Free Republic of the Congo
| Free Republic of the Congo | ||||||||||
| Partly recognized state | ||||||||||
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.svg.png) Flag
.svg.png) Coat of arms
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 Map of the Congo in 1961, split between four competing political regimes. The Stanleyville government is shown in red. | ||||||||||
| Capital | Stanleyville | |||||||||
| Political structure | Parliamentary republic | |||||||||
| President | ||||||||||
| • | 1960–1962 | Antoine Gizenga | ||||||||
| Historical era | Congo Crisis | |||||||||
| • | Secession | 12 December 1960 | ||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 16 January 1962 | ||||||||
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| Today part of |  DR Congo | |||||||||
The Free Republic of the Congo (French: République Libre du Congo), also often referred to as Congo-Stanleyville, the Stanleyville government, or the Gizenga regime, was a short-lived rival government to the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Léopoldville) based in the eastern Congo and led by Antoine Gizenga.
Following Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba's deposition in September 1960 in the midst of the Congo Crisis, many of his supporters became disillusioned with the government in Léopoldville (modern-day Kinshasa). Under Lumumba's deputy, Antoine Gizenga, leftists organized in Stanleyville (modern-day Kisangani) and in December declared their own government to be the legal successor to the prime minister's administration. Gizenga quickly amassed military strength and by February 1961 had occupied vast portions of Congolese territory. In August, negotiations between the two governments resulted in Gizenga agreeing to stand down and being returned to his post under the new prime minister, Cyrille Adoula. Still, Gizenga distanced himself from the central administration and rebuilt his own political and military power. The rival government wasn't fully reintegrated into the Republic of the Congo until Gizenga was arrested in January 1962.
Background
On 30 June 1960 the Belgian Congo became independent as the Republic of the Congo. However, the domestic situation quickly devolved as the army mutinied, beginning the Congo Crisis. In spite of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba's efforts, the situation worsened. Katanga and South Kasai subsequently seceded from the central government. The United Nations (UN) organized a peacekeeping operation and sent troops to the Congo. On 5 September, President Joseph Kasa-Vubu dismissed Lumumba from his post. The ensuing political battle paralyzed the government and on 14 September Colonel Joseph-Désiré Mobutu announced a takeover in Léopoldville (modern-day Kinshasa) and the installation of his own administration.[1] Two days later Lumumba was placed under house arrest. By October, it was clear to the prime minister's supporters that few of their goals could be achieved through the new government.[2]
Antoine Gizenga, Lumumba's deputy prime minister, left for Stanleyville (modern-day Kisangani) on 13 November to form his own government.[3] Other nationalists attempted to join him, including Joseph Mbuyi, Maurice Mpolo, Anicet Kashamura, Christophe Gbenye, Pierre Mulele (former ministers in Lumumba's government), Joseph Okito (vice president of the Senate), and Barthélemy Mujanay (governor of the Central Bank of the Congo). Of these, only Kashamura, Gbenye, and Mulele succeeded. Mpolo and Okito were arrested and brought back to the capital while Mbuyi and Mujanay were killed in the Charlesville region.[4]
General Victor Lundula, Lumumba's army commander who had been arrested by Mobutu, escaped custody in Léopoldville and made his way to Stanleyville.[5] He and troops loyal to him pledged allegiance to Gizenga.[6] Gizenga's military strength in Orientale Province rapidly increased,[7] and his army amassed to be 6,000-strong.[8] On 26 November Lundula organized a military parade in Stanleyville involving almost all of the military units in Orientale. The army's cohesion was primarily due to the soldiers' admiration and respect for Lundula and their attraction to Lumumba's nationalist ideals.[9]
Also in November the United Nations General Assembly voted to recognize a delegation assembled by Kasa-Vubu and Mobutu, definitively ending Lumumba's hopes of legal return to power.[4] On 27 November the deposed prime minister escaped from his house and made his way towards Stanleyville to join Gizenga. Five days later he was arrested.[2] He would eventually be executed on 17 January 1961.[10] Thomas Kanza, Lumumba's appointed delegate to the United Nations, switched allegiances and acted as a representative for Gizenga abroad.[11]
History
On 12 December 1960 Gizenga declared his new government, the Free Republic of the Congo,[6] based in Orientale Province, the legitimate ruling authority in the Congo.[12] Almost immediately the central government imposed an effective supply blockade along the Congo River.[13] Despite the military power it possessed, the Stanleyville government never established an extensive administrative structure and functioned in the manner of a government in exile.[14] Most administrative functions remained the responsibility of the former provincial government, which had difficulties coexisting with Gizenga's new centralized authority.[15] Kanza officially became the foreign minister of the Stanleyville government and a functioning diplomatic base was set-up in Uganda.[16]
