Democratic Republic of the Congo

Coordinates: 3°S 24°E / 3°S 24°E / -3; 24
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Democratic Republic of the Congo
République démocratique du Congo (French)
Motto: "Justice – Paix – Travail"
("Justice – Peace – Work")
Anthem: "
semi-presidential republic
• President
Félix Tshisekedi
Judith Suminwa
LegislatureParliament
Senate
National Assembly
Formation
• Colonised
17 November 1879
1 July 1885
15 November 1908
30 June 1960[2]
20 September 1960
• Democratic Republic
1 August 1964
27 October 1971
17 May 1997
18 February 2006
Calling code
+243
ISO 3166 codeCD
Internet TLD.cd

The Democratic Republic of the Congo,

South Atlantic Ocean
.

Centered on the

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 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

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.[2] The country then had its name changed back and was confronted by the Second Congo War from 1998 to 2003, which resulted in the deaths of 5.4 million people and the assassination of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila.[8][9][10][11] 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.[12]

Following 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.[13] Since 2015, eastern Congo has been the site of an ongoing military conflict.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is extremely rich in

.

Etymology

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 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.[18]

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.[19][20] The word Kongo comes from 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])."[21] The modern name of the Kongo people, Bakongo, was introduced in the early 20th century.[citation needed]

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been known in the past as, in chronological order, the

Republic of Zaire, before returning to its current name the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[2]

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 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.[22]

The word Zaire is from a Portuguese adaptation of a Kikongo word nzadi ("river"), a truncation of nzadi o nzere ("river swallowing rivers").[23][24][25] The river 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.[26]

In 1992, the Sovereign National Conference voted to change the name of the country to the "Democratic Republic of the Congo", but the change was not made.[27] The country's name was later restored by President Laurent-Désiré Kabila when he overthrew Mobutu in 1997.[28] To distinguish it from the neighboring Republic of the Congo, it is sometimes referred to as Congo (Kinshasa), Congo-Kinshasa, or Big Congo.[29] Its name is sometimes also abbreviated as Congo DR, DR Congo,[30] DRC,[31] the DROC,[32] and RDC (in French).[31]

History

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.

Early history

Arab slave raid on Nyangwe, circa 1870

The geographical area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was populated as early as 90,000 years ago, as shown by 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.[33][34]

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 a third even further east and south around the Upemba Depression.[35]
: 17–18 

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 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.[36]: 24–25 

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.[37] From the Upemba Depression the Luba Empire and Lunda Empire emerged in the 15th and 17th centuries respectfully dominated the eastern region.

Congo Free State (1877–1908)

View of Leopoldville Station and Port in 1884

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 the infamous Tippu Tip, who was well known to Stanley.[38]

Leopold had designs on what was to become the Congo as a colony.

Association Internationale Africaine, actually played one European rival against another.[citation needed
]

King Leopold formally acquired rights to the Congo territory at the Conference of Berlin in 1885 and made the land his private property. He named it the Congo Free State.[39] 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.

Congo Free State official Camille Coquilhat with the Bangala chief Mata-Buiké in c. 1888

In the Free State, colonists coerced the local population into producing rubber, for which 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.[40]

Under the Congo Free State concessions were granted to private industry, granting 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.[41]

During 1885–1908, millions of Congolese died as 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.[40]

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 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.[42] Determining precisely how many people died is impossible, as no accurate records exist.

Belgian Congo (1908–1960)

1908 photograph of a married Christian couple.

In 1908, 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.[43] 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 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.[44]

Force Publique soldiers in the Belgian Congo in 1918. At its peak, the Force Publique had around 19,000 Congolese soldiers, led by 420 Belgian officers.

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 the Belgian Congo and the majority of Leopold II's administration with him.[45] 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 the firm control of the colonial administration. The Belgian authorities permitted no political activity in the Congo whatsoever,[46] 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 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 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[47] and Saïo under Major-General Auguste-Eduard Gilliaert.[48]

Independence and political crisis (1960–1965)

The leader of ABAKO, Joseph Kasa-Vubu, first democratically elected President of Congo-Léopoldville
Patrice Lumumba, first democratically elected Prime Minister of the Congo-Léopoldville, was murdered by Belgian-supported Katangan separatists in 1961.

In May 1960, 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 the Parti National du Peuple led by Albert Delvaux and Laurent Mbariko.[49]

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 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.[50][51] Most of the 100,000 Europeans who had remained behind after independence fled the country.[52] 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 the armed forces in South Kasai and for involving Soviets in the country.[53] 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.[54]

On 14 September, Colonel Joseph Mobutu, with 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.[55] 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.[56]

On 18 September 1961, in ongoing negotiations of 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 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 the Simba rebels by November 1965.[57]

Lumumba had previously appointed Mobutu chief of staff of the new Congo army, Armée Nationale Congolaise.[58] 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 the "Democratic Republic of the Congo".[2] In 1971 Mobutu changed the name again, this time to "Republic of Zaire".[59][22]

Mobutu autocracy and Zaire (1965–1997)

Mobutu Sese Seko and Richard Nixon in Washington, D.C., 1973.

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.[60] A single-party system was established, and Mobutu declared himself head of state. He periodically held elections in which he 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.[61] Throughout 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.[62] 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 the southern region. Zaire established semi-clientelist relationships with several smaller African states, especially Burundi, Chad, and Togo.[63]

Corruption became so common the term "le mal Zairois" or "Zairian sickness",[64] meaning gross corruption, theft and mismanagement, was coined, reportedly by Mobutu.[65] 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 a kleptocracy as Mobutu and his associates embezzled government funds.

Prince Bernhard
in Kinshasa in 1973

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 the Republic of Zaire,[22] 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.[66] Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union U.S. relations with Mobutu cooled, as he 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 the rebellion of Laurent-Desire Kabila that overthrew the Mobutu regime."[67]

In September 1997, Mobutu died in exile in Morocco.[68]

Continental and civil wars (1996–2007)

Belligerents of the Second Congo War

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 a campaign against Congolese ethnic Tutsis in eastern Zaire.[69]

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

Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo. In 1997 Mobutu fled and Kabila marched into Kinshasa, naming himself as president and reverting the name of the country to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[70][71]

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 the Congo, led by Congolese warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba.[citation needed] 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.[72] His son Joseph Kabila succeeded him[73] and called for multilateral peace talks. UN peacekeepers, MONUC, now known as MONUSCO, arrived in April 2001. In 2002–03 Bemba intervened in the Central African Republic on behalf of its former president, Ange-Félix Patassé.[74] 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 the first free national elections since 1960, which many believed would mark the end to violence in the region.[75] 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.

Refugees in the Congo

Continued conflicts (2008–2018)