Republic of Dahomey
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République du Dahomé Republic of Dahomey |
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| Official languages | French | ||
| Capital | Porto-Novo | ||
| Form of government | Democratic Republic | ||
| head of state | Coutoucou Hubert Maga | ||
| Existence period | December 11, 1958 - 1975 | ||
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The Republic of Dahomey or Dahome ( French République du Dahomé ) was the forerunner state of Benin . It was established as an autonomous republic on December 11, 1958. Before it was granted autonomy, it was the French Dahomey colony as part of the French Union , previously the independent Kingdom of Dahomey until 1900 . On August 1, 1960, it gained full independence from France.
history
Coutoucou Hubert Maga became the first president of the independent Dahomey . He gradually transformed the democratic country under the rule of the unity party Rassemblement Démocratique du Dahomé into a personal dictatorship.
At the end of 1963, the first military coup led by Colonel K. Soglo took place in the country. A new constitution was adopted and the multiparty system restored; there were also presidential and parliamentary elections. Sourou-Migan Apithy was elected President and proclaimed the course of the socialist path.
Two years later came the second military coup in 1965 - this time it was carried out by a group of high-ranking officers. In 1968, Émile Derlin Henri Zinsou was elected President, who now led a pro-Western course. In December 1969 there was a third military coup. As a result, power was returned to Maga and Apithy.
On October 26, 1972, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, Major Mathieu Kérékou , carried out another coup against President Justin Ahomadegbé-Tomêtin . Ahomadegbé-Tomêtin and the two other members of the Presidential Council , in addition to Maga, also ex-President Sourou-Migan Apithy, were imprisoned until 1981. Kérékou proclaimed himself president and ruled the country with a Marxist-Leninist orientation. The African Cuba was to arise in Benin . In November 1974 he also became chairman of the newly formed Politburo . He succeeded in restoring the civil order in the country, which had largely collapsed since the country's independence. As a unity party , he founded the Parti de la révolution populaire du Bénin .
In December 1975 the country was renamed from Kérékou to the People's Republic of Benin , after the Bay of Benin (which in turn is named in honor of the Kingdom of Benin with the capital Benin City in modern Nigeria ) because the name "Benin", as opposed to " Dahomey “, Was considered politically neutral for all ethnic groups in the country.
Individual evidence
- ↑ History at Beninensis ( Memento of 22 July 2011 at the Internet Archive ) (French)
- ↑ Chronology of the history of Dahomeys and the People's Republic of Benin 1960 to 2000 ( Memento from July 28, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) (French)