was reluctant to take on yet another expensive, unproductive colony. Bismarck of Germany had vast new holdings in southwest Africa , and had no plans for the Congo, but was happy to see rivals Britain and France excluded from the colony. In 1885, Leopold's efforts to establish Belgian influence in
7645-538: 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 the late 19th and early 20th centuries. King Leopold II of Belgium formally acquired rights to
7784-468: The Congolese in their land to native villages and farms, essentially making nearly all of the CFS terres domaniales (state-owned land). Leopold further decreed that merchants should limit their commercial operations in rubber trade with the natives. Additionally, the colonial administration liberated thousands of slaves. Four main problems presented themselves over the next few years. Leopold could not meet
7923-567: 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
8062-507: The Dark Continent . Failing to enlist British interest in the Congo region, Stanley took up service with Leopold II, who hired him to help gain a foothold in the region and annex the region for himself. From August 1879 to June 1884 Stanley was in the Congo basin, where he built a road from the lower Congo up to Stanley Pool and launched steamers on the upper river. While exploring the Congo for Leopold, Stanley set up treaties with
8201-652: The Free State for the high costs of exploitation. The same rules applied as in the Domaine Privé . In 1896 global demand for rubber soared. From that year onwards, the Congolese rubber sector started to generate vast sums of money at an immense cost for the local population. Early in Leopold's rule, the second problem—the British South Africa Company's expansion into the southern Congo Basin—was addressed. The distant Yeke Kingdom , in Katanga on
8340-402: The Free State government, which not only paid no taxes but also collected all the potential income. These companies were outraged by the restrictions on free trade, which the Berlin Act had so carefully protected years before. Their protests against the violation of free trade prompted Leopold to take another, less obvious tack to make money. A decree in 1892 divided the terres vacantes into
8479-562: The French got the first option to buy the territory if the Association decided to sell. This may also have helped Leopold to gain recognition for his claim by the other major powers, who thus wanted him to succeed instead of selling his claims to France. He also enlisted the aid of the United States, sending President Chester A. Arthur carefully edited copies of the cloth-and-trinket treaties that Stanley (a Welsh-American ) claimed to have negotiated with various local authorities, and proposing that, as an entirely disinterested humanitarian body,
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#17327808604798618-450: The International Association of the Congo's claim on the region, becoming the first country to do so. In 1884, the US Secretary of State said, "The Government of the United States announces its sympathy with and approval of the humane and benevolent purposes of the International Association of the Congo." In November 1884, Otto von Bismarck convened a 14-nation conference to submit the Congo question to international control and to finalize
8757-411: The International Congo Association, and specified that it should have no connection with Belgium (beyond a personal union ), or any other country, but would be under the personal control of King Leopold. It drew specific boundaries and specified that all nations should have access to do business in the Congo with no tariffs. The slave trade would be suppressed. In 1885, Leopold emerged triumphant. France
8896-414: 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
9035-421: The Red Cross to attend their 1877 conference. The International Law Institute was supportive of the project under the belief that it was aimed to abolish the Congo Basin slave trade. Nevertheless, the AIA eventually became a development company controlled by Leopold. After 1879 and the crumbling of the International African Association, Leopold's work was done under the auspices of the "Committee for Studies of
9174-410: 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
9313-406: 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
9452-443: The Upper Congo" ( French : Comité d'Études du Haut-Congo ). The committee, supposedly an international commercial, scientific, and humanitarian group, was in fact made of a group of businessmen who had shares in the Congo, with Leopold holding a large block by proxy. The committee itself eventually disintegrated (but Leopold continued to refer to it and use the defunct organization as a smokescreen for his operations in laying claim to
9591-469: 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
9730-412: 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
