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141-542: Founded in 1967, the UNTZa was the sole trade union centre in Zaire . By 1990 the union expelled its general secretary, Komdo Ntonga Booke , a member of the party central committee, and broke away from its close ties with the government. This came after the steady decline of workers purchasing power in the late 1980s. In 1997, the union was renamed the UNTC, reflecting the renaming of Zaire to

282-600: A "Belgo-Congolese community", his ideas were met with indifference from Brussels and often with open hostility from some of the Belgians in the Congo, who feared for their privileges. It became increasingly evident that the Belgian government lacked a strategic long-term vision in relation to the Congo. 'Colonial affairs' did not generate much interest or political debate in Belgium, so long as

423-411: A "messenger of peace". He left Zaire four days later on 6 May shortly after 9 people were trampled to death trying to attend mass. In 1981, despite slow progress, Zaire launched an economic reform to revive its economy in order to keep up its rescheduled payment on the country's tremendous debt of $ 4.4 billion, which had recorded a small rate of economic growth in the last three quarters of 1980. During

564-504: A "truly national revolution, essentially pragmatic", meant "the repudiation of both capitalism and communism ". Thus, "neither right nor left" became one of the legitimising slogans of the regime, along with "authenticity". In the 1970s and 1980s, Mobutu's government relied on a selected pool of technocrats, often referred to as the "nomenklatura", from which the Head of State drew, and periodically rotated, competent individuals. They comprised

705-634: A basis for political alignment, he outlawed such ethnic associations as the Association of Lulua Brothers (Association des Lulua Frères), which had been organised in Kasai in 1953 in reaction to the growing political and economic influence in Kasai of the rival Luba people , and Liboke lya Bangala (literally, "a bundle of Bangala"), an association formed in the 1950s to represent the interests of Lingala speakers in large cities. It helped Mobutu that his ethnic affiliation

846-545: A benevolent and conflict-free administration and of the Belgian Congo as a true model colony. Only in the 1950s did this paternalistic attitude begin to change. In the 1950s the most blatant discriminatory measures directed at the Congolese were gradually withdrawn (among these: corporal punishment by means of the feared chicote —Portuguese word for whip). From 1953, and even more so after the triumphant visit of King Baudouin to

987-570: A colony of the Belgian Kingdom. This was after King Leopold II had given up any hope of excluding a vast region of the Congo from the government's control by attempting to maintain a substantial part of the Congo Free State as a separate crown property . When the Belgian government took over the administration in 1908, the situation in the Congo improved in certain respects. The brutal exploitation and arbitrary use of violence, in which some of

1128-570: A compromise merger of the two governments into the High Council of Republic–Parliament of Transition (HCR–PT) in 1994, with Mobutu as head of state and Kengo wa Dondo as prime minister. Although presidential and legislative elections were scheduled repeatedly over the next 2 years, they never took place. By 1996, tensions from the neighbouring Rwandan Civil War and genocide had spilled over to Zaire (see History of Rwanda ). Rwandan Hutu militia forces ( Interahamwe ), who had fled Rwanda following

1269-498: A difficult environment for European exploration and exploitation. In 1876, King Leopold II of Belgium organized the International African Association with the cooperation of the leading African explorers and the support of several European governments for the promotion of the exploration and colonization of Africa. After Henry Morton Stanley had explored the region in a journey that ended in 1878, Leopold courted

1410-527: A direct rail line to the sea at Beira . World War I increased demand for copper, and production soared from 997 tons in 1911 to 27,462 tons in 1917, then fell off to 19,000 tons in 1920. Smelters operated at Lubumbashi . Before the war the copper was sold to Germany; but the British purchased all the wartime output, with the revenues going to the Belgian government in exile . Diamond- and gold-mining also expanded during

1551-429: A few thousand Congolese who had successfully obtained the civil merit diploma or been granted "immatriculation". The supposed benefits attached to it—including equal legal status with the white population—proved often more theory than reality and led to open frustration with the évolués . When Governor-General Pétillon began to speak about granting the native people more civil rights, even suffrage, to create what he termed

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1692-656: A key argument the civilizing influence of the European culture. The civilizing mission in the Congo went hand-in-hand with the economic and educational development. Conversion to Catholicism , basic Western-style education, and improved health-care were objectives in their own right, but at the same time helped to transform what Europeans regarded as a primitive society into the Western capitalist model, in which workers who were disciplined and healthy, and who had learned to read and write, could be assimilated into labour market . Some of

1833-778: A major expansion of state control of civil society . It meant, to begin with, the incorporation of youth groups and worker organisations into the matrix of the MPR. In July 1967, the Political Bureau announced the creation of the Youth of the Popular Revolutionary Movement (Jeunesse du Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution—JMPR), following the launching a month earlier of the National Union of Zairian Workers (Union Nationale des Travailleurs Zaïrois—UNTZA), which brought together into

1974-578: A major player—, attracted the majority of private investments (copper and cobalt in Katanga, diamonds in Kasai, gold in Ituri). This allowed, in particular, the Belgian Société Générale to build up an economic empire in the Belgian Congo. Huge profits were generated by the private companies and for a large part siphoned off to European and other international shareholders in the form of dividends. During

2115-595: A military coup in 1965, after five years of political upheaval following independence from Belgium known as the Congo Crisis . Zaire had a strongly centralist constitution , and foreign assets were nationalized . The period is sometimes referred to as the Second Congolese Republic . A wider campaign of Authenticité , ridding the country of the influences from the colonial era of the Belgian Congo ,

2256-401: A proof of "civil merit", or, one step up, 'immatriculation' (registration), i.e., official evidence of their assimilation with European civilisation. To acquire this status, the applicant had to fulfill strict conditions (monogamous matrimony, evidence of good behaviour, etc.) and submit to stringent controls (including house visits). This policy was a failure. By the mid-1950s, there were at best

2397-407: A single framework, thereby automatically extending the role of the party to all administrative organs at the central and provincial levels, as well as to the trade unions , youth movements , and student organisations . Three years after changing the country's name to Zaire, Mobutu promulgated a new constitution that consolidated his hold on the country. Every five years (seven years after 1978),

2538-521: A single list of MPR candidates was returned to the National Assembly, with official figures showing near-unanimous support. All citizens of Zaire automatically became members of the MPR at birth. For all intents and purposes, this gave the president of the MPR—Mobutu—complete political control over the country. Translating the concept of "the nation politically organised" into reality implied

