|
Zaire THE CRISIS OF DECOLONIZATION
The crisis that suddenly burst upon the Republic of the
Congo,
as the new nation was called, in the wake of independence,
on June
30, 1960, has several dimensions: the mutiny of the Force
Publique
on July 5; the secession of the country's richest region,
Katanga,
on July 11, soon followed by a similar move in
southeastern Kasai
Province (now Kasai-Oriental Region), which declared
itself the
Independent Mining State of South Kasai on August 8; and
the role
of the United Nations, first as a peacekeeping force and
ultimately
as the chosen instrument for bringing Katanga back into
the fold of
the central government. The crisis was further compounded
by the
trial of strength at the center between President Kasavubu
and
Prime Minister Lumumba, culminating in Lumumba's
assassination at
the hands of the Katangan secessionists in January 1961.
Data as of December 1993
|