9869-428: The colonial partitioning of the African continent. Most major powers (including Austria-Hungary , Belgium , France , Germany , Portugal , Italy , the United Kingdom , Russia , the Ottoman Empire , and the United States ) attended the Berlin Conference , and drafted an international code governing the way that European countries should behave as they acquired African territory. The conference officially recognized
10008-486: The colony after the 1933 reorganization into six provinces shows that Stanleyville district was now part of Stanleyville Province , which also contained the reconstituted Uele District and Kibali-Ituri District . Stanleyville District had absorbed Aruwimi District but had lost some territory to Kivu District. Stanleyville Province was renamed Orientale/Oost Province in 1947. A 1955–1957 map shows Stanleyville District bordered by Mongala District and Bas-Uele District to
10147-472: The conference's "Principle of Effective Occupation" . Following the United States' recognition of Leopold's colony, other Western powers deliberated on the news. Portugal flirted with the French at first, but the British offered to support Portugal's claim to the entire Congo in return for a free trade agreement and to spite their French rivals. Britain was uneasy at French expansion and had a technical claim on
10286-554: The conference, Leopold proposed establishing an international benevolent committee for the propagation of civilization among the peoples of central Africa (the Congo region). The AIA was originally conceived as a multi-national, scientific, and humanitarian assembly, and even invited Gustave Moynier as member of the International Law Institute and president of the International Committee of
10425-470: The costs of running the Congo Free State. Desperately, he set in motion a system to maximize revenue. The first change was the introduction of the concept of terres vacantes , "vacant" land, which was any land that did not contain a habitation or a cultivated garden plot. All of this land (i.e., most of the country) was therefore deemed to belong to the state. Servants of the state (namely any men in Leopold's employ) were encouraged to exploit it. Shortly after
10564-461: The cotton market. Sanford also convinced the people in New York that they were going to abolish slavery and aid travellers and scientists in order to have the public's support. After Henry's actions in convincing President Arthur, the United States was the first country to recognize Congo as a legitimate sovereign state. The United States further participated in the process of recognition by sending
10703-416: 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 ,
10842-411: The east African slave trade; promote humanitarian policies; guarantee free trade within the colony; impose no import duties for twenty years; and encourage philanthropic and scientific enterprises. Beginning in the mid-1880s, Leopold first decreed that the state asserted rights of proprietorship over all vacant lands throughout the Congo territory. In three successive decrees, Leopold promised the rights of
10981-602: 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
11120-576: The end of Leopold II's absolutist rule; the Belgian Parliament annexed the Congo Free State as a colony of Belgium. It became known thereafter as the Belgian Congo . In addition, a number of major Belgian investment companies pushed the Belgian government to take over the Congo and develop the mining sector as it was virtually untapped. Diogo Cão travelled around the mouth of the Congo River in 1482, leading Portugal to claim
11259-544: 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
11398-666: 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
11537-486: The former Stanleyville District. Orientale Province was reconstituted in 1966. It was renamed Haut-Zaïre Province from 1971–1997, then returned to the name of Orientale Province from 1997 to 2015. In 2015 Orientale Province was broken into the provinces of Bas-Uélé , Haut-Uélé , Ituri and Tshopo . Tshopo roughly corresponds to Haut-Congo Province and to Stanleyville District as it was between 1933 and 1963. Congo Free State The Congo Free State , also known as
11676-544: The hands of the Governor-General ( Gouverneur général ), but this office was at times more honorary than real. When the governor-general was in Belgium he was represented in the Congo by a vice governor-general ( vice-gouverneur général ), who was nominally equal in rank to a secretary-general but in fact was beneath them in power and influence. A Comité consultatif (consultative committee) made up of civil servants
11815-409: The high death rate in this period. The highest estimates state that the widespread use of forced labour , torture, and murder led to the deaths of 50 per cent of the population in the rubber provinces. The lack of accurate records makes it difficult to quantify the number of deaths caused by the exploitation and the lack of immunity to new diseases introduced by contact with European colonists. During
11954-642: 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