2679-515: A single organisational framework three preexisting trade unions. Ostensibly, the aim of the merger, in the terms of the Manifesto of N'Sele, was to transform the role of trade unions from "being merely a force of confrontation" into "an organ of support for government policy", thus providing "a communication link between the working class and the state". Similarly, the JMPR was to act as a major link between

2820-491: A striking resemblance to its colonial antecedent, except that from July 1972 provinces were called regions. With the January 1973 reform, another major step was taken in the direction of further centralisation. The aim, in essence, was to operate a complete fusion of political and administrative hierarchies by making the head of each administrative unit the president of the local party committee. Furthermore, another consequence of

2961-566: The 11th-largest country in the world from 1965 to 1997. With a population of over 23 million, Zaire was the most populous Francophone country in Africa . Zaire played a central role during the Cold War . The country was a one-party totalitarian military dictatorship , run by Mobutu Sese Seko and his Popular Movement of the Revolution . Zaire was established following Mobutu's seizure of power in

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3102-455: The Bank of Zaire in the final stage of Mobutu's government. His progress was fairly typical of the rotational pattern established by Mobutu, who retained the most sensitive ministerial portfolios (such as Defense) for himself. Zaire was divided into 8 regions with its capital Kinshasa . In 1988, the province of Kivu was split into three regions. They were renamed into provinces in 1997. The zaïre

3243-674: The Congo Basin , which no European power had claimed. In November 1884, Otto von Bismarck convened a 14-nation conference (the Berlin Conference ) to find a peaceful resolution to the Congo situation. Though the Berlin Conference did not formally approve the territorial claims of the European powers in Central Africa, it did agree on a set of rules to ensure a conflict-free partitioning of the region. The rules recognised ( inter alia )

3384-457: The Congo–Arab War against African and Arab slavers like Zanzibari / Swahili strongman Tippu Tip . Following the 1904 Casement Report on misdeeds and conditions, European (British included) and American press exposed the conditions in the Congo Free State to the public in the early 1900s. In 1904 Leopold II was forced to allow an international parliamentary commission of inquiry entry to

3525-569: The Force Publique —over more local (but also more ancient) indigenous languages such as Lomongo and others. In 1940 the schooling rates of children between 6 and 14 years old was 12%, reaching 37% in 1954, one of the highest rates in sub-Saharan Africa . Secondary and higher education for the indigenous population were not developed until relatively late in the colonial period. Black children, in small numbers, began to be admitted to European secondary schools from 1950 onward. The first university in

3666-405: The International African Association . The state included the entire area of the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo , and existed from 1885 until 1908, when the government of Belgium reluctantly annexed the area. Under Leopold II's administration, the Congo Free State became a humanitarian disaster. The lack of accurate records makes it difficult to quantify the number of deaths caused by

3807-664: The Kimbanguist Church , and the Roman Catholic Church . Nationalisation of the universities of Kinshasa and Kisangani , coupled with Mobutu's insistence on banning all Christian names and establishing JMPR sections in all seminaries, soon brought the Roman Catholic Church and the state into conflict. Not until 1975, and after considerable pressure from the Vatican , did the regime agree to tone down its attacks on

3948-515: The Manifesto of N'sele , which was issued from the president's rural residence at N'sele, 60 km further up the Congo River from Kinshasa . In May 1967, it was made public. Nationalism, revolution, and authenticity were identified as the major themes of what came to be known as " Mobutism ". Nationalism implied the achievement of economic and political independence. Revolution , described as

4089-529: The Safari Club . The Battle of Kolwezi , fought in May 1978, resulted in an airborne operation in an aim of rescuing Zairian, Belgian and French miners held as hostages by pro-Communist Katangan guerrillas. Pope John Paul II made a papal trip to Zaire on 2 May 1980, on the centenary of Catholic evangelization. During his tour, he greeted over a million people, making him the first pontiff to visit Africa as

4230-561: The Union of Mobutist Democrats and the MPR- Fait privé . Several of these groups continued to use Zaire's symbols and invoke its traditions. In 2024, opposition politician Christian Malanga led a coup attempt against the Congolese government in the name of his self-proclaimed "New Zaire", raising the old flag of Zaire in Kinshasa. The coup attempt was defeated, and Malanga was killed. The country

4371-516: The city centers were reserved to the white population only, while the black population was organized in cités indigènes (indigenous neighbourhoods called 'le belge'). Hospitals, department stores and other facilities were often reserved for either whites or blacks. In the Force Publique , black people could not pass the rank of non-commissioned officer. The black population in the cities could not leave their houses from 9 pm to 4 am. This type of segregation began to disappear gradually only in

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4512-571: The 'prophet' Simon Kimbangu , who was imprisoned by the Belgians). Apart from active and passive resistance among the Congolese, the colonial regime over time also elicited internal criticism and dissent. Already in the 1920s, certain members of the Colonial Council in Brussels (among them Octave Louwers) voiced criticism regarding the often brutal recruitment methods employed by the major companies in

4653-420: The 1940s and 1950s, the Belgian Congo experienced extensive urbanisation and the colonial administration began various development programs aimed at making the territory into a "model colony". One result saw the development of a new middle-class of Europeanised African " évolués " in the cities. By the 1950s, the Congo had a wage labour force twice as large as that in any other African colony. In 1960, as

4794-413: The 1950s, but even then the Congolese remained or felt treated in many respects as second-rate citizens (for instance in political and legal terms). Because of the close interconnection between economic development and the ' civilizing mission ', and because in practice state officials, missionaries and the executives of the private companies always lent each other a helping hand, the image has emerged that

4935-454: The 1980s, Zaire remained a one-party state. Although Mobutu maintained control during this period, opposition parties, most notably the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social—UDPS), were active. Mobutu's attempts to quell these groups drew significant international criticism. As the Cold War came to a close, internal and external pressures on Mobutu increased. In late 1989 and early 1990, Mobutu

5076-577: The AFDL, and marched unopposed into Kinshasa three days later. On 21 May, Kabila officially reverted the name of the country to the Democratic Republic of the Congo . After the collapse of Zaire, its legacy was claimed and partially continued by various factions which emerged from Mobutu's former supporter and loyalist network. These factions were headed by former "barons" of the regime as well as Mobutu's family members, and included political parties such as

