A look into Brazil and South America as a whole would be very good, alongside what's happening in the Congo and Indonesia.
Stars and Sickles - An Alternative Cold War
- Thread starter Hrvatskiwi
- Start date
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- cold war
Nice, nice, this is all stuff that I'm collating at the moment so you'll see it sooner rather than later.
So its interesting you've brought it up, because its something I've been thinking a lot about, and the reason why I havent done any content about the Middle East for a while.
Essentially I think that Canaan's existence is too unlikely to really fit the vibe I'm trying to go with on this TL. When I started Stars and Sickles I was 15 and my views on historical plausibility were very different.
Initially it was gonna be a surprise but I'm planning to retcon Canaan and have an Israel form and then butterflies and alt-hist shenanigans from there. I wasn't going to delete the old posts about Canaan since it kinda helps show the evolution of the TL, was just going to give a note that it isn't canon anymore.
That being said, I didnt want to start a story without giving it a finish, so I'm planning to do a separate Canaan TLIAW thats not set in the S&S universe to still satisfy people that are interested on seeing where I was initially planning to go with Canaan.
Thanks for the engagement Marisa, really great to have you as part of the audience and appreciate all the time you take reading my stuff.
Thanks, this whole TL has been an inspiration for me and a really interesting Cold War situation.
Hi Krasno!
There is a little bit, but a lot of that has been counteracted by Kosovo's incorporation as an ASR of Albania and by an improving economy on the coastline as tourists flock to Yugoslavia. Not as popular as Dalmatia, but the Albanian coast is still a beautiful place (without all of OTL's bunkers) and is getting some economic benefit.
The Albanian party elite also feel fairly secure as they can align with the Croats and Slovenes where they disagree with the Serbs.
The most resentful group ITTL atm is the Serbs of Serbia proper. The Serbs of Krajina are pretty happy with their newfound autonomy, but Serbia proper is irritated by their loss of financial influence over Dalmatia, the transfer of Kosovo to Albania, and Ranković's ouster. Honestly with all the research I've done, it seems like the vast majority of the Serbian political class just really couldn't come to terms with the fact that Yugoslavia is supposed to be an equal federation.
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Interesting, thank you!
is there any popular/party support in Bulgaria to join Yugoslavia with their seemingly more solid position ITTL, or was Stalin shutting it down the end of it?
Stalin shutting down the Balkan Federation idea was the end of it. Bulgaria is still part of the Warsaw Pact and under more direct Soviet influence, whereas Yugoslavia is still independent and do their own thing.
However, I often come across the opinion that it was excessive decentralization (economic and political) that ultimately destabilized Yugoslavia.
There's an ongoing debate about it to this day. The way I see it, was that the break-up of Yugoslavia was somewhat enabled by decentralisation, but the national republics keeping in one piece made that more likely. A Croatia with two autonomous regions is less likely to break off, for instance, because they know breaking off would almost mean Krajina declaring loyalty to Yugoslavia. There are a few centrifugal forces at play, but in my view the ethnonationalist leaders like Tudjman and Milosevic were able to take over by exploiting economic downturns as the IMF turned the screws in to try and force neoliberal reforms. There are lots of other things at play but basically I think its more how Yugoslavia is decentralised, rather than decentralisation itself, that determines whether Yugoslavia stays together. A centralised Yugoslavia becomes a Greater Serbia essentially, and if anything makes separatist conflict MORE likely.
Chapter 92: Enterrer nos Chaînes - Congo (Until 1980) (Part 1)
I initially wrote a post about Congo here: https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...rnative-cold-war.280530/page-12#post-10199422
I've decided to write a more detailed post about Congo's immediate independence period before writing more about the 1970s and so on. Where this post contradicts the former (there is quite a lot of this), this post's information is to be considered canon to the TL. Hope you all enjoy it.
===
The dissolution of Belgium resulted in a transfer of power in the Belgian Congo to a UN Trust Territory in May 1953 in order to ensure that the fledgling nation would be ready for independence in 1960. The roadmap to independence outlined by the UN would involve gradual (but limited, as the UN largely had to pay it out of its own Congolese Development Budget, which was funded entirely by international aid donations and very modest dues on mining companies) infrastructural development and the maintenance of law and order whilst native political forces emerged and organised that could take over the reigns of government. The colonial gendarmerie was still the only armed force in the nation, but was now under the command of the UN Governor. Like the Trust Territory of Somaliland, the Trust Territory of the Congo and Ruanda-Urundi was administered by a national of the former colonial overlord; Léo Pétillon. Born in Liege, Wallonia, Pétillon was a technocratic type who did little to deal with the social and ethnic divisions which built tension in Congolese society. He would govern until 1957, when he was replaced by former Governor-General of the Belgian Congo, the Fleming Pierre Rickmans[213]. Ill-health would leave Rickmans somewhat of a lame-duck Governor, which suited the emergent Congolese political class just fine. He passed away in February 1959, and would not formally be replaced; instead a Transitional Council was formed.
The emergent native political class in the Congo was primarily composed of évolués (literally "evolved", which should tell you enough about Belgian and French colonial attitudes to their subjects). The évolués were the small emergent middle-class educated along Western lines. They were deemed to be assimilated, unlike the so-called sauvages that still followed customary law and whose primary loyalty was to traditional chieftains and kings. The évolués almost always lived in the cities, utilising their education and knowledge of European customs to access the low-level white collar jobs which were available to them. The largest of the emergent political organisations was the Mouvement National Congolais (Congolese National Movement, MNC) led by Patrice Lumumba. The MNC was a 'popular front' party, seeking to incorporate many different ethnic groups and political interests. The largest opponent of the MNC was the Alliance des Bakongo (ABAKO), a Bakongo ethno-nationalist party lead by Joseph Kasa-Vubu. ABAKO sought immediate independence, unlike the MNC, which was satisfied with independence according to the UN roadmap. ABAKO sought primacy of the Bakongo people, seeing the future independent state as the successor of the early modern Kingdom of Kongo. The third significant political force was the Confédération des Associations Tribales du Katanga (Confederation of Associated Tribes of Katanga, CONAKAT), organised around Moïse Tshombe. CONAKAT sought a highly-decentralised federal Congo and represented the native peoples of southern Katanga. A number of other small parties were formed around either small ethnic groups or other political ideologies, notably the Parti Solidaire Africain (African Solidarity Party, PSA).
Patrice Lumumba, first Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo
The inclusive nature of the MNC inevitably led to disagreements between various interest groups within it. Albert Kalonji and Joseph Iléo defected, forming their own faction, known as the MNC-Kalonji (MNC-K), as opposed to the majority MNC-Lumumba (MNC-L), but it failed to trigger the mass defections expected. Whilst it did have followers throughout the Congo, the MNC-L's support was most highly-concentrated in the east, around Stanleyville. The MNC-K's support base only really existed around Élisabethville among the Luba ethnic group. In the Congolese capital of Léopoldville, a number of riots broke out in January 1959. An ABAKO rally had been interrupted and not allowed to go ahead by the UN administration, which required all political parties to receive consent for public demonstrations. Unruly ABAKO demonstrators were then dispersed by the gendarmerie, whose officers ordered more violent action than had been requested by the UN administration. Anger at this rough treatment exploded into widespread rioting throughout the city, including indiscriminate attacks on the European population. News of the ruthless suppression of the demonstration engendered greater involvement in the independence movement amongst rural Congolese, whilst in the cities panicked European colonists formed Corps de Voluntaires Européens to police their neighbourhoods. Seeing the potential for vigilante violence and reprisals to get out of hand,the Trust Territory government banned the volunteer militias in March. The French government, who had inherited a great deal of economic interests from Belgium, accused Lumumba of being a communist and provided financial support to CONAKAT.
