Part I
The ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a
long one, marked with political intrigue among nations, outside
influences, ethnic tensions, and staggering amounts of violence. It is
something that is often ignored in the mainstream media – even among the
Obama-era ‘humanitarian interventions’ – even though it is the theater
of the deadliest post-WW2 conflict (over three million people have died
and many are still dying). [1]
The Congo has become a hell on earth; and to understand how the
situation became as it is, a historical examination of the nation is
needed and overdue.
Colonial Rule
Having been quite late getting into the Great Game, Belgium moved
with purpose in the early 1900s in trying to acquire an African colony.
In 1906, the Belgians annexed the Congo, making two separate zones:
Belgian Congo and the Congo Free States, the latter of which became King
Leopold’s own personal fiefdom where he had complete control. His
forces engaged in horrific acts such as holding “the [families] of [men]
hostage until they returned with their rubber quota. Those who refused
or failed to supply enough rubber often had their villages burned down,
children murdered, and their hands cut off.” [2]
Leopold’s main concern was the ivory and rubber trades. Eventually, the
atrocities that occurred under his watch became widely known and he was
forced to fold the CFS into the Belgian Congo. It was among this time
that Congolese became politically awakened and active, namely in
Leopoldville.
Before discussing the political awakening in Leopoldville, it would
be pertinent to first understand the economic situation of the Congo.
During World War 2, the Congo was “an important source of raw materials,
especially of copper, tin, industrial diamonds, rubber, and palm oil.”
Afterward, due to the ever-increasing price of raw materials, the Congo
economy expanded greatly: “In 1952 the value of exports was put at
20,000 million francs – an increase of 88 per cent as compared with 1948
– and by 1956 it had reached 28,000 million francs.”[3]
However, almost a decade later, a global decrease in the prices of the
same raw materials caused the economy to stagger and created a large
increase in unemployment (from 4,300 in September 1957 to 16,000 in
March 1958), particularly in the Katanga region, a significant mining
location.
While this economic downturn contributed to the political awakening
of the Congolese, they had already become politically active. In January
1945, the first indigenous newspaper, La Voix du Congolais (The Voice of Congo), appeared in Leopoldville; and in 1955, Conscience Africaine was introduced. In July of the following year, the Conscience
published a manifesto which suggested that within 30 years the Congo
should be independent. Several weeks later, “a cultural association of
the Lower Congo, known as ABAKO (founded in 1950), led by M. Joseph
Kasavubu, improved on the ‘manifesto’, demanding complete and immediate
emancipation and entirely rejecting the idea of a thirty-year
preparatory period.” [4] This political awakening soon manifested itself in the Leopoldville riots.
Though the riots became political, they were economic in origin. Due
to the decline in the prices of raw materials, the budget dropped to a 5
million-pound deficit in 1957, and tripled to 15 million pounds in
1958. In the face of runaway unemployment, the government denied there
were any problems. On January 4, 1959, following economic turmoil and
the government’s refusal to recognize such, riots ensued and lasted for
three days. The force publique (the gendarmerie) was used to prevent the
rioters from entering the European town.
These riots forced the Belgian political establishment to acknowledge
that there were in fact a multitude of problems, and to embrace reform.
In seven months, “from January to August, forty acts and ordinances
containing discriminatory regulations were abolished or changed,”
although discrimination still remained in the European towns. The Congo
was given a charter of freedom and, “for the first time, freedom of
assembly, of the press, and of speech was finally recognized.”[5]
Local elections formed and the first municipal elections took place in
Leopoldville and several other towns in late 1957 and early 1958. Also
in 1958, the Congolese National Movement political party was formed by
Patricia Lumumba. The Movement focused on Congolese nationalism and
created a large political rift in domestic Congolese politics,
“[dividing] those who [wished] for a strong unitary state from those
wanting a federal system of largely autonomous provincial governments
based on primary [ethnic] alliances.” [6]
After the riots, three Abako leaders, including Kasavubu, were arrested
and flown to Belgium to face trial – a trial that would only worsen the
racial tensions in the colony.