5217-486: The African workforce in the capitalist colonial economy played a crucial role in spreading the use of money in the Belgian Congo. The basic idea was that the development of the Congo had to be borne not by the Belgian taxpayers but by the Congolese themselves. The colonial state needed to be able to levy taxes in money on the Congolese, so it was important that they could make money by selling their produce or their labour within

5358-500: The Atlantic port of Matadi . The Great Depression of the 1930s affected the export-based Belgian Congo economy severely because of the drop in international demand for raw materials and agricultural products (for example, the price of peanuts fell from 1.25 francs to 25 centimes (cents)). In some areas, as in the Katanga mining region, employment declined by 70%. In the country as a whole,

5499-457: The Belgian Congo , established in 1934, with its large experimental fields and laboratories in Yangambe, played an important role in crop selection and in the popularization of agronomic research and know-how. During World War II, industrial production and agricultural output increased drastically. The Congolese population bore the brunt of the "war effort" – for instance, through a reinforcement of

5640-527: The Belgian Congo was governed by a "colonial trinity" of King-Church-Capital, encompassing the colonial state, the Christian missions, and the Société Générale de Belgique . The paternalistic ideology underpinning colonial policy was summed up in a catchphrase used by Governor-General Pierre Ryckmans (1934–46): Dominer pour servir ("Dominate to serve"). The colonial government wanted to convey images of

5781-684: The Belgian Congo, the Catholic Jesuit Lovanium University , near Léopoldville, opened its doors to black and white students in 1954. Before the foundation of the Lovanium, the Catholic University of Louvain already operated multiple institutes for higher education in the Belgian Congo. The Fomulac (Fondation médicale de l'université de Louvain au Congo), was founded in 1926, with the goal of forming Congolese medical personnel and researchers specialized in tropical medicine. In 1932

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5922-618: The Belgian Congo. The highest-ranking representative of the colonial administration residing in the Belgian Congo was the Governor-General . From 1886 until 1926, the Governor-General and his administration were posted in Boma , near the Congo River estuary. From 1923, the colonial capital moved to Léopoldville , some 300 km further upstream in the interior. Initially, the Belgian Congo

6063-556: The Belgian commander of the Force Publique , Lieutenant-General Charles Tombeur , had assembled an army of 15,000 men supported by local bearers – Reybrouck indicated that during the war no less than 260,000 native bearers were called upon – and advanced to Kigali (now the capital of Rwanda ). Kigali was taken by 6 May 1916, and the army went on to take Tabora (now part of Tanzania ) on 19 September after heavy fighting . In 1917, after Mahenge (now in Tanzania ) had been conquered,

6204-444: The Belgian conscript workers; when Belgian Congo was established, chattel slavery was legally abolished in 1910, but prisoners were nevertheless conscripted as force laborers for both public and private work projects. Congolese opposition against colonialism was continuous, sustained and took many different forms. It became more likely as modern ideas and education spread. Armed risings occurred sporadically and localized until roughly

6345-795: The Belgian government in exile in London. The Belgian Congo and the rest of the Free Belgian forces supported the war on the Allied side in the Battle of Britain with 28 pilots in the RAF (squadron 349) and in the Royal South African Air Force (350 Squadron) and in Africa. The Force Publique again participated in the Allied campaigns in Africa. Belgian Congolese forces (with Belgian officers) notably fought against

6486-465: The Belgian government tried to resist what it described as 'interference' with its colonial policy. Colonial authorities discussed ways to ameliorate the situation of the Congolese. Since the 1940s, the colonial government had experimented in a very modest way with granting a limited elite of so-called évolués more civil rights, holding out the eventual prospect of a limited amount of political influence. To this end "deserving" Congolese could apply for

6627-740: The British army in the Burma campaign . The economic exploitation of the Congo was one of the colonizer's top priorities. An important tool was the construction of railways to open up the mineral and agricultural areas. Rubber had long been the main export of the Belgian Congo, but its importance fell in the early 20th century from 77% of exports (by value) to only 15% as British colonies in Southeast Asia like British Malaya began to farm rubber. New resources were exploited, especially copper mining in Katanga province. The Belgian-owned Union Minière du Haut-Katanga , which would come to dominate copper mining, used

6768-620: The Catholic University of Louvain founded the Cadulac (Centres agronomiques de l'université de Louvain au Congo) in Kisantu . Cadulac was specialized in agricultural sciences and formed the basis for what was later to become Lovanium University . In 1956 a state university was founded in Elisabethville . Progress was slow though; until the end of the 1950s, no Congolese had been promoted beyond

6909-527: The Congo Basin as a free-trade zone . But Leopold II emerged triumphant from the Berlin Conference and his single shareholder "philanthropic" organization received a large share of territory (2,344,000 km (905,000 sq mi)) to be organized as the Congo Free State . The Congo Free State operated as a corporate state, privately controlled by Leopold II through a non-governmental organization,

7050-402: The Congo Free State to the Belgian Congo was a turning point, but it was also marked by a considerable continuity. The last Governor-General of the Congo Free State, Baron Wahis, remained in office in the Belgian Congo, and the majority of Leopold II's administration with him. While conditions were improved somewhat relative to rule under King Leopold, reports by doctors such as Dr. Raingeard show

7191-540: The Congo Free State. By 1908, public pressure and diplomatic manoeuvres led to the end of Leopold II's personal rule and to the annexation of the Congo as a colony of Belgium, known as the "Belgian Congo". On 18 October 1908, the Belgian Parliament voted in favour of annexing the Congo as a Belgian colony. A majority of the socialists and the radicals firmly opposed this annexation and reaped electoral benefits from their anti-colonialist campaign, but some believed that

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7332-549: The Congo, particularly after the Second World War, through the creation of the Institut pour la Recherche Scientifique en Afrique Centrale (IRSAC, 1948). In the early 1950s, political emancipation of the Congolese elites, let alone of the masses, seemed like a distant event. But it was clear that the Congo could not forever remain immune from the rapid changes that, after the Second World War, profoundly affected colonialism around

7473-602: The Democratic Republic of the Congo. This article related to an African trade union is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Zaire Other major events Zaire , officially the Republic of Zaire , was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa , it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria , and

7614-554: The Executive Council and led the full spectrum of Ministries, Departments or, as governmental terminology shifted, Commissariats. Among these individuals were internationally respected appointees such as Djamboleka Lona Okitongono who was named Secretary of Finance, under Citizen Namwisi (Minister of Finance), and later became President of OGEDEP, the National Debt Management Office. Djamboleka became Governor of