The Free Republic of the Congo quickly received recognition from the Soviet Union, China, Yugoslavia, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, United Arab Republic, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, and Morocco. Gizenga demanded that Western nations relocate their embassies to Stanleyville or risk having their consuls expelled.[17]
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev authorized a payment of $500,000 to Mulele. This money was to be used to pay the rival government's soldiers, as taxes had not been levied in its territory and it was not receiving any revenue by which it could fund the army. Regardless, Soviet spies believed that Mulele embezzled some of the money. The Czech government proposed supplying the regime with weapons via an air bridge from Prague through Egypt, but President Gamal Abdel Nasser vetoed the proposal.[8]
Meanwhile, General Lundula established a staff consisting of officers mostly from Orientale and Kasaï. His three most important commanders were Major Loso (in charge of the military police), Major Opepe, and Colonel Camille Yangara. In order to bolster his army, Lundula increased recruitment efforts among the unemployed youth in Stanleyville and younger members of the Mouvement National Congolais.[9]
Throughout the winter the Free Republic of the Congo gained strength.[10] On 24 December Stanleyville troops occupied Bukavu and arrested the local army commander. The next day Kivu Provincial President Jean Miruho tried to intervene, but he too was arrested by an ever-increasing number of Gizenga's soldiers and sent with the commander to Stanleyville. Several provincial deputies were also taken with them. At dawn on 1 January 1961 central government troops advised by the Belgians entered Bukavu from Ruanda and occupied the Saio military camp. Stanleyville forces subsequently intervened, capturing 40 soldiers and ejecting the expedition back into Ruanda. Both sides continued to exchange fire over the border throughout the afternoon.[18] The following day Anicet Kashamura arrived to take over the Kivu provincial administration.[10] The situation in southern Kivu became chaotic in the following months; Europeans were robbed, beaten, and harassed, with many choosing to flee the area, while over 200 Congolese were killed. UN peacekeepers were unable to contain the violence.[18]
By 10 January Stanleyville forces had occupied northern Katanga as far in as Manono without facing resistance. Gizenga's authority was also established over the Sankuru District of Kasai.[10] Around then control was consolidated in Goma and the northern Kivu region and all local political prisoners were released. Fear of another Belgian-supported invasion from Ruanda led to an exchange of fire on 12 January over the border between Goma and Gisenyi.[19] The rival government reached its greatest territorial extent on 24 February when some of its forces briefly earned the allegiance of the Luluabourg garrison.[10]
Also in February seven Lumumba supporters, including Orientale Provincial President Joseph Finant, were tried by a "traditional court" of Baluba chiefs near Bakwanga and executed for committing "crimes against the Baluba nation". In retaliation, Free Republic of the Congo authorities shot 15 political prisoners in Stanleyville, including Gilbert Pongo, one of the military officers who captured Lumumba, and Lumumba's minister of communications, Alphonse Songolo.[8][10] Songolo had broken with Lumumba's stance in mid-October and traveled to Stanleyville with several colleagues to try to garner support against him until he was arrested. The central government had unsuccessfully tried to secure his release.[20]
When news of Lumumba's death in Katanga broke, 3,000–4,000 angry soldiers gathered in the European quarter of Stanleyville to enact revenge upon the local residents. General Lundula negotiated with them through the night and eventually persuaded them to leave the city in peace.[9] Still, the death of Lumumba brought negative opinion of both Katanga and the central government to an all-time high. Hoping to defuse the situation, the central government opened serious negotiations with Gizenga's government.[13] In March Cléophas Kamitatu was dispatched from Léopoldville to Stanleyville for talks. The following month the blockade on the Free Republic of the Congo was lifted.[21]
In June several attempts were made to bring Gizenga's government into the Non-Aligned Movement, though the proposals were blocked by other member states.[22] The Soviet diplomatic mission arrived in Stanleyville in July followed later that month by the Chinese.[23]
De jure disestablishment
On 13 June delegates from both governments met at the United Nations mission in Léopoldville for negotiations. Chiefly representing the central government were Cyrille Adoula, Jean Bolikango, and Marcel Lihau while chiefly representing the Stanleyville government were Jacques Massena, Etienne Kihuyu, and S. P. Mapago.[24] Meetings were held over the next three days and on 19 June. At the conclusion of the last meeting, the delegates signed an agreement stipulating the holding of a UN-supervised conference at the University of Lovanium to discuss the political future of the Congo.[25]