Independence
The move to reform forced a decision by the Belgian government to
hold a roundtable conference in January 1960, which allowed for
face-to-face meetings with Congolese political leaders. At the
conference, “the Congolese delegates had presented a common front in
their desire for immediate independence, no matter how divided they were
on other issues,” and the Belgians awarded the Congo full independence
on June 30, 1960. However, the Belgian government limited this
independence to the political realm. Economically, the intent was to
retain the Congo “as a neo-colonial country whose resources would be
exploited for the development of Belgian and West European economies,
and the continued underdevelopment of the Congo.” [7]
Nevertheless, the announcement resulted in a scramble to form
political parties. The result was that in May 1960, “Of the seven major
‘parties’ in the Congo, none gained enough seats in the election to
assure it of even 30 percent of the votes in the Chamber of
Representatives. Patrice Lumumba, whose MNC party won some 38 of the 137
seats, emerged as leader of the largest single bloc.” Of the other
parties, “the Abako, under Joseph Kasavubu, the Conakat party of
Katanga, led by Moise Tshombe, and a dissident wing of the MNC led by
Albert Kalondji in Kasai Province, together garnered about 27 votes, but
were allied chiefly by their growing opposition to a tightly
centralized, unitary type of government.”[8]
Ultimately, the philosophical conflict between having a centralized
government versus a nation of largely autonomous provinces was a major
source of division in the formation of the new Congolese government.
A spat between Kasavubu’s Abako party and Lumuba’s MNC quickly
escalated. Based on the weak elections of the MNC, the Belgian Resident
Minister allowed Lumumba to look into forming a coalition government.
However, Lumumba was unsuccessful as he was unable to persuade Kasavubu
and his Abako party to join him, thus the offer was given to Kasavubu.
Lumuba refused to work with the Abako party. On June 20th, it
was reported that “a ‘deal’ was apparently taking shape, whereby Mr.
Lumumba would head the Government as Premier and Mr. Kasavubu would
become Chief of State.” [9]
Lumumba would eventually become Premier of the Congo, after being
offered the Premiership by the Belgians; however, more drama was to come
in the form of a military mutiny, two secessions, and a UN
intervention.
Notes
[1] Integrated Regional Information Networks,
DRC: Conflict Deadliest Since World War II – Aid Agency,
http://www.irinnews.org/report/42969/drc-conflict-deadliest-since-world-war-ii-aid-agency (April 8, 2003)
[2] Yale University Genocide Studies Program,
Congo Free State, 1885-1908,
http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/belgian_congo/index.html (2010)
[3] Majory Taylor, “The Belgian Congo Today: Background to the Leopoldville Riots,”
The World Today 15:9 (1959), pg 354
[4] Taylor, pg 358
[5] Colin Legum,
Congo Disaster (Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books, 1961, pg 59
[6] Legum, pg 66
[7] Omajuwa Igho Natuf, “The Cold War and the Congo Crisis, 1960-1961,”
Africa: Quarterly Review of Studies and Documentation of the Italian Institute for AFRICAE the East 39:3 (1984), pg 358
[8] Byron Fairchild,
The Congo 1960, Historical Division Joint Chiefs of Staff,
http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/International_security_affairs/africa/415.pdf (July 1961)
[9] Ibid
Part II
Military Mutiny
It must first be noted that in the Congo, the military had only
whites in command positions, and there were only “three African
sergeant-majors in an army of 24,000 soldiers and non-commissioned
officers, 542 officers, and 566 junior officers.” Due to limited
education, few Congolese officers had the proper experience to lead the
military and thus the European officers needed to be retained. Even
nationalist Patrice Lumumba: “felt the need for continuity in the army –
that is to say, for the retention of European officers” and stated as
such to the Congo Executive College two months before the Congo became
independent.
Specifically, he stated that the military must stay “exactly as it is
– with its officer class, its junior officers, its traditions, its
discipline, its unique hierarchy and above all its morale unshaken.”[1]
With the average soldiers realizing they would remain in the same
situation of obedience, rather than having opportunities for
advancement, they rose up in a rage, seeking not only increased
authority but also an increase in pay. The mutiny began at the Thysville
military base and quickly spread across the country. Once the mutiny
had started, “stories of atrocities against whites surfaced in
newspapers around the globe” and due to the fact that mainly Belgians
were fleeing the Congo, the Belgian government brought in troops to
restore order,[2] even though Lumumba had denied a request from the
Belgians to do so. This violated the friendship treaty between the two
nations which stated that Belgian troops “may be used on Congolese
national territory only upon the specific request of the Government of
the Republic of the Congo, in particular, on the specific request of the
Congolese Minister of Defense.”[3] It was around this time that the
situation became even more unstable with the secession of the Katanga
region.