The various Congolese political leaders convened with UN representatives at the 1959 Congo Conference [214]. Kasa-Vubu's fiery and haughty manner resulted in a split between him and ABAKO vice president Daniel Kanza. Kasa-Vubu ended up walking out of the conference. The discussions did result in a guarantee for Congolese self-governance in July, and Lumumba, and general elections were to be held before then. The leader of the party with the greatest number of seats would be tasked by the United Nations with forming a government. The Loi Fondamentale (Fundamental Law) was also confirmed, which would serve as the first constitution of the Congolese state. It would establish a bicameral parliamentary republic, led by a Prime Minister, and with a President who would be a separate institution with the power to ratify laws and dismiss governments if they were unable to function correctly. This constitution was poorly-suited to the Congolese political situation, but was relatively less-controversial amongst Congolese delegates than any alternatives. The 1960 general election campaigning began on the 11th May. Voting was compulsory for all males at least 21 years of age. A confused and chaotic campaign season, as to be expected in a country with no democratic tradition and a myriad of political parties, resulted in a victory of sorts for the MNC-L. The only major party to campaign nationwide, the MNC-L received 23.5% of the vote, the largest of any party. The socialist PSA of Antoine Gizenga won 12.5% and ABAKO received 9.5% of the vote. CONAKAT won 4.7%. The distribution of Senate seats (the upper house) did not reflect the popular vote, however. Out of 84 total seats, the MNC-L received 21, CONAKAT won 7, ABAKO won 5, PSA 5 also, and MNC-K took 4 seats. Nor did the distribution of seats in the Chamber of Deputies (137 total seats; MNC 33, PSA 13, ABAKO 12, MNC-K 7, CONAKAT 8). Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu both began to engage in attempts to form governments, and were in constant competition and dispute with one another. After many backdoor deals and political shenanigans, where Kasa-Vubu initially insisted on the presidency, was denied by Lumumba, sought a separate province for the Bakongo, which was also denied, and finally acceded to Lumumba's government with some ABAKO representation, a government was formed. Kasa-Vubu faced Jean Bolikango, a conservative Bangala from Équateur Province. Despite Lumumba saying he would stay out of the selection, he in fact had his deputies put their support behind Bolikango [215]. Kasa-Vubu was frustrated and angered, but unable to do much about it. ABAKO was, after all, represented in government. The Minister of Finance, Pascal Nkayi, was an ABAKO representative. Another ABAKO, Charles Kisolokele, was named one of the four ministers of state. CONAKAT was also frustrated at the composition of the new government. Their representative Joseph Yav had been made Minister of Economic Affairs, however a separate Minister of Mines and Power position had been created, outside of the hands of CONAKAT. This led Tshombe to declare his support for the government "null and void". A general strike by Bakongo ABAKO supporters in Léopoldville was defeated in its infancy when the UN administration ordered gendarmes to start running basic functions. Seeing it would be pointless, and with some ABAKO representation in the new government, the strikers promptly returned to work. On June 23rd, the Chamber of Deputies convened in the Palais de la Nation to vote on Lumumba's new government. Despite representation from almost every major party, there was a great deal of dissatisfaction with the MNC-led coalition. Many of the parties themselves were divided, for example the PSA. Cléophas Kamitatu's moderate wing of the PSA didn't support the new government, whereas Antoine Gizenga's leftist faction threw their support behind Lumumba. Kalonji stated that he would encourage the people of Kasaï to "run their own affairs", keeping it vague whether he meant outright secession or mere autonomy. At the vote, there were 57 absences. Of the remaining 80 deputies, 74 voted in favour of the government. Whilst this would still have been enough to form a government even without the absences, it boded poorly for the stability of the first Congolese government. On the 30th of June, independence was finally granted to the fledgling Republic of the Congo.
The Congolese Independence Ceremony
The 5th of July saw several army mutinies as black soldiers rebelled against their white officers in the new Armée National Congolais (Congolese National Army, ANC) which was constructed out of the pre-independence gendarmerie. This rebellion was provoked both by dissatisfaction with the continued presence of European officers in the post-colonial armed forces, and wasn't helped by Lieutenant-General Émile Janssens meeting with the Léopoldville garrison, where he wrote on a blackboard the message "Before Independence = After independence". Lumumba dismissed Janssens and had all Congolese troops promoted by one rank. The new commander-in-chief would be Major-General Victor Lundula, with Joseph-Désiré Mobutu as his chief of staff and second to Lundula. Whilst this quelled the revolt, it was not before spurts of violence against Europeans throughout the country began to hurt Congo's reputation amongst the international community. A large number of Europeans fled, resettling either in Katanga where the European population was its largest, or even across the border in northern Rhodesia. Taking advantage of the West's horror at the news of attacks on European settlers in Congo, Tshombe declared the independence of Congo's southeastern Katanga Province. At his capital of Élisabethville, Tshombe announced that he was the first President of Katanga. Tshombe, an ethnic Lunda, was the son of a successful businessman who were Lunda royalty. Several Tshombe family members throughout history had served as the Mwaant Yav, the traditional Lunda kings. In the 1950s, he had managed several of his family's businesses, but they consistently failed, and was able to afford to do so as the scion of a rich family. Tshombe had close ties to the settler elite in Katanga, who exploited the rich mineral resources of the province, most notably copper, tin and uranium. Like many of the Lunda upper class, Tshombe was concerned at the influx of Luba people from the neighbouring region of Kasaï. The Luba had come in droves seeking economic opportunity, as many were experienced miners, as Kasaï was a centre of diamond mining. Tshombe forged a political alliance between the Lunda, Batabwa, Tshokwe and Bayeke peoples of southern Katanga on a platform of preventing Luba immigration and keeping Katanga's wealth in-province. In the 1960 General Election, his party CONAKAT had successfully taken control of the provincial legislature. Upon Congolese independence, Tshombe claimed that they were "seceding from chaos" and accused Lumumba of dictatorship and communist leanings. Tshombe was supported by CONAKAT's largest donor, the Union Minière du Haut Katanga, which operated almost all mining interests in the province and was owned by the Société Générale de Wallonie [216]. The Société Générale encouraged the French junta to provide support for the Katangan separatists, and whilst the French didn't give Katanga formal recognition, they did provide funding for white mercenary groups operating in the area, which predominantly hailed from South Africa and the Central African Federation. Less than a month later, a small segment of Kasaï province around Bakwanga declared independence as "L'état du Sud-Kasaï" (The State of South Kasaï) , led by Albert Kalonji. South Kasaï was funded by another Wallonian mining interest, Forminière. Concerned about the threat of a Kongo revolt led by Kasa-Vubu, Lumumba and Lundula ordered the ANC to occupy various points around Léopoldville. With the secession of Katanga and South Kasaï, Congo was cut off from 40% of its revenue.
Flag of the breakaway Katanga State
Concern about Paris' interference in the affairs of the Congo led to widespread denunciation in the United Nations, especially amongst newly independent post-colonial states who feared such meddling in their own countries. UN Secretary General Kamal Al Din Salah (of Egypt) [217] demanded the immediate removal of mercenary forces from the Congo. Political pressure from the United States forced France to abstain on the resolution allowing deployment of a UN mission to the Congo, but they worked to try and limit its mandate. The Opération des Nations Unies au Congo (ONUC). Lumumba's government welcome the UN force, believing that it would engage the separatists to protect the Congo's territorial integrity. Lumumba also sought the support of US President Eisenhower, who rebuffed him. Lumumba then turned instead to the Soviet Union, which provided weapons, logistical support and a thousand military advisors. With this support, the ANC mounted an invasion of South Kasai, defeating the rebellion and reincorporating the territory into the state. The operations of Forminière were nationalised, angering the French. During the invasion, violence meted out on Luba civilians and favouritism of the Bena Lulua people led to an exodus of several thousand Luba civilians. The American CIA and French SDECE became increasingly active in the Congo, trying to prevent what they believed was an impending communist takeover. Getting in touch with Kasa-Vubu and Mobutu, they encouraged an ABAKO revolt, now that ANC forces were being redeployed east. They also tried to convince President Bolikango to dismiss the Lumumba government [218], and whilst he strongly considered it, he was concerned at the outcome, which would likely be an ABAKO-led government.
