The Congo crisis
The triggering events behind the “Congo crisis” were the mutiny of the army (the Force Publique) near Léopoldville on July 5 and the subsequent intervention of Belgian paratroopers, ostensibly to protect the lives of Belgian citizens.
Adding to the confusion was a constitutional impasse that pitted the new country’s president and prime minister against each other and brought the Congolese government to a halt. In the Congo’s first national elections, Lumumba’s MNC party had outpolled Kasavubu’s ABAKO and its allies, but neither side could form a parliamentary coalition. As a compromise measure, Kasavubu and Lumumba formed an uneasy partnership with the former as president and the latter as premier. On September 5, however, Kasavubu relieved Lumumba of his functions, and Lumumba responded by dismissing Kasavubu; as a result of the discord, there were two groups now claiming to be the legal central government.
Meanwhile, on July 11, the country’s richest province, Katanga, had declared itself independent under the leadership of Moise Tshombe. The support given by Belgium to the Katanga secession lent credibility to Lumumba’s claims that Brussels was trying to reimpose its authority, and on July 12 he and Kasavubu appealed to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld for UN security assistance.While intended to pave the way for the restoration of peace and order, the arrival of the UN peacekeeping force added to the tension between President Kasavubu and Prime Minister Lumumba. Lumumba’s insistence that the UN should, if necessary, use force to bring Katanga back under control of the central government met with categorical opposition from Kasavubu. Lumumba then appealed to the Soviet Union for logistical assistance to send troops to Katanga. At that point the Congo crisis became inextricably bound up with East-West animosities in the context of the Cold War.
As the process of fragmentation set in motion by the Katanga secession reached its peak, resulting in the breakup of the country into four separate fragments (Katanga, Kasai, Orientale province, and Léopoldville), army Chief of Staff Joseph Mobutu (later Mobutu Sese Seko) took power in a coup d’état: he announced on Sept. 14, 1960, that the army would henceforth rule with the help of a caretaker government. The threat posed to the new regime by the forces loyal to Lumumba was substantially lessened by the capture of Lumumba in December 1960, after a dramatic escape from Léopoldville the previous month (see Patrice Lumumba), and by his subsequent execution at the hands of the Tshombe government. Although Kasavubu had Lumumba arrested and delivered to the Katanga secessionists, which was intended to pave the way for a reintegration of the province, it was not until January 1963—and only after a violent showdown between the European-trained Katanga gendarmerie and the UN forces—that the secession was decisively crushed. Another secession challenge emerged on Sept. 7, 1964, when the pro-Lumumba government in Stanleyville (Kisangani) declared much of eastern Congo to be the People’s Republic of the Congo; this secession was brought to heel the next year. Meanwhile, following the convening of the parliament in Léopoldville, a new civilian government headed by Cyrille Adoula came to power on Aug. 2, 1961.
Adoula’s inability to deal effectively with the Katanga secession and his decision to dissolve the parliament in September 1963 critically undermined his popularity. The dissolution of the parliament contributed directly to the outbreak of rural insurgencies, which engulfed 5 of 21 provinces between January and August 1964, and raised again the prospect of a total collapse of the central government. Because of its poor leadership and fragmented bases of support, however, the rebellion failed to translate its early military successes into effective political power; even more important in turning the tide against the insurgents was decisive intervention by European mercenaries, who helped the central government regain control over rebel-held areas. Much of the credit for the survival of the government goes to Tshombe, who by July 10, 1964, had replaced Adoula as prime minister. Ironically, then, a year and a half after his defeat at the hands of the UN forces, Tshombe, the most vocal advocate of secession, had emerged as the providential leader of a besieged central government.