Secession of Katanga
1960 - 1965
Focus for Contextualisation
• Why did Katanga secede from independent Congo?
• What were the immediate effects of this secession?
• In what ways did the secession of Katanga develop
an international dimension?
• In what way was Ireland involved in the Secession
of Katanga?
Belgium & Congo
Province of Katanga
Katanga was the richest
province in the Congo
Source of uranium used in
atomic bombs
Mining companies had
introduced, in some places,
welfare programmes and
education for its employees
By 1950, one-third of the entire
population of the Congo was
Christian
No educated native elite** N.B.
The Congo at Independence
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Former Belgian colony
2.3 million square miles
75 times larger than Belgium
13 million native Congolese
100,000 white (mainly Belgian) settlers
Congo contained about 200 separate &
distinct tribes (own language) = ‘Ethnic
Groups’
Key Personalities: Belgian
King Leopold II
1835 – 1909
King Baudouin
1930 – 1993
King of Belgium
‘Mwana Kitoko’
1951 - 1993
Key Personalities: Congolese
Patrice Lumumba
1925 - 1961
st
1 leader of independent
Congo (67 days) (MNC)
Moise Tshombe
1919 – 1969
Pro-Belgian leader of Katanga
(Conakat Party)
Joseph Kasavubu
1910 – 1969
st
1 President of Republic of Congo
(Abako Party)
Independence Movements
• ABAKO: tribal organisation based on support of Kongo
people
• CONAKAT: Led by Moise Tshombe, this Katangan
group wanted to retain ties with Belgium and local selfgovernment for Katanga
• Congolese National Movement (MNC):
Wanted a united, independent Congo.
Congolese Nationalist movement, seeking a
national, rather than tribal, support. Led by
Patrice Lumumba
Independence Approaches
•
President General de Gaulle of France announced a new departure in 1958,
opening up the possibility & choice of independence for French colonies
•
This would affect large parts of the African continent e.g. Morocco, Algeria,
The Congo, Sudan etc.
•
Rioting broke out in Leopoldville in January 1959.
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In response, Belgian authorities agreed to local elections and a promise of
future independence.
•
120 political groups contested these elections, mostly along tribal lines of
allegiance.
•
Only the MNC set a nationwide, electoral manifesto.
The ‘Roundtable Conference’
18th – 27th January 1960
• Kasavubu, Lumumba & Tshombe invited to Brussels to discuss the
future of the Congo with Belgian Government
1960: Independence of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo
&
Secession of Katanga
• 1960 – Congo declared free by Belgium
– Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Province of Katanga attempted to secede –
civil war
– United Nations troops kept peace for four
years
– Former president of Katanga, Moise
Tshombe, became prime minister in 1964
Independence of Congo & Secession
of Katanga
1960 - 1965
A Chronology of Events,
Personalities & Conflicts
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
June 1960 - Congo becomes independent
Patrice Lumumba:
Prime Minister
1959
1960
1961
Joseph Kasavubu:
President
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
July 1960: Army Mutiny & Katangan Secession
Tshombe declares Katanga
independent (secession)
(11th July)
Congolese Army Mutiny
(5th July)
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Issue over no pay raise to army,
while all other Government
employees received a pay raise
Rank & file soldiers of Force
Publique rebelled against Officer
Corps (mainly foreigners)
Rioting & looting throughout
Leopoldville.
‘Africanise’ the army: Armee
Nationale Congolaise (ANC)
Belgian forces brought in, without
permission, to protect Belgian
settles and mining interests
1959
1960
1961
1962
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Tshombe declared Katanga
independent a couple of days later
Supported by Belgian troops
(6,000) & powerful business &
industrial interests (companies)
“Seceding from chaos“: Tshombe
Miltarised police force &
mercenaries
Luba province in north of Katanga
seceded from Katanga itself
1963
1964
1965
1966
September – December 1960:
Chaos in Congolese Government
September 1960:
Lamumba dismissed as P.M.
1959
1960
1961
1962
December 1960:
Lamumba arrested
1963
1964
1965
1966
• February: Lamumba killed
• August: UN forces begin disarming the
Katangese military
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
Katanga ends Secession
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
Kasavubu & Tshombe
• In a bid to unite the country, President Kasavubu
appointed Tshombe (former President of secessionist
Katanga) as Prime Minister of the Congo
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
The Mobutu Coup
• Kasavubu & Tshombe ousted
in military coup d’etát by
General Désiré Mobutu
• Mobutu renames the country
‘Zaire’ (1971)
• Mobutu declares himself
‘Mobutu Sese Seko’
• Katanga Province re-named
‘Shaba’
• Ruled the Democratic Republic
of Congo for three decades
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966