7755-410: The Italian colonial army in Italian East Africa , and were victorious in Asosa , Bortaï and in the Siege of Saïo under Major-general Auguste-Eduard Gilliaert during the second East African campaign of 1940–1941. On 3 July 1941, the Italian forces (under General Pietro Gazzera ) surrendered when they were cut off by the Force Publique . A Congolese unit also served in the Far Eastern Theatre with

7896-434: The Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. After World War II, the colonial state became more active in the economic and social development of the Belgian Congo. An ambitious ten-year plan was launched by the Belgian government in 1949. It put emphasis on house building, energy supply, rural development and health-care infrastructure. The ten-year plan ushered in a decade of strong economic growth, from which, for

8037-438: The MPR elected a president who was simultaneously nominated as the only candidate for president of the republic; he was confirmed in office via a referendum. Under this system, Mobutu was reelected in 1977 and 1984 by implausibly high margins, claiming a unanimous or near-unanimous "yes" vote. The MPR was defined as the country's "single institution," and its president was vested with "plentitude of power exercise." Every five years,

8178-463: The Roman Catholic Church and return some of its control of the school system to the church. Meanwhile, in line with a December 1971 law, which allowed the state to dissolve "any church or sect that compromises or threatens to compromise public order", scores of unrecognised religious sects were dissolved and their leaders jailed. Mobutu was careful also to suppress all institutions that could mobilise ethnic loyalties. Avowedly opposed to ethnicity as

8319-448: The Soviet Union) during the Cold War led to a five-year-long period of war and political instability, known as the Congo Crisis , from 1960 to 1965. This ended with the seizure of power by Joseph-Désiré Mobutu in November 1964. Until the later part of the 19th century, few Europeans had ventured into the Congo Basin . The rainforest , swamps and accompanying malaria and other tropical diseases, such as sleeping sickness , made it

8460-478: The Tutsi militias erupted in rebellion against Mobutu, triggering the First Congo War . The Tutsi militia was soon joined by various opposition groups and supported by several countries, including Rwanda and Uganda. This coalition, led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila , became known as the Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo-Zaïre ( AFDL ). The AFDL, now seeking the broader goal of ousting Mobutu, made significant military gains in early 1997, and by

8601-436: The administrative reforms of 1933). Each province was in turn divided into a few districts (24 districts for the whole Congo) and each district into a handful of territories (some 130–150 territories in all; some territories were merged or split over time). A territory was managed by a territorial administrator, assisted by one or more assistants. The territories were further subdivided into numerous "chiefdoms" ( chefferies ), at

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8742-454: The army of the Belgian Congo, by now 25,000 men, occupied one-third of German East Africa. After World War I, under the Treaty of Versailles , Germany ceded control of the western section of the former German East Africa to Belgium, and Ruanda-Urundi would go on to become a League of Nations mandate territory , under Belgian administration. These areas did not become part of the Belgian Congo. Ruanda-Urundi would later become independent as

8883-471: The ascension of an RPF -led government, had been using Hutu refugee camps in eastern Zaire as bases for incursion against Rwanda. These Hutu militia forces soon allied with the Zairian armed forces (FAZ) to launch a campaign against Congolese ethnic Tutsis in eastern Zaire, known as the Banyamulenge . In turn, these Zairian Tutsis formed a militia to defend themselves against attacks. When the Zairian government began to escalate its massacres in November 1996,

9024-548: The boom of the private companies in the colony. The Belgian government also privatised many of the government-owned companies that were active in the colony (the Kilo-Moto mines, La Société Nationale des transport fluviaux,..). After the First World War, priority was given to investments in transport infrastructure (such as the rail lines between Matadi and Léopoldville and Elisabethville and Port Francqui ). From 1920 to 1932, 2,450 km of railroads were constructed. The government also invested heavily in harbour infrastructure in

9165-403: The central government. The president had the power to issue autonomous regulations on matters other than those pertaining to the domain of law, without prejudice to other provisions of the constitution. Under certain conditions, the president was empowered to govern by executive order, which carried the force of law. The doctrinal foundation was disclosed shortly after its birth, in the form of

9306-422: The cities of Boma, Matadi, Leopoldville and Coquilhatville. Electricity and waterworks in the main cities were also funded. Airports were built and a telephone line was funded that connected Brussels with Leopoldville. The government accounted for about 50% of the investments in the Belgian Congo; commercial companies accounted for the other 50%. The mining industry—with the Union Minière du Haut Katanga (U.M.H.K.) as

9447-434: The colonial government used maximum quotas of "able-bodied workers" that could be recruited from every area in the Belgian Congo. In this way, tens of thousands of workers from densely populated areas were employed in copper mines in the sparsely populated south (Katanga). In agriculture, too, the colonial state forced a drastic rationalisation of production. The state took over so-called "vacant lands" (land not directly used by

9588-453: The colonial period, with a comparatively high availability of hospital beds relative to the population and with dispensaries set up in the most remote regions. In 1960 the country had a medical infrastructure that far surpassed any other African nation at that time. The Belgian Congo had 3,000 health care facilities, of which 380 were hospitals. There were 5.34 hospital beds for every 1000 inhabitants (1 for every 187 inhabitants). Great progress

9729-418: The colony in 1955, Governor-General Léon Pétillon (1952–1958) worked to create a "Belgian-Congolese community", in which blacks and whites were to be treated as equals. Regardless, anti-miscegenation laws remained in place, and between 1959 and 1962 thousands of mixed-race Congolese children were forcibly deported from the Congo by the Belgian government and the Catholic Church and taken to Belgium. In 1957,

9870-463: The commercial banks towards recovery and rehabilitation of Zaire's economy". Blumenthal stated that there was "no chance" that creditors would ever recover their loans. Yet the IMF and the World Bank continued to lend money that was either embezzled, stolen, or "wasted on elephant projects". "Structural adjustment programmes" implemented as a condition of IMF loans cut support for health care, education, and infrastructure. The concept of authenticity

10011-443: The concessionary companies had excelled, were curbed. The crime of "red rubber" was put to a stop. Article 3 of the new Colonial Charter of 18 October 1908 stated that: "Nobody can be forced to work on behalf of and for the profit of companies or privates", but this was not enforced, and the Belgian government continued to impose forced labour on the indigenous people of the area, albeit by less obvious methods. The transition from