An uprising amongst the Bakongo against Lumumba's government flared up at Luozi, and began to march east towards the capital. It's armed wing was led by Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, who had under his command rogue ANC forces loyal to himself. Mobutu and Kasa-Vubu hoped that by seizing the capital, they would be able to arrest Lumumba and Bolikango, dissolve the MNC-led government, and institute a loose federal state conducive to their interests.
===
[213] IOTL, Pétillon was replaced by Hendrik Cornelis as Governor of Belgian Congo.
[214] IOTL, there was a Round Table Conference in Brussels between the Congolese delegation and the Belgian government.
[215] IOTL, Lumumba did the opposite, shafting Bolikango in favor of Kasa-Vubu. It seems that he was vacillating between the two at this time, and I have him going with Bolikango, as ITTL, with a UN administration, he is less concerned about Bolikango's tie to Belgian interests.
[216] a renamed Société Générale de Belgique.
[217] IOTL, Dag Hammarskjöld was only able to become secretary-general in 1953 due to the British and Americans convincing the Republic of China not to veto over Sweden's recognition of the PRC. ITTL, the ROC doesn't abstain, and as such the deadlock continues, and eventually Kamal Al Din Salah is selected as a compromise candidate.
[218] ITTL, without being double-crossed by Lumumba during the presidential selection, Bolikango doesn't become a CIA asset.
I've decided to write a more detailed post about Congo's immediate independence period before writing more about the 1970s and so on. Where this post contradicts the former (there is quite a lot of this), this post's information is to be considered canon to the TL. Hope you all enjoy it.
===
The dissolution of Belgium resulted in a transfer of power in the Belgian Congo to a UN Trust Territory in May 1953 in order to ensure that the fledgling nation would be ready for independence in 1960. The roadmap to independence outlined by the UN would involve gradual (but limited, as the UN largely had to pay it out of its own Congolese Development Budget, which was funded entirely by international aid donations and very modest dues on mining companies) infrastructural development and the maintenance of law and order whilst native political forces emerged and organised that could take over the reigns of government. The colonial gendarmerie was still the only armed force in the nation, but was now under the command of the UN Governor. Like the Trust Territory of Somaliland, the Trust Territory of the Congo and Ruanda-Urundi was administered by a national of the former colonial overlord; Léo Pétillon. Born in Liege, Wallonia, Pétillon was a technocratic type who did little to deal with the social and ethnic divisions which built tension in Congolese society. He would govern until 1957, when he was replaced by former Governor-General of the Belgian Congo, the Fleming Pierre Rickmans[213]. Ill-health would leave Rickmans somewhat of a lame-duck Governor, which suited the emergent Congolese political class just fine. He passed away in February 1959, and would not formally be replaced; instead a Transitional Council was formed.
The emergent native political class in the Congo was primarily composed of évolués (literally "evolved", which should tell you enough about Belgian and French colonial attitudes to their subjects). The évolués were the small emergent middle-class educated along Western lines. They were deemed to be assimilated, unlike the so-called sauvages that still followed customary law and whose primary loyalty was to traditional chieftains and kings. The évolués almost always lived in the cities, utilising their education and knowledge of European customs to access the low-level white collar jobs which were available to them. The largest of the emergent political organisations was the Mouvement National Congolais (Congolese National Movement, MNC) led by Patrice Lumumba. The MNC was a 'popular front' party, seeking to incorporate many different ethnic groups and political interests. The largest opponent of the MNC was the Alliance des Bakongo (ABAKO), a Bakongo ethno-nationalist party lead by Joseph Kasa-Vubu. ABAKO sought immediate independence, unlike the MNC, which was satisfied with independence according to the UN roadmap. ABAKO sought primacy of the Bakongo people, seeing the future independent state as the successor of the early modern Kingdom of Kongo. The third significant political force was the Confédération des Associations Tribales du Katanga (Confederation of Associated Tribes of Katanga, CONAKAT), organised around Moïse Tshombe. CONAKAT sought a highly-decentralised federal Congo and represented the native peoples of southern Katanga. A number of other small parties were formed around either small ethnic groups or other political ideologies, notably the Parti Solidaire Africain (African Solidarity Party, PSA).
Patrice Lumumba, first Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo
The inclusive nature of the MNC inevitably led to disagreements between various interest groups within it. Albert Kalonji and Joseph Iléo defected, forming their own faction, known as the MNC-Kalonji (MNC-K), as opposed to the majority MNC-Lumumba (MNC-L), but it failed to trigger the mass defections expected. Whilst it did have followers throughout the Congo, the MNC-L's support was most highly-concentrated in the east, around Stanleyville. The MNC-K's support base only really existed around Élisabethville among the Luba ethnic group. In the Congolese capital of Léopoldville, a number of riots broke out in January 1959. An ABAKO rally had been interrupted and not allowed to go ahead by the UN administration, which required all political parties to receive consent for public demonstrations. Unruly ABAKO demonstrators were then dispersed by the gendarmerie, whose officers ordered more violent action than had been requested by the UN administration. Anger at this rough treatment exploded into widespread rioting throughout the city, including indiscriminate attacks on the European population. News of the ruthless suppression of the demonstration engendered greater involvement in the independence movement amongst rural Congolese, whilst in the cities panicked European colonists formed Corps de Voluntaires Européens to police their neighbourhoods. Seeing the potential for vigilante violence and reprisals to get out of hand,the Trust Territory government banned the volunteer militias in March. The French government, who had inherited a great deal of economic interests from Belgium, accused Lumumba of being a communist and provided financial support to CONAKAT.
The various Congolese political leaders convened with UN representatives at the 1959 Congo Conference [214]. Kasa-Vubu's fiery and haughty manner resulted in a split between him and ABAKO vice president Daniel Kanza. Kasa-Vubu ended up walking out of the conference. The discussions did result in a guarantee for Congolese self-governance in July, and Lumumba, and general elections were to be held before then. The leader of the party with the greatest number of seats would be tasked by the United Nations with forming a government. The Loi Fondamentale (Fundamental Law) was also confirmed, which would serve as the first constitution of the Congolese state. It would establish a bicameral parliamentary republic, led by a Prime Minister, and with a President who would be a separate institution with the power to ratify laws and dismiss governments if they were unable to function correctly. This constitution was poorly-suited to the Congolese political situation, but was relatively less-controversial amongst Congolese delegates than any alternatives. The 1960 general election campaigning began on the 11th May. Voting was compulsory for all males at least 21 years of age. A confused and chaotic campaign season, as to be expected in a country with no democratic tradition and a myriad of political parties, resulted in a victory of sorts for the MNC-L. The only major party to campaign nationwide, the MNC-L received 23.5% of the vote, the largest of any party. The socialist PSA of Antoine Gizenga won 12.5% and ABAKO received 9.5% of the vote. CONAKAT won 4.7%. The distribution of Senate seats (the upper house) did not reflect the popular vote, however. Out of 84 total seats, the MNC-L received 21, CONAKAT won 7, ABAKO won 5, PSA 5 also, and MNC-K took 4 seats. Nor did the distribution of seats in the Chamber of Deputies (137 total seats; MNC 33, PSA 13, ABAKO 12, MNC-K 7, CONAKAT 8). Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu both began to engage in attempts to form governments, and were in constant competition and dispute with one another. After many backdoor deals and political shenanigans, where Kasa-Vubu initially insisted on the presidency, was denied by Lumumba, sought a separate province for the Bakongo, which was also denied, and finally acceded to Lumumba's government with some ABAKO representation, a government was formed. Kasa-Vubu faced Jean Bolikango, a conservative Bangala from Équateur Province. Despite Lumumba saying he would stay out of the selection, he in fact had his deputies put their support behind Bolikango [215]. Kasa-Vubu was frustrated and angered, but unable to do much about it. ABAKO was, after all, represented in government. The Minister of Finance, Pascal Nkayi, was an ABAKO representative. Another ABAKO, Charles Kisolokele, was named one of the four ministers of state. CONAKAT was also frustrated at the composition of the new government. Their representative Joseph Yav had been made Minister of Economic Affairs, however a separate Minister of Mines and Power position had been created, outside of the hands of CONAKAT. This led Tshombe to declare his support for the government "null and void". A general strike by Bakongo ABAKO supporters in Léopoldville was defeated in its infancy when the UN administration ordered gendarmes to start running basic functions. Seeing it would be pointless, and with some ABAKO representation in the new government, the strikers promptly returned to work. On June 23rd, the Chamber of Deputies convened in the Palais de la Nation to vote on Lumumba's new government. Despite representation from almost every major party, there was a great deal of dissatisfaction with the MNC-led coalition. Many of the parties themselves were divided, for example the PSA. Cléophas Kamitatu's moderate wing of the PSA didn't support the new government, whereas Antoine Gizenga's leftist faction threw their support behind Lumumba. Kalonji stated that he would encourage the people of Kasaï to "run their own affairs", keeping it vague whether he meant outright secession or mere autonomy. At the vote, there were 57 absences. Of the remaining 80 deputies, 74 voted in favour of the government. Whilst this would still have been enough to form a government even without the absences, it boded poorly for the stability of the first Congolese government. On the 30th of June, independence was finally granted to the fledgling Republic of the Congo.
