History of the Republic of the Congo
This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2009) |
History of the Republic of the Congo |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Republic of the Congo portal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The history of the Republic of the Congo has been marked by diverse civilisations: Indigenous, French and post-independence.
Bantus and Forest Peoples
The earliest inhabitants of the region comprising present-day Congo were the
From the capital they ruled over an empire encompassing large parts of present-day Angola, the
Portuguese exploration
This
Initially relations were limited and considered beneficial to both sides. With
Revolts
The result was a series of revolts against Portuguese rule of which the battle of Mbwila and the revolt led by Kimpa Vita (Tchimpa Vita) were the most important. The battle of Mbwila (or battle of Ambouilla or battle of Ulanga) was the result of a conflict between the Portuguese, led by governor André Vidal de Negreiros, and the Kongolese king António I concerning mining rights. The Kongolese refused to give the Portuguese extra territorial rights and the Portuguese were angry because of Kongolese support for previous Dutch invasions of the region. During a battle on 25 October 1665 an estimated 20,000 Kongolese fought against the Portuguese, who won the battle thanks to the early death in battle of Kongolese King Afonso I of Kongo.[citation needed]
The revolt of Kimpa Vita was another attempt to regain independence from the Portuguese. Baptised around 1684 as
Congo's disintegration
As a result of all these wars the kingdom of the
French rule
Scramble for raw materials
The period leading up to the
The Congo River hereby was a prime target for this new conquest by the European nations. Here the French, the Belgian
Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza
On the north bank of the river arrived the French explorer
Establishing control
The French government allowed for the establishment of the so-called Concessionary Companies in 1889 so as to circumvent the economic non-discrimination provisions of the Treaty of Berlin and maximize the revenue drawn from underpopulated and undeveloped regions under their control. Roughly forty companies with a capital of roughly 59.5 million francs were given a free hand to exploit the colony's resources under virtual monopoly conditions. 650,000 square miles of land, except for a few strategic locations mainly around the Congo River, were leased as concessions for a thirty-year period. Cost-benefit considerations reigned supreme as often undercapitalized companies employed unqualified personnel and/or adventurers who lived off the land while stripping their concessions of all possible riches. Ivory and rubber virtually disappeared from the concessionary areas; indigenous populations were decimated by brutal forced labor, disease, and maladministration, and some fled to neighboring colonies.[6]
French rule was brutal and led to many thousands of deaths. The construction between 1921 and 1934 of the 511 km long railway, the Chemin de Fer Congo-Océan between Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire is for example said to have cost the lives of around 23,000 locals and a few hundred Europeans. Any resistance against French colonial rule, however small, was brutally repressed. Ultimately the French government lost more money than it gained in rents and taxes from the Concessionary system upon which the colony had become reliant, and French public opinion was shocked by reports of the wide-scale brutalities which the system had given rise to. By 1930 most of the Concessionary companies had gone bankrupt and the practice had largely ceased.
In 1911 parts of the colony (the so-called
French administration
The first name given officially on 1 August 1886 for the new colony was Colony of Gabon and Congo. On 30 April 1891 this was renamed Colony of French Congo, consisting of Gabon and Middle Congo, the name the French gave to Congo-Brazzaville at that time. On 15 January 1910 the colony again was renamed to
The Federation quickly became centered on Middle Congo due to the presence of the Governor-General in Brazzaville, so while each colony was theoretically fairly autonomous the centralization of powers meant that the Governor-General gave preferential treatment to the region in which he resided. Education, health services, judicial systems, and public works were all under the control of Brazzaville-based authorities who could overrule the territorial governors. Middle Congo was provided with the only deep-water port in the Federation at Pointe Noire as well as the railway. Brazzaville's public buildings, schools, law courts, trading firms, telecommunications and medical services soon surpassed by far their counterparts elsewhere in the Federation. Peoples from more marginal areas of AEF such as Chad were forced to work in Middle Congo, and funds were funneled primarily into the region, causing a great sense of resentment. Ultimately the massive expansion of Middle Congo's civil service contributed to a drain of the rural population into the cities, and created an entrenched bureaucracy and trade union network that would prove to be a burden on state stability following independence.[7]
The French government continued to rule through a Governor-General until the elections of 1957 when a High Commissioner of the République was established. The total population in 1950 for the whole AEF was 4,143,922, with only around 15,000 non-Africans present.
