Congo Civil War Research Paper

Do you ever think about how lucky you are? You should. You live in one of many countries that cares for its citizens. Living in America you have opportunities that other countries will never have. For example, there are many third world countries that struggle daily to keep multiple citizens alive. These citizens have to fight for their lives and sometimes never get any form of medical help. Whereas in America we have many different resources that allow us to be a strong world power, if we lost citizens by the hundreds weekly we would be a country in need. Many countries in Africa are considered third world countries because they are overpopulated and under developed.

Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest

The Second Congo War began in 1998, one year after the end of the First Congo War. The First Congo War installed Laurence Desire Kabila as President and brought the Alliance des forces democratiques pour la liberation du Congo-Zaire (ADFL) to power. During the First Congo War, an alliance between Rwanda and Uganda helped to overthrow Joseph Desire- Mobutu, the dictator of Zaire, now known as The Democratic Republic of the Congo. Both the conflict in Rwanda in 1994 and in Burundi in 1993, coupled with the First Congo War, led up to the current conflict. Involved in the conflict are the states of Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, Namibia, Chad, Burundi, The Sudan, Zimbabwe, and the Congo.

Since the late 1800’s, almost all of Africa had been under European colonial rule, but this changed drastically in 1960. Sixteen African nations gained their independence that year, including the former Belgian Congo, which became the Democratic Republic of the Congo on June 30. One of the key personalities that made this possible was Patrice Lumumba, who experienced widespread support in gaining independence and became the first Prime Minister of the DROC. However, he lost much of this support once he was in office, and lasted fewer than 200 days. Lumumba’s ability to communicate was a key reason for his success and failure.

Without the Belgians, the Congo became financially unstable and lost whatever instruction and guidance the Belgians thought to give-- whether it be any degree of education, which was then thrust onto the Africans to teach themselves, or political stability. While the political stability was not in the Congo’s favor, it was still more beneficial than the leader the Congo had after Lumumba. The loss of stability led to the Congo being considered lesser than other countries and led to other countries, the United States of America, for example, shunning the Congolese. The financial instability also led to the Congo being unable to communicate effectively with other countries-- the sister countries of Africa or the countries abroad-- because the people of the Congo (or Zaire, as it was called under Mobutu, the outsider that took the place of Lumumba) could not afford to use what little finances they had for anything apart from basic survival necessities. This was alienating in nature, but exile also proved to be enriching as well. The exile brought about the election of Lumumba which in turn proved to produce ideas that would benefit the Congo. Lumumba’s election also resulted in higher morale. When he was killed, the Congolese were still loyal and remembered what could have been under Lumumba. The Congolese passion and loyalty for Lumumba,

The war lasted for 5 years and took place entirely in the Congo, resulting in the deaths of 5 million Congolese civilians, most to to starvation or sickness (BBC News). The Congo never recovered, and to this day, Eastern Congo is unstable (BBC News).

On March 23, 1991, the civil war in Sierra Leone began when the RUF attempted to overthrow the Sierra Leone government. The war lasted a total of 11 years ending in 2002 with a estimated total of 50,000 people dead. In the beginning the RUF did not have enough soldiers to fight, so on the idea that the Sierra Leone government would not fire on children, they began recruiting kids as young as seven. After a while the government too had a lack of soldiers and began recruiting children. In 2002 after the RUF been defeated President Kabbah declared the Sierra Leone Civil War over.

Many Africans were put into the work force, leading up to a wage labour force in the Congo twice as large as any other African colony. On June 30th, 1960, the Congo achieved independence, becoming the Republic of Congo- Léopoldville. Patrice Lumumba was voted as president. The country was very unstable; regional tribal leaders held far more power than the central government and democracy began to break down. Lumumba asked the USSR for assistance. The United States viewed their presence as an attempt to take advantage of the situation and gain proxy state in the area. The US looked to replace Lumumba, and on September 14th, 1960, the government was overthrown and Lumumba was arrested. “Lumumba was taken to Thysville prison, then flown to Katanga Province, and finally beaten so savagely they couldn’t return the body to his widow without international embarrassment” (Kingsolver 323). However, poor relations with the groups in the Congo, the involvement of Belgium in the Congo affairs, and intervention of parties of the Cold War led to five years of political crisis and war from 1960-1965, ending with power seized by Joseph-Désiré Mobutu. “I rad the page they’d folded back: Soviet Plan Moves Forward in Congo.” It said Khrushchev wanted to take over the Belgian Congo and deprive the innocent savages of becoming a free society, as part of his plan for world domination” (Kingsolver 161). In the 1970’s, the warring tribes of Angola had agreed to a peace plan, putting

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.

Over the course of human history, many believe that the “Congo Free State”, which lasted from the 1880s to the early 1900s, was one of the worst colonial states in the age of Imperialism and was one of the worst humanitarian disasters over time. Brutal methods of collecting rubber, which led to the deaths of countless Africans along with Europeans, as well as a lack of concern from the Belgian government aside from the King, combined to create the most potent example of the evils of colonialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s. The Congo colonial experience, first as the Congo Free State then later as Belgian Congo, was harmful to that region of Africa both then and now because of the lack of Belgian and International

The Democratic Republic of Congo has a very violent history and is still filled with conflict to this day. Ever since the Democratic Republic of Congo (known as Zaire until 1996) gained independence in 1960, there were violent plays for power and two wars occurred. Since armed forces have appeared, they have committed (mainly sexual) crimes against the people in this country. In 2006, the South Kivu Province was reported to have more than 27,000 sexual assault occur. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Nothing in this declaration may be interpreted as implying for any state, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any rights and freedoms set forth herein (30).”

In the book, “Congo: The Epic History of a People”, by David Van Reybrouck, (2010), stated that, “But violence by Africans against other Africans was not the whole story: it was not only at the base of the pyramid of power that blood flowed. Many Belgians also took part in this. Physical violence was

During the 1900s, there were two mass killings that occurred: one in Nazi Germany and the other in the Congo Free State. Although these mass killings developed due to different motives, the two lead to a significant amount of deaths and mutilations. The mass killings in Nazi Germany are now known as the Holocaust, which took place from 1933 to 1945. The perpetuators of these killings were the Nazis, who were supporters of the beliefs of the Nazi Party in Germany, while the victims were mainly Jewish people and non-Aryans, which were seen as inferior races. On the other hand, the Force Publique, an army made of Europeans and local men under King Leopold, committed the killings and other acts of violence against the indigenous tribes and natives

First of all, the conflict in Congo is a territorial dispute because sources mention that the people invading want access to Congo’s plentiful resources.

This is a tale of horror and tragedy in the Congo, beginning with the brutal and exploitative regime of King Leopold II of Belgium, and culminating with the downfall of one of Africa’s most influential figures, Patrice Lumumba. The Congo is but one example of the greater phenomenon of European occupation of Africa. The legacy of this period gives rise to persistent problems in the Congo and throughout Africa. Understanding the roots and causes of this event, as focused through the lense of the Congo, is the subject of this paper.