TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=93CT1924> <link 90TT1147> <title> Zaire--History </title> <history> Compact ALMANAC--CIA Factbook Southern Africa Zaire </history> <article> <source>CIA World Factbook</source> <hdr> History </hdr> <body> Zaire is believed to have been populated as early as 10,000 years ago. An influx of peoples occurred in the seventh and eighth centuries A.D., when Bantus from present-day Nigeria settled in Zaire, bringing with them knowledge of the manufacture and use of metals. In 1482, the Portuguese navigator Diego Cao arrived at the mouth of the Congo River. Early seafarers did not penetrate far inland but stayed near the mouth of the river where they found an organized society--the Bakongo Kingdom--which included parts of present-day Congo, Zaire, and Angola. The Portuguese named the area Congo (the name of Zaire until 1971) after this kingdom. The name Zaire comes from the Kikongo word "nzadi," meaning river and dates from the era of Portuguese exploration. The area remained practically unknown to most Europeans until Henry Morton Stanley, a British-born journalist for the New York Herald, journeyed from East Africa across the continent to the mouth of the Congo River between 1874 and 1877. Subsequently, Stanley explored the area on behalf of Belgian King Leopold II, who quickly realized its potential value. At the Berlin Conference of 1885, King Leopold's claim to the greater part of the Zaire River basin was recognized. The Congo Free State, as the country was called, remained his personal possession until he ceded it to the Belgian State in 1907, when it was renamed the Belgian Congo. Although Kimbanguism, Kitawala, and other syncretic religious sects were early manifestations of opposition to colonial dominance, the push for independence did not gain significant momentum until the 1950s. In a 1958 speech at Brazzaville, Gen. Charles de Gaulle gave French African colonies a choice between complete and partial independence. After that, the Belgians could no longer suppress Congolese independence movements. Following riots in Leopoldville in 1958, Belgian King Baudouin announced that the colony could look forward to independence "without undue delay." Roundtable conferences were convened at Brussels in January 1960, and Belgium granted independence on June 30, 1960. Parliamentary elections were held in April 1960. The Congolese National Movement (MNC) obtained a majority of the seats, and Patrice Lumumba was named prime minister. After much maneuvering, the leader of the Alliance of the Bakongo (ABAKO) Party, Joseph Kasavubu, was named president. Independence Peaceful independence lasted only one week. On July 5, the army mutinied, and political authority broke down. Belgian troops intervened on July 10 to protect Belgian nationals. On July 11, Moise Tshombe, Governor of Katanga (now Shaba Region), declared his province an independent country, and the central government requested UN assistance to maintain order and restore the country's territorial integrity. The United Nations sent a peacekeeping force, but when it refused to place this force under the central government's orders, Prime Minister Lumumba requested and received direct Soviet aid. Lumumba's relations with the United Nations and President Kasavubu deteriorated rapidly. On September 5, 1960, Lumumba was dismissed by Kasavubu. Col. Joseph Mobutu (now Mobutu Sese Seko) took over the government, expelled Soviet and communist bloc diplomats and technicians, and eventually imprisoned Lumumba. Lumumba attempted to escape, was apprehended, and died in Katanga under mysterious circumstances in February 1961. His former vice prime minister, Antoine Gizenga, proclaimed himself head of the "legitimate" government and set up a rival administration at Stanleyville (now Kisangani). That same month, Mobutu returned the reins of government to civilians under Kasavubu, leaving four groups--the central government under Kasavubu, Gizenga in Stanleyville, Tshombe in Katanga, and another separatist group in Kasai under Albert Kalonji, a Baluba chieftain--contending for power. The Kalonji and Gizenga groups were reintegrated into the central government by August 2, 1961, and Cyrille Adoula was appointed prime minister. Tshombe, however continued to hold out in Katanga against central government and UN military forces. UN Secretary General U Thant devised a plan in 1962 to reintegrate Katanga, and Tshombe and the central government finally reached agreement in mid-January 1963. UN troops remained in the country until June 30, 1964. Shortly after the end of the Katanga secession, rebellion against the central government broke out in the Province of Kwilu (eastern Bandundu Region). This rebellion, which originated in traditional tribal rivalries, was turned into an antigovernment revolt by Pierre Mulele, an early associate of Lumumba. Similar tribal discontent erupted into open rebellion in Kivu Province in April 1964. Those rebels were led by followers of Lumumba who had gone to Brazzaville in November 1963 and had set up a Committee of National Liberation dedicated to overthrowing the central government. Through the exploitation of tribal hatreds and unhappiness over the fruits of independence, leftist rebel leaders extended the rebellion over much of the northern and eastern part of the country by June 1964. In July, former Katangan leader Tshombe was named prime minister of the central government. Rebel fortunes soon waned as central government forces began to recapture rebel-held cities. On November 24, Belgian airborne troops, transported in U.S. Air Force planes, parachuted into Stanleyville and liberated it from the rebels. Central government forces gradually reclaimed control over more rebel-held areas until, by mid-1966, only a few isolated bands of rebel terrorists were still holding out in the bush. However the rebellion had seriously damaged Zaire's administrative and economic infrastructure. Educated Zairian administrators were often considered as enemies and became targets for rebel action. Return of Mobutu and Security President Kasavubu dismissed Prime Minister Tshombe in October 1965 and asked Evariste Kimba to form a government. Brief political infighting and public quarreling followed, ending when Lt. Gen. Mobutu, commander in chief of the national army, seized control of the government on November 24, 1965, and canceled planned elections. He declared himself president for 5 years and disclaimed any intention of establishing a military regime. Challenged in July 1966 by a revolt of the former Katangan gendarmes in the national army, Mobutu defeated the rebels and further strengthened his government's control