History of Central African Republic: Essay

Africa became known as the “dark continent” through the Europeans eyes. Not only from the skin color of its inhabitants but also from the vast lands still undiscovered. Due to the Europeans’ view that Africa had a backward sense, they believed it was their responsibility to help. Conflict arose from the creation of a new society resulting in ethnic feuds and imperialism. European imperialistic powers subjugated Africa to strengthen their own economy. Africa’s rich supply of resources such as a large population had extremely detrimental to its economy. Slavery Sentence. The welfare of Africa’s people weakened rapidly from the poor management of the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Malaria. Africa is the least developed part of the world, given the impact of European imperialism, slavery, and an inability to deal with major diseases.

Cameroon is a country located in West Africa close to the Equator. Before it was colonized, this country was the place of origin for the Bantu people. With no central form of government, the people of Cameroon had small chiefdoms, Islamic states, and other tribes of the Bantu people. Early on the Germans had control of Cameroon until their fall during WW2 causing France to gain control of the country by the League of Nations. After the fall of imperialism, Cameroon gained its independence but is left struggling with weak judicial systems, corrupt government officials, and a small economy.

DROC is about one third the size of the United States; consisting of 905,365 square miles of territory it is also the third largest country within the African continent, smaller only to Sudan and Algeria. (Background Notes, 1)

On April 6, 1994, the Rwandan president was returning from Tanzania when his plane was shot down and he was killed. The death of the president was the spark needed for a campaign of violence against the Tutsi and moderate Hutu civilians across the country. In hours, Hutu rebels surrounded the capital and took over the streets. As the weeks advanced, Tutsis and anyone suspected of having connections to a Tutsi member was killed.

In 2010, A coup was attempted by supporters of the ousted president. This followed the first election under the new constitution which didn’t give an outright winner. In 2011, there was a peaceful election that resulted in the winner having sixty percent of the vote. Since 2012, there has been a lot of issues such as political corruption, suicide bombings, and state treason. They do have another election in October 2017.

Waves of instability in the Central African Republic Since gaining independence from France in 1960, the Central African Republic (CAR) has been ruled by six authoritarian leaders and experienced the continuous presence of foreign troops within its borders. Following a series of coups, civil wars, and foreign interventions, CAR held its first multiparty elections in 1993 (Enough! 2015). However, the country continued on its path of instability, culminating in army General François Bozizé leading a rebellion and seizing power in 2003. Although Bozizé brought relative stability to the country which lasted for several years and was formally elected as President in 2011, many Central Africans grew to consider him an autocratic leader. Several rebel

In the 1800’s Imperialism, an action by a strong nation to take control of another country, became prominent in Europe towards Africa. The driving forces of Imperialism in Africa were competition for land, economics, and the need for power. The “Partition of Africa, 1884-85” map demonstrates the competition related to the colonization of European colonies in Africa. There were a total of 7 European countries that imperialized Africa, but the main countries were France and Britain. The only non-colonized countries were Ethiopia and Liberia; this was because they had an established strong government.

Because Lumumba made the decision to raise the pay of all government employees except for the army, many units of the army objected and multiple rebellions spread throughout the country, causing nationwide panic. For political reasons, Lumumba had to seek help from the Soviet, which alarmed several countries and made them think that he was a communist. Because of this, he was in deep trouble. Around September, 1961, Lumumba was dismissed from the government by President Kasa-Vubu. Furious, he retaliated by declaring the president deposed. As to be expected, this did not go well with Colonel Joseph Mobutu, and so on the 14th of September, the colonel incapacitated both Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu. Despite being put under house arrest, Lumumba snuck out to Stanleyville but was caught by Colonel Joseph Mobutu’s troops. Then, around January, after being beaten repeatedly, he was driven to the secessionist regime in Katanga and was killed, however, no one is certain who was responsible for this, but theories suggest that it was the CIA or the Katanga authorities that killed him because of his involvements with the Soviet

Consider how Africa’s geography has changed over time. What positive and negative effects would these changes have had on human populations on the continent? As their new homes changed they were able to adapt due to their innovative mindset. This can be attributed to the new found organization thanks to language. Allowing Africans to grow and expand throughout the entire continent. Other factors that can be attributed are the change in geography for some parts such as the Sahara drying out and swamps and lakes disappeared.

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.

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

Under the dictatorship of Toussaint it was unclear who his loyalty was to, and thus he was unseated from power not long after he gained it. One of the biggest flaws in his leadership was when he attempted to establishing an agricultural

On April 6, 1994 the deaths of the Presidents of Burundi and Rwanda in a plane crash caused through Rwanda into several weeks of intense massacres that started just less than a half hour after the incident. An estimated one million people died and 150,000 to 250,000 women raped. The radio broadcasted the plane crash was a result of the RPF and UN soldiers. This initiated even more fatalities, forcing Belgium to withdraw the rest of its force. On April 21, other countries also withdrew and the UNAMIR force reduced from and intial 2,165 to 270.

The conflict in the Republic of Congo can generally be attributed to a lack of democracy. The lack of democracy has developed an unfair supply of resources and corruption amongst government officials. Corruption in government slows the economic growth for all societies. The government is weak, and the judicial system is vulnerable against large political interference. Political conflict and the damage of social and economic structure have destroyed the economy. Corruption among government officials and foreign investors in the Republic of Congo has increased widespread poverty, hampered economic development, and widened unequal income and wealth distribution that is negatively affecting the poor more than the rich. By implementing new