12093-462: 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
12232-419: 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
12371-680: The interior set up a propaganda office, the Bureau central de la presse ("Central Press Bureau"), in Frankfurt under the auspices of the Comité pour la représentation des intérêts coloniaux en Afrique (in German, Komitee zur Wahrung der kolonialen Interessen in Afrika , "Committee for the Representation of Colonial Interests in Africa"). The oversight of all the departments was nominally in
12510-469: 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
12649-535: The local chiefs and with native leaders. In essence, the documents gave over all rights of their respective pieces of land to Leopold. With Stanley's help, Leopold was able to claim a great area along the Congo River, and military posts were established. Christian de Bonchamps , a French explorer who served Leopold in Katanga , expressed attitudes towards such treaties shared by many Europeans, saying, "The treaties with these little African tyrants, which generally consist of four long pages of which they do not understand
12788-489: The militia Force Publique or turned them over as prisoners to allied local chiefs, who in turn gave them as laborers for the Belgian conscript workers; when Belgian Congo was established, chattel slavery was legally abolished in 1910, but prisoners were nevertheless conscripted as force laborers for both public and private work projects. In 1894, King Leopold II signed a treaty with the United Kingdom which conceded
12927-542: 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
13066-553: 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
13205-582: The natives. In the Berlin Conference of 1884–85, European leaders officially noted Leopold's control over the 2,600,000 km (1,000,000 sq mi) of the notionally independent Congo Free State. To give his African operations a name that could serve for a political entity, Leopold created, between 1879 and 1882, the International Association of the Congo ( French : Association internationale du Congo , or AIC) as
13344-468: The north, Haut-Uele District to the northeast, Ituri District and Nord-Kivu District to the east, Maniema District to the south and Tshuapa District to the west. The area was 199,600 square kilometres (77,100 sq mi) out of a total of 503,200 square kilometres (194,300 sq mi) for Orientale province as a whole. Orientale Province was broken up in 1963 into Kibali-Ituri , Uélé and Haut-Congo provinces. Haut-Congo corresponded to
13483-459: 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
13622-464: 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
13761-530: The power of local rulers, the Free State paid prices below the rising market prices. In October 1892, Leopold granted concessions to a number of companies. Each company was given a large amount of land in the Congo Free State on which to collect rubber and ivory for sale in Europe. These companies were allowed to detain Africans who did not work hard enough, to police their vast areas as they saw fit and to take all
13900-411: 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
14039-417: The products of the forest for themselves. In return for their concessions, these companies paid an annual dividend to the Free State. At the height of the rubber boom, from 1901 until 1906, these dividends also filled the royal coffers. The Free Trade Zone in the Congo was open to entrepreneurs of any European nation, who were allowed to buy 10- and 15-year monopoly leases on anything of value: ivory from
14178-547: 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
14317-747: 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
14456-729: 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
14595-470: The region. Until the middle of the 19th century, the Congo was at the heart of independent Africa, as European colonialists seldom entered the interior. Along with fierce local resistance, the rainforest , swamps, malaria , sleeping sickness , and other diseases made it a difficult environment for Europeans to settle. Western states were at first reluctant to colonize the area in the absence of obvious economic benefits. In 1876 Leopold II of Belgium hosted
14734-680: 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
14873-479: The same most favoured nation (MFN) status Portugal had offered them. At the same time, Leopold promised Bismarck he would not give any one nation special status, and that German traders would be as welcome as any other. "I do not want to risk ... losing a fine chance to secure for ourselves a slice of this magnificent African cake." King Leopold II, to an aide in London Leopold then offered France
15012-566: 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
15151-519: 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
15290-523: 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