over the country. A similar challenge from the remaining white mercenaries and former gendarmes broke out in July 1967. After several difficult months, the mercenaries and their Katangan allies withdrew into Rwanda and Angola under pressure from the army. From November 1967 until early 1977, Zaire enjoyed internal peace and political stability. Only a small mountainous area at the northern end of Lake Tanganyika remained a haven for bandits and former rebels. The Shaba Invasions The Katangan ex-gendarmes migrated to Angola in the late 1960s, where they fought first for the Portuguese against the Angolan liberation movements and then for the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) against the two other liberation movements. The MPLA eventually succeeded in forming the present Angolan Government. On March 8, 1977, the Katangans, led by Gen. Nathaniel Mbumba, invaded the Shaba Province from Angola. Meeting little resistance from Zairian security forces, the invaders, quickly captured several towns in the southwestern part of the province. They restricted their invasion to the area where they had tribal ties, but the grassroots uprisings they expected in other parts of the country did not materialize. For several weeks the Katangans held the towns of Dilolo, Kpanga, Sandoa, Kisenge, Kasaji, and Mutshatsha. The introduction in mid-April of a Moroccan expeditionary force, at the invitation of the Zairian Government, dramatically turned the tide in favor of President Mobutu. With Moroccan backing, the government forces launched a counteroffensive that quickly routed the Katangans. The war ended in several weeks. A year later on May 13, 1978, the Katangans mounted another invasion of Zaire with the important mining center of Kolwezi as their target. After 6 days of Katangan occupation, French Legionnaires, acting in unison with the Zairian Army, retook Kolwezi. Later, Belgian paratroopers were dropped into the area, and evacuation of some 3,000 expatriates began. The U.S. Government supplied logistical support, but no troops, to assist in the operation. As many as 130 foreigners and thousands of Zairians were killed. The attack on Kolwezi created serious economic difficulties for Zaire at a time when the country could little afford them. The Kolwezi copper mines, the most important in Zaire, were only slightly damaged, but the flight of foreign managerial and technical personnel slowed mineral production and seriously hindered expansion plans. By 1980, however production had recovered to preinvasion levels. Centralization, Personalization, and Authenticity A key political issue in Zaire following independence was whether the country was to have a federal system of government or unitary system with a strong central government. From 1960 to 1966, a modified federal system gave a degree of political power to the provincial governments. In 1965, President Mobutu began to limit provincial power. The 1967 constitution brought provincial administration under direct control of the central government. Centralization was accompanied by personalization of authority. In November 1970, President Mobutu, who had ruled by decree since his assumption of power in 1965, was elected to a 7-year term of office. He is publicly referred to as the "Guide" and the "Founder-President." November 24, the anniversary of the "Second Republic," as it is now called, is Zaire's principal holiday. As part of his effort to create a sense of national identity, Mobutu called upon Zairians to reject foreign models and to draw upon their own heritage in shaping the nation's future. Colonial place names were renamed in 1966, creating Kinshasa (Leopoldville), Kisangani (Stanleyville), Lubumbashi (Elisabethville), Mbandaka (Coquilhatville), and Kalemie (Albertville). In 1971, the country's name was changed to the Republic of Zaire. A new flag and a new national anthem also were adopted. Individuals were required to adopt African names in place of their Christian or other foreign names, and references to ancestors were made a part of all public ceremonies. Current Political Conditions Internal Security Politically, 1978 through 1987 has been relatively calm for Zaire, and security has been better than at almost any other time since independence. Violent opposition to the government has been limited, with the most notable incidents being two rebel attacks on the Lake Tanganyika town of Moba in November 1984 and again in June 1985. The Zairian Army retook Moba in 1984 with little opposition and held off the attackers in the second incident. In 1987, a number of clashes occurred between security forces and bandit/rebel groups along the border with Uganda. These incidents do not amount to a major threat, although they do reflect the continuing difficulties of the government in maintaining security in the remote eastern regions. The government has sponsored several amnesty programs and made other efforts to convince groups and individuals opposed to it to reintegrate into national society. A concerted effort in 1986 to pacify rebels in the eastern mountains achieved some success when some 2,500 men, women, and children decided to accept an amnesty. A similar effort to bring back former Katangan gendarmes now in Angola showed promise of success as of late 1987. However, a number of external opposition groups committed to the violent overthrow of the government remain more or less active. Peaceful internal opposition has largely been limited to the efforts of a group of former parliamentarians to organize a second political party. The group, once known as the "Group of 13," later formalized itself as the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS). Its efforts, illegal under the terms of the constitution, have generally been repressed by the government, with UDPS leaders and rank and file spending much of the period from 1982 to 1987 in prison or internal exile. The UDPS has suffered over the years from defections as President Mobutu successfully co-opted prominent members. The president announced the reintegration of UDPS leadership into the MPR in June 1987. Late in the year, he named several UDPS leaders to party and government positions, although several other leaders in Europe maintained that the president had not complied with the terms of the reconciliation. In recent years, other prominent dissidents also have made their peace with President Mobutu and returned to the country. Prominent among them are Kamitatu Massamba, Mungul Diaka, and former Prime Minister Nguz a Karl-I-Bond, who returned in June 1985 after several years of exile in Belgium. Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, August 1988. </body> </article> </text>