History of the Congo during 1955-1966 & 2000-2006

The Independence Movement


"In 1955, when demands for independence were mounting throughout Africa, Antoine van Bilsen, a Belgian professor, published a “30-Year Plan” for granting the Congo increased self-government" (internet sorce). Most Belgians, who assumed that Belgian rule would continue in the Congo for a long period of time, accepted this plan. Yet some events proved this otherwise.

Congolese nationalists, notably Joseph Kasavubu and Patrice Lumumba became increasingly strident. They were greatly pleased by the visit of the French President Charles de Gaulle in late 1958 to the neighboring Middle Congo; which is today known as the Republic of Congo. He offered Africans the opportunity to vote in a referendum for continued association with France or for full independence. In January 1959, the Belgians slowly lost control of events in the Congo due to the serious nationalist riots in Kinshasa. In January-Febuary 1960 a roundtable conference was held with included Congolese Nationalists; it was dedcided then that the Belgian Congo would become fully independent on June 30, 1960


Independence and Conflict

The outcome of the ellections in June named Partice Lumumba as prime minister and Kasavubu as head of state. Due to ethnic and personal rivalries the Republic of the Congo, as the nation was once called, soon began to pull apart. These rivalries mainly began because of Belgian interest. "On July 4 the Congolese army mutinied, and on July 11 Moïse Tshombe declared Katanga, of which he was provisional president, to be independent. There were attacks on Belgian nationals living in the Congo, and Belgium sent troops to the country to protect its citizens and also its mining interests. Most Belgian civil servants left the country, thus crippling the government. On July 14, the UN Security Council voted to send a force to the Congo to help establish order; the force was not allowed to intervene in internal affairs, however, and could not act against the Katangan secession. Therefore, Lumumba turned to the USSR for help against Katanga, but on Sept. 5 he was dismissed as prime minister by Kasavubu. On Sept. 14, Col. Joseph Mobutu (later Mobutu Sese Seko), the head of the army, seized power and dismissed Kasavubu. On Dec. 1, Lumumba, who probably had the largest national following of any Congo politician, was arrested by the army; he was murdered while allegedly trying to escape imprisonment in Katanga in mid-Feb., 1961." Interenet source) By the end of that 1960's the Congo was divided into four quasi-independent parts: Mobutu held the west, including Kinshasa, then called Léopoldville; Antoine Gizenga, the self-styled successor to Lumumba, controlled the east from Kisangani, then known as Stanleyville; Albert Kalonji controlled S Kasai; and Tshombe headed Katanga, aided by Belgian and other foreign soldiers.



In Febuary 2000, the United Nations approved a force to monitor the accord but because of the situation in the Congo at the time, it was unstable to permit the force to move in. In December 2000 a new agreement calling for the pullback of all forces was signed; but it was signed without the participation of one of the rebel groups.

In January 2001, Kabila was assassinated. Joseph Kabila, was named his successor. Joseph Kabila's government resumed cooperating on peace negotiations, and ended the ban on political parties.

Beginning in March the forces of foreign nations began pulling back from the front lines and even pulling out from the Congo. "Peace talks began tentatively in October 2001, and in 2002 agreements were signed successively with one of the rebel groups, Rwanda, and Uganda, although no agreement was reached with the largest rebel force, the Rwandan-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy–Goma. By the end of October 2002, most foreign troops had been withdrawn from the Congo. The government and both main rebel groups reached an accord in Apr., 2003, when they signed a peace agreement that called for a power-sharing government led by President Kabila, and an interim parliament. Despite the peace deal, fighting continued in parts of the Congo, especially between tribal groups in the east, and in June, 2003, the United Nations dispatched French-led peacekeepers to E Congo in an effort to restore order."

In that same month the government and rebels agreed on the composition of the new government. The democratic elections were scheduled for 2005. By the time of the government's establishment it was estimated that 3.3 million people had died either directly or indirectly; due to the fighting that began in 1998.

At the end of July, 2006, Congo held elections for president and the national and provincial legislatures. Joseph Kabila won 44% of the presidential vote with a strong showing in E Congo but he failed to win the required majority; his party won 111 [[out of 500]] National Assembly seats and was able to form a governing coalition.
The presidential results caused a spark of violence between Kabila's partisans and those of Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, the former rebel and interim vice president who was the runner-up [[with 20% of the vote]] and did well in W Congo.


The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.