EUROPEAN RETREAT FROM

EMPIRE AND THE

AFTERMATH 1945 - 1990

Chapter 6

The Secession of Katanga 1960-1965

Chapter 6

Why is this chapter important?

This topic is a case study and is very important as it could be asked in Section 1 – Documents-Based Question - in 2011 or 2012 examinations.

Elements Covered:

Africa – the “winds of change”.Post-independence relations with the

colonial power.Economic consequences of the process of

decolonisation.

Key Personality:Sese Seko Mobutu  Key Concepts:Colonial ruleRacismDe-colonisationTribalism

Key Questions:

How did the Congo gain independence?Why did the province of Katanga secede?Why did the UN intervene in the Congo and what

role did the Cold War play?Why was Patrick Lumumba removed from power

and murdered?How was the secession of Katanga ended?How did Sese Seko Mobutu come to power and

what was his rule like for the Congo?What were the consequences of events in the

Congo between 1960 and 1965?

Key Points:

At independence the Congo descended into chaos as Belgium encouraged the secession of the mineral-rich province of Katanga.

The crisis saw:- the first intervention of the UN into sub-Saharan Africa.- cold war divisions between the US and the USSR- the first military coup in Africa- the murder of the Prime Minister- the death of the UN Secretary General in a mysterious plane crash.

It brought to prominence General Joseph Mobutu who would rule the country from 1965 until 1997.

Key Question: How did the Congo gain independence?

Ruled by Belgium since the 1880s.

Immense country - 75 times the size of Belgium. Population circa 13 million including 100,000 white settlers.

Borders were lines drawn on maps by Europeans in the late 19th century.

The country contained over 200 separate ethnic groups or tribes, each with its own language.

Profitable colony - producing copper, cobalt, industrial diamonds and uranium.

As it was the centre of copper production, Katanga was the richest province in the country.

Belgians did not allow Congolese to go to secondary school or to university – did not want to create educated class that would challenge their control.

Africans were unable to become doctors, engineers or lawyers or army officers in the army.

Even in the late 1950s Belgium refused to consider self-government for its colony.

In the late 1950s as other African countries gained Independence a number of political groups were founded most along tribal lines:

- Abako led by Joseph Kasavubu.

- Conakat was popular in Katanga - led by Moise Tshombe.

- The Congolese National Movement (MNC) led by Patrice Lumumba.

January 1960 - Amid increasing violence Belgium agreed to elections followed by independence on 30 June 1960.

The Elections of 1960 - Lumumba’s MNC was the largest party.

In Katanga Tshombe’s party was the largest.

Lumumba appointed Prime Minister while Kasavubu got the job of President.

Key Question: Why did the province of Katanga secede?

Unfortunately chaos spread quickly.

Independence ceremonies were marked by row between Lumumba and the Belgian king.

Then the army mutinied over pay and the lack of black officers.

Lumumba replaced all of the white officers with Congolese ones and made Joseph Mobutu the new Chief of Staff. 

However soldiers continued looting and attacking whites and thousands of white refugees fled the violence to neighbouring countries.

Lumumba refused permission for Belgian troops to protect Belgian citizens. Belgians ignored him and ordered their troops into action.

On July 11 1960 Tshombe seized the opportunity presented by the continuing violence to declare the province of Katanga an independent state – the secession of Katanga.

  The Belgian government “backed” Tshombe’s actions:

- They wanted to safeguard western mining interests in Katanga. - They hoped to use Katanga as a base from which to replace Lumumba’s government.

6000 Belgian troops took control and trained the new Katanganese army called the Katangan Gendarmerie. White mercenaries played a prominent role in this force.

Key Question:Why did the UN intervene in the Congo and what role was played by the Cold War?

  The Congolese claimed that Katanga was a Belgian puppet state and

appealed to the United Nations (UN) to send troops to replace the Belgians and to restore order. 

  The international community was worried that events in the Congo

might trigger copy-cat successions thereby plunge Africa into chaos.   The UN Secretary General, Dag Hammarskjold also wanted to

prevent the intervention of the superpowers, the US and the USSR.   UN Security Council called on the Belgians to remove their troops

from the country and sent UN troops to restore order but not to end the secession in Katanga.

UNOC – United Nations Operations in the Congo was made up of troops from Africa, India Sweden and Ireland.

They established control and Belgian troops withdrew from the country except for Katanga.

Enter the Cold War:Lumumba demanded that the UN enter Katanga to end the secession and threatened to ask the Soviet Union for help.

The US feared that Congo might become “another Cuba”.

Matters made worse in August 1960 South Kasai broke away from the Congo.

Lumumba now requested military aid from the Soviets – over 1000.

Major Mistake!!!

Growing fears about Lumumba among Western powers.

Key Question: Why was Patrick Lumumba removed from power and murdered?

  US feared that the USSR would use the Congo as a

base to support communist rebellions in neighbouring countries – wanted Lumumba removed.

Lumumba was a losing support among the Congolese e.g. General Mobutu strongly opposed the arrival of Soviet advisors.

On September 14 with the support of the CIA Mobutu seized power in a coup – Lumumba placed under house arrest.

Kasavubu remained as President and a new government was formed but it excluded supporters of Lumumba.

The Belgians and the Congolese were worried at the prospect of a military coup in support of Lumumba and it was decided to kill him.

January 1961 Lumumba was flown to Elisabethville in Katanga – capital city of his sworn enemy Tshombe - where he was then executed by a firing squad commanded by a Belgian officer.

Key Question: How was the secession of Katanga ended?

World opinion - shocked by murderUN Resolution 161 was passed in February gave the UN the power to take action against Katanga.

Tshombe refused UN request white mercenaries be withdrawn and the UN act: - Operation Rumpunch  - Operation Morthor. Both failed.

In September Dag Hammarskjöld flew to the Congo but was killed in plane crash in Northern Rhodesia.

November 1961 UN resolution (169) authorised UN troops to remove foreign forces from Katanga.

The US looked for negotiated settlement but it was obvious that Tshombe was stalling for time.

In December 1962 the UN decided to act launched Operation Grand Slam.

UN forces were soon in control and Tshombe announced the end of Katanga's secession on January 14, 1963.

Key Question: How did Mobutu come to power and what was his rule like for the Congo?

In 1964 Simba rebellion now broke out in the east of the country.

The US and Belgium sent military aid to help the Congolese government.

  Government troops led by white mercenaries defeated the

Simbas in a brutal campaign.   In November 1965 Mobutu staged his second coup

frustrated at the politicians’ inability to form a stable government - in power for the next 32 years.

There was a dark side though:

The country was poorly-run and corrupt beyond belief. 

 He robbed the people of the Congo and amassed a

fortune of $5 billion. The corruption of his government saw the invention of

a new political term: kleptocracy.   In 1997 he was forced from power and died the same

year.

Key Question: What were the consequences of events in the Congo between 1960 and 1965?

First crisis with an international dimension in post-colonial Africa.

 Left a perception among Europeans that Africa was a

continent of political instability.

Showed the difficulty that in developing stable political systems in the face of many different tribal groups and the absence of any democratic traditions.

Mobutu’s coup in 1960 was the first of many e.g. Ghana and Nigeria.

International community was opposed to secessionist movements - preferred to see the colonial borders remain.

 The involvement of Cold War politics was to play

a very important role after 1960 in African politics as the two superpowers competed to gain influence and control.