History of the Republic of the Congo

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The estuary of the Congo was first explored by Europeans from Portugal at the end of the 15th century . At that time, the native kingdom of the Congo existed here . This traded with the Europeans .

Part of French Equatorial Africa

In the 1880s, the region came under French rule. Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza (after whom Brazzaville is named) vied with the emissaries of the Belgian King Leopold II for control of the Congo Basin . In 1885 the Congo Conference in Berlin took note of the agreements of the Association Internationale du Congo , which was in place with all conference participants, and of which the Belgian King was the sole owner. As a neutral Congo Free State with Leopold II as sovereign , the Society entered into the obligations of the Congo Act passed by the conference on August 1st . The Congo Society had reached an agreement with France on February 5, 1885 on the border. Between 1882 and 1891, France concluded protection treaties with the local rulers west of the Congo and Ubangi , so that these rivers eventually became the border.

In 1910 France reorganized its colonies in what is now the Congo, Gabon , Central African Republic and Chad as French Equatorial Africa . Brazzaville became the capital of this colony. By the agreement of November 4, 1911, a part against German concessions in Morocco and the cession of the intermediate river area (" duck bill ") between Schari and Logone to the French territory of Chad was ceded to the German Reich , giving the German colony of Cameroon access to the Congo ( New Cameroon ). In the Versailles Treaty , this area was again assigned to French Equatorial Africa.

Since the lower Congo is not navigable, a railway from Brazzaville to the port of Pointe-Noire was built between 1924 and 1934 . After the French defeat in 1940, the colonial administration joined free France under Charles de Gaulle ; Brazzaville was nominally the capital of Free France until 1943 . In the National Assembly in Paris , the area was always represented by Jean Félix-Tchicaya from 1945 until independence.

In 1946 the Congo became French overseas territory. According to the Loi Lamine Guèye law of May 7, 1946, all citizens of the overseas territories had the same citizenship as the people in the mother country and thus the right to vote for elections to the French parliament and for local elections; the right to stand for election is not explicitly mentioned, but it is also not excluded. But it was chosen in two classes, which gave the French population an advantage. This two-class suffrage was only abolished on June 23, 1956 by the loi-cadre Defferre and confirmed upon independence.

The law number 47-162 on territorial assemblies of August 29, 1947 established the right to vote for these assemblies. At first, universal suffrage at the national level was restricted to Europeans and Africans who could read and write. In 1951, the right was extended to anyone with a valid ID. This electoral system was renewed in 1952 and replaced in 1957 when the 1956 loi-cadre Defferre came into force.

In 1958 the Congo became an autonomous republic in the Union française and finally in 1960 the independent Congolese Republic (Congo-Brazzaville) (in contrast to the then Republic of Congo (Congo-Leopoldville) , today's Democratic Republic of the Congo on the left bank of the river). The capital then had around 100,000 inhabitants, around 400,000 around 1980. Article 4 of the constitution of March 2, 1961 recognized the existing rights, including women's suffrage . Some sources cite December 8, 1963 for the granting of the passive women's right to vote. Since women were first elected to parliament in December 1963, however, it is possible that this information is based on the first exercise of the right to vote, not the grant.

In 1958 the colony was divided into the four present-day states (as colonies). On November 28, Central Congo was renamed the Congolese Republic , and on August 15, 1960 it became independent.

1960 to 1992

The first president was Fulbert Youlou , a former Catholic priest. His tenure was marked by ethnic and political unrest. In August 1963 he was overthrown. After a brief military rule , Alphonse Massemba-Débat became President in December 1963, and Pascal Lissouba became Prime Minister.

In February and March 1964, diplomatic relations were established with the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union .

Flag of the People's Republic of the Congo (1969–1991)

On January 10, 1966, the new unity party Mouvement National de la Révolution (MNR) was founded, which is the highest body of the state according to its own statutes. On June 23, 1966, the army was converted into a People's National Army . The Massamba Debat was overthrown by a coup in August 1968 that initially brought Alfred Raoul to the presidency. On December 31, 1968, Major Marien Ngouabi became the new president. He made the Congo a people 's republic and leaned politically to the Soviet Union . He was murdered on March 18, 1977.

His successor, Colonel Joachim Yhombi-Opango , was deposed on February 5, 1979 for corruption and deviation from the party line and replaced by the Vice President and Defense Minister Colonel Denis Sassou-Nguesso as interim president.

Since 1992

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Unity Party changed its policy and finally allowed multi-party elections. Sassou-Nguesso was defeated in free elections in 1992, and was succeeded by Professor Pascal Lissouba on August 31, 1992 .

In November 1992 the President dissolved the National Assembly, the new elections in May 1993 were controversial. This led to violent unrest that lasted until February 1994.

In 1997, in the run-up to the presidential elections planned for July, tensions arose between supporters of Lissoubas and Sassou's. When Lissouba's government forces surrounded Sassou's house in Brazzaville on June 5, Sassou ordered his militia to resist. Large parts of the capital were destroyed in four months of fighting. At the beginning of October, Angolan troops intervened on the side of the ex-president, and in mid-October the government was overthrown. Since then, Denis Sassou-Nguesso has been president again.

See also

Web links

Commons : History of the Republic of the Congo  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. August 29, 1947, accessed September 30, 2018 .
  2. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 90.
  3. ↑ United Nations Development Program: Human Development Report 2007/2008 . New York, 2007, ISBN 978-0-230-54704-9 , p. 345