1940s and Reforms
World War II
As with the arrival of the Portuguese events in Europe again had a deep impact on the affairs of Congo-Brazzaville, and Africa in general. Marshal
Felix Eboué
In this revolt the then-governor of Chad
Rise of nationalism
Governor General
André Matsoua can be seen as the father of modern Congolese nationalism. His rise shows how, in spite of the Code de l'Indigénat and the brutal repression, Africans in French colonies were able to set up resistance movements to colonial rule. Local schools run by French missionaries, as elsewhere in Africa formed the basis of this rise of African nationalism. André Matsoua got his education and contacts with European thinking through the church. Born in 1899 in Mandzakala he joined the French customs administration in Brazzaville in 1919 and soon after left for France where he joined the French army to fight in
When in 1929 his group also became active in Congo itself and demanded an end to the Code de l'Indigénat, things changed. In 1929 the French dissolved Matsoua's association and he together with some of his friends were jailed and sent in exile to Chad, leading to riots and a campaign of disobedience against the French administration lasting many years. He however escaped to France in 1935 where under a new identity he continued his political work. Showing his loyalty to France, in spite of the harsh repression, he joined the French army to fighting the German invasion in 1940. Wounded, he was rearrested, and sent back to Brazzaville where on 8 February 1941 he was sentenced under Felix Eboué to work in labor camps for the rest of his life. He died under unclear circumstances in prison on 13 January 1942. His supporters maintain that he was murdered, and began the Matsouanist movement, active chiefly among the Lari, even after independence.
Road to independence
The Congo went in the space of fourteen years from having no political freedom whatsoever to complete independence, making the rise of legitimate democratic institutions respected by a substantial proportion of the population near-impossible. Original democratic institutions were modeled on those of France, but multiple Africanising constitutions were instituted and then set aside in 1961, 1963, 1968, 1973 and 1992. As a heterogeneous state, political parties very quickly began to focus solely on ethnic and regionalist groupings. For example, between 1946 and 1956 the Lari, an important community in the country, refused to take part in elections, with many under the belief that their deceased messianic leader André Matsoua would return. The absence of the Bakongo from early politics led to a power vacuum into which the Vili and Mbochi moved until independence.[8]
The most prominent Congolese politician until 1956 was
Although Tchicaya was on the left of the French political spectrum, he never strongly questioned French colonial rule. This resulted in a loss of influence as the Congo prepared for independence, influenced by nationalist anti-colonial leaders as
Prior to independence, the French establishment and Catholic Church feared Opangault's radicalism and favored the rise of Fulbert Youlou, a former priest. The defection of Georges Yambot from the African Socialist Movement (MSA) to Youlou's Union Démocratique pour la Défense d'Intérêts Africains (UDDIA) helped Youlou become prime minister in 1958. This led to the establishment of the Republic of the Congo on 28 November 1958 (with Brazzaville replacing Point Noire as the country's capital).
On 16 February 1959, a revolt organized by Opangault and his MSA erupted in clashes along tribal lines between Southerners, supporting Youlou, and people from the North, loyal to the MSA. The riots were suppressed by French army and Opangault was arrested. In total about 200 people died. Prime Minister Youlou then held the elections for which Opangault had previously asked in vain. After the May 9 arrest of several politicians, including veteran politician Simon Kikhounga Ngot, because of an alleged
In November that year, Youlou released Opangault, Ngot and other adversaries, as part of an amnesty. In return both politicians, as well as Germain Bicoumat, joined Youlou's government and received ministerial posts, effectively destroying any organized political opposition.