Katanga Secession
As has been noted beforehand, the Katanga was quite an important part
of real estate in the Congo due its large mineral wealth. Yet, there
were much greater problems than just natural wealth at play.
Economically speaking, while the Katanga region did have a large
amount of mineral wealth, the capital was held in the hands of one
company: the Union Miniere du Haut Katanga (translated as Mining Union
of Upper Katanga, UMHK). Having immense economic resources that are
controlled by one company would have serious political implications both
generally and especially for secession; namely, that Belgian aid was
needed as the region was so dependent on Belgian technicians and
investments.[4] Some sectors of the Katangan population viewed the
province as “the cow that the other territories never tired of
milking.”[5]
The economic status of the province played into the ethnic tensions
of the population. Industrialization of the Congo was mainly within the
southern region of the province where the three major mining centers
were located, creating a rather large amount of irregular regional
development. This was reflected in the uneven distribution “of social
overhead capital-commercial centers, communication facilities, schools,
hospitals, etc.” [6] This uneven development created ethnic tensions as
the UMHK received much of its labor from neighboring Kaisai province.
For example, the Luba of Kaisai, even though they were ethnically
related to the Luba people of the Katanga, formed their own unique
culture and this presence of ‘aliens’ helped to make both groups more
conscious of their differences.
Besides the ethnic tensions between Congolese, another factor was the
presence of Belgian settlers who had their own agenda. The interests of
the settlers lined up with those of the economic elite as the settlers
formed the Special Committee of Katanga,
“whose principal function was to promote, in every
possible way, the development of an agricultural colony. To serve this
purpose, a [Frontier Syndicate of Katanga] had been set up in 1920,
thanks to the financial backing of the UMHK, [the Congo Company for
Trade and Industry] and several other large-scale capitalist
enterprises.”
In addition to this, besides the corporate interests, the settlers
themselves had personal political and economic interests as they desired
the special administrative status with a Vice Governor General, which
acted as a representative of the Belgian monarchy. Economically, they
felt “the proportion of public expenditures devoted to the Katanga
appeared minute when compared with the over-all contribution of its
taxpayers to colonial revenues.” [7] Thus, through a combination of
ethnic tensions and economic interests, when the province finally
decided to secede, it was “supported by a Belgian mining company and was
backed by Belgian troops almost from the very beginning.” [8] Moïse
Tshombé, a pro-Western anti-communist, was elected to lead the breakaway
province and Katanga officially seceded on July 11, 1960. It was due to
this secession and the Belgian intervention to the military mutiny that
Patrice Lumumba appealed to the UN to intervene.
UN Intervention
Both Premier Patrice Lumumba and President Kasavubu went to the UN
Security Council to plead their case for military intervention, with the
goal of “[protecting] the national territory of the Congo against the
present external aggression which is a threat to world peace.” They
accused “the Belgian Government of having carefully prepared the
secession of the Katanga with a view of maintaining”[9] a hold on the
Congo. The Council voted in favor of intervention, with only three
abstentions from China, France, and the United Kingdom out of concern
for Belgian interests.
From there, “contingents of a United Nations Force, provided by a
number of countries including Asian and African States began to arrive
in the Congo” and “United Nations civilian experts were rushed to the
Congo to help ensure the continued operations of essential public
services.” [10] The UN force would remain in the country for the next
three years. Interestingly enough, both the USSR and the US agreed with
the intervention, likely due to their respective interests in the Congo.
Foreign Interests
On a regional level, the US and Soviet Union both viewed Africa as
important. “The question of independence for the colonies was championed
by the USSR,” while the US and its allies developed ways to “either
delay the granting of independence and/or to involve the newly
independent countries in their [the West's] global anti-communist
crusade.” Demands for freedom by colonized populations were viewed as
“communist-inspired movements, thus implicitly suggesting that the
colonized peoples preferred to remain colonized.”[11]
The focus on independence allowed for the Soviets to gain a foothold
in Africa as it could be seen as wanting equality and independence for
oppressed peoples around the globe. The Soviets viewed the liberation
movements sweeping Africa and Asia as “damaging to the West and
therefore beneficial to World Communism-if it could be properly
exploited.”[12] Thus, their goal in Africa was to aid the expansion of
Communism. When Lumumba turned to the Soviet Union in August 1960 for
aid to battle the Katanga secession after the UN refused to intervene
[13], he was immediately seen as a ‘Communist sympathizer’ or ‘useful
fool’ for the Soviets in the eyes of the West, though it aided the
Soviets in expanding their influence and building a reputation as
supporting independence for oppressed peoples. While this would come
back to haunt him, for the Soviets it worked quite well to boost their
credibility in the eyes of countries fighting colonialism.
