Okay, i LOVE history and learning about people and places. This book has really taught me a lot about Congo's past which is soo interesting. From this book I learned the country was occupied by Belgians (called Belgian Congo from 1908-1960) when the state fell to international pressure and they took over as a Belgian colony.
THEN, you guys all know Lumumba. 1960 was when he was elected Prime Minister, and Kasavubu became President. June 30 1960 was the day the nation became independent. But a little while later they started clashing after the country was kind of split into two, " provinces of Katanga (led by Moise Tshombe) and South Kasai engaged in secessionist struggles against the new leadership" (thank you wikipedia!).
Okay, Mobutu comes into the picture when he was put in charge of the army by the president, and ended up with a lot of support from within it that he led a coup. THIS was supported by the US and western countries that opposed communism (remember this is a critical time in history with all the communist movements), so he was backed up and had help.
A year later Lumumba was executed. A provisional gov. took over.
(p.s the US and Belgium killed the PM cause they wanted diamonds and crap)
It’s funny in a way that most of the people in these African nations live in an isolated area and have their own chiefs and way of ruling themselves, it seems that they don’t really care who conquers their capital or nation. They still live off the resources given by nature and have chiefs to rule them, and keeping their culture and beliefs. So, these political and international conflicts don’t really affect their everyday lives.
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