Cause And Effects Of The Congo Crisis

This new country fresh from being colonized had an army but very few Congolese officers just mainly army regulars. The country kept many foreign officers as the military trained local soldiers for leadership positions. Many soldiers saw no chance for advancement and it seemed to be the same conditions as they experienced before independence. An atmosphere of discontent grew rampant for foreigners still in positions of power. On July 05, 1960 the army had a revolt against these white officers near Leopoldville. They also attacked many Europeans targets in the area. Large groups of mutineers paraded over the area attacking any foreign interest they could find. There was wide spread looting and pillaging. The white population was targeted primarily. With the area in total chaos and no one to police the unrest, the local white population had to flee. The majority of the white refugees had to go to Brazzaville and Stanleyville to escape certain death. The unstable government and the clear inability to control the military and the people created concern locally and internationally.

The rule of King Leopold II instilled disturbing methods of ruling. He enslaved the people of The democratic republic of Congo (Congolese) to gather him resources that would only benefit him. He was willing to do whatever it took to gain resources, even if it meant enslaving the people. “ King Leopold II nearly enslaved many of the Congolese people in order to gain wealth, and to bring power” (Citation) imperialism had a negative impact on the country, it had a long lasting impacts on the country because he depleted them of their resources which means they don't have much to export as a country now. King Leopold II used the people as slaves to gather their resources due to the danger of the work, which resulted in many casualties and injuries. He wanted to rule the country as he wanted rather than what was right for the people. He lied to the Belgian government in order to gain power of the country, by saying that his

On January 17th 1961 the former Congolese Prime minister, Patrice Lumumba was assassinated. According to document A “Belgians supported a 30-year timetable to prepare them for independence. Distrusting the Belgians, African nationalists demanded immediate self-government.” After the announcement of the Belgians leaving some citizens wanted this to come much faster, so Belgium said they would give full control within the year. In the following year Lumumba was assassinated by an unknown killed. Due Lumumba's decisions chaos grew in the country and the hatred of the Congo grew to the Belgium and their allies. Lumumba was assassinated for multiple reasons but the largest cause was that he opposed popular opinion and made very powerful people upset with his erratic decisions and accusations.

In 1959, Congolese nationalism evidently appeared due to the revolts against Belgian colonial rule. Weeks after Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960, there was a prominent struggle for power regarding a constitutional and bureaucratic crisis where Congo became an instrument in the Cold War due to the intervention of the superpowers, United States and Soviet Union. Prior to the independence, president Joseph Kasavubu and prime minister, Patrice Lumumba were elected, the country had little to no governance and was in a crisis of authentic legitimacy. Laws were essentially thrust upon the people with the hopes of restoring the Congolese state.

For eleven years, civil war desecrated the infrastructure throughout the small African nation of Sierra Leone. Tens of thousands were killed, and human suffering was widespread. More than a decade of constant fighting between the government and relentless rebels left the country in ruins. Roads were destroyed, bridges burned, buildings left in shambles, and the power supply nearly eliminated. The United Nations intervened, and assisted the government of Sierra Leone in establishing peace and setting up fair and honest, multi-party elections. The new government has since struggled in rebuilding the war-torn nation. More than half of Sierra Leoneans live in poverty, and nearly half are food insecure. Years of food shortages left nearly a third

King Leopold II ruled the Congo from 1885 to 1908. “He ruled the Congo less as a colony but more as his own personal priority. He treated the native Congolese nearly as slaves and used the wealth of the Congo to grow his own personal wealth.” (http://drcimperialism.weebly.com/life-under-imperialist-power.html). Under his rule the people of the Congo were treated horribly. The Congolese experienced a humanitarian disaster consisting of enslavement, exploitation, and even extermination. Moreover, by the end of this era it was estimated that the population was cut in half. “Eventually international outrage forced Leopold to turn over his personal colony to the Belgian government.” (Esler 572) Nonetheless, during the years of Leopold’s rule imperialism thrived.

The involvement of the Soviet Union in Congo caused a numerous amount of problems. The Congo was facing political and social instability because of the Belgian troops that were present and taking control over the land at the time. This all led to the United States getting involved, they supported the United Nations order to remove Belgian troops. The United States were supporting the UN but wanted to have a stable, pro-western regime through vote buying and financial support for pro-Western candidates, they believed that this could be achieved if they would assist the people of the Congo by removing the Belgian forces. The Europeans had took it upon themselves to invade the Congo and help the natives without receiving permission from the Prime Minister at the time, Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. Lumumba was enraged by this and grew resentment towards the Belgians which created more conflict within the Congo, many external and internal factors affected the rise and fall of the Congo nation which ultimately led to Congo being free from the Belgians in 1960.