The Congolese Independence Ceremony
The 5th of July saw several army mutinies as black soldiers rebelled against their white officers in the new Armée National Congolais (Congolese National Army, ANC) which was constructed out of the pre-independence gendarmerie. This rebellion was provoked both by dissatisfaction with the continued presence of European officers in the post-colonial armed forces, and wasn't helped by Lieutenant-General Émile Janssens meeting with the Léopoldville garrison, where he wrote on a blackboard the message "Before Independence = After independence". Lumumba dismissed Janssens and had all Congolese troops promoted by one rank. The new commander-in-chief would be Major-General Victor Lundula, with Joseph-Désiré Mobutu as his chief of staff and second to Lundula. Whilst this quelled the revolt, it was not before spurts of violence against Europeans throughout the country began to hurt Congo's reputation amongst the international community. A large number of Europeans fled, resettling either in Katanga where the European population was its largest, or even across the border in northern Rhodesia. Taking advantage of the West's horror at the news of attacks on European settlers in Congo, Tshombe declared the independence of Congo's southeastern Katanga Province. At his capital of Élisabethville, Tshombe announced that he was the first President of Katanga. Tshombe, an ethnic Lunda, was the son of a successful businessman who were Lunda royalty. Several Tshombe family members throughout history had served as the Mwaant Yav, the traditional Lunda kings. In the 1950s, he had managed several of his family's businesses, but they consistently failed, and was able to afford to do so as the scion of a rich family. Tshombe had close ties to the settler elite in Katanga, who exploited the rich mineral resources of the province, most notably copper, tin and uranium. Like many of the Lunda upper class, Tshombe was concerned at the influx of Luba people from the neighbouring region of Kasaï. The Luba had come in droves seeking economic opportunity, as many were experienced miners, as Kasaï was a centre of diamond mining. Tshombe forged a political alliance between the Lunda, Batabwa, Tshokwe and Bayeke peoples of southern Katanga on a platform of preventing Luba immigration and keeping Katanga's wealth in-province. In the 1960 General Election, his party CONAKAT had successfully taken control of the provincial legislature. Upon Congolese independence, Tshombe claimed that they were "seceding from chaos" and accused Lumumba of dictatorship and communist leanings. Tshombe was supported by CONAKAT's largest donor, the Union Minière du Haut Katanga, which operated almost all mining interests in the province and was owned by the Société Générale de Wallonie [216]. The Société Générale encouraged the French junta to provide support for the Katangan separatists, and whilst the French didn't give Katanga formal recognition, they did provide funding for white mercenary groups operating in the area, which predominantly hailed from South Africa and the Central African Federation. Less than a month later, a small segment of Kasaï province around Bakwanga declared independence as "L'état du Sud-Kasaï" (The State of South Kasaï) , led by Albert Kalonji. South Kasaï was funded by another Wallonian mining interest, Forminière. Concerned about the threat of a Kongo revolt led by Kasa-Vubu, Lumumba and Lundula ordered the ANC to occupy various points around Léopoldville. With the secession of Katanga and South Kasaï, Congo was cut off from 40% of its revenue.
Flag of the breakaway Katanga State
Concern about Paris' interference in the affairs of the Congo led to widespread denunciation in the United Nations, especially amongst newly independent post-colonial states who feared such meddling in their own countries. UN Secretary General Kamal Al Din Salah (of Egypt) [217] demanded the immediate removal of mercenary forces from the Congo. Political pressure from the United States forced France to abstain on the resolution allowing deployment of a UN mission to the Congo, but they worked to try and limit its mandate. The Opération des Nations Unies au Congo (ONUC). Lumumba's government welcome the UN force, believing that it would engage the separatists to protect the Congo's territorial integrity. Lumumba also sought the support of US President Eisenhower, who rebuffed him. Lumumba then turned instead to the Soviet Union, which provided weapons, logistical support and a thousand military advisors. With this support, the ANC mounted an invasion of South Kasai, defeating the rebellion and reincorporating the territory into the state. The operations of Forminière were nationalised, angering the French. During the invasion, violence meted out on Luba civilians and favouritism of the Bena Lulua people led to an exodus of several thousand Luba civilians. The American CIA and French SDECE became increasingly active in the Congo, trying to prevent what they believed was an impending communist takeover. Getting in touch with Kasa-Vubu and Mobutu, they encouraged an ABAKO revolt, now that ANC forces were being redeployed east. They also tried to convince President Bolikango to dismiss the Lumumba government [218], and whilst he strongly considered it, he was concerned at the outcome, which would likely be an ABAKO-led government.
An uprising amongst the Bakongo against Lumumba's government flared up at Luozi, and began to march east towards the capital. It's armed wing was led by Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, who had under his command rogue ANC forces loyal to himself. Mobutu and Kasa-Vubu hoped that by seizing the capital, they would be able to arrest Lumumba and Bolikango, dissolve the MNC-led government, and institute a loose federal state conducive to their interests.
===
[213] IOTL, Pétillon was replaced by Hendrik Cornelis as Governor of Belgian Congo.
[214] IOTL, there was a Round Table Conference in Brussels between the Congolese delegation and the Belgian government.
[215] IOTL, Lumumba did the opposite, shafting Bolikango in favor of Kasa-Vubu. It seems that he was vacillating between the two at this time, and I have him going with Bolikango, as ITTL, with a UN administration, he is less concerned about Bolikango's tie to Belgian interests.
[216] a renamed Société Générale de Belgique.
[217] IOTL, Dag Hammarskjöld was only able to become secretary-general in 1953 due to the British and Americans convincing the Republic of China not to veto over Sweden's recognition of the PRC. ITTL, the ROC doesn't abstain, and as such the deadlock continues, and eventually Kamal Al Din Salah is selected as a compromise candidate.
[218] ITTL, without being double-crossed by Lumumba during the presidential selection, Bolikango doesn't become a CIA asset.
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Nice to see an updated update, hoping that Lumumba will be able to defeat Mobutu and his lackeys and create a strong and unified Congo free of colonialist interests.
Chapter 93: De Plusieurs, Un - Congo (Until 1980) (Part 2)
Prospects for the unity of the survival of the Lumumba government looked grim. The loyalties of the Armée National Congolais were divided between the Mobutu-Kasa-Vubu rebellion and the central government. If the loyalists forces were able to defeat the Bakongo rebels, they would be too depleted to fight the Katangan gendarmerie, reinforced as it was with foreign mercenaries. It was also possible that an extended campaign in Katanga could invite intervention from the Rhodesians and French. The ANC would be no match for either of these forces, let alone if they were to work in tandem. Sending the ANC east to deal with Tshombe's secessionist government would also expose the capital of Léopoldville to Mobutu's forces, who would no doubt seize power and proclaim a new national government. Lumumba's only hope lay in the United Nations mission, and convincing them that their mandate encompassed the protection of the Congolese state's territorial unity.
