Simba rebellion

Simba rebellion

Part of: Congo Crisis

Spread of the Simba rebellion (red) 1964

date	1964 to 1967
place	Eastern Congo
output	Suppression by the Congolese government and its allies

Parties to the conflict
Democratic Republic of Congo Government troops Katanga gendarme Mercenaries from Belgium, France, South Africa and other countries Supported by (selection): Belgium United States	People's Republic of the Congo Rebels from the Congo Fighters from Cuba, Rwanda and other countries Supported by (selection): People's Republic of China Cuba Soviet Union Tanzania
Commander
Mobutu Sese Seko Moïse Tschombé	Christophe Gbenye Laurent-Désiré Kabila Nicholas Olenga Gaston Soumialot

The Simba Rebellion was an armed uprising that occurred around 1964–1967 in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the Congo Crisis . Supported by China , the Soviet Union and later a group of Cuban soldiers under Che Guevara , the rebels, supporters of President Patrice Lumumba , who was assassinated by CIA contract killers in 1961 , conquered large parts of the east of the country, also taking European hostages. The Congolese troops, led by Colonel Mobutu , who was put to power , supported by the USA , Belgian troops and mercenaries from South Africa , succeeded in suppressing the uprising.

course

Belgian soldier in front of the bodies of some killed hostages in Stanleyville, November 1964

Europeans fleeing towards the airport

Liberated European hostage is taken to an airplane for evacuation.

In 1963, following the arrest of Soviet diplomats, it became known for the first time that Christophe Gbenye , a Lumumbist politician, had founded a revolutionary movement called the Comité National de Liberation , headed by himself. He had held the post of interior minister in both Lumumba's government and Gizenga's counter-government and asked the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China for support in the fight against the central government.

As a result, China sent military advisors to Burundi to train the rebels in guerrilla techniques; Support also came from the USSR . In South Kivu the rebel forces were led by Gaston Soumialot and in North Katanga by Laurent-Désiré Kabila .

In May 1964 the rebels succeeded in conquering the cities of Uvira and Albertville on Lake Tanganyika . In early August, the rebels conquered Stanleyville and murdered 2,500 intellectuals, the wealthy, and Évolués (Congolese who led a European lifestyle).

On September 5th, the rebels founded the République Populaire du Kongo (People's Republic of the Congo) in the conquered area . Gbenye became President and Soumialot became Minister of Defense. The various rebel units were combined to form the Armée Populaire de la Liberation (People's Liberation Army). The commander-in-chief of this newly formed army was Nicholas Olenga .

When the newly appointed Prime Minister of the Congo Moïse Tschombé began to crack down on the rebels, he could not rely on the national army. On the one hand, it had barely resisted the advance of the rebels; on the other hand, the army distrusted him due to his failed attempt a few years earlier to make Katanga province an independent state. In this respect, Tschombé could only rely on his units from Katanga, the Katanga gendarmes, and South African, Belgian and French mercenaries , who had already made up the core of his armed forces during his attempt at secession . About 300 mercenaries were under the command of the Irishman Mike Hoare . Belgian officers also took part as military advisers and the US Air Force with transport aircraft in the offensive that is now beginning.

The Europeans who remained in the area were then taken hostage by the beleaguered rebels and held at the Victoria Palace Hotel in Stanleyville. When the Simba threatened to kill all Europeans, it sparked an even bigger military operation by the Belgian and US forces. This consisted of a ground offensive ( Operation Ommegang ) and an air offensive ( Operation Dragon Rouge ). On November 24, 1964, 343 Belgian paratroopers jumped over the Stanleyville airport and, together with Hoare's 5th Command, freed the city from the insurgents. Then 2000 Europeans were evacuated with C-130 transport aircraft. Around 100 Europeans had previously been murdered by the Lumumbists. A few days later, 90 missionaries were killed by the rebels further inland. The same Belgian paratrooper unit jumped over Paulis two days after its deployment in Stanleyville in Operation Dragon Noir and freed around 300 hostages. The Lumumbists had killed around 20 Europeans and Americans shortly after news of the attack on Stanleyville reached them.

When the rebellion was already in the process of disintegrating, Che Guevara landed in the riot area in April 1965 with over a hundred black Cuban soldiers to support the struggle of the Simba. Disappointed by the insurgents' low ideological conviction, Che Guevara left after seven months. He recorded his experience in his diary, which was later found.

