Congo crisis

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Congo crisis (1960–65) A series of political disturbances in the Democratic Republic of the CONGO following its independence from Belgium. The sudden decision by Belgium to grant independence to its vast colony along the Congo was taken in January 1960. A single state was to be created, governed from Léopoldville (Kinshasa). Fighting began between tribes during parliamentary elections in May and further fighting occurred at independence (30 June). The Congolese troops of the Force Publique (armed police) mutinied against their Belgian officers. Europeans and their property were attacked, and Belgian refugees fled. In the rich mining province of Katanga, Moise TSHOMBÉ, supported by Belgian troops and White mercenaries, proclaimed an independent republic. The government appealed to the United Nations for troops to restore order, and the UN Secretary-General HAMMARSKJÖLD despatched a peacekeeping force to replace the Belgians. A military coup brought the army commander, Colonel MOBUTU, to power with a government which excluded the radical Prime Minister, Patrice LUMUMBA. In 1961 Lumumba was killed, allegedly by “hostile tribesmen”, and Hammarskjöld died in an air crash on a visit to the Congo. The fighting continued and independent regimes were established at different times in Katanga, Stanleyville, and Kasai. In November 1965 the Congolese army under Mobutu staged a second coup, and Mobutu declared himself President.

Congo Crisis (1960–5) A state of near-anarchy that followed the sudden independence of the Democratic Republic of Congo (later Zaïre) from Belgium on 30 June 1960. In the months before independence, Belgian authority collapsed, with the troops of the armed police attacking their senior (Belgian) officers, and attacks against European property. As the police forces became ineffective, rivalries between many of the different tribes erupted again, and strikes were a frequent occurrence. Despite the instalment of Kasavubu as President and Lumumba as Prime Minister, central authority failed. Most threatening to the young state was the declaration of independence by the Katanga Province under its governor, Moïse Tshombe. He was supported by White mercenaries hired by the Belgian mining company, Union Minière du Haut-Katanga. The army leader Mobutu led a coup in September, ousting Lumumba and handing him over to the forces in Katanga, where he was murdered. In 1962, the UN intervened by sending troops to the country to restore order, in the preparation of which mission the Secretary-General, Hammarskjöld, lost his life. UN troops left in 1964, with Tshombe winning the elections of 1965. He was dismissed by Kasavubu in October 1965. One month later, Kasavubu was in turn deposed by Mobutu, whose army then managed to restore order and defeat the Katangese troops.