Privately, Secretary-General Salah had no issue with this. He saw a future where UN missions were unable to decisively intervene to solve crises as undesirable; it would merely prolong existing conflicts rather than helping to bring an end to conflict. But, he was limited, as many men have been, by politics. The ONUC mission was under the purview of the UN Security Council. The French, seeking to undermine Lumumba and keep their commercial interests in Katanga operational, refused to give the mission a mandate to proactively suppress rebel activity. Instead, their mission would be primarily to protect civilians (especially white civilians) and to block offensives between the hostile forces where possible. In Salah's estimation, to convince the international community that suppression of rebels was necessary, the UN mission themselves would have to be attacked by the rebel groups. Strategic placement of forces would force the rebels to either halt their advance, buying Léopoldville time to build up their forces with Soviet assistance, or to engage UN forces. If the UN troops came under fire, even the French would be unable to defend a passive ONUC stance in Congo. Initially ONUC had under its command 3,500 soldiers: 460 Ethiopians, 770 Ghanaians, 1,250 Moroccans and 1,020 Tunisians. By August this force was 11,000: More Ethiopians had arrived, as well as Swedish, Norwegian and Irish contingents. A 3,000 strong ONUC contingent was stationed at Kisantu, just east of Mobutu's rebel headquarters at Thysville, with an additional 2,000 in reserve in Léopoldville. Seeking to march on the capital, the rebels demanded that the UNOC forces let them pass, but this was refused. Mobutu ordered a frontal assault on the ONUC forces on September 14th, assuming that the foreign forces, which he assumed were unmotivated due to their lack of national interest in the conflict, would break and run at the first sign of danger. They were mistaken; a stiff defence from the Irish-Ghanaian central sector forced the rebels to retreat and regroup. A renewed offensive on September 18th against the northern flank was also repulsed by the Ethiopian and Tunisian troops there. A final desperate attempt aimed at the southern sector, manned by a poorly-equipped Moroccan force and a small Norwegian element pressed the UN forces in the sector to the limit. It was likely that the front would have collapsed here if not for the timely arrival of the central sector Ghanaians on the rebel flank. The remainder of Mobutu's forces retreated back to Thysville and the military base at Kitona, where they sound found themselves encircled by the ONUC troops. After some negotiations, the rebel forces here would surrender on November 3rd. Under the conditions of the surrender, all rebel troops would be held in custody by UN forces and not transferred over to the custody of the Congolese government. ONUC would also ensure the personal safety of Kasa-Vubu and Mobutu. Furthermore, they received a commitment from Salah that Kasa-Vubu would be the representative of the Bakongo people in a conference on the future composition of Congo when the crisis ended. The military base at Kitona itself was converted into a POW camp, manned by Norwegian and Irish soldiers.
Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, military leader of the Bakongo rebellion
The attack on ONUC forces provoked outrage from the United Nations General Assembly. The French were blamed for manipulating the situation inside the Congo in order to promote their own interests, and Lumumba upheld as a hero of the African struggle against colonialism. The criticism forced France to abstain from a security council resolution mandating an expansion of the ONUC force in Congo. The USSR and PRC voted for, the United States, United Kingdom and France abstained, and all the non-permanent members voted for, except for Italy, which also abstained. ONUC was thereafter reinforced by another 6,000 troops, including 2,000 from Yugoslavia, 1,200 from Ceylon, 800 Colombians, 1,600 Mexicans and 400 Philippine soldiers. This multinational force started to build up on the borders of the separatist Katanga state. With an invasion by ONUC forces imminent, Tshombe scrambled for outside support. Whilst the Rhodesians and South Africans were willing to give modest cash sums in order to fund mercenaries, the Rhodesians perceived the potential diplomatic costs of open combat against UN forces to be too high; Pretoria was unwilling to intervene without Salisbury. The French also considered the cost of direct intervention too high, but Jacques Foccart, the so-called Mr. Africa, used his connections to contact mercenary Bob Denard, whose forces were sent to reinforce Katanga. From March 1961, the ONUC forces started going on the offensive. They initially focused on targeted operations against mercenary detachments and bases, without which they believed the Katangan gendarmerie would crumble. The first offensive ONUC action against Katanga was Operation Sokol, an offensive by the Yugoslav contingent which lead to the killing and capture of 200 mercenaries, around 40% of the active mercenaries in Katanga. After Operation Sokol, the mercenary forces would thereafter travel only with a supporting Katangan gendarme force. Whilst this did make them more dangerous in combat, it also made tracking them easier. Attacks by the small Katangan airforce were quickly thwarted by the British trained Ceylonese pilots. Their De Havilland Vampires clashed with their Katangan counterparts in the air, the ONUC forces' superior training making the difference. Having established air supremacy, on June 8th, UN forces mounted Operation Stampede. Stampede was a two-pronged attack, consisting of Operation White Rhino and Operation Black Rhino. White Rhino was an attack by Mexican, Colombian, Ceylonese and Philippine forces from Kivu province towards the south, targeting Albertville. Black Rhino would be a Yugoslav-Swedish offensive mounted from Kasaï province, aiming to capture the key military base at Kamina. From here it would be possible in the next phase of action to drive east towards Lake Tanganyika, cutting off northern and southern Katanga from each other. Given that Kamina would be a tougher nut to crack, the UNOC air squadron would give close air support to the Yugoslavs and Swedes.
Mercenaries employed by Katanga in combat with ONUC forces
Operation White Rhino started auspiciously enough. Driving south from the Kivu town of Kasongo, the Mexican-Colombian-Philippine-Ceylonese force crossed into Katanga and captured the towns of Kongolo and Kabalo along the Congo River without resistance. They then turned east, capturing Nyunzu with only minimal resistance from a suspiciously small mercenary detachment that lacked Katangan gendarme support. The mercenaries retreated in good order to Albertville. The Mexicans and Colombians lay siege to Albertville, leaving the 800-man Filipino-Ceylonese force in Nyunzu. Soon thereafter, Nyunzu came under attack from a force of 100 mercenaries supported by 8,000 Katangan gendarmes, the bulk of the Katangan military. Their mercenary commanders sought to capture as many ONUC personnel as they can to ransom them in exchange for political concessions, or if that went nowhere, to use them as human shields or bait in future battles. A lack of respect for the fighting ability of the Filipinos and Ceylonese derived from the racist attitudes of many of the white mercenaries, as well as their overwhelming numerical advantage, led the Katangan force to engage in a head-on assault on the UNOC positions. A stalwart defence by the United Nations troops managed to hold the village overnight, by which time the Mexicans and Colombians, who had lifted the siege of Albertville, were able to arrive as reinforcements. Threatened with encirclement by the arriving Mexicans and Colombians, the Katangan force retreated. In their wake they left 9 dead mercenaries and 1,600 Katangan native troops dead or incapacitated. The 800-strong force of defenders had been whittled down to a mere 140. None of their number had allowed themselves to be captured. The heroic sacrifice of the Filipinos and Ceylonese defenders of Nyunzu made them icons internationally and especially in their home countries, where monuments were erected to the "African martyrs". By this point Black Rhino was still bogged down in the assault on Kamina but air and artillery support allowed the Yugoslavs and Swedes to take Kamina a few days later. Hearing of the events at Nyunzu, the Swedish-Yugoslav force immediately drove east without proper authorisation from ONUC command, hoping to cut off the Katangan retreat and break the back of the rebel forces. Yugoslav advance units came into contact with the Katangan rearguard just southeast of Lake Upemba. An indecisive skirmish occurred, and the Katangans were able to break through the net and regroup in CONAKAT's traditional base of southern Katanga. Swedish units turned north, occupying the town of Manono. The White Rhino forces had turned their attention once again to Albertville, which fell on May 19th 1961. Despite stiff opposition, Operation Stampede was a strategic success, driving the Katangan gendarmerie out of the northern part of the province. Whilst the opportunity to defeat in detail half of the Katangan force was unsuccessful, they had managed to inflict humiliating battlefield defeats on Katanga and the defense of Nyunzu left opposition to the ONUC mission in Congo politically indefensible.