15429-442: The state, thus creating a de facto state-controlled monopoly. Therefore, a large share of the local population could sell only to the state, which could set prices and thereby control the income the Congolese could receive for their work. For local elites, however, this system presented new opportunities, as the Free State and concession companies paid them with guns to tax their subjects in kind. Trading companies began to lose out to
15568-457: The support of several European governments, and was himself elected chairman. Leopold used the association to promote plans to seize independent central Africa under this philanthropic guise. Henry Morton Stanley , famous for making contact with British missionary David Livingstone in Africa in 1871, explored the region in 1876–1877, a journey that was described in Stanley's 1878 book Through
15707-482: The support of the association for French ownership of the entire northern bank of the Congo, and sweetened the deal by proposing that, if his personal wealth proved insufficient to hold the entire Congo, as seemed utterly inevitable, that it should revert to France. On 23 April 1884, the International Association's claim on the southern Congo basin was formally recognized by France on condition that
15846-427: The territory that it claimed was patchy, with its few officials concentrated in a number of small and widely dispersed "stations" which controlled only small amounts of hinterland. In 1900, there were just 3,000 Europeans in the Congo, of whom only half were Belgian. The colony was perpetually short of administrative staff and officials, who numbered between 700 and 1,500 during the period. Leopold pledged to suppress
15985-402: 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
16124-413: The upper Lualaba River , had signed no treaties, was known to be rich in copper and thought to have much gold from its slave-trading activities. Its powerful mwami (King), Msiri , had already rejected a treaty brought by Alfred Sharpe on behalf of Cecil Rhodes . In 1891 a Free State expedition extracted a letter from Msiri agreeing to their agents coming to Katanga and later that year Leopold II sent
16263-470: 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
16402-577: The well-armed Stairs Expedition , led by the Canadian mercenary William Grant Stairs , to take possession of Katanga one way or another. Msiri tried to play the Free State off against Rhodes and when negotiations bogged down, Stairs flew the Free State flag anyway and gave Msiri an ultimatum. Instead, Msiri decamped to another stockade . Stairs sent a force to capture him but Msiri stood his ground, whereupon Captain Omer Bodson shot Msiri dead and
16541-690: The world market through a series of international concessionary companies that brought little benefit to the area. Under Leopold's administration, the Free State became one of the greatest international scandals of the early 20th century. The Casement Report of the British Consul Roger Casement led to the arrest and punishment of officials who had been responsible for killings during a rubber-collecting expedition in 1903. The loss of life and atrocities inspired literature such as Joseph Conrad 's novel Heart of Darkness and raised an international outcry. Debate has been ongoing about
16680-586: 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 the Congo Basin , the territory of
16819-451: Was European. However, with little financial means the Free State mainly relied on local elites to rule and tax the vast and hard-to-reach Congolese interior. In the Free State, Leopold exercised total personal control without much delegation to subordinates. African chiefs played an important role in the administration by implementing government orders within their communities. Throughout much of its existence, however, Free State presence in
16958-765: Was a loss to Leopold II. This, and Leopold's humanitarian pledges to the Berlin Conference to end slavery, meant war was inevitable. Open warfare broke out in late November 1892. Both sides fought by proxy, arming and leading the populations of the upper Congo forests in conflict. By early 1894 the Zanzibari/Swahili slavers were defeated in the eastern Congo region and the Congo Arab war came to an end. The Belgians freed thousands of men, women and children slaves from Swaihili Arab slave owners and slave traders in Eastern Congo in 1886-1892, enlisted them in
17097-528: Was able to seize the region by convincing other European states at the Berlin Conference on Africa that he was involved in humanitarian and philanthropic work and would not tax trade. Via the International Association of the Congo , he was able to lay claim to most of the Congo Basin . On 29 May 1885, after the closure of the Berlin Conference, the king announced that he planned to name his possessions "the Congo Free State", an appellation which
17236-437: Was composed of two columns: the first, under Belgian war hero Baron Dhanis , consisted of a sizeable force, numbering around three-thousand, and was to strike north through the jungle and attack the rebels at their base at Rejaf. The second, a much smaller force of only eight-hundred, was led by Louis-Napoléon Chaltin and took the main road towards Rejaf. Both expeditions set out in December 1896. Democratic Republic of
