THE African decolonization it became accentuated from the 1950s onwards. Many countries that were still like European colonies started a independence process. O Congo, for example, was a colony of belgium.
In the 1940s, under the leadership of Patrice Lumumba, a movement for the colonial liberation of Congo began. In 1960, several national entities joined the United Nations (UN) and pressured Belgium to declare Congo's freedom, a fact that occurred in the same year.
After Congo independence, was founded on Democratic Republic of Congo and Patrice Lumumba was elected Congolese Prime Minister. The history of independent Congo began with several political differences: in the very first month that Lumumba had taken office, a rebellion against his government broke out.
Prime Minister Lumumba did not believe that political independence alone would free Congo from colonial dependence, but declared that the liberation of Africa would happen once the Congo was no longer economically dependent on the Europe.
After the declaration of the prime minister of Congo, all Western investors present in the country were under alert. The various British and Belgian corporations that invested in the exploration of copper, cobalt, diamond, gold, among other minerals, were fearing a nationalization of companies, that is, they feared communist influences, since the Congo government's approach to the Union Soviet.
Soon after, in 1961, Lumumba was kidnapped and murdered in a coup financed and supported by the United States. The coup d'état in Congo was only possible because of the support given to the United States by the former official of the Colonial Public Force, Joseph Désiré Mobutu.
The support given to the United States would give Mobutu the government of Congo, becoming dictator from 1965 to 1997. He spent 32 years in power and turned Congo into his private backyard. Mobutu was always financed by the United States and France in exchange for its anti-communism and for the liberation of Western capitalist exploitation in the Congo's mineral mines.
The dictator, in his more than 30 years in power, installed one of the most cruel and corrupt governments in Congo. Considered one of the richest men in the world, Mobutu was only ousted from power in 1997.
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By Leandro Carvalho
Master in History
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
OAK, Leandro. "Congo Independence"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiag/independencia-congo.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
