Congo Crisis and Mobutu's Coup (30 juin 1959 – 1 oct. 1996)

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Following their independence, the Congo saw its country fragment as various groups struggled for power. The first national election led to a partnership between Lumumba's MNC party and Kasavubu's ABAKO party. On September 5, the pair split, leaving the country with two groups who claimed to be the legitamite rulers. On July 11, the province of Katanga declared their independence from the Congo with Moise Tshombe as their leader. This paved the way for a coup led by Joseph Mobutu, which ultimately failed. In December of 1960, Lumumba was captured and executed by the Katanga government. This conflict continued until 1963, when UN forces crushed the Katanga forces and ended their secession.

A new civilian government was created on August 2, 1961 under Cyrille Adoula. Adoula struggled to effectively make changes, leading him to dissolve the parliament in 1963. This led to an outbreak of rural insurgencies, which were defeated with the help of European mercenaries. On July 10, 1964, Tshombe became the prime minister of the new government.

On November 24, 1965, Mobutu staged a second coup. This time, he was able to overthrow Kasavubu and Tshombe, taking over as the uncontested president. Tshombe made multiple attempts to regain power, but failed against Mobutu and the Congolese National Army. In 1971, Mobutu changed the countries name to Zaire. A small period of peace and stability ensued, but was abruptly halted when yet another group began an invasion for power. By the 1990s, international pressure forced Mobutu to agree to government reforms, which were to be enacted through the Transitional Constitutional Act of 1994.

Cordell, D. D. , Payanzo, . Ntsomo , Wiese, . Bernd Michael and Lemarchand, . René. "Democratic Republic of the Congo." Encyclopedia Britannica, April 29, 2021. https://www.britannica.com/place/Democratic-Republic-of-the-Congo.

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