Oil
Shortly before gaining independence an event occurred that in the years to come would have deep influence on the country and its relations with the outside world, mainly France. Although French geologists had already established for certain in 1926 the presence of oil and gas in the country, in 1957 near Pointe Indienne the French Societé des Pétroles de l'Afrique Equatoriale Françaises (SPAEF) found oil and gas reserves offshore in sufficient exploitable quantities. Only then did France start exploiting these reserves. The reason was that in Algeria a war of independence was fought, and the French were losing. Until then Algeria was the main source of oil and gas destined for the French market. To remain independent of the American and British oil majors France had to look elsewhere for its supply. For some the discovery of oil off the Congolese coast was a blessing. For the majority of the local population it rather proved to be a curse as the International Monetary Fund in its yearly reports on the country a few years ago[when?] sadly observed. By the 1970s oil was Congo's largest export, however global market-price vicissitudes together with Congo's tendency to rely on overly optimistic projections of future revenues for the political purposes of sustaining a large civil service and a highly inefficient State sector, have regularly caused serious fiscal imbalances. Development of the sector has been hampered by the nation's traditionally powerful trade unionist movement, political uncertainties, as well as the costs of exploitation in a country with poor transport infrastructure.[10]
Les Trois Glorieuses and the 1968 Coup d'état
As Brazzaville had been the capital of the large federation of French Equatorial Africa, it had an important workforce and many trade unions. Further radicalization elsewhere in Africa as a result of the decolonization led to revolt against the dictatorial rule of Youlou. Following Youlou's 6 August 1963 announcement of the formation of a one-party state with only one legal trade union, trade unions started their revolt on 13 August. Youlou's palace was besieged in August by angry workers and the French refused to intervene militarily, and he was forced to resign. This uprising is known as Les Trois Glorieuses (the Three Glorious Days), named after the French July Revolution against King Charles X in 1830. Fulbert Youlou and his main supporters were arrested by the military and ceased to play any further role in Congolese political life.
The Congolese military took charge of the country briefly and installed a civilian provisional government headed by Alphonse Massamba-Débat. Under the 1963 constitution, Massamba-Débat was elected president for a five-year term and named Pascal Lissouba to serve as prime minister.
President
Assassination of Ngouabi and election of Sassou-Nguesso
On March 18, 1977, President Ngouabi was assassinated. A number of people were accused of shooting Ngouabi were tried and some of them executed, including former President
An 11-member Military Committee of the Party (CMP) was named to head an interim government with Col. (later Gen.)
The Central Committee directed Sassou-Nguesso to take charge of preparations for the Third Extraordinary Congress of the PCT, which proceeded to elect him President of the Central Committee and President of the Republic. Under a congressional resolution, Yhombi-Opango was stripped of all powers, rank, and possessions and placed under arrest to await trial for high treason. He was released from house arrest in late 1984 and ordered back to his native village of Owando.[12]
Democracy and civil war
After decades of turbulent politics bolstered by
Congolese democracy experienced severe trials in 1993 and early 1994. The President dissolved the
Lissouba lost favour with the French government early in his presidency by asking the American-owned Occidental Petroleum company to provide financial support for his Government in exchange for promises of future oil production. As the French company Elf Aquitaine (which reaped much of its profits from the Republic of the Congo) had only just recently opened a large deep-water oil platform off the coast of Pointe-Noire, Mr. Lissouba was pressured by the French into canceling all contracts with Occidental Petroleum, but suspicions of Lissouba remained.[13]
However, Congo's democratic progress derailed in 1997. As presidential elections scheduled for July 1997 approached, tensions between the Lissouba and Sassou Nguesso camps mounted. In May, a visit by Sassou Nguesso to Owando, Joachim Yhombi-Opango's political stronghold, led to the outbreak of violence between their supporters.[14] On June 5, 1997, government forces surrounded Sassou Nguesso's home in the Mpila section of Brazzaville, attempting to arrest two men, Pierre Aboya and Engobo Bonaventure, who had been implicated in the earlier violence. Fighting broke out between the government forces and Sassou Nguesso's fighters, called Cobras, igniting a 4-month conflict that destroyed or damaged much of Brazzaville.[13][14]
Angola supported Sassou Nguesso with about 1,000 Angolan tanks, troops. Support by the sympathetic
Together these forces took Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire in the morning of October 16. Lissouba fled the capital while his soldiers surrendered and citizens began looting. Yhombi-Opango supported Lissouba during the war,[15] serving as leader of the Presidential Majority,[16][full citation needed] and after Sassou Nguesso's victory he fled into exile[15] in Ivory Coast and France. Soon thereafter, Sassou Nguesso declared himself President and named a 33-member government.[17]
In January 1998 the Sassou Nguesso regime held a National Forum for Reconciliation to determine the nature and duration of the transition period. The Forum, tightly controlled by the government, decided elections should be held in about three years, elected a transition advisory legislature, and announced that a constitutional convention will finalize a draft constitution. However, the eruption in late 1998 of fighting between Sassou Nguesso's government forces and an armed opposition disrupted the transitional return to democracy. This new violence also closed the economically vital
In November and December 1999, the government signed agreements with representatives of many, though not all, of the rebel groups. The December accord, mediated by President Omar Bongo of Gabon, called for follow-on, inclusive political negotiations between the government and the opposition.[18]
Sassou's second presidency
Sassou won elections in 2002 with an implausible 90% or so of the votes. His two main rivals, Lissouba and
In 2015, Sassou changed the constitution to run in the 2016 election. He won the election believed by many to be fraudulent. After violent protests in the capital, Sassou attacked the Pool region, where the Ninja rebels of the civil war used to be based, in what was believed to be a distraction. This led to a revival of the Ninja rebels who launched attacks against the army in April 2016, leading 80,000 people to flee their homes. A ceasefire deal was signed in December 2017.[20]
See also
- History of Africa
- People's Republic of the Congo
- Politics of the Republic of the Congo
- List of heads of government of the Republic of the Congo
- List of heads of state of the Republic of the Congo
- Brazzaville history and timeline
Notes
- This article incorporates public domain material from "Background Note: Republic of the Congo". U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets. United States Department of State.