In conclusion, Belgian colonial administration had two distinct types of ruling periods: the direct company rules (Congolese Free State) and the direct colonial rule (Belgian Congo). With a staggering number of natives killed, per the reports, 10 millions of human losses of life. Human rights were violated at every level. Bodied were mutilated, capital punishments were also in place. This period was called “King Leopold II’s Genocide.” The local people were forced to pay taxes and subjected to forced labor. There are lots of similarities between Leopold II’s Congo in 1885 to 1908, Belgian Congo in 1908 to 1960 and the modern Congo, since Democratic Congo, the vast central African state has seldom know political stability. The soldiers have

If a Congolese tried to leave his village, the soldiers would take his animals and burn his home and food in retaliation (p. 229). There was severe control of every aspect of the Africans’ lives and implacable treatment of them. In order to justify the way that King Leopold II treated the Congolese, the Belgians used superiority as their key rationalization. At the time, not much was known about the primitive nature of the Africans.

The history of the African continent has been marked by imperialism, oppression, violence and revolution. The history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, originally named the Belgian Congo is no different. The Democratic Republic of the Congo lies in the heart

King Leopold II said that Belgium ruling the Congo benefited both sides but it really only benefited Belgium and made him crazy rich. He exploited the Congo in what became known as “The rape of the Congo.” Even though King Leopold II is dead and the Congo is free from Belgium’s control, King Leopold’s ghost still haunts them.

In contrast to French or Britain rule, where indirect rule was preferred. But, despite the success, the Congo was extremely segregated. Large number of white people would immigrate here and become superior to African Americans because of their skin color, not matter how high on the social spectrum the white person is. During the 1940’- 50’s the Congo had very big amount urbanisation. The Country’s colonial administration began various development programs to change the territory into a “model colony”. This resulted in a new middle class of Europeanised African in cities developed. By 1950 the Congo had a wage labor force two times as big as that in any other African country. In 1960 as a result of widespread radical pro-independence movement, the Congo achieved its full independence. Thus becoming the Republic of Congo-Leopoldville under the rule of Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Kasa-Vubu. The Congo had not gotten its separation from Belgian forces helping the native people. Political factions inside the Congo’s economy and political structure had very poor relations evolved into continued involvement of Belgium in Congolese

On globalsecurity.org, the writers state that, “On 30 November 1996, President Kabbah signed the Abidjan Peace Agreement with the Revolutionary United Front.” This agreement sought to unite the country under peace by giving the RUF roles in government. However, a coup led by a portion of the army, known as the AFRC, put many high-ranking officials out of office and incorporated the RUF into their newly taken government to lead (globalsecurity.org). The United Nations later has to step in to fix the broken country. To prevent the importation of weapons and military materials, the United Nations placed an embargo on the country of Sierra Leone. Neighbouring African countries and the UN deployed troops to neutralise the hostile Sierra Leone traitors and the Revolutionary United Front, finally leading to the war’s end on 18 January 2002 (globalsecurity.org). This allows for former government officials to reclaim their positions in

According to BBC.com, fighting amongst these groups is ultimately for command of mineral and other resources which Europeans previously controlled. Apparently the citizens there have not learned anything from their prior overlords except the repetition of imperialistic behavior. Perhaps it is even worse as Europeans did not seem interested in ethnic cleansing. I think Congo might possibly be a lost cause as it is virtually impossible for them to create a new vision and model for themselves as long as they fight amongst themselves. This setting perfectly describes a modern tragedy since they are unwilling to unite in order to create an optimal society for themselves especially given that no other countries are strongly interested or willing enough to lend meaningful assistance which would allow them to overcome their predicaments and develop into a functioning modern

The Angolan Civil War was a major civil conflict from 1975 to 2002. The war started after Angola gained independence from Portugal in November 1975. A power struggle between the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), it had caused drastic consequences. Throughout the cycles of war and peace of the three decades, the United Nations (UN) has played different roles in Angola. The late 1980s saw the UN’s first political involvement, when the Security Council agreed to oversee Namibia’s independence – since 1965 illegally occupied by South Africa – which the New York Accords of December 1988 linked to the withdrawal of Cuban troops stationed in Angola. However, the success in its intervention lasted for only three years before the civil war broke out once again. One of the well-known operations was the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM), which split into three periods. In the second part of