On 27 July the Republic of the Congo and the Free Republic of the Congo reached a truce.[8] On 1 August President Kasa-Vubu asked Adoula, the recently chosen prime minister of the Republic of the Congo, to form a new government. Gizenga was appointed to be one of Adoula's deputy prime ministers. The mending of relations was formally celebrated on 15 August when Adoula flew to Stanleyville and laid a wreath on a monument dedicated to Lumumba.[21]
With Gizenga brought back into the central government, the Soviets quickly returned their diplomatic mission to Léopoldville and encouraged Adoula to carry on Lumumba's legacy and end the Katangan secession. China, however, recalled its diplomatic mission back to Beijing and stated that Gizenga's government had "terminated its existence".[23] The United Arab Republic (UAR) kept its ambassador in Stanleyville and declared that it would follow the direction of the Stanleyville government. After being informed on the plan for Stanleyville's integration into the central government, the UAR announced that it would relocate its embassy back to the capital in January 1962.[26]
Final dissolution
In September Gizenga returned to Stanleyville to rally armed forces to retake northern Katanga. The invasion failed, but Gizenga refused to return to Léopoldville.[27] Fulfilling none of his official duties, he established as 300 strong militia began administrating the Orientale Province independent of the central government.[28] Pro-Gizenga administrators were installed in the Maniema and Sankuru districts while Orientale and Kivu-based army units seemed to be under his control.[29] The Orientale provincial gendarmerie also repudiated the authority of the central government army and provincial authorities, pledging complete loyalty to Gizenga.[30] By November, Gizenga once again posed a significant political and military threat to the Léopoldville administration.[29]
However, by then Gizenga had forfeited his claim of a legitimate successor government and appeared to be planning an outright rebellion. But military setbacks and political deterioration in Orientale shook the faith of the moderate Lundula;[31] on 11 November, the general pledged allegiance to Adoula's government. That same day Gizenga's reputation was further diminished when Stanleyville troops murdered 13 Italian UN aviators in what became known as the Kindu atrocity.[29]
On 8 January 1962 the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of Parliament) passed a resolution demanding that Gizenga be recalled and return to Léopoldville within 48 hours, the disbanding of his militia, and the appointment of a special commission to reestablish central authority in the Orientale. Two days later Gizenga responded by saying he would do nothing unless the Katangan secession was resolved. Adoula ordered General Lundula to arrest Gizenga and dissolve what remained of his administration.[28] Gizenga retaliated by ordering the provincial gendarmerie to detain Lundula and UN officials in Stanleyville who had been investigating the Kindu atrocity. The officers of the gendarmerie refused to enforce the order, probably because the UN alerted its local garrison of the situation. On 12 January a motion to strip Gizenga from his ministerial post was introduced in the Chamber. The following day, the provincial president of Orientale pledged his support to the central government and expressed his wish for Gizenga to leave Stanleyville.[30] Clashes between gendarmes and central government troops throughout the city ensued, resulting in several deaths.[27][32] Lundula, with the support of Adoula, requested UN assistance in eliminating the gendarmerie.[30] UN Secretary General U Thant ordered peacekeeping troops to restore order while Lundula's soldiers surrounded Gizenga's residence. Gradually Gizenga's militia surrendered and he was placed under house arrest.[32] From 14 to 16 January a platoon of peacekeepers assisted Lundula's troops in disarming the provincial gendarmerie.[33] On 15 January Gizenga was formally censured by Parliament and stripped of the vice premiership.[34]
Aftermath
Upon his own request, UN troops assumed the task of guarding Gizenga. On 20 January 1962 he was, at the behest of General Lundula and the provincial government, flown by the UN to Léopoldville.[34][28] Two days later Gizenga requested that the UN lift its guard, which was quickly replaced by the central government's "protection".[34] On 25 January he was imprisoned at Camp Kokolo. Upon request from Gizenga, Thant asked that Adoula respect the rival leader's legal rights.[28] He was eventually incarcerated on Bula Mbemba Island at the mouth of the Congo River, where he would remain until his release in 1964.[35] In February Adoula assured leftist members of his government that Gizenga would not be executed.[36]
In May a National Assembly commission found Gizenga guilty of inciting a mutiny, mistreating prisoners, and seeking foreign aid (from President Nasser of Egypt) to launch a rebellion. He was formally impeached and his government immunity was removed.[36] In August the Orientale was divided into three provinces, thereby weakening its position as a political body. The following month, Stanleyville was brought directly under central administration.[37]
Citations
- ↑ Young 2015, pp. 325–329
- 1 2 Young 2015, p. 330
- ↑ Kisangani & Bobb 2009, p. 202
- 1 2 de Witte 2002, p. 52
- ↑ Kisangani & Bobb 2009, p. 325
- 1 2 Villafana 2011, p. 53
- ↑ James 1996, p. 113
- 1 2 3 4 Othen 2015, Chapter 9: The Rhodesian Connection
- 1 2 3 Willame 1972, p. 71
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Young 2015, p. 331
- ↑ "Gizenga Delegate Here". The Harvard Crimson. 16 February 1961.