The United States had a number of interests in the Congo. From the
very start, the West had been hostile to Lumumba, seeing him as
‘over-nationalistic’ and an ‘unreliable ally in the East-West conflict.’
When he accepted aid from the Soviet Union, this view only intensified.
The US had a number of economic interests in the region as well, with
there being a number of high-level connections to corporations, the US
State Department, and other organizations.
For example, the Liberian-American Mineral Company was led by “Bo
Gustav Hammarskjöld, brother of the U.N. Secretary General,” and
“Under-Secretary of State George Ball, who was directly in charge of
making U.S. policy in the Congo,”[14] and was a former member of Fowler
Hamilton’s law firm, which represented the International African
American Corporation, a UN mineral syndicate in the Congo. The
aforementioned Mining Union of Upper Katanga had stock held by “American
companies like Lazard Freres, the New York investment house;” and
“Allan A. Ryan, an American, [who] was director of the Belgium-American
Banking Corporation” held 25% of the shares in Mining Union and “the
Rockefeller Brothers [held] less than 1% of [Mining Union] shares.”[15]
While Howard Kersher, a newspaper reporter, did not find a smoking gun
linking these people to the problems in the Congo, it was quite obvious
that they all had financial interest in the region and thus a stake in
what was going on with regards to the Katanga secession.
From a geostrategic perspective, the Congo was important to the US
for its potential influence on its neighbors – Cameroon, Gabon, the
Central African Republic, and Sudan. US officials were worried that if a
pro-Communist government came to power, it could set the tone that
other African nations would follow and, on a larger level, aid the
Soviet Union in spreading Communist ideology. The Congo was valuable
from a military perspective in that a key front in WW3 would be the
Middle East; and assumptions were made that Soviets would attempt to
block routes to that theater; that “Soviet generals and planners would
understand the importance of the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal and
even the waters surrounding the coasts of South Africa” to overall US
strategy; and that “any Soviet attack would make security of these
routes integral to its plan.”[16]
Overall, the US “detested Lumumba and [was] determined to overthrow
him, and this became the principal objective of US policy during the
first six months of the Congo Crisis.”[17] CIA Director Allen Dulles
warned of a “communist takeover of the Congo with disastrous
consequences … for the interests of the free world” and “authorized a
crash-program fund of up to $100,000 to replace the existing government
of Patrice Lumumba with a ‘pro-western group.’”[18] While the
superpowers did have their respective interests in the Congo, the
situation would intensify with the secession of South Kasai.
South Kasai
The South Kasai region, like the Katanga, was rich with mineral
wealth, mainly diamonds. Until the mid-1970s, it produced one-third of
global output of industrial diamonds. Though mineral wealth was
important due to the economics of the Congo, it was mainly ideological
differences and ethnic conflict that caused the secession.
Ideologically, the secession was led by Albert Kalonji, a man who had
been a prominent figure in the Congolese National Movement party, but
later split from Lumumba to help form a more moderate wing of the
nationalist party which came to be known as MNC-Kalonji. Like the Abako
political party, the Kalonji wing of the MNC preferred a centralized
system in favor of autonomous provinces based on ethnic lines.
With regards to ethnicity, the secession “can be traced to the
territorial expansion of the Baluba beyond southern Kasai to the Lulua
area in the late-nineteenth century, which created animosities between
the Baluba and the Lulua.”[19] This territorial expansion of Baluba
peoples due to lack of cultivable land saw the Baluba move permanently
into the region and attain most of the clerical colonial jobs. “The fear
of domination by the Baluba prompted the creation of the Association of
Lulua-Frères in 1951 by a Lulua chief, Sylvain Mangole Kalamba.” [20]
Tensions eventually reached a crisis when “the local administration
proposed to resettle Baluba farmers from Lulua land (an economically
booming center province) back to their impoverished homeland in southern
Kasai.” [21] Kalonji exploited these ethnic tensions for political gain
and declared secession of South Kasai.
The Rise of Mobutu
While the country was wracked with political turmoil, it provided the
perfect atmosphere for a coup. On September 6, 1960, President Kasavubu
dismissed Lumumba and appointed Joseph Ileo as the new Premier.