- ^ "M'banza Congo | Angola | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
- ^ Appiah & Gates 1999, p. 1105.
- ^ Bustin 1963, p. 12.
- ^ Thornton, John K. The Kongolese Saint Anthony: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684–1706. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
- ^ "Kimpa Vita (Dona Beatrice), Angola/Congo/Dem. Rep. Of Congo, the Antonian Movement". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2005-09-24.
- ^ a b Decalo, Thompson, Adloff, Samuel, Virginia, Richard (1996). The Historical Dictionary of Congo. Scarecrow Press. p. 6.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Decalo, Thompson, Adloff, Samuel, Virginia, Richard (1996). The Historical Dictionary of Congo. Scarecrow Press. p. 5.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Decalo, Thompson, Adloff, Samuel, Virginia, Richard (1996). The Historical Dictionary of Congo. Scarecrow Press. p. 7.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Blair, W. Granger (13 July 1960). "3 More Nations Gain Freedom Through Pacts Signed by France; Congo, Central African and Chad Republics Are Given Sovereignty in Paris". The New York Times.
- ^ Decalo, Thompson, Adloff, Samuel, Virginia, Richard (1996). The Historical Dictionary of Congo. Scarecrow Press. p. 2.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Republic of Congo profile". BBC. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "Congo (Brazzaville) (03/09)". U.S. Department of State.
- ^ a b c French, Howard W. (October 16, 1997). "Rebels, Backed by Angola, Take Brazzaville and Oil Port". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
- ^ a b "ENTRE ARBITRAIRE ET IMPUNITE : LES DROITS DE L'HOMME AU CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE" Archived 2007-11-14 at the Wayback Machine, Congolese Human Rights Observatory and International Federation of Human Rights (fidh.org), April 1998 (in French).
- ^ a b Political Parties of the World (6th edition, 2005), ed. Bogdan Szajkowski, pages 138–140.
- ^ "Congo: Lissouba 'accepted' selection of prime minister from opposition", Africa No 1 radio (nl.newsbank.com), August 10, 1997.
- )
- ^ "Agreement on Ending Hostilities In the Republic of Congo" (PDF). Chapter VII, Article 13.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Republic Of Congo Opposition: Government Buying Chinese Arms". AFP via Dow Jones News. 2008-12-30.
- ^ "Congo-Brazzaville's hidden war". New Humanitarian. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
Bibliography
- Appiah, Kwame Anthony; Gates, Henry Louis Jr., eds. (1999), Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, New York: Basic Books.
- Bustin, Edouard (1963), Carter, Gwendolen Margaret (ed.), Five African States: Responses to Diversity: the Congo, Dahomey, the Cameroun Federal Republic, the Rhodesias and Nyasaland, South Africa, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
- OCLC 5673.
- Davidson, Basil (1973), The Africans: An Entry to Cultural History, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
- Massengo, Gualbert-Brice (2004), L'économie pétrolière du Congo: les effets pervers de la monoressource économique dans les pays en développement (in French), Paris: L'Harmattan.
- Moukoko, Philippe (1999), Dictionnaire Général du Congo-Brazzaville (in French), Paris: L'Harmattan.
- Petringa, Maria: Brazza, A Life for Africa. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2006. ISBN 978-1-4259-1198-0
- Wm. Roger Louis and Jean Stengers: E.D. Morel's History of the Congo Reform Movement, Clarendon Press Oxford, 1968.