In Élisabethville, the stress of the situation was making Tshombe increasingly neurotic, and as such the day-to-day functions of state were de facto fully in the hands of French-aligned interest groups. Denard was at this point practically in control of the Katanga armed forces, and he began preparing for the defense of Élisabethville. With the Katangan treasury running very low, he had started trading copper and tin in kind for Rhodesian weapons and ammunition, particularly artillery shells. He also began making arrangements for a hasty escape from Katanga in the increasingly likely event of a total ONUC victory. The treasury of Katanga was emptied, mined uranium was stockpiled to be transported overland to northern Rhodesia, whose border lay very close to Élisabethville. On September 22nd, the awaited offensive came. 11,000 of the 17,000 ONUC forces in-country were committed to what was intended to be the final defeat of Katanga. After breaking the Katangan defense at Jadotville, they then advanced on Élisabethville. An aggressive artillery barrage by the defenders damaged the attacking forces, but after heavy fighting the ONUC forces prevailed on October 11th. Several thousand Katangan troops crossed the border into northern Rhodesian with CAF consent, along with the remaining mercenaries, Denard and Tshombe. Tshombe sent a message to Secretary-General Salah stating that Katangan secession was over. With the separatists crushed, it was now left to Lumumba to build a new government and construct a unified Congolese republic.
Privately, Secretary-General Salah had no issue with this. He saw a future where UN missions were unable to decisively intervene to solve crises as undesirable; it would merely prolong existing conflicts rather than helping to bring an end to conflict. But, he was limited, as many men have been, by politics. The ONUC mission was under the purview of the UN Security Council. The French, seeking to undermine Lumumba and keep their commercial interests in Katanga operational, refused to give the mission a mandate to proactively suppress rebel activity. Instead, their mission would be primarily to protect civilians (especially white civilians) and to block offensives between the hostile forces where possible. In Salah's estimation, to convince the international community that suppression of rebels was necessary, the UN mission themselves would have to be attacked by the rebel groups. Strategic placement of forces would force the rebels to either halt their advance, buying Léopoldville time to build up their forces with Soviet assistance, or to engage UN forces. If the UN troops came under fire, even the French would be unable to defend a passive ONUC stance in Congo. Initially ONUC had under its command 3,500 soldiers: 460 Ethiopians, 770 Ghanaians, 1,250 Moroccans and 1,020 Tunisians. By August this force was 11,000: More Ethiopians had arrived, as well as Swedish, Norwegian and Irish contingents. A 3,000 strong ONUC contingent was stationed at Kisantu, just east of Mobutu's rebel headquarters at Thysville, with an additional 2,000 in reserve in Léopoldville. Seeking to march on the capital, the rebels demanded that the UNOC forces let them pass, but this was refused. Mobutu ordered a frontal assault on the ONUC forces on September 14th, assuming that the foreign forces, which he assumed were unmotivated due to their lack of national interest in the conflict, would break and run at the first sign of danger. They were mistaken; a stiff defence from the Irish-Ghanaian central sector forced the rebels to retreat and regroup. A renewed offensive on September 18th against the northern flank was also repulsed by the Ethiopian and Tunisian troops there. A final desperate attempt aimed at the southern sector, manned by a poorly-equipped Moroccan force and a small Norwegian element pressed the UN forces in the sector to the limit. It was likely that the front would have collapsed here if not for the timely arrival of the central sector Ghanaians on the rebel flank. The remainder of Mobutu's forces retreated back to Thysville and the military base at Kitona, where they sound found themselves encircled by the ONUC troops. After some negotiations, the rebel forces here would surrender on November 3rd. Under the conditions of the surrender, all rebel troops would be held in custody by UN forces and not transferred over to the custody of the Congolese government. ONUC would also ensure the personal safety of Kasa-Vubu and Mobutu. Furthermore, they received a commitment from Salah that Kasa-Vubu would be the representative of the Bakongo people in a conference on the future composition of Congo when the crisis ended. The military base at Kitona itself was converted into a POW camp, manned by Norwegian and Irish soldiers.
Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, military leader of the Bakongo rebellion
The attack on ONUC forces provoked outrage from the United Nations General Assembly. The French were blamed for manipulating the situation inside the Congo in order to promote their own interests, and Lumumba upheld as a hero of the African struggle against colonialism. The criticism forced France to abstain from a security council resolution mandating an expansion of the ONUC force in Congo. The USSR and PRC voted for, the United States, United Kingdom and France abstained, and all the non-permanent members voted for, except for Italy, which also abstained. ONUC was thereafter reinforced by another 6,000 troops, including 2,000 from Yugoslavia, 1,200 from Ceylon, 800 Colombians, 1,600 Mexicans and 400 Philippine soldiers. This multinational force started to build up on the borders of the separatist Katanga state. With an invasion by ONUC forces imminent, Tshombe scrambled for outside support. Whilst the Rhodesians and South Africans were willing to give modest cash sums in order to fund mercenaries, the Rhodesians perceived the potential diplomatic costs of open combat against UN forces to be too high; Pretoria was unwilling to intervene without Salisbury. The French also considered the cost of direct intervention too high, but Jacques Foccart, the so-called Mr. Africa, used his connections to contact mercenary Bob Denard, whose forces were sent to reinforce Katanga. From March 1961, the ONUC forces started going on the offensive. They initially focused on targeted operations against mercenary detachments and bases, without which they believed the Katangan gendarmerie would crumble. The first offensive ONUC action against Katanga was Operation Sokol, an offensive by the Yugoslav contingent which lead to the killing and capture of 200 mercenaries, around 40% of the active mercenaries in Katanga. After Operation Sokol, the mercenary forces would thereafter travel only with a supporting Katangan gendarme force. Whilst this did make them more dangerous in combat, it also made tracking them easier. Attacks by the small Katangan airforce were quickly thwarted by the British trained Ceylonese pilots. Their De Havilland Vampires clashed with their Katangan counterparts in the air, the ONUC forces' superior training making the difference. Having established air supremacy, on June 8th, UN forces mounted Operation Stampede. Stampede was a two-pronged attack, consisting of Operation White Rhino and Operation Black Rhino. White Rhino was an attack by Mexican, Colombian, Ceylonese and Philippine forces from Kivu province towards the south, targeting Albertville. Black Rhino would be a Yugoslav-Swedish offensive mounted from Kasaï province, aiming to capture the key military base at Kamina. From here it would be possible in the next phase of action to drive east towards Lake Tanganyika, cutting off northern and southern Katanga from each other. Given that Kamina would be a tougher nut to crack, the UNOC air squadron would give close air support to the Yugoslavs and Swedes.