However, his reign was not to last as the Army Chief of Staff, Joseph
Mobutu, would soon take power in a coup with foreign help.
Mobutu already had ties with the CIA that dated back to “his role in
the pre-independence negotiations in Brussels where he both reported to
the Belgian Sûreté and made his first contacts with Lawrence
Devlin,”[22] the CIA station chief in the Congo. These ties only grew
during the Congo Crisis when the US and other Western powers funded
Mobutu, who, in turn “distributed large amounts of money to the officers
and men under his command; through this arrangement he was able to
establish bonds of loyalty among his soldiers.” It also didn’t hurt that
his unit “was virtually the only really functioning element of the
Congolese National Army.”[23] The US aided Mobutu’s rise to power as,
has previously been mentioned, they viewed Lumumba as a Communist
sympathizer and needed to get rid of him in order to ensure that the
Soviets would not gain a sphere of influence in Africa.
The first time Mobutu took power was regarding a constitutional
dispute. Kasavubu had dismissed Lumumba. Both the US and the UN had
influence on this action. Andrew W. Cordier, a UN official, and Dag
Hammarskjöld, the UN Secretary-General, “coordinated their activities
with the State Department” overall and Cordier for September 6,
“arranged for UN troops to close the airport – to preclude any airlift
of loyal troops to the capital by Lumumba” and then “ordered UN forces
to close the radio station as well, which prevented Lumumba from
broadcasting an appeal for support.” [24] This encouraged Kasavubu to
act against Lumumba; however, his plan was stifled when Lumumba received
a full vote of confidence from the Congolese Parliament, whereas
Kasavubu’s appointment, Joseph Ileo, did not.
Due to this situation, the US became even more focused on getting
Mobutu into power and advocating for a military coup. On September 14,
Mobutu removed Lumumba from office, dissolved Parliament, and quickly
“turned the government over to a College of Commissioners composed of
the few college graduates the country possessed.”[25] He placed Lumumba
under house arrest. Lumumba was soon freed by loyal Congolese troops
only to be captured again and placed under house arrest with a UN guard.
Upon hearing that Lumumba had been place under house arrest, Vice
Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga set up a rival government in the eastern
city of Stanleyville with the help of pro-Lumumba forces. On December
12, 1960, Gizenga declared the nation of Stanleyville, with its capital
of Oriental City, to be the only legitimate government of the Congo.
Gizenga quickly turned to the Soviet Union for aid. In a telegram, he
asked the Soviets to “immediately, without delay, help us in military
equipment and foodstuffs’ in order to repel the invasion of Mobutu’s
troops ‘who unleashed the civil war against soldiers and units loyal to
the legitimate government.” [26] Considering that they had attempted to
aid the Lumumba government and failed, the Soviets took their time in
replying to Gizenga. When they did respond, they sent $500,000 in aid.
However, due to the blockade on Stanleyville, they could not transport
aid directly to the fledging government, and as a result of infighting
among the USSR and its regional allies, little else was done.
There were now four competing governments in the Congo: Joseph Mobutu
and Joseph Kasavubu in Léopoldville, supported by Western governments,
Antoine Gizenga in Stanleyville, Albert Kalonji in South Kasai, and
Moise Tshombe in Katanga.
The Assassination of Patrice Lumumba
As has been previously mentioned, the West had never been
particularly fond of Lumumba, especially after he sought aid from the
Soviet Union. His assassination came as a surprise to many, but it had
already been planned from the very beginning as the US government was
determined to get him out of the picture, as were the Belgians.
On November 27, 1960, Lumumba left UN custody to make a break for
Stanleyville and join his supporters there. However, he was captured by
Mobutu’s forces only days later and imprisoned. In early January 1961,
forces loyal to Lumumba invaded “northern Katanga to support a revolt of
Baluba tribesmen against the Tshobme government.” Due to ‘security’
reasons, “the CIA and Mobutu decided to transfer Lumumba from
Leopoldville to Katanga,” [27] where he and two aides were subsequently
killed.
US plans to eliminate Lumumba went as high as the President himself.
