King Leopold II of Belgium began colonizing the DRC in 1877. From the beginning, the area was fraught by violence because the colonel rulers forced the natives to work in the mineral mines. The used torture and execution to further their economic gains. However, Belgian rule also allowed for the education of many of the native DRC inhabitants. In 1960 the DRC became independent of Belgian at the Brussels Round Table Conference. Joseph Kasavudu was elected the president, and Patrice Lumumba was elected the prime minister.
Sadly, violence erupted between the DRC native factions and the Belgians only five days after the elections, and the UN was asked to intervene. When the UN did not act quickly enough, Lumumba asked the USSR to give him weapons to suppress the violence that threatened his government. The US soon intervened under the guise of protecting the world against communism, though its real interest was in the mineral wealth of the region. They backed the rebel leader, Mobutu, who with the US’s aid, came to power.
Once Mobutu was in power, he quickly centralized his authority so that he was elected president unopposed in 1970. He focused on the country’s cultural history, renaming it the Republic of Zaire. After a few years of relative stability, however, Katangan rebels began staging attacks from Angola and were driven out with help from Belgian paratroopers. In the 1980s, Mobutu held on to his position, and his treatment of various political opposition groups drew international criticism.
As the Cold War came to an end in 1990, Mobutu faced increasing international pressure as well as domestic protests and a weakened economy. He agreed in principle to a democratization of Zaire’s political system, but a reform package was delayed. In the fall of 1991, Zaire’s soldiers began to loot the capital as a protest because their wages had not been paid, and Belgian and French troops evacuated the 20,000 foreigners living in Kinasha.
In 1994, as the Rwandan genocide raged, Rwandan Hutu militias began to use refugee camps in Zaire as bases for attacks into Rwanda. Mobutu was ousted in 1997 by the combination of Rwandan troops and a domestic, armed coalition led by Laurent-Desire Kabila. Kabila took over and renamed the country the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, his relationship with his foreign backers deteriorated, and Rwandan and Ugandan troops entered the DRC with the intention of taking Kabila down. Instead, a coalition of Angolan, Zimbabwean, and Namibian troops protected the existing government.
By 1999, foreign military influences were such that the DRC was essentially divided into three segments: the east, controlled by Rwanda, the Ugandan north, with the rest under Kabila’s control. A July 1999 ceasefire and subsequent peace accords promised dialogue and a transitional government, but all parties failed to live up to the agreements. Meanwhile, the international community was increasingly criticizing Kabila for blocking UN peacekeeping troops and restraining movements towards democracy.
In early 2001, Laurent Kabila was assassinated and was succeeded by his son Joseph Kabila, who proceeded to undo many of his father’s anti-democratic policies. Talks attempting to set up a transitional government that would set up elections began in fall 2001 and lasted on and off until April 2003, when they finally succeeded. Joseph Kabila, as president of the transitional government, did make some economic and political progress, but human rights violations remained.
In May of 2005 a constitution was put before the national assembly, and was ratified in January of 2006. The new constitution allowed for the first democratic elections in the DRC since 1970 to take place on July 30th, 2006. However, this great accomplishment was marred by the outbreak of factional fighting when President Kabila received less than 50 votes. Though he was the one with the highest percentage, many groups claimed the right to power. In an October runoff election, Kabila was officially made president.
This government was not stable for long, as the rebel leader Laurent Nkunda led his rebel tribe, comprised of mainly Tutsis, against the Congolese Army in 2007. Nkunda justified his actions by proclaiming he was protecting the Tutsis against the Rwandan Hutus. In 2008 a brief cease-fire quickly collapsed and Nkunda made substantial progress in taking over the DRC. Just before taking Goma, the capital of the Kivu province, there was another cease-fire issued. The UN then got involved with several other African leaders to create more substantial peace pacts.
Sadly in 2009, the Hutu militia remerged and prompted thousands to flee their homes and violence erupted again. Kabila tried to keep peace an option by giving amnesty to armed groups. The violence continued into 2010 when civil rights activist Floribert Chebeya was found dead after being asked to visit the police. The UN is planning a withdrawal from the DRC after much international criticism. Despite the continued violence, the democratic process has been able to continue. The DRC is now preparing for the 2011 elections.
Seems like there's zero structure in the Congo.
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