Mercenaries employed by Katanga in combat with ONUC forces
Operation White Rhino started auspiciously enough. Driving south from the Kivu town of Kasongo, the Mexican-Colombian-Philippine-Ceylonese force crossed into Katanga and captured the towns of Kongolo and Kabalo along the Congo River without resistance. They then turned east, capturing Nyunzu with only minimal resistance from a suspiciously small mercenary detachment that lacked Katangan gendarme support. The mercenaries retreated in good order to Albertville. The Mexicans and Colombians lay siege to Albertville, leaving the 800-man Filipino-Ceylonese force in Nyunzu. Soon thereafter, Nyunzu came under attack from a force of 100 mercenaries supported by 8,000 Katangan gendarmes, the bulk of the Katangan military. Their mercenary commanders sought to capture as many ONUC personnel as they can to ransom them in exchange for political concessions, or if that went nowhere, to use them as human shields or bait in future battles. A lack of respect for the fighting ability of the Filipinos and Ceylonese derived from the racist attitudes of many of the white mercenaries, as well as their overwhelming numerical advantage, led the Katangan force to engage in a head-on assault on the UNOC positions. A stalwart defence by the United Nations troops managed to hold the village overnight, by which time the Mexicans and Colombians, who had lifted the siege of Albertville, were able to arrive as reinforcements. Threatened with encirclement by the arriving Mexicans and Colombians, the Katangan force retreated. In their wake they left 9 dead mercenaries and 1,600 Katangan native troops dead or incapacitated. The 800-strong force of defenders had been whittled down to a mere 140. None of their number had allowed themselves to be captured. The heroic sacrifice of the Filipinos and Ceylonese defenders of Nyunzu made them icons internationally and especially in their home countries, where monuments were erected to the "African martyrs". By this point Black Rhino was still bogged down in the assault on Kamina but air and artillery support allowed the Yugoslavs and Swedes to take Kamina a few days later. Hearing of the events at Nyunzu, the Swedish-Yugoslav force immediately drove east without proper authorisation from ONUC command, hoping to cut off the Katangan retreat and break the back of the rebel forces. Yugoslav advance units came into contact with the Katangan rearguard just southeast of Lake Upemba. An indecisive skirmish occurred, and the Katangans were able to break through the net and regroup in CONAKAT's traditional base of southern Katanga. Swedish units turned north, occupying the town of Manono. The White Rhino forces had turned their attention once again to Albertville, which fell on May 19th 1961. Despite stiff opposition, Operation Stampede was a strategic success, driving the Katangan gendarmerie out of the northern part of the province. Whilst the opportunity to defeat in detail half of the Katangan force was unsuccessful, they had managed to inflict humiliating battlefield defeats on Katanga and the defense of Nyunzu left opposition to the ONUC mission in Congo politically indefensible.
In Élisabethville, the stress of the situation was making Tshombe increasingly neurotic, and as such the day-to-day functions of state were de facto fully in the hands of French-aligned interest groups. Denard was at this point practically in control of the Katanga armed forces, and he began preparing for the defense of Élisabethville. With the Katangan treasury running very low, he had started trading copper and tin in kind for Rhodesian weapons and ammunition, particularly artillery shells. He also began making arrangements for a hasty escape from Katanga in the increasingly likely event of a total ONUC victory. The treasury of Katanga was emptied, mined uranium was stockpiled to be transported overland to northern Rhodesia, whose border lay very close to Élisabethville. On September 22nd, the awaited offensive came. 11,000 of the 17,000 ONUC forces in-country were committed to what was intended to be the final defeat of Katanga. After breaking the Katangan defense at Jadotville, they then advanced on Élisabethville. An aggressive artillery barrage by the defenders damaged the attacking forces, but after heavy fighting the ONUC forces prevailed on October 11th. Several thousand Katangan troops crossed the border into northern Rhodesian with CAF consent, along with the remaining mercenaries, Denard and Tshombe. Tshombe sent a message to Secretary-General Salah stating that Katangan secession was over. With the separatists crushed, it was now left to Lumumba to build a new government and construct a unified Congolese republic.
Glad to see Congo remaining whole! Hopefully Mubutu can lead it into the glory it deserves
Chapter 94: Une Nouvelle Aube - Congo (Until 1980) (Part 3)
The defeat of the secession forces enabled Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba to aggregate a centralist government. Like before independence, he sought to ensure representation of multiple parties in the cabinet, but the marginalisation of ABAKO and CONAKAT due to their leaders' antics severely limited the federalist presence in the new government. The core of the 1962 government was an alliance between the MNC-L and Antoine Gizenga's PSA. Gizenga would be Lumumba's Deputy Prime Minister. Other left-wingers with significant portfolios included Christophe Gbenye (Interior Minister), Pierre Mulele (Minister of Education) and Laurent-Désiré Kabila (Minister of Information). In order to balance the cabinet and maintain legitimacy, Bolikango was retained as President, and the pro-Western centrist Cyrille Adoula was made Minister of Finance. Kasa-Vubu's involvement in the Bakongo rebellion would have been grounds for harsh punishment, but his standing amongst his people necessitated a softer touch by the government. Kasa-Vubu was tried and sentenced to two years house arrest, but was barred from holding political office at a national level for life. The hammer came down much harder on Mobutu. A high-level military officer rising against the central government and splitting the army was completely unacceptable. Mobutu was sentenced to fifteen years of imprisonment. He would be kept in Équateur Province, far from his powerbase. Clemency would be provided for the majority of soldiers that participated in the Bakongo rebellion, but it was henceforth official policy to ensure that all military units would be mixed ethnicity.
Patrice Lumumba amongst supporters
Given that almost all offensive action against the Bakongo and Katangan separatists was carried out by ONUC forces, the Armée National Congolais had been left largely intact. Nevertheless, significant security challenges did remain. Whilst Tshombe had completely been cowed, reports were reaching Léopoldville of training camps in Northern Rhodesia preparing CONAKAT-aligned separatists for a resumption of hostilities. Instability on the eastern border was also concern, with large numbers of Rwandan Tutsis seeking asylum in Kivu Province. The Armée National Congolais sought to incorporate many of these Rwandan refugees into their ranks, as it would provide a relatively loyal force that was not involved in inter-Congolese ethnic politics. Predominantly Rwandan brigades would be stationed along the Katangan-Rhodesian border and along the northeastern border with Equatoria. Recruitment into the ANC was made more enticing by the creation of a citizenship pathway for Rwandan recruits and their families[219]. This pathway was enshrined in the Stanleyville Constitution of 1964 [220]. The Stanleyville Constitution was intended to remedy the failures of the Loi Fondamentale. It would reverse the positions of Prime Minister and President, allowing Lumumba to become President and empowering the office with strong executive powers. It also established a number of federal offices with wide-ranging powers, and limited the scope of the provinces to block action by the central government. The two notable federalists in the government, Bolikango and Adoula, were politically marginalised by the ratification of the Stanleyville Constitution. A criticism of the Stanleyville Constitution by international observers was that it didn't institute term limits, allowing Lumumba to retain power much longer than expected for a leader in a supposedly democratic country.
The centralist-left Lumumba-Gizenga government pursued rapid and widespread expansion of infrastructure throughout the nation. Utilising generous Soviet technical and financial aid, railroads were constructed to connect the far-flung provinces with each other and the capital. Construction commenced on the 'Inga Dam' on the Congo river, conceived to be the first of a number of future hydroelectric dams on the river. These large-scale projects did promote economic growth and had a positive effect on employment, although occasional embezzlement issues continued to push the costs higher and higher. The Soviets would not take all the cost, but the Congolese government was able to pay for these constructions with profits from La Générale des Carrières et des Mines (Gécamines), a state-operated company which had been built out of the assets of Forminière and Union Minière. One of the most visible achievements of the Lumumba-Gizenga government was the establishment of a national carrier, Aéro-Congo[221]. Initially limited to regional flights using Soviet-donated YAK-40s, by the early 1970s Aéro-Congo would obtain two Il-62s and begin international air travel between Congo, friendly African nations, and monthly flights to France. Another major propaganda coup was the presence of Congolese astronaut Jean-Jacques Ntumba on an Interkosmos mission organised by the Soviet Union in 1979. Ntumba was the first African in space. Inspiration from this event, along with the exposure of Congolese students in the USSR to the writings of Eastern European science fiction writers such as Alexander Bogdanov led to an explosion of science fiction novels in Congo, giving rise to the "Afro-Cosmism" literary movement, most famous in the English-speaking world for the masterpiece Céleste Noir. Over the 1960s and 1970s, the investment in infrastructure would give rise to a rapidly urbanising Congo Republic. Mass movements of young rural Congolese to the cities would assist in the weakening of old ethnic and tribal bonds as well as a disintegration of the authority of tribal chieftains. A rapid increase in literacy and the construction of tertiary education facilities in the regional capitals enabled increasingly sophisticated economic activity during the 1970s, as the Congolese economy shifted from a focus on resource extraction to the processing of raw materials into manufactured goods.