On August 25, 1960, a subcommittee of the National Security Council
known as the Special Group met. Thomas Parrott, the secretary of the
Group, began the meeting by outlining the CIA operations that had been
taken by ‘mounting an anti- Lumumba campaign in the Congo,’ and the
meeting ended with the group “not necessarily ruling out any particular
kind of activity which might contribute to getting rid of Lumumba.”[28]
The very next month, CIA Station Officer Victor Hedgman received a cable
from Bronson Tweedy, the Deputy Director of the CIA, in which “he
advised [Hedgman], or [his] instructions were, to eliminate Lumumba,”
specifying the orders came from the President himself.[29]
While a Senate report found there was “no evidentiary basis for
concluding that the CIA conspired in this plan or was connected to the
events in Katanga that resulted in Lumumba’s death,” some doubt still
remains. The CIA did have a plan to poison Lumumba and possessed
“advanced knowledge of the central government’s plan to transport
Lumumba into the hands of his bitterest enemies, where he was likely to
be killed.” [30] The US government, at the very least, played a
significant role in Lumumba’s assassination.
The Belgians also had wanted to kill Lumumba and were somewhat
involved with his assassination. Specifically, they were involved in
“weapon deliveries; supporting the arrest of Lumumba; action 58316, (the
outline of which is unclear but within which an attack on Lumumba could
be relevant); and the kidnapping of Lumumba.”[31] They also had
information that the leader’s life was in danger due to being in the
Katanga, but did not take any action to protect him. In fact, when
Lumumba was executed, it was in the presence of “a Belgian police
commissioner and three Belgian officers who were under the authority,
leadership and supervision of the Katangan authorities.” [32]
With Lumumba dead, it was only a matter of time before the Congo would be reunited under the rule of Mobutu.
The Fall of the Revolution
During late 1960 and early 1961, it became obvious to Western powers
that “the provisional government of Kasavubu would not last without
reconciliation with Katanga, and the U.S. pressed for a federated Congo
government which would include Katanga.”[33] Thus, the US encouraged the
UN Security Council to pass a resolution demanding an end to the
Katanga secession. This was passed in the form of UNSC Resolution 161,
which stated in part that the UN should “take immediately all
appropriate measures to prevent the occurrence of civil war in the
Congo.” [34]
However, this was undermined by Belgium and other involved American
interests, whom did not want the secession to end. These interests
formed an organization called ‘The Committee to Aid Katanga Freedom
Fighters,” which allowed Tshombe to “build an army that could resist the
UN, financed by Belgium.” This armed group had reactionary forces
within it from a number of places, including “the United States (Cuban
exiles), Britain, France (ex-Foreign Legionnaires), West Germany (ex-SS
men), South Africa (fascists), Rhodesia–and, of course, Belgium.” [35]
In February 1961, Kasavubu put an end to the Mobutu reign and
appointed Joseph Ileo and Cyrille Adoula heads of the new government,
with Kasavubu remaining as president. The very next month, Gizenga
attempted to make peace with the Congo, but was arrested by Kasavubu and
imprisoned, while Tshombe was forced into exile. Three years later, in
1964, the UN left the Congo, and Tshombe returned. During his leave of
absence, Tshombe “conferred in Brussels with Foreign Minister Paul-Henri
Spaak and the U.S. Ambassador,”[36] which allowed him to return to the
Congo and replace Adoula as Prime Minister. Yet, this government did not
last. Mobutu gained power in November 1965, once again with the aid of
the CIA.
The US government grew weary of the competition between Tshombe and
Kasavubu, both of whom hoped to rule the Congo after the civil war
ended. This concern heightened when Kasavubu “sought ‘an opening to the
left’ by dismissing Tshombe and appointing a government ready to
consider not only the dismissal of mercenaries, but also the recognition
of Communist China and improved relations with left-nationalist African
states.” [37] In response, the CIA backed Mobutu to ensure that no
leftist groups gained power.
In addition to constant tinkering from foreign interests, there was
also internal politicking. The coup itself was a collective decision by
senior officers of the Congolese military. They ultimately backed Mobutu
and “believed the army was above partisan politics and demanded
increased fighting power of the army.”[38] In order to satisfy the
military, Mobutu increased the size of the military and enhanced its
prestige. This, as time would tell, only opened the door for more
internal struggles down the line.