10152-409: The conversions are as follows: In addition, the adoption of Zairian, as opposed to Western or Christian , names in 1972 and the abandonment of Western dress in favour of the wearing of the abacost were subsequently promoted as expressions of authenticity. Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo ( French : Congo belge , pronounced [kɔ̃ɡo bɛlʒ] ; Dutch : Belgisch-Congo )

10293-454: The country a new constitution and a single party. The new constitution was submitted to popular referendum in June 1967 and approved by 98 per cent of those voting. It provided that executive powers be centralised in the president, who was to be head of state, head of government, commander in chief of the armed forces and the police, and in charge of foreign policy. But the most far-reaching change

10434-657: The country in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide and growing ethnic violence. In 1996, Laurent-Désiré Kabila , the head of the AFDL militia, led a popular rebellion against Mobutu. With rebel forces making gains westward, Mobutu fled the country, leaving Kabila's forces in charge. The country's name was restored to the Democratic Republic of the Congo the following year. Mobutu died less than four months later, on September 7, 1997, while in exile in Morocco . The country's name, Zaïre ,

10575-639: The country should annex the Congo and play a humanitarian role to the Congolese population. Eventually, two Catholic MPs and half of the Liberal MPs joined the socialists in rejecting the Colonial Charter (forty-eight votes against) and nearly all the Catholics and the other half of the Liberal MP's approved the charter (ninety votes for and seven abstentions). This way, on 15 November 1908 the Belgian Congo became

10716-402: The country, which it did by creating the Belgian Congo in 1908. Belgian rule in the Congo was based on the "colonial trinity" ( trinité coloniale ) of state , missionary and private-company interests. The privileging of Belgian commercial interests meant that large amounts of capital flowed into the Congo and that individual regions became specialised . On many occasions, the interests of

10857-498: The disastrous effects of erosion and soil exhaustion brought about by the mandatory cultivation scheme. This policy began to be implemented on a large scale throughout the Congo after the Second World War, by the colonial government. The scheme aimed to modernize indigenous agriculture by assigning plots of land to individual families and by providing them with government support in the form of selected seeds, agronomic advice, fertilizers, etc. The National Institute for Agronomic Study of

10998-449: The economic boom of the 1920s, many young Congolese men left their often impoverished rural villages and were employed by companies located near the cities; the population of Kinshasa nearly doubled from 1920 to 1940, and the population of Elizabethville grew from approximately 16,000 in 1923, to 33,000 in 1929. The necessary work-force was recruited by specialised recruiting firms (Robert Williams & Co, Bourse du Travail Kasaï,..) and

11139-719: The economic situation began to decline, and by 1979, the purchasing power was only 4% of that in 1960. Starting in 1976 the IMF provided stabilizing loans to his regime. Much of this money was embezzled by Mobutu and his circle. According to the 1982 report by the IMF's envoy Erwin Blumenthal , it was "alarmingly clear that the corruptive system in Zaire with all its wicked and ugly manifestations, its mismanagement and fraud will destroy all endeavors of international institutions, of friendly governments, and of

11280-514: The end of the Second World War (e.g., revolt of the Pende in 1931, mutiny in Luluabourg 1944). From the end of the Second World War until the late 1950s, the era of what colonial propaganda called a " Pax belgica " prevailed. Until the end of colonial rule in 1960, passive forms of resistance and expressions of an anti-colonial sub-culture were nevertheless manifold and widespread (e.g., Kimbanguism , after

11421-441: The explorer and hired him to help his interests in the region. Leopold II had been keen to acquire a colony for Belgium even before he ascended to the throne in 1865. The Belgian civil government showed little interest in its monarch's dreams of empire-building. Ambitious and stubborn, Leopold decided to pursue the matter on his own account. European rivalry in Central Africa led to diplomatic tensions, in particular with regard to

11562-577: The first municipal elections open to black voters took place in a handful of the largest cities — Léopoldville, Élisabethville, and Jadotville. In the Belgian Free State, the Belgians had freed thousands of men, women and children slaves from Swaihili Arab slave owners and slave traders in Eastern Congo in 1886–1892, enlisted them in the militia Force Publique or where given as prisoners to allied local chiefs, who in turn gave them as laborers for

11703-532: The first notable missions into Africa were conducted by David Livingstone and John M. Springer during the late 19th century into the early 20th century. The educational system was dominated by the Catholic Church —as was the case for the rest of Belgium at the time—and, in some rare cases, by Protestant churches. Curricula reflected Christian and Western values. Even in 1948, 99.6% of educational facilities were run by Christian missions. Indigenous schooling

11844-451: The first time, the Congolese began to benefit on a substantial scale. At the same time, the economy had expanded and the number of Belgian nationals in the country more than doubled, from 39,000 in 1950 to more than 88,000 by 1960. In 1953, Belgium granted the Congolese the right – for the first time – to buy and sell private property in their own names. In the 1950s a Congolese middle class, modest at first, but steadily growing, emerged in

11985-619: The framework of the colonial economy. The economic boom of the 1920s turned the Belgian Congo into one of the leading copper-ore producers worldwide. In 1926 alone, the Union Minière exported more than 80,000 tons of copper ore, a large part of it for processing in Hoboken (Belgium). In 1928 King Albert I visited the Congo to inaugurate the so-called 'voie national' that linked the Katanga mining region via rail (up to Port Francqui ) and via river transport (from Port Francqui to Léopoldville ) to

12126-554: The government and of private enterprise became closely linked, and the state helped companies to break strikes and to remove other barriers raised by the indigenous population. The colony was divided into hierarchically organised administrative subdivisions and run uniformly according to a set "native policy" ( politique indigène ). This differed from the practice of British and French colonial policy, which generally favoured systems of indirect rule , retaining traditional leaders in positions of authority under colonial oversight. During

12267-421: The head of which the Belgian administration appointed "traditional chiefs" ( chefs coutumiers ). The territories administered by one territorial administrator and a handful of assistants were often larger than a few Belgian provinces taken together (the whole Belgian Congo was nearly 80 times larger than the whole of Belgium and was roughly twice the size of Germany and France combined). The territorial administrator

12408-456: The introduction in 1973 of "obligatory civic work" (locally known as Salongo after the Lingala term for work), in the form of one afternoon a week of compulsory labor on agricultural and development projects. Officially described as a revolutionary attempt to return to the values of communalism and solidarity inherent in the traditional society, Salongo was intended to mobilise the population into