17375-400: Was eventually made responsible to the sovereign alone. There was a supreme court composed of three judges, which heard appeals, and below it a high court of one judge. These sat at Boma. In addition to these, there were district courts and public prosecutors ( procureurs d'état ). Justice, however, was slow and the system ill-suited to a frontier society. Leopold no longer needed the façade of
17514-536: Was fatally wounded in the resulting fight. The expedition cut off Msiri's head and put it on a pole, as he had often done to his enemies. This was to impress upon the locals that Msiri's rule had really ended, after which the successor chief recognized by Stairs signed the treaty. In the short term, the third problem, that of the African and Arab slavers like Zanzibari / Swahili strongman Tippu Tip (actually Ḥamad ibn Muḥammad ibn Jumʿah ibn Rajab ibn Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al Murjabī, but much better known by his nickname)
17653-488: Was for the benefit of the native peoples under the name of a philanthropic "association". The king launched a publicity campaign in Britain to distract critics, drawing attention to Portugal's record of slavery, and offering to drive slave traders from the Congo basin. He also secretly told British merchant houses that if he was given formal control of the Congo for this and other humanitarian purposes, he would then give them
17792-424: Was given 666,000 km (257,000 sq mi) on the north bank (the modern Congo-Brazzaville and Central African Republic ), Portugal 909,000 km (351,000 sq mi) to the south (modern Angola ), and Leopold's personal organization received the balance: 2,344,000 km (905,000 sq mi), with about 30 million people. However, it still remained for these territories to be occupied under
17931-468: 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 the First Congo War . The country then had its name changed back and was confronted by
18070-584: Was in Belgium . On 29 November 1883, during his meeting with the President, as Leopold's envoy, he convinced the President that Leopold's agenda was similar to the United States' involvement in Liberia . This satisfied Southern politicians and businessmen, especially Alabama Senator John Tyler Morgan . Morgan saw Congo as the same opportunity to send freedmen to Africa so they could contribute to and build
18209-417: Was in charge of accounting for income and expenditure and tracking the public debt. Besides diplomacy, foreign affairs was in charge of shipping, education, religion and commerce. The department of the interior was responsible for defence, police, public health and public works. It was also charged with overseeing the exploitation of the Congo's natural resources and plantations. In 1904, the secretary-general of
18348-624: Was indefensible at home and abroad. Leopold II was heavily criticized by the European public opinion for his dealings with Tippu Tip. In Belgium, the Belgian Anti-Slavery Society was founded in 1888, mainly by Catholic intellectuals led by Count Hippolyte d'Ursel , aimed at abolishing the Arab slave trade. Furthermore, Tippu Tip and Leopold were commercial rivals. Every person that Tippu Tip hunted down and put into chattel slavery and every pound of ivory he exported to Zanzibar
18487-548: 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
18626-627: 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
18765-404: Was not yet used at the Berlin Conference and which officially replaced "International Association of the Congo" on 1 August 1885. The Free State was privately controlled by Leopold from Brussels; he never visited it. The state included the entire area of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo and existed from 1885 to 1908, when the Belgian Parliament reluctantly annexed the state as
18904-534: 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
19043-409: Was set up in 1887 to assist the governor-general, but he was not obliged to consult it. The vice governor-general on the ground had a state secretary through whom he communicated with his district officers. The Free State had an independent judiciary headed by a minister of justice at Boma . The minister was equal in rank to the vice governor-general and initially answered to the governor-general, but
19182-531: Was temporarily solved. Initially the authority of the Congo Free State was relatively weak in the eastern regions of the Congo. In early 1887, Henry Morton Stanley had therefore proposed that Tippu Tip be made governor (wali) of the Stanley Falls District . Both Leopold II and Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar agreed and on 24 February 1887, Tippu Tip accepted. In the longer term this alliance
19321-422: 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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