Notes
[1] Claude E. Welch, “Soldier and State in Africa,” The Journal of Modern African Studies 5:3 (1967), pgs 307-308
[2] US Department of State, Office of the Historian, the Congo, Decolonization, and the Cold War, 1960-1965,
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/congo-decolonization
[3] Africa Today Associates, “Conflict in the Congo,” Africa Today 7:5 (1960), pg 8
[4] Rene Lemarchand, “The Limits of Self-Determination: The Case of the
Katanga,” American Political Science Review 56:2 (1962), pg 405
[5] Lemarchand, pg 406
[7] Lemarchand, pg 409
[8] M. Rafiqul Islam, “Secessionist Self-Determination: Some Lessons
from Katanga, Biafra, and Bangladesh,” Journal of Peace Research 22:3
(1985), pg 213
[9] Joseph Kasavubu, Patrice Lumumba, UN Security Council Resolution S/4382, United Nations Security Council,
http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/4382 (July 13, 1960)
[10] United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Republic of the Congo- ONUC Background,
http://www.un.org/Depts/DPKO/Missions/onucB.htm
[11] Natuf, pg 355
[12] William G. Thom, “Trends in Soviet Support for African Liberation.” Air University Review 25 (1974), pg 36
[13] BBC, The Congolese Civil War, 1960-1964,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lancashire/plain/A1304803
[14] Kiama Mutahi, “The United States, The Congo, and the Mineral Crisis
of 1960-64: The Triple Entente of Economic Interest,” Electronic Thesis
or Dissertation. Miami University, 2013.
https://etd.ohiolink.edu/, pg 33
[15] Mutahi, pg 32
[16] Davis, Erik M., “The United States and the Congo, 1960-1965:
Containment, Minerals, and Strategic Location” (2013).Theses and
Dissertations–History. Paper 8.
http://uknowledge.uky.edu/history_etds/8, pg 578
[17] David N. Gibbs, “Secrecy and International Relations,” Journal of Peace Research 32:2 (1995), pg 220
[18] William Blum, Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since WW2 (London, United Kingdom: Zed Books, 2003), pg 156
[19] Emizet Kisangani and Léonce Ndikumana, “The Economics of Civil War:
The Case of the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Political Economy
Research Institute Working Papers 47 (2003), pg 8
[20] Ibid, pg 9
[21] Ibid
[22] Götz Bechtolsheimer “Breakfast with Mobutu: Congo, the United
States and the Cold War, 1964-1981,” PhD Diss., The London School of
Economics and Political Science (2012), pg 64
[23] Gibbs, pg 220
[24] Gibbs, pg 221
[25]
[25] Michael G. Schatzberg , “Beyond Mobutu: Kabila and the Congo ,” Journal of Democracy 8:4 (1997), pg 72
[26] Sergei Mazov, “Soviet Aid to the Gizenga Government in the Former
Belgian Congo (1960-61) as Reflected in Russian Archives,” Cold War
History 7:3 (2007), pg 429
[27] Tom Cooper, “Congo, Part 1: 1960-1963,” Air Combat Information Group, September 2, 2003 (
http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_182.shtml)
[28] U.S. Congress, Senate, Select Committee to Study Governmental
Operations With Respect to Intelligence Activities, Alleged
Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders, 1975, 94
th Congress, 1
st Session, November 20, 1975 (Washington D.C.: GOP 1975), pg 60
[29] Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders, pgs 24, 26
[30] Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders, pg 48
[31] Belgian House of Representatives, Parliamentary Inquiry on the
Circumstances of the Assassination of Patrice Lumumba and on the
Possible Involvement of Belgian Politicians , Report of the Commission
of Inquiry
http://www.dekamer.be/commissions/LMB/indexN.html , pg 6
[32]
http://www.dekamer.be/commissions/LMB/indexN.html, pg 8
[33] Dick Roberts, “Patrice Lumumba and the Revolution in the Congo,” The Militant,
http://www.themilitant.com/2001/6528/652850.html (July 23, 2001)
[34] United Nations Security Council, UN Security Council Resolution S/4741,
http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/171/68/IMG/NR017168.pdf?OpenElement (February 21, 1961)
[35] Roberts, July 23, 2001
[36] Ibid
[37] Stephen R. Weissman, “CIA Covert Action in Zaire and Angola:
Patterns and Consequences,” Political Science Quarterly 94:2 (1979), pg
273
[38] Kisangani N. F. Emizet, “Explaining The Rise And Fall of Military
Regimes: Civil-Military Relations in the Congo,” Armed Forces &
Society 26:2 (2000), pg 211
Source:
Libya files
Africason is a die-hard believer in Africa.
Twitter: @african_school
Facebook.com/AfricanSchool
Comments
Post a Comment