In 1967 Gbenye and Soumialot also left the country, which effectively ended the rebellion. Only Kabila was able to hold its own in a small area between Fizi and Baraka , but no longer posed a threat to the central government.

Armament and Motivation

Since the Simbas received little international support, they largely relied on primitive weapons such as spears, machetes and clubs. For this reason, the rebel leaders used traditional magical rituals to motivate their fighters, some of whom were still underage. So they were subjected to various rituals by the féticheuse Mama Onema, which should give them strength. Before the fight, the warriors and their weapons were sprinkled with water, which should make them invulnerable. When attacking the government forces, the rebels shouted: “Simba, Simba! Mulele may! Mulele may! Lumumba May! Lumumba Oyé! ” This should cause the opposing balls to turn into water when hit. Since not only the rebels but also the government troops believed in the effectiveness of these rituals, the soldiers, despite their superior armament, often fled when the Simbas attacked.

However, the Simbas had to observe certain norms of behavior. Violation of these rules would result in the loss of their invulnerability. For this reason, losses in the ranks of the rebels were then explained by the fact that the fallen had not observed a certain rule of conduct. When the intervention of the American and Belgian troops led to heavy losses among the rebels, they were explained by the fact that the rain, which is typical for the season, washed away the magical powers.

literature

• Lois Carlson: Doctor in the Congo. Herder, Freiburg / Berlin / Vienna.
• SJG Clarke: The Congo Mercenary: A history and analysis , South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), 1968, pp. 41-67, here :, accessed April 10, 2014
• Ruth Margaret Delaforce: A Mafia for the State. Mercenary Soldiers and Private Security Contractors 1946–2009 , Thesis, Griffith University 2010, pp. 138–165, here :, accessed April 10, 2014
• Hans Germani : White mercenaries in the black country , Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main / Berlin 1966
• Piero Gleijeses: “Flee! The White Giants Are Coming! ”: The United States, the Mercenaries, and the Congo, 1964-65 . Diplomatic History, 18/1994, pp. 207–237, here:
• Ernesto Che Guevara: The African Dream: The Recovered Diary of the Revolutionary Struggle in the Congo. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2000, ISBN 978-3462028997
• Mike Hoare : Congo Mercenary , Paladin Press, Boulder / Colorado 2008, ISBN 978-1-58160-639-3
• Anthony Mockler: The new mercenaries , Corgi Books, London 1986, ISBN 0-552-12558-X , pp. 83-130
• Thomas P. Odom: Dragon Operations: Hostage Rescues in the Congo, 1964-1965 , Combat Studies Institute US Army Command and General Staff College (Leavenworth Papers No. 14), Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1988 here :, accessed April 20 2014
• David Van Reybrouck: Congo. A story. Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3518423073
• Peter Scholl-Latour : Murder on the great river - A quarter of a century of African independence . DVA 1986, ISBN 3-421-06307-9 , pp. 315-333
• Fred E. Wagoner: Dragon Rouge: The rescue of hostages in the Congo , National Defense University Research Directorate Washington, DC 1980 here :, accessed April 20, 2014

Individual evidence

1. ^ David Van Reybrouck : Congo: A Story . Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-518-42307-3 , p. 379.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} David Van Reybrouck: Congo. A story. Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3518423073 , p. 382.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} David Van Reybrouck: Congo. A story. Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3518423073 , p. 383.
4. ↑ ^{a b} David Van Reybrouck: Congo. A story. Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3518423073 , p. 384.
5. ↑ David Van Reybrouck: Congo. A story. Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3518423073 , p. 385.
6. ↑ Thomas P. Odom: Dragon Operations: Hostage Rescues in the Congo, 1964-1965 , Combat Studies Institute US Army Command and General Staff College (Leavenworth Papers No. 14), Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1988, pp. 121-146
7. ↑ David Van Reybrouck: Congo. A story. Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3518423073 , p. 388
8. ↑ David Van Reybrouck: Congo. A story. Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3518423073 , p. 389.
9. ↑ Ernesto Che Guevara: The African Dream: The rediscovered diary of the revolutionary struggle in the Congo. KiWi-Paperback, 200.
10. ↑ David Van Reybrouck: Congo. A story. Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3518423073 , p. 404.
11. ↑ David Van Reybrouck: Congo. A story. Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3518423073 , p. 387