Democratic Congo Pygmies

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo was first settled by the Bantus people during the 5th century. As the first expansion of the Pygmies was coming to an end, the Bantus soon began an expansion of their own. They followed major river basins, and also moved southward and arrived at the border of the rainforest about as early as 900 BC. The Bantus people at this time were transitioning from stone age to iron age techniques. Many hunter-gatherer groups were still prominent, and metal tools were soon being developed. This development of using metals revolutionized agriculture and animal herding forever. As the number of the Bantu population increased during the 10th

Like many European leaders of this time, Leopold wanted to bring pride to his country and he thought colonizing would do just that. Although, he sensed the Belgians would not support colonizations so he did this in private and colonized for his own personal reasons. He took control of the country on February 26th, 1885. About 5-8 million Africans were reported to have died after Leopold took control. He primarily built roads, schools, hospitals, and missions as his way of ‘blessing’ the uncivilized Africans. Although, not all of his colonization benefited the Africans. He made severe discrimination laws that banned the same education level as the Europeans, and also from having jobs such as architects, lawyers or engineers. In the late 1890’s, the king turns to his government for financial help. He is given large interest-free loans, in return for the expansion of the Congo. At the time of these loans, the economic status of the Congo Free State improves drastically. This is partially considering the Congo has control over the rubber industry. Also, the region of abundant with Ivory, which was the most profitable of all the resources. With all of this rubber, the bicycle was soon created by John Boyd Dunlop. As a result of this invention, the effects of this are dramatic. Leopold soon becomes rich, and spends much of it trying to impress Belgium. The

That did not sit well with the Western Powers. Lumumba was placed under house arrest. He and his wife soon leave for Stanleyville, where he has supporters. He was arrested along the way, and later killed. His murder was the spark of many protests and riots. Kasavubu stayed president following the death of Lumumba. In 1964, a new constitution was formed that emphasised federalism. In 1965, Mobutu took over the presidency role and renamed the country Zaire, which is the African word for river, shortly after. Mobutu was often referred to as “The Guide” and the “Father of the Nation”. He ordered that all people must now adopt African names, including himself. Previously Joseph Mobutu, he now calls himself Mobutu Sese Seko. In 1977 and 78 there are major invasions of Katanga, now renamed Shaba, by the opposition group FLNC, operating from Angola. Motobu recovers control once again with help from Morocco and France, but there are multiple casualties on both sides. In the 1990’s, the economy was failing and the outbreaks of violence led many to flee the country. In April of 1992, the confederate assembled a new constitution and appointed Etienne Tshisekedi as prime minister. Mobutu’s power finally came to an end in May of 1997 when he fled the capital, Kinshasa, where he dies from cancer a few months later. Laurent Kabila takes over the president role, and also takes over full military power.