12549-636: The irresistible and compelling force of the colonial state. The Belgian Congo was directly involved in the two world wars. During World War I , an initial stand-off between the Force Publique and the German colonial army in German East Africa (Tanganyika) turned into open warfare with a joint Anglo-Belgian invasion of German colonial territory in 1916 and 1917 during the East African campaign . By 1916,

12690-416: The local population) and redistributed the territory to European companies, to individual white landowners ( colons ), or to the missions . In this way, an extensive plantation economy developed. Palm-oil production in the Congo increased from 2,500 tons in 1914 to 9,000 tons in 1921, and to 230,000 tons in 1957. Cotton production increased from 23,000 tons in 1932 to 127,000 in 1939. The mobilization of

12831-499: The long-promised Sovereign National Conference was staged, encompassing over 2,000 representatives from various political parties. The conference gave itself a legislative mandate and elected Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya as its chairman, along with Étienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba , leader of the UDPS, as prime minister. By the end of the year Mobutu had created a rival government with its own prime minister. The ensuing stalemate produced

12972-577: The low importance the Belgian government placed on healthcare and basic education of the natives. Opening up the Congo and its natural and mineral riches for the Belgian economy remained the motive for colonial expansion. The governance of the Belgian Congo was outlined in the 1908 Colonial Charter . Executive power rested with the Belgian Minister of Colonial Affairs , assisted by a Colonial Council ( Conseil Colonial ). Both resided in Brussels. The Belgian Parliament exercised legislative authority over

13113-464: The main cities ( Léopoldville , Elisabethville , Stanleyville , and Luluabourg ). There was rapid political development, forced by African aspirations, in the last years of the 1950s, culminating in the 1960 Belgian Congo general election . Justifications for colonialism in Africa, taking as a given that tribal wars, cannibalism, human sacrifice, display of human trophies, bigamy, and other "primitive" practices were common place, often invoked as

13254-626: The majority (1,359,118) were enrolled in Catholic mission schools, 322,289 in Protestant mission schools and 68,729 in educational institutions organized by the state. Health care, too, was largely supported by the missions, although the colonial state took an increasing interest. In 1906 the Institute of Tropical Medicine was founded in Brussels. The ITM was, and still is, one of the world's leading institutes for training and research in tropical medicine and

13395-681: The mandatory cultivation policy. After Malaya fell to the Japanese (January 1942), the Belgian Congo became a strategic supplier of rubber to the Allies . The Belgian Congo became one of the major exporters of uranium to the US during World War II (and the Cold War ), particularly from the Shinkolobwe mine. The colony provided the uranium used by the Manhattan Project , including in atomic bombs dropped on

13536-484: The middle of 1997 had almost completely overrun the country. The only thing that seemed to slow the AFDL forces down was the country's ramshackle infrastructure; irregularly used dirt paths and river ports were all that connected some areas to the outside world. Following failed peace talks between Mobutu and Kabila, Mobutu fled into exile in Morocco on 17 May. Kabila named himself president, consolidated power around himself and

13677-428: The mining districts. The stagnation of population growth in many districts—in spite of spectacular successes in the fight against endemic diseases such as sleeping sickness—was another cause for concern. Low birth rates in the countryside and the depopulation of certain areas were typically attributed to the disruption of traditional community life as a result of forced labour migration and mandatory cultivation. Response

13818-635: The most bitterly resented features of the colonial state, obligatory civic work contributed in no small way to the erosion of legitimacy suffered by the Mobutist state. In 1977 and 1978, Katangan rebels based in Angola launched two invasions, Shaba I and Shaba II , into the Katanga Province (renamed "Shaba" in 1972). The rebels were driven out with military assistance from the Western Bloc , particularly from

13959-482: The name used by the local population (i.e. derived from Portuguese usage) remained common. In 1965, as in 1960 , the division of power in Congo-Léopoldville (a former Belgian colony ) between President and Parliament led to a stalemate and threatened the country's stability. Joseph-Désiré Mobutu again seized power. Unlike the first time , however, Mobutu assumed the presidency, rather than remaining behind

14100-600: The nations of Rwanda and Burundi , and the Belgian-controlled portions of German East Africa would join the nation of Tanganyika, followed by Tanzania. During World War II , the Belgian Congo served as a crucial source of income for the Belgian government in exile in London after the occupation of Belgium by the Nazis . Following the occupation of Belgium by the Germans in May 1940, the Belgian Congo declared itself loyal to

14241-480: The organisation of health care in developing countries. Endemic diseases, such as sleeping sickness , were all but eliminated through large-scale and persistent campaigns. In 1925 medical missionary Dr. Arthur Lewis Piper was the first person to use and bring tryparsamide, the Rockefeller Foundation's drug to cure sleeping sickness, to the Congo. The health-care infrastructure expanded steadily throughout

14382-426: The performance of collective work "with enthusiasm and without constraint". In reality, the conspicuous lack of popular enthusiasm for Salongo led to widespread resistance and foot dragging (causing many local administrators to look the other way). Although failure to comply carried penalties of one month to six months in jail, by the late 1970s most Zairians shirked their Salongo obligations. By resuscitating one of

14523-428: The population of the Congo before the twentieth century and estimates like 20 million are purely guesses. Most of the interior of the Congo was literally unexplored if not inaccessible." Leopold's Force Publique , a private army that terrorized natives to work as forced labour for resource extraction, disrupted local societies and killed and abused natives indiscriminately. The Force Publique also became involved in

14664-630: The primary schools, disease prevention campaigns were implemented, and disease prevention classes were part of the curriculum. There was an "implicit apartheid ". The colony had curfews for Congolese city-dwellers and similar racial restrictions were commonplace. Léopoldville's system of racist curfews was particularly notable and was used as a blueprint in other European colonies, such as nearby French Equatorial Africa . Though there were no specific laws imposing racial segregation and barring blacks from establishments frequented by whites, de facto segregation operated in most areas. For example, initially,

14805-465: The principle of a multi-party system with elections and a constitution. As details of a reform package were delayed, soldiers began looting Kinshasa in September 1991 to protest their unpaid wages. Two thousand French and Belgian troops, some of whom were flown in on U.S. Air Force planes, arrived to evacuate the 20,000 endangered foreign nationals in Kinshasa. In 1992, after previous similar attempts,

14946-533: The programs and decisions of the president. The president also was to have the power to appoint and dismiss the governors of the provinces and the judges of all courts, including those of the Supreme Court of Justice. The bicameral parliament was replaced by a unicameral legislative body called the Legislative Council . Governors of provinces were no longer elected by provincial assemblies but appointed by