- ↑ James 1996, p. xix
- 1 2 Young 2015, p. 332
- ↑ Gondola 2002, p. 127
- ↑ Young 2015, p. 335
- ↑ Oliver 2013, p. 324
- ↑ Fedorowich & Thomas 2013, p. 159
- 1 2 Nelson 1992, p. 104
- ↑ Nelson 1992, p. 105
- ↑ Kalb 1982, p. 161
- 1 2 LaFontaine 1986, p. 16
- ↑ Oron 1961, p. 60
- 1 2 Brzezinski 1963, p. 181
- ↑ Africa 1980, p. 421
- ↑ Cordier & Foote 2013, p. 501
- ↑ Oron 1961, p. 641
- 1 2 Mockaitis 1999, p. 34
- 1 2 3 4 Luard 2016, p. 290
- 1 2 3 Young 2015, p. 339
- 1 2 3 Burns 1963, p. 155
- ↑ Willame 1972, p. 72
- 1 2 O'Ballance 1999, p. 64
- ↑ Burns 1963, pp. 156, 158
- 1 2 3 Burns 1963, pp. 159
- ↑ Akyeampong & Gates 2012, p. 468
- 1 2 O'Ballance 1999, p. 65
- ↑ Young 2015, p. 340
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- Brzezinski, Zbigniew K., ed. (1963). Africa and the Communist World (reprint ed.). Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-0179-2.
- Burns, Arthur Lee (1963). Peace-Keeping by U. N. Forces, from Suez to the Congo. New York: Praeger.
- Cordier, Andrew W.; Foote, Wilder (2013). Public Papers of the Secretaries General of the United Nations. 5. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-51379-1.
- Fedorowich, Kent; Thomas, Martin (2013). International Diplomacy and Colonial Retreat. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-26866-4.
- LaFontaine, J.S. (1986). City Politics: A Study of Léopoldville 1962–63. American Studies. Cambridge University Press Archive.
- Gondola, Ch. Didier (2002). The History of Congo. Greenwood histories of the modern nations (illustrated, annotated ed.). Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-31696-8. ISSN 1096-2905.
- James, Alan (1996). Britain and the Congo Crisis, 1960–63 (illustrated ed.). Springer. pp. xix. ISBN 978-1-349-24528-4.
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- O'Ballance, Edgar (1999). The Congo-Zaire Experience, 1960–98. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-28648-1.
- Oliver, Roland (2013). In the Realms of Gold: Pioneering in African History. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-57171-0.
- Oron, Yitzhak, ed. (1961). Middle East Record: 1961. 2. Jerusalem: Israel Program for Scientific Translations.
- Othen, Christopher (2015). Katanga 1960–63: Mercenaries, Spies and the African Nation that Waged War on the World (illustrated ed.). The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-6580-4.
- Royal Institute of International Affairs (1980). Africa. United Nations Peacekeeping, 1946–1967: Documents and Commentary. 3. New York: Oxford University Press.
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- Willame, Jean-Claude (1972). Patrimonialism and Political Change in the Congo. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-0793-0.
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