An increasingly confident Congo also flexed its muscles regionally. A coup in neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville resulted in the incorporation of that state into the Republic of Congo as the Occidentale Province. The same year, Nguema came to power in Equatorial Guinea and entered into a security agreement with Congo where the latter would assist in the maintenance of security in exchange for cheap petroleum. 1971 saw the 'March on Yaounde' by UPC marquisards who had fled repression in Cameroon, putting a pro-Congo government into power in that country. In 1975, Léopoldville would intervene in the Angolan Civil War in order to prevent a collapse of the MPLA government, which was caught between an FNLA and South African advance on Luanda. The Congo was the primary supporter of majority-rule organisations in south and central Africa, providing support and training for membership of the African National Congress of South Africa, the Zambian, Zimbabwe and Malawi independence organisations, and the rebellions against the Portuguese in Angola and Mozambique. As a result, the Congo was seen by the United States and its sub-Saharan allies as the main threat to stability and anti-communism in the region. Lumumba was suspected of being a secret communist, and had aligned himself with several communists and fellow travellers inside and outside of his government. Aside from the white supremacist bloc in southern Africa, the biggest rivals of the Congo was the pro-US states of the Bight of Benin, who used their wealth to constantly bankroll opposition to Lumumba. On several occasions, they even mounted clandestine attempts to disrupt Equatorial Guinean oil production in order to retard Congolese economic activity.
===
[219] The OTL Luluabourg Constitution denied Congolese nationality to the Rwandan refugees, which had the effect of worsening and prolonging the conflict in Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern Congo.
[220] IOTL, 1964 saw the introduction of the Luluabourg Constitution. ITTL, a new constitution is still introduced, but it is very different in content and purpose than the Luluabourg Constitution.
[221] IOTL, Congo wouldn't get a national carrier until 2015.
Patrice Lumumba amongst supporters
Given that almost all offensive action against the Bakongo and Katangan separatists was carried out by ONUC forces, the Armée National Congolais had been left largely intact. Nevertheless, significant security challenges did remain. Whilst Tshombe had completely been cowed, reports were reaching Léopoldville of training camps in Northern Rhodesia preparing CONAKAT-aligned separatists for a resumption of hostilities. Instability on the eastern border was also concern, with large numbers of Rwandan Tutsis seeking asylum in Kivu Province. The Armée National Congolais sought to incorporate many of these Rwandan refugees into their ranks, as it would provide a relatively loyal force that was not involved in inter-Congolese ethnic politics. Predominantly Rwandan brigades would be stationed along the Katangan-Rhodesian border and along the northeastern border with Equatoria. Recruitment into the ANC was made more enticing by the creation of a citizenship pathway for Rwandan recruits and their families[219]. This pathway was enshrined in the Stanleyville Constitution of 1964 [220]. The Stanleyville Constitution was intended to remedy the failures of the Loi Fondamentale. It would reverse the positions of Prime Minister and President, allowing Lumumba to become President and empowering the office with strong executive powers. It also established a number of federal offices with wide-ranging powers, and limited the scope of the provinces to block action by the central government. The two notable federalists in the government, Bolikango and Adoula, were politically marginalised by the ratification of the Stanleyville Constitution. A criticism of the Stanleyville Constitution by international observers was that it didn't institute term limits, allowing Lumumba to retain power much longer than expected for a leader in a supposedly democratic country.
The centralist-left Lumumba-Gizenga government pursued rapid and widespread expansion of infrastructure throughout the nation. Utilising generous Soviet technical and financial aid, railroads were constructed to connect the far-flung provinces with each other and the capital. Construction commenced on the 'Inga Dam' on the Congo river, conceived to be the first of a number of future hydroelectric dams on the river. These large-scale projects did promote economic growth and had a positive effect on employment, although occasional embezzlement issues continued to push the costs higher and higher. The Soviets would not take all the cost, but the Congolese government was able to pay for these constructions with profits from La Générale des Carrières et des Mines (Gécamines), a state-operated company which had been built out of the assets of Forminière and Union Minière. One of the most visible achievements of the Lumumba-Gizenga government was the establishment of a national carrier, Aéro-Congo[221]. Initially limited to regional flights using Soviet-donated YAK-40s, by the early 1970s Aéro-Congo would obtain two Il-62s and begin international air travel between Congo, friendly African nations, and monthly flights to France. Another major propaganda coup was the presence of Congolese astronaut Jean-Jacques Ntumba on an Interkosmos mission organised by the Soviet Union in 1979. Ntumba was the first African in space. Inspiration from this event, along with the exposure of Congolese students in the USSR to the writings of Eastern European science fiction writers such as Alexander Bogdanov led to an explosion of science fiction novels in Congo, giving rise to the "Afro-Cosmism" literary movement, most famous in the English-speaking world for the masterpiece Céleste Noir. Over the 1960s and 1970s, the investment in infrastructure would give rise to a rapidly urbanising Congo Republic. Mass movements of young rural Congolese to the cities would assist in the weakening of old ethnic and tribal bonds as well as a disintegration of the authority of tribal chieftains. A rapid increase in literacy and the construction of tertiary education facilities in the regional capitals enabled increasingly sophisticated economic activity during the 1970s, as the Congolese economy shifted from a focus on resource extraction to the processing of raw materials into manufactured goods.
An increasingly confident Congo also flexed its muscles regionally. A coup in neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville resulted in the incorporation of that state into the Republic of Congo as the Occidentale Province. The same year, Nguema came to power in Equatorial Guinea and entered into a security agreement with Congo where the latter would assist in the maintenance of security in exchange for cheap petroleum. 1971 saw the 'March on Yaounde' by UPC marquisards who had fled repression in Cameroon, putting a pro-Congo government into power in that country. In 1975, Léopoldville would intervene in the Angolan Civil War in order to prevent a collapse of the MPLA government, which was caught between an FNLA and South African advance on Luanda. The Congo was the primary supporter of majority-rule organisations in south and central Africa, providing support and training for membership of the African National Congress of South Africa, the Zambian, Zimbabwe and Malawi independence organisations, and the rebellions against the Portuguese in Angola and Mozambique. As a result, the Congo was seen by the United States and its sub-Saharan allies as the main threat to stability and anti-communism in the region. Lumumba was suspected of being a secret communist, and had aligned himself with several communists and fellow travellers inside and outside of his government. Aside from the white supremacist bloc in southern Africa, the biggest rivals of the Congo was the pro-US states of the Bight of Benin, who used their wealth to constantly bankroll opposition to Lumumba. On several occasions, they even mounted clandestine attempts to disrupt Equatorial Guinean oil production in order to retard Congolese economic activity.
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[219] The OTL Luluabourg Constitution denied Congolese nationality to the Rwandan refugees, which had the effect of worsening and prolonging the conflict in Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern Congo.
[220] IOTL, 1964 saw the introduction of the Luluabourg Constitution. ITTL, a new constitution is still introduced, but it is very different in content and purpose than the Luluabourg Constitution.
[221] IOTL, Congo wouldn't get a national carrier until 2015.
I absolutely loved this latest chapter
Can anyone tell me how this situation is different from otl events? What exactly happened for Lulumba to win the power struggle?
Basically I am asking this because I don't know otl events well and so can't compare them well. @Hrvatskiwi can you tell me in brief what went differently from otl. Like what was the biggest difference which caused events to go Lulumba's way?
Can anyone tell me how this situation is different from otl events? What exactly happened for Lulumba to win the power struggle?
Basically I am asking this because I don't know otl events well and so can't compare them well. @Hrvatskiwi can you tell me in brief what went differently from otl. Like what was the biggest difference which caused events to go Lulumba's way?
Alexander Bogdanov is a figure of the 20s - although he is actively remembered by the English-speaking ah-community, he is not so widely known in Russia. If we are talking about the post-war period, then the most outstanding and influential were Ivan Efremov and the Strugatsky Brothers. In those years (as now), among the pre-war ones, Alexander Belyaev and Alexei Tolstoy (in connection with Aelita) were most remembered.