15087-575: The rank of non-commissioned officer in the Force Publique , nor to a responsible position in the administration (such as head of bureau or territorial administrator). In the late 1950s, 42% of the youth of school-going age was literate, which placed the Belgian Congo far ahead of any other country in Africa at the time. In 1960, 1,773,340 students were enrolled in schools around the Belgian Congo, of which 1,650,117 in primary school, 22,780 in post-primary school, 37,388 in secondary school and 1,445 in university and higher education. Of these 1,773,340 students,

15228-546: The record of the First Republic as one of "chaos, disorder, negligence, and incompetence". Rejection of the legacy of the First Republic went far beyond rhetoric. In the first two years of its existence, the new regime turned to the urgent tasks of political reconstruction and consolidation. Creating a new basis of legitimacy for the state, in the form of a single party, came next in Mobutu's order of priority. A third imperative

15369-455: The reform was to severely curtail the power of traditional authorities at the local level. Hereditary claims to authority would no longer be recognised; instead, all chiefs were to be appointed and controlled by the state via the administrative hierarchy. By then, the process of centralisation had theoretically eliminated all preexisting centres of local autonomy. The analogy with the colonial state becomes even more compelling when coupled with

15510-521: The regime beyond the most superficial level. The trend toward co-optation of key social sectors continued in subsequent years. Women's associations were eventually brought under the control of the party, as was the press , and in December 1971 Mobutu proceeded to emasculate the power of the churches. From then on, only three churches were recognised: the Church of Christ in Zaire (L'Église du Christ au Zaïre),

15651-505: The regular Belgian army—were posted in the Belgian Congo (for instance in Kamina). The colonial state—and any authority exercised by whites in the Congo—was often referred to by the Congolese as bula matari ("break rocks"), one of the names originally given to Stanley . He had used dynamite to crush rocks when paving his way through the lower-Congo region. The term bula matari came to signify

15792-474: The result of a widespread and increasingly radical pro-independence movement , the Belgian Congo achieved independence, becoming the Republic of the Congo under Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba and President Joseph Kasa-Vubu . Poor relations between political factions within the Congo, the continued involvement of Belgium in Congolese affairs, and the intervention by major parties (mainly the United States and

15933-454: The ruthless exploitation and the lack of immunity to new diseases introduced by contact with European colonists – like the 1889–1890 influenza pandemic , which caused millions of deaths on the European continent, including Prince Baudouin of Belgium , who died in 1891. William Rubinstein wrote: "More basically, it appears almost certain that the population figures given by Hochschild are inaccurate. There is, of course, no way of ascertaining

16074-789: The scenes. From 1965, Mobutu dominated the political life of the country, restructuring the state on more than one occasion, and claiming the title of "Father of the Nation". He announced the renaming of the country as the Republic of Zaire on 27 October 1971. When, under the authenticité policy of the early 1970s, Zairians were obliged to adopt "authentic" names, Mobutu dropped Joseph-Désiré and officially changed his name to Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga , or, more commonly, Mobutu Sésé Seko, roughly meaning "the all-conquering warrior, who goes from triumph to triumph". In retrospective justification of his 1965 seizure of power , Mobutu later summed up

16215-535: The student population and the state. In reality, the government was attempting to bring under its control those sectors where opposition to the regime might be centred. By appointing key labour and youth leaders to the MPR Political Bureau, the regime hoped to harness syndical and student forces to the machinery of the state. Nevertheless, as has been pointed out by numerous observers, there is little evidence that co-optation succeeded in mobilising support for

16356-446: The study and preservation of Congolese cultural and linguistic traditions and artefacts. One example among many is that of Father Gustaaf Hulstaert (1900–1990), who in 1937 created the periodical Aequatoria devoted to the linguistic, ethnographic and historical study of the Mongo people of the central Congo basin. The colonial state took an interest in the cultural and scientific study of

16497-412: The task of supervising and, if necessary, sanctioning those peasants who evaded the hated mandatory cultivation. Two distinct periods of investment in the Congo's economic infrastructure stand out during the period of Belgian rule: the 1920s and the 1950s. In 1921, the Belgian government provided 300 million francs of loans to the Belgian Congo, to fund public infrastructure projects in support of

16638-514: The then-largely unexploited Congo Basin . Their ambivalence resulted in Leopold establishing a colony himself. With support from a number of Western countries , Leopold achieved international recognition of the Congo Free State in 1885. By the turn of the century, the violence used by Free State officials against indigenous Congolese and a ruthless system of economic exploitation led to intense diplomatic pressure on Belgium to take official control of

16779-456: The wage labour force decreased by 72,000 and many such labourers returned to their villages. In Leopoldville, the population decreased by 33%, because of this labour migration. In order to improve conditions in the countryside, the colonial government developed the so-called " indigenous peasantry programme ", aimed at supporting the development of a stronger internal market that was less dependent of fluctuations in export demand, but also to combat

16920-574: The war. The British firm of Lever Bros. greatly expanded the palm oil business during the war, and output of cocoa, rice and cotton increased. New rail and steamship lines opened to handle the expanded export traffic. During the First World War (1914–1918), the system of "mandatory cultivation" ( cultures obligatoires ) was introduced, forcing Congolese peasants to grow certain cash crops (cotton, coffee, groundnuts) destined as commodities for export. Territorial administrators and state agronomists had

17061-570: The world. The independence of the British, French and Dutch colonies in Asia shortly after 1945 had little immediate effect in the Congo, but in the United Nations pressure on Belgium (as on other colonial powers) increased. Belgium had ratified article 73 of the United Nations Charter , which advocated self-determination, and both superpowers put pressure on Belgium to reform its Congo policy;

17202-414: Was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville) . The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colonial rule in the Congo began in the late 19th century. King Leopold II of the Belgians attempted to persuade the Belgian government to support colonial expansion around

17343-496: Was administratively divided into four provinces: Congo-Kasaï , Equateur , Orientale , and Katanga , each presided over by a Vice-Governor-General. An administrative reform in 1932 increased the number of provinces to six, while "demoting" the Vice-Governors-General to provincial Governors. The territorial service was the true backbone of the colonial administration. The colony was divided into four provinces (six after

