History+behind+Belgium+and+the+Congo

=The Belgian Congo= In The Poisonwood Bible, we witness the story of missionary family in the Belgian Congo. The characters in the story were all fictional, but the historical events were all as real as both world wars. The Congo was given up by King Leopold the II on November 15, 1908 and received it's independence on June 30, 1960 from Belgium. The Belgian Congo was established by the Belgian parliament to replace the Congo Free State when international conflicts in the Congo brought pressure for supervision. But after the rise of nationalism from the Congolese in the 1950's, Belgium then felt pressure to turn the Belgian Congo into a self-governing state. It was then, 1955, when a Belgian professor devised a plan to gradually release the Congo from Belgium's grip. The plan was supposed to be effective over a 30 year period but instead, after 4 years, in 1959, the legalization of political parties emerged. Elections were held and Joseph Kasavubu was elected President and Patrice Lumumba became Prime Minister. The Belgian Congo was no more. At the time after gaining independence, it was known as "Republic of the Congo". Later on, in 1966, Joseph Mobutu changed the country's official name to "Democratic Republic of the Congo", and in 1971 it was changed again to "Republic of Zaïre". After four name changes in 11 years, the republic was renamed and was known as:

Within the first year of independence, several events made the country unstable. The army rebelled, the governor of Katanga province tried secession; a UN peacekeeping force was called in to restore order, Prime Minister Lumumba died under mysterious circumstances; and Colonel Joseph Desire Mobutu took over the government and ceded it again to President Kasavubu. Rebellion haunted the government until 1965.Lieutenant General Mobutu, now commander in chief of the national army, took control of the country and declared himself president for 5 years. Mobutu was elected president in 1970 without any opposition. Mobutu renamed the country the Republic of Zaire and required citizens to adopt African names. Peace and stability came until 1977 and 1978 when Katangan rebels launched a series of invasions into the Katanga region. The rebels were driven out with the aid of Belgian paratroopers. During the 1980s, Mobutu continued to enforce his one-party system of rule, similar to a dictarorship. Although Mobutu maintained control during this period, opposition parties were active. Mobutu's attempts to overcome these groups attracted international criticism. After a couple of years, the country started holding multi-party elections and Mobutu was eventually ran out of the country.



[|Sounds of the Congo]