17484-417: Was also launched under Mobutu's direction. Weakened by the termination of American support after the end of the Cold War , Mobutu was forced to declare a new republic in 1990 to cope with demands for change. By the time of its downfall, Zaire was characterised by widespread cronyism , corruption and economic mismanagement . Zaire collapsed in the late 1990s, amid the destabilization of the eastern parts of

17625-452: Was also made in the fight against endemic diseases; the numbers of reported cases of sleeping sickness went from 34,000 cases in 1931 to 1,100 cases in 1959, mainly by eradicating the tsetse fly in densely populated areas. All Europeans and Congolese in the Belgian Congo received vaccinations for polio , measles and yellow fever . Vast disease prevention programmes were rolled out, aimed at eradicating polio, leprosy and tuberculosis . In

17766-510: Was blurred in the public mind. Nevertheless, as dissatisfaction arose, ethnic tensions surfaced again. Running parallel to the efforts of the state to control all autonomous sources of power, important administrative reforms were introduced in 1967 and 1973 to strengthen the hand of the central authorities in the provinces. The central objective of the 1967 reform was to abolish provincial governments and replace them with state functionaries appointed by Kinshasa . The principle of centralisation

17907-478: Was confirmed in office by an implausible margin of over 10,131,000 votes against only 157 who voted "no." At parliamentary elections held two weeks later, voters were presented with a single MPR list that was approved with over 99 per cent support. The president served as the head of state of Zaïre whose role was to appoint and dismiss cabinet members and determine their areas of responsibility. The ministers, as heads of their respective departments, were to execute

18048-509: Was curious, given that the name Congo , which referred both to the river Congo and to the mediaeval Kongo Empire , was fundamentally authentic to pre-colonial African roots, while Zaire is in fact a Portuguese corruption of another African word, Nzadi ("river", by Nzadi o Nzere, "the river that swallows all the other rivers", another name of the Congo river). General Mobutu became Mobutu Sésé Seko and forced all his citizens to adopt African names and many cities were also renamed. Some of

18189-477: Was derived from the MPR's professed doctrine of "authentic Zairian nationalism and condemnation of regionalism and tribalism". Mobutu defined it as being conscious of one's own personality and one's own values and of being at home in one's culture. In line with the dictates of authenticity, the name of the country was changed to the Republic of Zaire on 27 October 1971, and that of the armed forces to Zairian Armed Forces (Forces Armées Zaïroises—FAZ). This decision

18330-572: Was derived from the name of the Congo River , sometimes called Zaire in Portuguese , which in turn was derived from the Kikongo word nzere or nzadi ('river that swallows all rivers'). The use of Congo seems to have replaced Zaire gradually in English usage during the 18th century and Congo was the preferred English name in 19th-century literature, although references to Zahir or Zaire as

18471-425: Was expected to inspect his territory and to file detailed annual reports with the provincial administration. In terms of the legal system , two systems co-existed: a system of European courts and one of indigenous courts ( tribunaux indigènes ). These indigenous courts were presided over by the traditional chiefs but had only limited powers and remained under the firm control of the colonial administration. In 1936 it

18612-404: Was further extended to districts and territories, each headed by administrators appointed by the central government. The only units of government that still retained a fair measure of autonomy—but not for long—were the so-called local collectivities, i.e. chiefdoms and sectors (the latter incorporating several chiefdoms). The unitary, centralised state system thus legislated into existence bore

18753-474: Was governed by the Popular Movement of the Revolution as a one-party state as the only legally permitted party in the country, though the Congo had effectively been a one-party state since the MPR's formation. Despite the constitution nominally allowing for the existence of two parties, the MPR was the only party that was allowed to nominate a candidate for the 1 November 1970 presidential election . Mobutu

18894-459: Was in some cases supported by governmental recruiting offices (Office de Travail-Offitra,..). In Katanga the main labour force were seasonal migrant workers from Tanganyika , Angola , Northern Rhodesia , and after 1926, also from Ruanda-Urundi. In many cases, this huge labour migration affected the economic viability of rural communities: many farmers left their villages, which resulted in labour shortages in these areas. To counter these problems,

19035-402: Was introduced to replace the franc as the new national currency. 100 makuta (singular likuta) equaled one zaïre. The likuta was also divided into 100 sengi. However this unit was worth very little, so the smallest coin was for 10 sengi. The currency and the cities named above had actually already been renamed between 1966 and 1971. While the country began to stabilize after Mobutu took control,

19176-475: Was mainly religious and vocational. Children received basic education such as learning how to read, write and some mathematics. The Belgian Congo was one of the few African colonies in which local languages ( Kikongo , Lingala , Tshiluba and Swahili ) were taught at primary school. Even so, language policies and colonial domination often went hand in hand, as evidenced by the preference given to Lingala —a semi-artificial language spread through its common use in

19317-534: Was often made that that had been the point of the policies, and pointed to the increase of population in the cities, as well as the improvement in health and lifespan due to modern medicine and living conditions. Many missionaries who were in daily contact with Congolese villagers, took their plight in the transition at heart and sometimes intervened on their behalf with the colonial administration (for instance in land property questions). The missions and certain territorial administrators also played an important role in

19458-421: Was recorded that there were 728 administrators controlling the Congo from Belgium. Belgians living in the Congo had no say in the government and the Congolese did not either. No political activity was permitted in the Congo whatsoever. Public order in the colony was maintained by the Force Publique , a locally recruited army under Belgian command. It was only in the 1950s that metropolitan troops—i.e., units of

19599-452: Was the creation of the Popular Movement of the Revolution (Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution—MPR) on 17 April 1967, marking the emergence of "the nation politically organised". Rather than government institutions being the emanation of the state , the state was henceforth defined as the emanation of the party. Thus, in October 1967, party and administrative responsibilities were merged into

19740-434: Was to expand the reach of the state in the social and political realms, a process that began in 1970 and culminated in the adoption of a new constitution in 1974. By 1976, however, this effort had begun to generate its own inner contradictions, thus paving the way for the resurrection of a Bula Matari ("the breaker of rocks") system of repression and brutality. By 1967, Mobutu had consolidated his rule and proceeded to give

19881-473: Was weakened by a series of domestic protests, by heightened international criticism of his regime's human rights practices, by a faltering economy, and by government corruption, most notably his massive embezzlement of government funds for personal use. In June 1989, Mobutu visited Washington, D.C. , where he was the first African head of state to be invited for a state meeting with newly elected U.S. President George H. W. Bush . In May 1990, Mobutu agreed to

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